By Alfred Acenas
EBC Hawaii Bureau
OAHU, Hawaii (Eagle News) – The Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) in Hawaii held its latest outreach and missionary event aimed to feed the hungry and needy throughout the State while introducing guests to the global church.
Held in Kapolei Regional Park on the western side of Oahu Island, the first part of the event consisted of food donations. Members of the Church and their guests arrived with boxes of canned goods, bags of rice, dried noodles, and other items. Their donations were then placed on pallets provided for each of the local congregations of the Church.
After registration, the participants took part in a warm-up activity led by Church members who were also certified professional trainers. The main event kicked off with a walk for 2.1 miles (3.4 kilometers) around the park and along the streets of the booming town of Kapolei. Even the very young and the young at heart took part in this cause. Many jumped for joy and even took photos and videos of themselves after having crossed the finish line.
Later that Saturday morning, Brother Virginio Ramillo II, the district minister of the Hawaii-Pacific region of the Church, officially presented all the donations to Brianna Murray who represented Aloha Harvest, a non-profit organization that collects donated food and delivers it to various communities and social service agencies in order to feed the hungry throughout Hawaii.
By the end of the event, a record-breaking amount of 6,600 pounds (nearly 3,000 kilograms) had been donated, an amount that, as Aloha Harvest described, takes about 3 days to accumulate. The Church of Christ did it in just 4 hours. Aloha Harvest expressed much appreciation for this accomplishment. Distinguished visitors like State Senator Will Espero and Honolulu City Councilor Brandon Elefante were also present to observe the event and to express their gratitude to the Church.
After loading up all the pallets of food, Aloha Harvest will distribute them to various communities around Oahu Island.
Since the establishment of its first congregation on July 27, 1968, the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) in Hawaii has forged and maintained strong relations with communities, as well as government and non-government organizations, in order to reach out and help those in need.
(Eagle News Service)