[ RELIGION ]
About 50 teens from Episcopal churches on Oahu and in Boston donated their time Thursday to clean up an area in the Waimea Valley Audubon Center (formerly Waimea Falls Park). Among them were Jaynah Gonzaga, left, Alex Zook and John Kline, who cleared out invasive plants.
Cleaning up
CreationYouths from four Episcopal churches
help clean up Waimea Falls Park
Boston pastor Steven Bonsey spoke about "exercising our stewardship of God's creation."
Waimea Falls Park botanist David Orr called it "getting the biomass out of here."
For two dozen teenagers, that translated into hard work. A jungle-clearing effort Thursday left them sweaty, muddy, mosquito-bitten and deeply satisfied because they could see the result of their labor on a hillside in the North Shore botanical park.
Youths from four Episcopal churches took up saws, shovels and rakes for a morning of work that met the common goals of their youth group leaders.
For youngsters from Church of the Redeemer and St. Stephen's Church, both in Boston, it fulfilled the "mission" element of their week-long visit to Oahu. Earlier, the Boston group did weeding at Puu Kapolei, a Hawaiian civic club landscaping project.
"We have the custom of a mission trip each year," said Bonsey, rector of Church of the Redeemer. "It involves some component of service and getting to know another culture" in addition to Bible lessons and prayer.
Hawaii was selected as the destination this year because of Bonsey's connection. He grew up here and served as rector at St. Clement's Episcopal Church in Makiki for five years until 2000.
There is also a community-service tradition in the youth group at St. John-by-the-Sea Church in Kahaluu. Coordinator Dawn Yadao organized this volunteer effort for her young gang who have weeded, planted and fed the poor. A veteran of similar projects going back to her childhood on Cape Cod with an Episcopal priest for a father, Yadao said, "Kids are really interested in service projects, and they have so much energy, it makes me energized."
Ryan Yadao, 12, was out of earshot of his parent when he chimed in with his view.
"We did this Waipahu marsh cleanup, got into black water to pull stuff up," Ryan said. "This is harder -- the roots are deeper."
He likes to "basically help the community," he said. "And it teaches me self-discipline. I can't just duck out of it when I want."
Teen volunteers Jared Coffin, left, and Matt Cooney, both from Church of the Redeemer in Boston, cleared out invasive plants Thursday as part of the church's annual mission trip, which brought them to Oahu this year.
The Rev. Patton Boyle, of St. John's, said: "Christianity is about training people to be servants. It doesn't come naturally; it's hard sometimes. A church isn't there to serve itself, but to serve others. Not everyone discovers it, but when they do, it is fulfilling."
It was a start-up project for young members of the new St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Makakilo.
"This is a good first step for us," said youth coordinator Moani Miller, who spent the morning hauling loads of branches down from the steep slope.
Emily Forse, 15, of Church of the Redeemer, matched Miller in trips up and down the path. "For the last two years, we went to Puerto Rico to paint a church, San Juan the Apostle," Emily said. "That was good exercise, too."
There was an element of competition when Bostonians Alex Zook, 17, and Jared Coffin, 17, took saws to a thicket of 20-foot-tall haole koa.
"It felt good because one, we worked hard, and two, we're doing some good," Zook said.
"And three, we got to use sharp tools," Coffin said to a chorus of laughter.
"It's a good feeling, helping people, however you can do it," said Irvin Collymore, 19, whose St. Stephen's group regularly organizes food distribution to the homeless.
The three worked at the top of a steep slope and generated such a load of heavy green chop that they were dubbed the "Rambo team" by folks downslope.
Four heaping pickup truckloads of rubbish were hauled to the mulching ground.
What was left behind was a better view of a red-blossomed wiliwili tree and dozens of other trees of the erythrina genus, or classification, from tropical countries in Africa and Asia.
"This is a unique collection," Orr told the young crew. The botanical program coordinator said there are 208 plants representing 85 percent of all known species of erythrina. Many of them are still smothered by the growth of California grass and koa, awaiting the attention of other volunteers.
During the first year that the Audubon Society has managed the park, volunteers have logged 7,241 hours of work similar to the teens', said Kelly Perry, volunteer coordinator. If anyone wants to join their ranks, call Perry at 638-9199.
The Rev. Judith Stuart, of Church of the Redeemer, said the day's work fit into the theme of the week-long youth camp at the church's Mokuleia facility. "We are looking at our relationship with God, with creation and with one another."
Or as Andrew Grandin, 15, of Church of the Redeemer, put it, "You get to be with friends and get stuff done, and you feel good about it."
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