An Evening with Christ

Friday is the night, Wahiawa is the place, the Holy Spirit is the power

By Joshua Varde Laguna | Special to the Herald

Catholics from Honolulu to Waialua, ages seven to 97, gathered at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Wahiawa on Feb. 25 to spend an evening with Christ. Their host: the parish’s Young Adult Ministry.

The event was the second in a praise and worship series begun in January called “An Evening with Christ,” sponsored by the young parishioners on the last Friday of the month at 7 p.m.

Each month the hosts welcome a new group to the Wahiawa church on California Avenue to lead an evening of praise and worship through music and testimonies.

The Our Lady of Sorrows Young Adult Choir led the inaugural evening on Jan. 28. Parishioners from the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, Immaculate Conception in Ewa, St. John Apostle and Evangelist in Mililani and St. Michael in Waialua spent the evening praising and worshiping Our Saving Lord. Also present were members of the Grace Bible Christian Church.

“The night was filled with the Holy Spirit,” said Lani Varde, a member of the Our Lady of Sorrows pastoral council.

The series’ February edition brought new faces and a new sound to Wahiawa. The music was a collaboration of youth and young adults from Immaculate Conception Church and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Ewa Beach.

Our Lady of Sorrows music minister and young adult, Kainoa Fukumoto said, “It was great to see our brothers and sisters from all over the island in our home parish.”

Our Lady of Sorrows youth minister Annette Anduha was happy to meet the youth ministers from Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Inspirational music, like “Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord” and “Lean on Me,” together with heartfelt testimonies the youth could relate to, expressed the true lesson of the night — to always rely on God.

The praise and worship was followed by pizza and fellowship in the parish hall.

“There were people from OLS, ICC, OLPH, and St. Joseph’s at my table,” said Our Lady of Sorrows pastoral council member and young adult Roslyn Pascua. “This is good!”

The fellowship was a great opportunity for collaboration between groups and networking of the young adult ministries, a chance for the ministries to grow and learn from each other.

The evening lasted until 9:30 when everyone went their separate ways.

Worship leader Derrick Alcayde was amazed at the youthful participation on a Friday night.

“I see all of these young people here and you could be anywhere else but here,” he said, “but you decided to come here and spend the evening with Christ.”

And that’s exactly what they did, spend the evening with Christ.

“An Evening with Christ” returns at 7 p.m. on March 25 with a Lenten edition and a “living” Stations of the Cross led by the youth and young adults of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish.

The praise and worship resumes in April with music led by groups from St. Elizabeth Parish in Aiea and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish.

More information can be found at YAM.OLSWahiawa.org