In 1819, inspired and encouraged by the dramatic testimony and conversion of native Hawaiian Henry Obookiah, the first missionaries set sail from Boston for the Hawaiian Islands. Among them were seven Massachusetts couples, four recently married. Because the Boston-based American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions (ABCFM), which sponsored the Hawaiian mission, initially required all missionaries to be married, some serious matchmaking was required. In the month before they were to sail, four weddings took place. In each case, the newlyweds had not known each other before they heard of the proposed mission, but all were committed to the cause and confident their matches were the result of divine intervention.
Their family, friends, and supporters knew it was unlikely they would ever see their loved ones again. At the end of their 18,000-mile journey, the missionaries were expected to become permanent residents of Hawaii -- required to give up their U.S. citizenship to settle there. The Missionaries sold all that they possessed, farms, homes, and their future in America. They made a solemn commitment to God and each other to spend the rest of their lives serving the Hawaiian people. Yet, they also needed the approval of Hawaiian King Kamehameha and the Kapu Priests (who would not welcome their presence).
On the morning of March 30th, 1820 the missionaries saw Hawaii for the first time. Upon arrival, the captain of the ship sent a small rowboat to find out the whereabouts of King Kamehameha and the state of his kingdom. One disapproving word from the King and the mission would be over before it had begun. Finally, the boat returned with this information: "Kamehameha is dead; his son Liholiho is king; the tabus and kapus are abolished; the images are burned; the temples are destroyed. There has been war. Now there is peace."
It was obvious to the missionaries that God had prepared the way for them. The great Hawaiian miracle had taken place -- all of the obstacles that could have prevented the Gospel from being preached had been removed. Even Hewahewa the highest Kahuna (priest) and direct descendant of Paau, the original Kahuna from Tahiti declared: "I knew the wooden images of deities, carved by our own hands, could not supply our wants but worshiped them because it was a custom of our fathers. My thoughts have always been, there is only one great God, dwelling in the heavens." Hewahewa also prophesied that a new God was coming and he went to Kawaihae to wait for the new God -- at the very spot where the missionaries first landed.
The Lord led me to share the account of these young people, some of whom were still in their teens, who joyfully gave their lives to serve Jesus. They laid the foundation for the greatest harvest since Pentecost (more people were won to Jesus per capita). I never get tired of hearing their story. They produced fruit.
Our experience can be just as wonderful, incredible, and inspiring if we too live a life fully submitted to the will of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
These students were caught up in revival, both at home and in college. The missionary movement had touched them -- through their pastors, in some cases their parents, through printed sermons and periodicals, and through their classmates. Individual aspirations became a group commitment. They were united in prayer and thought, all of which resulted in a lifetime commitment to foreign missions. They made a decision early in life to serve God.
Amazing things await those who are fully consecrated to the Lord.
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