On the north end of the island of Hawaii, better known as the Big Island, is the Kohala Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is a small church, with a membership of less than 100. In days past, the towns of Hawi and its sister village Kapaau were once bustling sugar cane growing and processing communities. However, the sugar cane companies and the vast fields of cane have long since gone, leaving behind an area that is rich in beauty, but poor as a community.
The church is a mixing pot of ethnicities, reminiscent of the waves of plantation workers who came to work the sugar cane fields: Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, Hawaiian, Samoan, caucasian and mixtures of almost every race. The most notable thing that this church supports is its school.
Kohala Mission School started small in 1975. Enrollment has grown to 53 children in grades K-8. It is a true mission school with less than eight percent of students coming from Adventist homes.
The school operates with three classrooms, three teachers and an aide/bus driver. Tuition is kept as low as possible so that as many from the community can attend KMS and obtain a high quality Christian education. Even then, approximately 80 percent of the students are subsidized. A number of years ago, a small, used 21-passenger school bus was purchased to help transport students from their communities.
A year ago, it became obvious that the school needed a new bus. The radiator and transmission were leaking, brakes and u-joints were nearing the end of their wear, it was becoming a burden on the finances of the school, and there was a growing concern for the safety of the students.
Head elder Dale Trefz spearheaded a fundraising appeal. Grant requests went to several different organizations, but none came through. However, after one church member’s appeal in their annual Christmas card, a sizeable donation kicked off the fund raising efforts. From there, a weekly appeal to members and visitors resulted in steady growth of the fund.
In December 2007, with one week of school before the holidays, the old bus broke down once again. At this point, the church decided to step forward in faith, and after much praying, the last bit of money to buy the new bus came in. That left only the $5,500 needed to cover shipping the bus to Hawaii.
During this time, church member Ken Benoit had been researching buses and found just the right one for Kohala Mission School. “It was perfect for the school — a brand new 2005 28-passenger GMC school bus just waiting in a sales lot in California for us,” said Benoit.
Members bought the bus and arranged for shipment to Hawaii. A Christmas Eve sailing date would bring the bus just in time for the spring semester. Much to their dismay the shipping company said that boat was too full to carry the bus; they next one wouldn't leave until Jan. 7. Once again, church members' prayers were answered. The sales company delivered the bus to the docks and the shipper made space for the Dec. 24 departure.
On Dec. 31, the bus arrived on the Big Island. In route to pick it up, Roy Carley and Dale Trefz discovered they would need another $2,000 to pay state sales taxes. They would have to return another day.
Trefz returned to the state tax office with the shipping invoice in hand, ready to pay the taxes when a friendly clerk looked over the paperwork and noticed the bus was a 2005 model — not a 2007. Because it wasn’t a “new” vehicle, no taxes were due.
“I can’t tell you how many times I felt like a doubting-Thomas,” said Trefz. “But the Lord revealed miracle upon miracle to us.” The church remains convinced that the Lord had reserved that bus, built almost three years ago, yet still brand new, especially for the Kohala Mission School.
“The Lord wouldn’t have given us a miracle bus if He didn’t intend for us to continue operating,” says Pastor Roland Geyrozaga. And so the Kohala church continues to support school as it serves the children of Kohala.
