7 – 3 – 2023
Hey friends! This past month has been packed with so much! I’m so excited to share some of the awesome ministry highlights I’ve had the privilege of being a part of and also what the Lord has been putting on my heart for this new season I’ve transitioned into. Thank you for sticking around and following me along the journey! 🙂Â
The last month of the School of Worship that I staffed was an absolute ride. Our topics for the first three weeks were on Leadership, Practicals and Worship & Evangelism with our last week being our class debrief time where we got to reflect on the quarter, have some really sweet family moments and commission our outreach team as school.
A major highlight for me was our Practicals Week. We spent each day visiting a different venue and gave our students hands-on practice with leading on real stages with a full band, in-ears, a click track and MD (music director). Giving our students this experience I think really shifted their perspective on what it looks like to lead worship in large corporate settings with a full band. There’s a lot of moving parts that anyone who isn’t onstage wouldn’t notice or know about but as leaders we have to be aware and have a level of excellence in order to lead a room well. I think that overall the week was a humbling experience in a way of revealing areas of weakness as encouragement to work towards excellence. As challenging as it was for some of our students there were so many moments of fun and joy throughout the week that really brought us together as a school which was really special. Another very cool part of this week was that each songwriting group got to workshop one of their original songs with a full band. It was so cool to coach them and watch what they created come to life as they practiced through it with other experienced musicians.
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A major highlight for me personally was being asked to lead worship for a couple of our campus events. On the first night I was asked by one of my leaders to sing the Hawaiian Doxology during the set. At first I was hesitant because I don’t know the Hawaiian language enough to lead a room full of people in it but I felt a pull from the Lord to do it so I took some time to learn the words. Throughout the entire set I felt so much peace from the Lord that when it came time for me to lead out there was no hesitation and no fear and as I sang it was like a wave of reverence and awe fell over the room. I remember standing on stage as I was singing and hearing the Lord minister to my heart through the Hawaiian language. In that moment I learned that the Lord is most honored when we worship him from a place of our most authentic heart language. The longer I spend time in missions the more I’m learning about different cultures and how God deposits specific pieces of his nature and character into each one and when we tap into the original design of our own cultures in expressions of love and adoration towards him, there is power and authority that shifts atmospheres that we get to enter into. I don’t tell this story to put a spotlight on myself but rather to share this small heart piece that our expression of giving glory and honor to God was never created to look like one thing. By singing a simple chorus in a language that is directly connected to my cultural heritage I was able to witness first hand the spiritual and physical shift that occurred both within myself and the room that I was leading.Â
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My third and final highlight of this past month was being able to teach and coach my production students through recording and producing their first song. For context, this quarter I had the honor and privilege of being one of the main coaches for our second level production classes where a mentor and I went deeper into teaching the theory and practicals of studio production. The final project for the class is to record and produce an original song performed by one of the student bands in the school.Â
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| Up above are some pictures of the band, the recording process and a group picture of all of my students who were involved in the project including myself. We had so much fun working on this project together and throughout the whole process I was able to watch my students fall in love with production. Empowering these guys to co create with the Lord and helping them to release their specific expressions of creativity was the biggest highlight from this whole school for me. Once we had finally finished the project, they got to present the song at our graduation ceremony. I am so excited to announce that the song will be getting released onto streaming platforms through the School of Worship! Currently, I am working on mixing and tightening some loose ends on it before its official release but we’re hoping to have it out in August so keep an eye out!! |
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| What’s Next?This season of staffing has been one of the most special experiences I’ve been able to be part of. As it has come to an end and as I’ve had more time to reflect on it, the more grateful and excited I am to continue on! The Lord has deeply marked me for training and equipping alongside such an amazing community of people who have extraordinary giftings but even greater servant hearts that are unto the multiplication of disciples and leaders who are empowered by the love of Christ and the message of the gospel. I think it’s safe to say that I have the best job in the world! 🙂 For those of you who don’t know already I am officially home for the summer! These past few days of being home have been filled with a lot of settling in, readjusting and preparing/praying into what these next two months will look like. Before coming home I felt from the Lord to not get a job and to focus heavily on building my long term partnership team and serving as much as I can in the local church. As I’ve said in my previous newsletters, I am committed long term to staffing with the School of Worship in Kona so during this ‘off-season’ I have to make sure I have sustainable funds for living and doing full time ministry in Kona. Currently, I am praying and looking for off campus housing and personal transportation both of which I have to have secured before heading back to the island in September. It’s daunting to be saving up money without having a job but I have faith that as I step out in obedience in the things that the Lord is calling me to in this season he will provide! |
| That’s All For Now! Thank you for all of your continual prayers and support! I’m so excited to see what the Lord has in store next! As always please don’t hesitate to reach out, I’d love to connect with you especially while I’m back in the area! Mahalo & Blessings! Kalani 🙂 |