Hawaii-Every year when I set off for Hawaii I hear the usual comments from my colleagues telling me to enjoy my vacation. I guess the fact that Zelda, my wife, often comes with me on these trips confirms in the minds of many that it is an excuse for a business trip, to say the least.
	If you could see the guest rooms of the Hawaii Mission Academy, with no air conditioning and a fan that knock-knocks all night long, your envy would quickly dissipate.
	The scenery too as most of you know is beautiful, otherwise why would the tourists flock there. But when you wade into the water as I have done and feel the coarse sand under your feet, the seaweed and the sharp-edged coral, you begin to realize that everything is not always what it seems.
	All of this becomes unimportant when I go to the airport to meet the almost one hundred young people who have made a commitment to serve in the islands for at least one year. Suddenly there bursts upon the scene youthful faces, some very timid and frightened by what they have let themselves in for. Others are exuberant and bubbling over with confidence. All of them have faithfully spent the last six months or so planning, preparing, praying and hoping. Those attending SDA colleges have attended orientation classes, and have been raising funds for their fares, while at the same time making sure that they complete their studies successfully. The orientation classes are an extra burden but they do it happily and with enthusiasm. I know because I have attended some of their classes on campus.
	They collect their luggage -- bags, large ones, more numerous than most can carry on their own, musical instruments, surf boards, all kinds of things. The pavement outside the airport is littered with luggage and the leaders from the Guam-Micronesia Mission (GMM) shudder as they think about the cost of excess luggage they might be forced to pay in a few days time when these exuberant volunteers resume their journey to the islands.
	This large number of raw recruits, with colored leis around their necks, gather on the sidewalk to have their photos taken, many of them meeting each other for the first time, some of whom might have to share a room with each other for the next ten months or so - even though they have never met before. How will they get along? How will they resolve their differences? You can almost see these thoughts ticking over in their minds.
	As each minibus pulls away from the curb the volume of chatter begins to escalate with the excitement of being in Hawaii for the first time, making new friends, finding out about each other, and the expectation of what they may find when they ultimately arrive at their final destination.
	Ten minutes later they arrive at the Hawaii Mission Academy campus and are ushered to their five star accommodation, which amounts to an exercise mat on the floor of the gymnasium and a communal bathroom at the opposite end of the building.
	But there's never a mumbling word. There are too many positive things going on to be concerned over small details like this. After all, they have been conditioned and prepared for something worse than this. At least for the moment they have electricity, one pay phone for 100 people, hot water and plenty of food.
	There are just a couple of hours to unpack, unroll the sleeping bag, find out where everything is and be ready for the first meeting -- jet lag and all. They have traveled from London, Sweden or the USA. Still running high on adrenaline, they are wide awake.
	The line from the only telephone is a long one -- with time rationed so that everyone might have a turn -- Mom and Dad need to be called to let them know that they have arrived safely in Hawaii and to let them know that they will be OK even without their parents to tell them what to do all the time. And of course there are the boyfriends and girlfriends who need to know that they are still loved even though their partners are now on a romantic island with a new group of good looking young people they have never seen before.
	Everyone finally assembles for the first meeting and the orientation begins. The lecturers and staff are introduced and the program begins in earnest. Time is short and every minute counts.
	Miracles of Grace
	The purpose of the orientation program is not to show them how to do their job. That will come later, when they arrive at their final destination. But a dynamic becomes evident as the program begins with an agape feast and communion service and several volunteers are invited to share their testimonies. Amazing miracles of God's grace are unraveled as one after another tells how God took them from drugs, and in one case prostitution, or some other sin-blown situation and brought them to this place. Even more moving is the scene when all the leaders - mission officers, school principals, invited lecturers - kneel before these dedicated volunteers and wash their feet.
The Sabbath program brings with it a further dimension of dedication and commitment. Sabbath afternoon offers the opportunity for those who have never been there before to see some of nature’s gifts thereby complementing the study of the Written Word.
The days roll by and the orientation continues with presentations from people like Pat Gustin, Director of the Institute of World Mission and others of experience currently residing in the mission field, pointing out the pitfalls of adjusting to another culture. From time to time the school principals take time out to meet with those specifically assigned to their school, sharing in finer detail the peculiarities of their particular island.
What is most amazing to me is the fact that so many of these young people are only part way through their studies -- and are probably preparing for some unrelated field of endeavor -- and yet they can stand up in front of a class of students and teach all day, every day for a year.
I well remember a visit I made to the island of Pohnpei a year or so ago. A little 8-year-old girl came up to greet me, bright as a button and very intelligent. She said to me, "I like your accent." I immediately replied, "I like your accent too and I can tell where you come from." (We were both Australians). I asked her, "What are you doing here in Pohnpei? Why are you living here?" And she quickly told me that her father was the Australian ambassador to Micronesia. "But what are you doing at the SDA school?" Without any hesitation she shot back at me, "Don't you know, the SDA school is the best school in Micronesia."
Every year we are asked to find 120 volunteers to GMM who have to find their own fares. I am amazed that our schools there, some of which have more than 400 students and who are staffed by volunteer teachers who are totally unqualified, enjoy such success. It is nothing short of a miracle. Add to this the fact that the majority of the students are not Seventh-day Adventists. In fact, our schools are a major source of baptisms for the Mission.
But this is not the whole story because many of our volunteers get involved in other missionary activities, such as prison ministry and leading out in the local churches.
May God be praised for what is being done by these dedicated volunteers, some of whom are not always so young. Is the orientation program worth it? If you were to ask the volunteers they would undoubtedly tell you YES!
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