“In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return…to the Mighty God. Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return.” Isaiah 10:20-22

At the 2005 World Missions Jubilee, the Portland Church leadership believed that the time had come to begin calling a remnant of disciples to come together for God to use to evangelize the world in a generation. In response, disciples have moved to Portland from 24 different states, some church leaderships have asked for discipling, and several groups of disciples have left lukewarm churches to begin new congregations of sold-out disciples. Though there are sold-out congregations and disciples who are not aligned with Portland, our conviction is that in time God will pull us together. Our prayers are the same as Nehemiah prayed about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile,“Remember the instruction you [God] gave your servant Moses, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them.’” (Nehemiah 1:8-9) The following account is about disciples in two cities of the Hawaiian Islands, Hilo and Honolulu, who desire with all their hearts to be in discipling churches composed of only sold-out disciples.

I first visited Honolulu in 1983. At that time I asked a small group of Christians that were trying to practice discipling in one of the mainline churches to move to Boston to fully understand discipleship. Since the average mainline Church of Christ was 160 members with only eight baptisms a year (six of them were children of the members) we believed a new foundation needed to be built, if disciples were to multiply. Therefore, those that left the mainline Church of Christ dreamed to one day return to Honolulu to plant a new church of only sold-out disciples that would multiply disciples and churches throughout the Hawaiian Islands. One of our Portland elders, Bob Bertalot, was in that group in 1983 that moved to Boston! In the summer of 1989, the Holy Spirit sent out from the Boston Church the Honolulu Mission Team. At it’s zenith the Honolulu International Church of Christ reached 800 disciples with well over 1000 at services on Sundays! New church plantings were sent from Honolulu on the island of Oahu, to Kahului on the island of Maui and to Hilo on the Big Island. The Honolulu Church also sent a mission team to Guam, where our other elder and his wife, Tony and Therese Untalan were baptized!

Joan and Kyle Bartholomew with Elena McKean

Sadly with the forced resignations of the World Sector Leaders at the Long Beach Unity Meeting in November 2002 came autonomy in local congregations and a questioning of discipling. When the Kreite Letter hit the Islands in February 2003, for the most part discipling was abandoned, lukewarmness spread like gangrene, and hundreds of disciples either fell away from God or walked away from the church. The Honolulu Church today numbers only 250 members with just two full time ministers. There have been 10 people baptized the last three years. Likewise the Hilo Church peaked around 60 disciples, yet after Satan’s devastation weekly Sunday attendance has been around 40, including the kids. There have been no baptisms in 2006. The newly appointed minister for the Hilo Church, Kyle Bartholomew, had been listening to my sermons on UpSideDown21 for months. (Kyle was converted by Chris Teves off the campus of the University of Hawaii/Hilo in 2001. He was the captain of their basketball team.) Last month at the 2006 World Missions Jubilee in Portland, Kyle Bartholomew came to Portland for the first time. He was so enthusiastic about what he saw, he asked Elena and I to disciple him and his wife Joan. Plans were made for Elena and I to come to Hilo to rebuild the foundation of sold-out disciples. We arrived Thursday, September 14. That night Kyle and Joan shared that about a third of the congregation was against the new direction for the Hilo Church. Kyle also shared that outside evangelists had contacted this negative group two days before. Friday evening we met with the Ohana Group Leaders. (Ohana in Hawaiian means family.) At the meeting it was reaffirmed that the decision making couples for the Hilo Church were the Bartholomews, as the ministry couple, along with Jim and Ann Anderson and Robbie and Linda Robinson as the shepherding couples. (Jim is a professor of volcanology at the University of Hawaii/Hilo and Robbie retired from the Navy after 25 years as a Master Chief.) Also affirmed was that the Hilo Church would call every member to be a sold-out disciple and participate in all the worship services, a Bible Talk and in discipleship partner relationships. All of us realized that some members would leave, just as in Jesus’ ministry. (John 6:66, Mark 10:22)

Elena with Jim and Ann Anderson

Saturday night when I spoke to the Hilo Church, all of us were surprised by the unannounced presence of the Honolulu evangelist and one of their elders. Nevertheless, I told the “Portland Story” and preached about radically following Jesus. Interestingly, three others were present from Honolulu, yet they were extremely enthusiastic about the changes in Hilo. The three were Chris Teves and Joe and Mary Santos. Chris served as the lead minister in Hilo and Maui as well as serving as the overseeing minister for Guam. He and his wife Fran were asked to leave the ministry due to a lack of funds when the Honolulu Church crashed in 2003. Joe and Mary also served in the ministry for four years in San Francisco and Honolulu. They too were released from the ministry because of finances in 2003.

Sunday, we did not know what to expect. The Honolulu elders and evangelist met at a separate location with the dissident group. However, the Hilo Church had an incredible service! We had several visitors and an attendance of 51, the highest in a long time. Sunday I preached a lesson entitled, “God Is On Our Side.” The key Scripture was Joshua 5:13-15. Here Joshua unknowingly confronts the angel of God. He asks, “Are you for us or our enemies?” The angel answers, “Neither. But as the commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” I simply made the point that I was not calling people to be on “Portland’s side,” but to obey the Word and be on God’s side.

Pictured with Elena is Joe and Mary Santos (left) and Chris Teves (right) of Honolulu, each holding their children.

As of Sunday, the Hilo International Church of Christ has 16 sold-out disciple members. The leadership team of the Bartholomews, Andersons and Robinsons have a common zeal and vision to evangelize the Big Island joining with the Portland disciples to evangelize the world in this generation. Excitingly, decided Sunday afternoon was that a new congregation of sold-out disciples would start in Honolulu Sunday, September 24. This new congregation will be called the Honolulu International Christian Church. It will be led by Chris Teves and Joe Santos!

God is gathering His remnant from the “farthest horizon.” In Hilo, the existing church leadership has called its membership to the radical commitment they made at baptism, “to do anything, go anywhere, give up everything for Christ.” In Honolulu, two ministers (at this point making tents) have the guts to start again and plant a new congregation of sold-out disciples that will gather the remnant in Honolulu. This is the true tale of two cities. And to God be the glory!

Kip McKean