Welcome to this edition of our KCF News Magazine. As you will see, many of the articles are framed around the Anchor House School of the Bible. The reason for this is that what has been taking place since we opened the doors in September of 2022 has been nothing short of spectacular, both for our church family and the students we have come to know and love. As this edition goes to press, it looks as if the 2024-25 school year will be filled to our maximum of 40 students. But you may have a young person in your family or church who might, down the road, benefit from being part of this great experiment in Spiritual Foundation building. If so have them check out the Anchor House website and get their registration in early! www.anchorhousekauai.com
Who Are You...Really?
Written by Dain Spore
As the two teenage girls jumped into my car and breathlessly exclaimed “Good morning Uncle Dain!” I never in a million years would have expected to have a conversation that morning that would lead me to reflect on the role of the Anchor House in the lives of our students, cause me to meditate on the “theology of identity” as Paul presents it in scripture, and finally, give me a topic for this newsletter edition. But you never know through what medium God might choose to illuminate you to His greatness. If He was using two nineteen-year-old girls today, I would have to be all ears.
It was early December when I was asked at the last minute to lead worship at our North Shore campus, and I was sorely lacking a bass player and a backup singer. Pastor Rick suggested a couple of the Anchor House students who would be able to help me out. Emma was an extremely talented musician who could hold down the bass, and Abigail (who insisted on being called “Aba”) was a talented singer. The only catch was “They can’t drive, so they will have to ride with you.” Hmmm… this could be awkward, I thought. It’s an hour drive to the North Shore campus and I was dreading spending that much time with two teenage girls. I’m a grown man, pushing 60 years old for crying out loud! What are we going to talk about? Tik Tok? As it turned out, we had a great conversation that ended with the girls making a statement that both shocked me and opened my eyes to an issue that was critical for Anchor House students specifically and “all believers everywhere” (Eph 6:18).
It started when, on the way up one of the girls asked me how I had become a pastor. I ended up telling them my entire testimony, the good, the bad, and the awful. They in turn told me their testimonies, and perhaps because of my transparency, they didn’t hold back on sharing their stories, which were, quite frankly, grittier than I had anticipated. Therefore, after the morning service (which went quite well, thank you God!), on the way back south
I felt emboldened to ask them their unabashed opinion about their time at the Anchor House Bible School. How was it going? Was it worth their time? I asked them to not hold back but to share freely. Happily, their answers were very positive, and if I were to paraphrase their answers it would be, “This is the best thing that has ever happened to us.” I was very glad and edified to hear this, and so then I asked a rather banal question, expecting a simple answer. “So, are you looking forward to going home for Christmas break?” I asked. Both of them replied without hesitation, “Nope.” Was it because they would miss their new Anchor House friends? “Nope.” Was it because they didn’t want to leave the warm Hawaiian sunshine for the cold mainland? “Nope.”
“Why,” I asked, “don’t you want to go home?” It was the answer to this question which is the purpose of this article, and again, I am going to paraphrase their answer:
“We like who we are here, more than who we were back home.”
I hope you are as struck by this response as much as I was. It was such an intriguing answer that for the next week I asked the same question to numerous Anchor House students and was nonplussed at how many of them had a similar response. “I like who I am here. I don’t want to go back to the way I was. I don’t want to go back to who I was back home.” What an incredibly self-aware concept! We ended up having some great conversations about this and even had a special meeting on the last day of class, but I will share that story in a minute.
For the last few years, whenever a kid from the KCF youth group decided to attend Capernwray Bible School after high school (an experience very similar to the Anchor House), I traditionally would take them out to lunch before they left, to give them a little pep talk to prepare them for their year in England.
One of the things I used to tell them is this: “Going to Capernwray, where nobody knows you, is a great time to reinvent yourself.” And then I would challenge them to write down the things about themselves they would like to change. While it is true that moving to a foreign place is a great opportunity for personal change (getting out of the social ‘feedback loop’ is a wellknown phenomenon), I realized that I was theologically incorrect. Getting out of your “comfort zone” and facilitating change isn’t really “reinventing” yourself, it is allowing Christ to conform you more perfectly into “who you really are.” Let me explain.
The Scriptures teach us that because we all possess a sinful nature, we are all “diminished” versions of our true selves. Think of how Paul thought of himself in his letter to the Church in Rome when he goes on a long diatribe about how he does the things he doesn’t want to do and doesn’t do the things he knows he ought do (paraphrase of Romans 7). He rightfully acknowledges that there is a battle going on within his soul. He uses the analogy of the “inner man” and the “outer man.” The inner self is who God created us to be, the redeemed soul who “delights in God’s Law,” is also being “renewed day by day” (2 Cor 4:16) whereas the outer self, representing our sinful nature rendered powerless by the cross (Rom 6:6), is even now “wasting away” (2 Cor 4:16). The basic premise therefore of “sanctification” is the gradual growth of the “inner self” so that we become who God created us to be. Or even better, we become who he has already called us to be.
Consider Gideon. It is almost comical how his story begins. When God calls on him to lead Israel into battle against the Midianites, His first words to Gideon are, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Mighty warrior! Do realize that up to this point he has done exactly nothing as a fighting man. In fact, he immediately (and persistently) tries to weasel out of doing what God calls him to do. But with that opening statement, God has already declared to Gideon who he really is before God, and now it is only a matter of process for Gideon to become what God created Him to be, a mighty warrior. And indeed, Gideon becomes a mighty warrior.
Many people struggle to become who God has called them to be because they are stuck in a rut of what social scientists call a “feedback loop.” You are a certain way, and so people treat you like that person. But because people treat you like that person, you stay that way. Additionally, many people have had difficult childhoods where they were told lies about themselves like “you are a loser,” “you will never amount to anything,” etc. Others have been deeply wounded by an unkind comment from somebody and that comment has become “imprinted” on them. This is why Paul says in Romans 12 “do not be conformed to the way of the world” which, from the Greek, implies being “stamped” by external forces. But when you allow God to speak to you and you hear the truth of who He has called you to be, He breaks that feedback loop and allows you to fully become who He designed you to be. You become “transformed” from the inside out (Rom 12).
Are you aware of what He has called you to be? Here are just a few examples:
He declares that we are made in His image (Gen 1:27), which gives us immediate and undeniable value. He calls us “greatly loved” (Dan 10:19), heirs to His Kingdom (James 2:5), held safely in His grip (Phil 3:12). He calls us His children and instructs us to call Him “daddy” (Mat 6:9). He says that our salvation is guaranteed (Rom 8), our hope is secure (Heb 6:19), and finally, like Gideon, He has created us specifically for what He planned for us to do (Eph 2:10). In the light of all this, no wonder we prefer who we are when we are fully walking with Christ in the Kingdom of God, then when we are dragged down by our own sinful nature and succumb to who the “world” says we are. This is why Emma and Aba can say, “We like who we are here (victorious, walking with Christ in His Kingdom) more than who we were at home (defeated, struggling with their flesh in the world).”
In response to this statement, we decided to have a special meeting with the Anchor House students on the last day of class before they went home for Christmas break. We discussed all these things; the theology of identity, seeking to be who God called us to be, and
believing that our true self is who He has declared us to be. We finished by receiving Communion together. The students really seemed to grasp these ideas. In fact, they insisted that this meeting become part of the annual curriculum at Anchor House. This should be a challenge for all of us. Where has your sinful nature led you? Who have you become because of it? Who has the world led you to believe you are? Have you ever thought to yourself, or told somebody else “that’s just the way I am”? Is that really who God has called you to be? Or do you need to spend a little more time with him in prayer and reading the truth about who you are in His Word?
Maybe it is time for all of us to “get out of our comfort zone” a little bit so that we might reflect on how we might become the best version of ourselves, the one who God created us to be. We all need to attend the Anchor House!
In the end, it was a great lesson taught to me by a couple of teenage girls who I thought were the least likely people to teach me anything. But it only goes to prove the truth of what Jesus said over 2000 years ago:
“From the mouths of children…You have prepared praise.” (Matt 21:16)
The Turning of the Tides
Written by Sarah Hill
When I think about the changing tides, I think about the re-alignment that is taking place within the ocean. For a surfer, knowing what to expect with the tides can be key to a good session. In the ebb and flow of the seas transition, you find yourself at the mercy of what the ocean is doing. There is nothing you can do in your own strength to change it. If you want to surf and the tides are in transition, it means waiting patiently on the ocean’s timing for change to happen.
I have given much thought over the past year to the ebb and flow of the tides, and how for me, it has become a correlation to life and ministry. In August of 2023, I found myself at the mercy of my body and the slow healing process that needed to take place after having to have a pretty major surgery. As I teetered between the need to get better, but also the urgency of returning to youth ministry I was frustrated that I could not quicken the process. I think what frustrated me most was that ministry “post COVID” had hit a lull, and the exciting growth we saw when youth ministry was the ONLY thing happening for kids during COVID was no more. Forced
to be still and rest, I realized that I had been striving in my own strength to grow the youth ministry back up. Now, Here I was after an incredible summer run with the kids, laid up and unable to provide them with anything to do. About two weeks into recovery, I received a text from a student who had faithfully been involved over the past two years, but who had also adamantly proclaimed she did not believe in God. Over those two years we would have many talks about faith, and religion, but also a gentle understanding that she just did not believe. I remember before having surgery, my last summer hurrah was a waterpark trip we do corporately as a church.
We spent three days on Oahu with a bunch of our junior high kids, getting to know them a little more, and really honing in on what it is to walk with Jesus. I noticed a transition happening with my unbelieving friend, she seemed to be hanging on every word shared by our team. I knew God had been moving, and when she had reached out and texted me, she said she wanted me to know that she had just given her life to Jesus, and wanted to thank me for all I had done in helping her on her journey.
She will never know what that text meant to me on my healing journey. God was reminding me that His timing is everything in the process of change. Even though I was laid up, He was working. Although there is an ebb and flow to youth ministry, remaining faithful is everything! If we walk in discouragement because our numbers are low, we will miss seeing how God is moving. I began taking the countless hours of rest, and turned them into prayer power, praying for each kid that came to my mind. It gave me so much peace to know there was power in that!
Returning to youth ministry was a slow start for sure. I remember committing to the Lord to be grateful to be back, to be faithful In the calling, and to trust the working of Him. With a very small team of helpers (which I am so thankful for), we began the faithful, steadfast rebuilding. What God has done over the past seven months has been unbelievable, and oh-so encouraging. When I returned, we had maybe 4-5 kids coming to the high school group. I decided to move it to my house because I felt God tell me the kids needed a home setting. I do not have a large home, but I knew I could welcome high school kids with a safe, loving space they could feel welcome in. Today we are jam-packed with 25+ kids each week, and growing. My home has suffered some broken things, but I would give up all I have to keep seeing kids’ lives changed. This summer as we gear up to do a north and south high school Mexico missions trip, all the kids coming from the North Shore are brand new to the youth ministry!
We have seen very exciting things happening with the junior high and have seen huge growth there as well. We are averaging 50+ kids every week as we meet at the
church. Each kid has a story, one kid has come from a JW background. He refused to go to his family’s church and was on a not-so-good path. After being invited to Edge, he begged his family to let him come. Knowing he needed help, they reluctantly agreed warning him of what we would tell him. God is changing this kid, who also is a professed “unbeliever.” Two weeks ago as I talked about grace being freely given and not earned, this kid raised his hand and said, that is the first time he heard it explained like that.
He said his whole life he was told he had to earn his faith, and he felt what I shared actually made sense to him. I had another new junior high kid tell me last week that Edge is really helping him grow closer to God, and he is now reading his Bible every night because of it! I share these stories not reflect on myself, I share them because we can all face the ebb and flow of our faith journey.
Seasons that are fruitful, seasons that are hard, seasons of much, and seasons of drought. What we do in those seasons is key. The tides are always changing, and what I have found as a sure footing in over 20 years of serving is, remaining faithful is the only option! Don’t miss what God has ahead because the changing tides seem hard in the moment! He is working in the unseen places.
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
Relationships
Written by Nate Scribner
Ihave been married seven years now, and it’s easy amidst the routine of life and the familiarity of being married to forget how special it was to meet my spouse and what a profound miracle it was for me at the time. I grew up believing that finding a spouse and getting married would be an easy and natural thing. I’m the fifth of eight children, and growing up, I was the best man for my older brother’s wedding when he was 20 years old. I was eight. Someone else had to sign the marriage license. My oldest sister was married not long after at 18. In fact, in my family, I am the exception to the rule of getting married young; I got married at twentynine. Gasp! My poor parents had no idea what was going on and what was wrong with me.
What is the right way to do it? Work hard in your twenties, have a solid career, and then once you’re financially stable, get married? That was my tactic in a way. Or, maybe we need to wait until we find that perfect person and the feelings all come together because it’s “destiny”? Also, my tactic.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “Are any of you single? Don’t look for a spouse…” I think that one is right up there, neck in neck with “love your neighbor as yourself” in a competition titled: “The Most Difficult Scriptures to Obey as a Young Person in the West.”
Our culture seems to believe that the perfect romantic relationship equals salvation. All will be resolved. All will be healed if I just meet the right person. Then after a
few bad boyfriends or girlfriends, or crushes that never solidify, that relationship salvation we were hoping for seems like a pipe dream, a lost cause. We give up on it. Or we blame ourselves. Or we blame God. The shame and guilt compound as we see the commercials, romantic comedies, social media posts, and seemingly perfect couples flourishing around us.
Within six months of the conclusion of our first year at the Anchor House, there were three weddings. All the husbands and wives in the weddings were students or RA’s which, out of a group of thirty people, seemed like a lot.
However, that first year included a few rocky moments guy-girl relationship-wise at the school. Within the first few weeks, there seemed to be couples popping up everywhere and as a first-time Dean, I was pretty nervous.
As a staff, we had to ask questions like:
Should we allow these 18 and 19-year-olds (who we barely know) to go off by themselves on dates?
Should we allow them to be alone together in a car?
Should we allow them to hold hands?
Should we be allowing dating at all?
Isn’t this about getting close to the Lord?
Yes, I have had to break up students making out. It’s super awkward and it stinks. I made an announcement
asking the students to refrain from public displays of affection last year when there seemed to be a relationship frenzy going on, and several students thought I was personally attacking them. This is a sensitive issue for people, and it’s my job to insert myself in the middle of it. Yay!
Maybe you think we’re being too strict. Maybe you think we’re being too lenient, but the Bible says nothing about this beyond “Don’t have sex until you’re married.” Who am I to make these rules? In the Bible, marriages were arranged. I’d like to do that and push it back on the parents sometimes. All the parents fly over for one week (I’m sure they’d love to come to Kauai), have a mixer in the church foyer, and arrange the marriages of their kids. Imagine if we made that the policy. Ha!
Funny for you to say “Nate, you’re already married.” Well, this year we’ve had just three relationship policies. First, no dating at all until the second semester so you can get your foundation in Christ first. Second, if you’re dating, keep your hands off the merchandise, no touchy, touchy. Third, don’t make it awkward for the other people in the house by becoming an isolated relationship.
Why wait? The important thing is not age or money or experience or even the magical feeling around “the one.”
The important thing is whether you’ve both made Jesus the number one priority in your life. That’s it. Are you both following Jesus in a similar direction? If this is the main thing, I’m not surprised that many students and RA’s have found a spouse at our one-year Bible college. Should I say, “Don’t come to the Anchor House to find a spouse”? I’m not sure. If you come for that reason, it would be similar to the way many of the pastors and leaders I know came to church for the first time: following a girl. Chances are you won’t find a spouse. Spouses are just a big something that I can put a number on and quantify.
Well, we’re on track for another year exactly like last year. We’ve got two couples that seem pretty serious, and several others that seem like they could go all the way to the altar, and honestly, it makes me smile a little. I am a happily married man, and I know God had a plan for how it worked out for me. We tell our students who we believe have a foundation in Christ and are in what seem to be good relationships, “Get married young.”
But how many major decisions to follow Christ have happened this year at the Anchor House? The students are in hours of Bible classes every week. They’re praying and doing devotions every day. They worship and play music morning, afternoon, and evening. They’re ministering to kids and youth groups every week. They go out and evangelize to people on the street. They confess their sins to each other. I think we’ve had 5 baptisms so far. Many of them left jobs, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends, hobbies, cars, pets, motorcycles, snowmobiles, video games, money, Tim Horton’s coffee, Chick-fil-A, In n’ Out Burger, and their families to come. They all had to give up something. They all had to take a step of faith. Over and over and over again, I see that God is true to His promises to them. They come with nothing but faith, and they leave with His perfect gifts.
Everybody Got Benched
Written by Darren Coté
It is Tuesday night at the Southside Sports Center and shoes are being laced up by a dozen teenagers to sixtysomething-year-olds. It’s a sticky, humid night and no one cares because the game of basketball is about to commence…with all the good-natured trash talk, competition, sweat, and downright fun.
Two games are done and the sports pastor, Darren Coté, benches everybody. The players know that’s what we do on open gym basketball night. Pastor Darren or a sports intern (Anchor House student) will share briefly from God’s Word before the ball bounces again. So the banging Christafari reggae vibe turns off, players hydrate, and take a seat, but this night will be different. The gym pastor guy decides that the players will do the talking tonight by answering: what or who inspired you to pick up basketball and what are your thoughts on faith in God?
It was endearing to hear the guys share about how a family member, especially their dad, spent time teaching them basketball. Many ballers shared how their home life was not healthy growing up, so the neighborhood basketball became a safe, healing place. Moreover, it was encouraging to hear that through basketball, especially at the KCF gym. Many friends were made and laughs were shared over the years.
Regarding the question on faith, as expected a handful shared about their faith in Christ. This was a good exercise as it appeared this may have been the first time these Christian ballers shared their faith with the other gym rats. Beyond the two or three players who mentioned their alignment with another faith, most shared they had no faith, but were open to the concept.
The ball eventually bounced again that night, with plenty of 3-point shots, a couple of slam dunks, and even a black eye for the sports pastor, but his smile remained as the Good News of Jesus is slowly making a difference.
Sport is a universal language that can cross all social, racial, cultural, and religious barriers. It powerfully unites people in a language they can speak. It enables relationships to be built and provides a platform to better people’s lives. In the words of Nelson Mandela: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.” The KCF Sports Ministry understands the power and platform sports have and hopes to engage all people, no matter the age, with the gospel of Jesus Christ amid sweat and bouncing balls.
Out of these dozen players, there were a handful that loved Jesus and were just glad to have a court to work out and enjoy basketball. There were two or three Mormons that were pretty consistent, but the rest of them, the majority of them, were open to hearing about God but did not have any real faith or relationship with God. Various stories were shared of players growing up who knew a little bit about God but faith had not been important to them. Others had no clue and didn’t grow up with any faith but they’re open. A couple of players have shared that they appreciate the inspirational talks. One dad, who jumps into games with his two sons, encouraged me to keep
Hanging with Lucien
Written by Tony Leair
Isharing. It’s an arduous, hard, and long road this thing is called relational evangelism. It takes time to get to know these basketballers. It’s not an easy thing to stop all that exercise and all that competition and all that fun and have them sit down after a couple of games and give them a Bible story about Jesus and make an application for them to grab onto that their lives would be changed for eternity.
always find it fascinating to read through the Gospels and to consider what Jesus spent His time on. Was He concerned about social status, education, honoring His father and mother, His weight, His carpentry orders, and His friends? Did he have a favorite hobby or meal that he ate? The Gospels focus primarily on Jesus’s time of ministry and his major actions. Honestly, Jesus did things that mattered. Jesus did things that lasted. He invested in treasure that could not be stolen or broken down by moths and rust. He understood that people last longer than anything else in the Kingdom of God, and the way in which he invested His time throughout the day reflected on that.
Being a follower of Jesus, I like to take the words he says, and the actions he practiced seriously and invest in eternal things. It’s incredible to see when seeds begin to take root and grow.
I met Lucien three or four years ago when he came to church with his grandmother and asked about youth ministry. He had recently moved from the state of Washington and was looking to have some adventures and meet new people in his new home. We were excited to rope him into the adventures of KCF youth ministry and began getting to know him.
Lucien comes from a family where mom and dad are not present in his everyday life. His grandmother, Lois, adopted him and provides a stable and loving atmosphere at home. Lucien had been through a lot in not having much contact with his mom and dad and not knowing where some of his other siblings headed off to live.
There are lots of times when the nuclear family (mom, dad, kids) breaks down for teens, and I have a special spot in my heart for those who are in that kind of situation. In my reading through both the Old and New Testament, I believe God has a special place in his heart for those teens as well.
Lucien came to us knowing God, and he has grown like a weed since he has committed to being a part of the youth group community.
Countless of our volunteers and paid staff have invested in this young man, and the church has really gotten behind him in his efforts to go to Colorado, Tijuana, and even Japan with our church. He goes to a Christian school in Lihue, both North Shore and Southside youth groups, and has surrounded himself with a good group of friends who are interested in pursuing Christ as well.
Recently, Lucien and I have taken specific time outside of our normal chill time to get together and discuss life. Everything is on the table. We talk about how to be a better teen at home, how to cook, how to work a job, how to navigate his love life, what to pursue career-wise, and everything in between. It has been incredible to see Lucien’s growth.
We often talk as youth pastors about the old phrase “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.” We never say that phrase when talking about Lucien. He’s hungry and thirsty for God’s Word and the fruit is surrounding this young man as he continues to take in those truths.
My First Real Job
Written by Dean Smith
“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
Revelation 3:19-20 (NIV)
My first “real” job (you know the one when you’re getting paid by someone other than your mom, dad, aunty, uncle, or grandparent) was selling home cleaning and health care products door-to-door. You may remember the Fuller Brush Company. I endured a brief, but well-designed, training with orchestrated word tracks with the purpose of getting this young, enthusiastic peddler to open the resident’s screen door, just a crack, in order to give them their special, free gift for the month. As the unsuspecting victim, um, I mean buyer, opened the screen to grasp the spatula, bottle brush, or other treasure, I was well-versed in how to be invited into the home, sit down, and create a long list of items that would meet their home cleaning and health needs. At the end of the visit, the buyer looked forward to receiving the order in a few weeks and I walked out celebrating my earnings.
Fast forward many years to the present. There are few door-to-door sales any longer. People don’t really want strangers knocking on their doors, and in many neighborhoods, the strategy might even be dangerous. So, now our “doors” are largely media-based including TV, social media, email, etc. Also, there are people in your life knocking on your “door” trying to convince you of something, anything that they may have to offer. We are taught to not open the door to strangers, which could include anything or anybody that has nefarious intent. But, every day we unsuspectingly crack the door of our lives and souls to ungodly, unholy perspectives, products, people, and powers.
Revelation 3:19-20 has inspired many artists to creatively capture the image of Jesus knocking on our “doors.” The
longer passage was written to the church in Laodicea warning them harshly about the consequences of being “lukewarm” in their faith. Preaching on these verses often focuses on Jesus petitioning a person to let Him in so that they can fellowship together eternally. These are valuable messages we need to hear. However, my article today is to provide you with a practical strategy to keep all those bad things that knock on doors OUT! This is important because Jesus can’t come in if the house is full of “shtuff”!
First, be earnest and repent as verse 19 directs. Most of us like to clean the house before a guest arrives. Clean the junk out of the living room, kitchen, bedrooms, and even the corner of the closet where you’ve kept some things locked away too long. Unconfessed sin takes up space where you want Jesus to be. Second, read your Bible (just three minutes per day), pray (however/wherever/whenever you talk to God), worship, and surround yourself with other Christians. Your “house” will be so full of the Godly, holy things that when something, somebody comes knocking on your “door,” you won’t have room for the “shtuff.” In fact, you will be so full of what Christ provides that you will be equipped to step out of your home with purpose and power to do His will. God built us so that when we clean house, repent, and then fill ourselves with the Word, prayer, worship, and fellowship, we cannot open our doors and entertain the evil and ungodly vendors that claw at our doors.
“Knock, knock”
“Who’s there?
“Atch”
“Atch who?”
“God bless you!”
Now Go Change The World
Written by Rick Bundschuh
They arrived on Kauai a bug-eyed collection of young men and women, most fresh out of high school, from one end of the country to another, including a remote island near the Arctic Circle (with a batch of Canadians as well) and nine months later they packed their bags, wiping away tears, and headed into the world as agents of change.
They are the students from the 2023-24 school year at the Anchor House.
During each week they would have spent 17 hours in a classroom which meant exploring the books of Genesis, Leviticus, Romans, Colossians, Philemon, 1 Timothy, John, Job, Daniel, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Hosea, Ephesians, Psalms, Exodus, and Proverbs. They would have discovered Christ in the Old Testament, explored cults, science and faith, marriage, relationships, human sexuality, discipleship, apologetics, and missions. They
would have read classics such as Mere Christianity and The Great Divorce and would have learned how to teach the Bible to others so that it sticks.
Outside of class hours, they would have joined a ministry in the local church to learn skills by teaching kids and youth, leading worship, making podcasts, and producing videos.
In addition, huge lessons were learned in how to love and care for others…even if they are annoying, as these young people were living in a community together.
This hothouse of spiritual and social activity was designed for one specific purpose…to make world changers. Looking back at our second full year of the Anchor House School of the Bible, we can see how God plowed down the opposition we were experiencing from the county government who objected to people
“sleeping overnight” at our facility and how He even provided a rare alternative place for our students to bunk each night for the first couple of months of school until we could work our way through the labyrinth of bureaucracy and solve the issue.
We see the beautiful God-driven generosity from total strangers that allowed students who could never afford the experience to partake and the kind gifts that help us chip away at the mortgage we still owe on the building (which is thankfully the only debt the church has).
We see the outpouring of welcoming and aloha that came as our congregation embraced these newcomers and made them feel part of the family.
But most of all, we see young men and women maturing in their faith and growing in the confidence that Christ wants to and will live his resurrected life through them. We invite you to eavesdrop on what is going on at the
Anchor House by sitting in on lectures, in person or online (we record most of the lectures and post them on the Anchor House YouTube channel), or by checking out the Below Deck Podcast made by our students (www. youtube.com/@AnchorHousePodcast). And we invite you to come join us for a meal or even invite a crew of students over for a BBQ.
As a friend or member of our Kauai Christian Fellowship family, you are a valued part of helping us to create a generation of young men and women who are ready and raring to go out and change the world that God puts them in.
And thank you for your kind gifts that have allowed us to start a scholarship fund for future students who may struggle financially as well as helping us whittle down the mortgage on our facility.
I’m Picking a Fight
Written by Rick Bundschuh
Scottish Lord to William Wallace: “Where’re you going?”
Wallace: “To pick a fight!”
I have decided to go out and pick a fight. My opponent in the fight is huge, a Goliath who thinks he has already won the battle and sees any opposition as a mere bug that is easily crushed underfoot.
Who is it that I am willing to pick a fight with? Who is this deluded monster who is convinced the fight is over? - our current modern culture.
My goal is to take it down, to defeat it, to turn the tide of the battle. The big question one might ask is “How in the world to you plan to do that?” Here, in no particular order, is a portion of my battle strategy:
I want to out think it.
My goal is to help develop and attract people who know how to think well. People who are not easily rolled over by the shallow ideas and wacky arguments being posited by those in positions of influence, the media, or in what were formally places of higher education.
I want to gather a band of men and women who will ask hard questions of our culture, who will challenge the twisted logic, and who will demonstrate both by their intellectual rationality and the result of their lifestyle that the pathway of values, morals, and ideas designed by and pointing to our Creator makes the most sense for personal and human flourishing.
I want to raise up generation after generation of men and women who are great thinkers having sifted their thoughts through the purity of the precepts of God.
I
want to outperform it.
For every politician, bleeding heart activist or secular outfit that boasts about the good they have done for humanity via the millions of dollars spent...and for all the hoopla, most often barely moves the needle, I want to show what a band of caring Christians can do that gets ten times more in the way of results for a fraction of the cost of money, time and labor.
I want to show those whining about world poverty, the number of families from all over the globe that have, without fanfare, been lifted out of destitution because a church full of Christians on a small rock in the Pacific sponsor at least one child through Compassion International. Or those who now have a roof over their head because a group of Kauai teens spent a week in Tijuana building a house for them or the kids from the coffee fields in Central America who are now getting an education through the Omega Task, an outfit started by one of our former youth group crew.
I want to show how the drug problems on Kauai and the environment that creates it is being tackled far more effectively by the Keala Foundation than any government or combination of social aid programs. Again, a work created by one of our own KCF members. I want to point to the many adults whose life trajectory was changed for good because one of our youth workers snatched them out of the idiot circus when they were a teenager.
I
want to out thrive it.
I want to show those wrapped in modern culture that by following the teachings of Christ we “luddites” have a much better life than they will ever find by chasing the twisting and twisted thinking of the world.
I want to present to the dishonest and deceived world better, happier, and stronger families, better marriages, better sexual intimacy, and satisfaction.
I want to point to men who are strong, masculine, and
yet caring and women who can love deeply and who are competent and beautiful inside and out.
I want to show a community not driven by the pursuit of the dollar but one that is generous and satisfied to live smaller so others less fortunate can also thrive.
I want this community of Faith to show the world what creativity in music, art, story, film, humor, and imagination looks like and how it is encouraged and celebrated. I want to show that those who put our feet into the footprints of Jesus somehow inherit the creativity and imagination of the Creator and start telling better, more honest, and honorable stories than those being dreamed up in LaLa land.
And all of this is just for a start.
I have come to realize that in the culture in which I live, I
Kauai Christian Fellowship
2731 Ala Kinoiki
Koloa, Hawaii 96756
Henny Penny Revisited
Henny Penny had an inspiration. She decided that out of love and devotion to the Father of the farm yard she would bake a fine loaf of bread. (Bread baking was her strongest ability). Henny Penny assumed that the other animals in the farmyard would like to join her in serving their Father.
She found Ducky Lucky paddling around his pond. “I’m baking bread for the Father, would you like to help me harvest some wheat?” Lucky Ducky frowned, “I’m much too busy!” he replied. “I have my own business to attend to! “
And with that he paddled to the farthest corner of his pond.
“I will do it myself” said Henny Penny, and she wandered into the fields white unto harvest, and with some difficulty (for bread baking, not harvesting was her strongest ability) gathered as much wheat as she could carry.
Henny Penny struggled down the road until she met Turkey Lurkey. “Oh will you help me carry this wheat so we can make bread for the Father?”
“Not I ” said Turkey Lurkey. “My friends at the coop have invited me to a party and I can’t let them down.” And with that he scampered down the road.
With all the strength she could muster, Henny Penny plodded with her burden until she reached the door of her home. Resting on the porch, she noticed Cocky Locky strutting by.
“Cocky Locky”, she called, “Will you help me grind the
wheat to flour to make bread for the Father?”
“Silly Hen! I’m off to crow with my band!” said Cocky Locky, “My time is much too valuable to waste on baking bread for the Father!” And he turned and crowed down the road.
Henny Penny picked herself up and began to work. She ground, sifted, mixed and finally in the wee hours of the morning she pulled a magnificent loaf out of the oven.
Then with tears of weariness, she fell into bed. Before dawn the Father of the farmyard stood at the foot of Henny Penny’s bed. He gently scooped her up and took her to dwell with his family in honor, leaving only the sweet aroma of her gift of love.
In the same night, Ducky Lucky became a prize for the hunters. Turkey Lurkey became a poacher’s Christmas dinner. And Cocky Locky was carried off by wolves and devoured.
The harvest is truly plentiful, but the workers are few, pray to the Lord to send workers into His harvest.
