Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 5, 1 May 2012 — New book offers insight into Kalaupapa churches [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

New book offers insight into Kalaupapa churches

By Valerie Monson Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit organization dedicated to remembering everyone who was sent to Kalaupapa, has published Adjourned with a Prayer, a book based on the minutes kept by the congregations of Siloama and Kana'ana Hou churches from 1866 to 1928. Siloama Church, a member of the United Church of Christ, was the first church organized and built at Kalawao, the original settlement on the Kalaupapa peninsula where people with leprosy were sent beginning on Jan. 6, 1866. Barely six months after the first people arrived, 35 men and women eame together to form the Siloama congregation. A branch of Siloama was established on the Kalaupapa side of the peninsula in 1878. This branch later heeame Kana'ana Hou Church, built in 1915. The minutes were kept in Hawaiian and recorded in a ledger that heeame lost sometime after the last entry in 1928. Ten years later, while cleaning the Siloama churchyard for a wedding, the Rev. Aliee Kahokuoluna discovered a vault beneath the building, where the ledger was found. The minutes were still legible and were translated into English by the Rev. Henry Judd in the mid1940s. Judd also copied down the names of hundreds of members of Siloama. For reasons that are unknown, there is a large gap of the minutes between 1894 and 1927. Moloka'i resident Timmy Leong was moved to tears when he found the name of his kupuna Kaho'oilimoku in the book.

"Finding this book was like finding a time capsule," he said. "It felt like an old dusty window

had been opened offering a fresh glimpse into the past." The churches' 16 secretaries throughout the years are credited as the book's authors. Ka 'Ohana o Kalaupapa historian Anwei Law edited the minutes and provided additional text with quotes from current or recent Kalaupapa residents. Carol Silva provided additional translation. The 200page book also includes historical photographs and more recent photos of residents and family members with connections to the churches. Cost for the book is $20. Shipping is $6 for up to two books, or starting at $3 per book for slower delivery, taking up to six weeks. To order a copy, send a eheek to the Hawai'i Conference United Church of Christ, 1848 Nu'uanu Ave., Honolulu, HI 96817. To piek up a book on O'ahu, eall 537-9516. Books are also available online at kalaupapaohana. org. ■ Valerie Monson is the eoonlinatorfor Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa.