KS envisions its learners to be grounded in Christian and Hawaiian values. To celebrate the coming of Christmas, nā kahu o Kamehameha have created Hawaiian-focused Advent devotionals for haumāna and others to follow and share.

Christmas time is right around the corner and I am still in a daze as I try to figure out where the time has gone. It seems like we should have another month before we escort in this year’s yuletide season, but if you ask my children about wanting more time between now and Christmas they would outvote me and say, “The sooner the better!” Which brings me to my own understanding of the Advent season and what the season brings us.  For the most part, we should be aware of the Christmas story which tells of the coming of Christ as a little infant born to the Virgin Mary.

Yet, there is another Advent that we are privy to look forward to and this one is going to be transformational and sensational – The Return of the King! No, not the J.R. Tolkien book-turned-movie, but the real return of our Lord and Savior, our King above all kings, Jesus Christ, this is the Second Advent and the one that continues to give us hope for today and peace for tomorrow!

Don’t get me wrong, I love this season of the Christmas stories and I personally love the way my ʻohana chooses to gather at our home in Kona to celebrate throughout the week leading up to Christmas Day. I look forward to joyfully singing amazing Christmas songs on Christmas Eve with the throngs of people that we find it hard to leave Candle Light Worship Services each year. The list of delight-filled happenings that occur during this season of celebrating the First Advent of Christ Jesus seems endless.

However, the older I get, the more I anticipate the “Return of our King!” Why, do you ask? This is the part that I love to explain to people because it is so like our Lord to save all who have come to a loving and trusting relationship with Jesus. You see before the Second Coming is the Rapture where Jesus calls his own from the heavens to meet with him in the sky. We are raised up and we are gone until we return with our King to be at His side to finally conquer the evil one. The warrior spirit within me knows that I am riding with the entire Christ culture to assured victory and that my King, your King, our Ke Aliʻi o nā aliʻi goes before us and secures the triumph as we ride with Him.

The message of the first coming of Jesus was meant to have a global impact. Even Magi from the east came to seek out the baby Jesus. This prophetic communiqué was established by God’s breathe through the four winds calling out to all who paid attention of an announcement of the coming of a divine Holy Child of God who would bring everlasting peace.  Those same four winds now bring a refreshing message of hope that has been set into motion a domino effect of Christ’s ultimate salvation for all who believe in Him, the Light of the world. For me personally, when it comes to Christ’s second coming, the sooner the better!

Advent is a time when we at Kamehameha Schools honor our Christian heritage, a tradition that our princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop took firm hold of in hopes of passing a message of truth, of hope and aloha to her people, and usher in the remembrance of the historic coming of our infant King into this world.  As we wait earnestly for Christ to be re-birthed into our hearts we are called to remember the importance of our beloved Pauahiʻs belief in Jesus.

The prophecies that foretold of Jesus’ arrival were astonishing and the stories of his humble beginnings of being born in a stable in Bethlehem rejuvenate our faith and hope stirring up fond memories of past Christmas gatherings with our ʻohana. The true blessing of Advent is the promise that Jesus is alive deep within us. Appropriately, we are also preparing for Christ’s Second Advent and so let us open our hearts and our minds to this year’s advent devotionals for our Kamehameha Schools ʻohana and let us consider the calling of Jesus Christ, God’s chosen Ruler of Peace and the Light of the World, who brings God’s Spirit, and God’s Joy.

This year we are utilizing The United Church of Christ Advent themes – “From The Four Winds,” “From Valleys to Mountains,” “From Tears to Rejoicing,” and “From Darkness to Light – and presenting them in our own special way.

Advent Week 1 Intro Mele — “Ke Akua Mana E: How Great Thou Art”

This wikīo hīmeni – video hymn – sung by KS Hawai‘i Kahu Kaunaloa Boshard and produced by Electronic Media Kumu Nader Shehata – culminates with, “Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, How great Thou art, how great Thou art. He nani nō, he nani nō. He nani nō, he nani nō.” The hīmeni is part of the intro to KS’ Advent Week 1 devotional. If you are unable to view this video, please try a different browser.

Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi Kahu Kaunaloa Bochard shares this first Advent devotional – “Mai nā Makani ʻEhā: From the Four Winds,” which stirs memories of Kona Christmases with his ‘ohana: son Loheau, wife KSH Elementary School Kumu Hālani Boshard, and son Ioane.

Nā kahu o Kamehameha – Brian Boshard, Sherman Thompson and Kalani Wong – gathered here with new KS Trustee Elliot Mills (in blue), created weekly Hawaiian-focused Advent devotionals to celebrate the coming of Christmas.

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