Ohana - Help!

“In this team we are Ohana- Ohana means family. In a family nobody gets left behind and no one is forgotten,” came the tiny voice of a PLAY camper describing her team after a difficult challenge.

PLAY camp is all about forging family, overcoming obstacles together, feeling safe stepping outside of our comfort zone as individuals because we know our team has got our back.

So why do I personally keep failing to learn this lesson over and over again? I just read my last blog where I go on and on about starting my own nonprofit from scratch and how it’s like walking a tight rope with no safety net. What a bunch of malarkey!

Hands upheld for a Trust Fall
I stepped outside my comfort zone five years ago to start PLAY because I felt safe doing so knowing I was not alone. Hundreds of people encouraged me and donated the financial support to make it happen. Over the years, many have come overseas to serve, many have come alongside locally, and always always ALWAYS people have been there with hands upheld to stop PLAY from falling. The PLAY ohana (family) has woven a strong net underneath this ministry that has kept it going for 5 years and 20 camps! Over 1000 children have had a life-changing experience thanks to you.

Forgive me for the self-centered drivel that was my last blog. I am no lone tight rope walker. When I feel that way, I am forgetting my ohana. When I crumble under the anxiety of having zero dollars in the bank and no way to pay for the next camp, I am forgetting my ohana.

There is a challenge at camp where campers must get their whole team to the other side by stepping from pole to pole. If one person falls, the whole team must start over. I have watched this challenge so many times and chuckle at the inability of the kids to ask for help when it seems so obvious. Campers starts to wobble; they lean and scream and finally let themselves fall. They had teammates that could support them if they would just say Help but instead they try to do it on their own and fall. I chuckle, yet I do the same thing! Why is it still so hard for me to say Help?

Ohana – Help! PLAY is wobbling. We have had an amazing year already, pulling off three camps in four months – April, June and July. Check out our first newsletter PLAY Time. But just like my last blog, we are now at that point in the year where we can’t pay for camp #4 with zero dollars in the bank. We have 8 weeks to raise $8000 to pay for October camp. Ohana – Help!

One of our adventures at camp is a hike up a mountain with a beautiful view overlooking a gorge. At the top, the campers are asked to choose something in nature that represents themselves and explain why. I am always blown away by the profound statements that come out of the mouths of these children:

"I am the wind that blows on these trees and they drop a seed that goes on the ground and produces other trees, then the forest grows. I want to spread the word of God in the same way."

“I am the gap in the gorge, the space between the two cliffs, because I am open. Open to what God wants for my life.”

But one boy broke our hearts when we heard this on the first day, “I am that dying tree clinging onto the side of the cliff. Because I am just hanging on and I don’t care.” Over the next few days, he came alive. We watched him start slowly by offering ideas to help his team succeed, to laughing and playing together, to finally going all out on personal challenges for the sake of his team. By the end of the week, he received the Final Wing-giver award from his team for his positive spirit.

Right now, PLAY is a dying tree clinging onto the side of a cliff and we are hanging on for dear life! And just like that precious boy, I now know I am not alone. I thank all of you for being my Wing-givers, my ohana, over the last five years. Look at the tree you have produced….

The PLAY family tree - a thumbprint of every camper - over 1000 leaves!

My editor (a.k.a. husband) wanted to know what language Ohana was. I thought Tswana, one of the eleven official South African languages. He thought Moana, as in the movie. I laughed at him so he googled it. We were both wrong, but he was closer (shhhh, don’t tell him I said that). Ohana is Hawaiian and the PLAY camper was quoting a line from the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch! 

Tswana/Moana/Ohana – the concept still applies: 
Ohana – Help!

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