ST. JOHN'S KULA: 2024 FOUNDER'S DAY CELEBRATION
By Cindy Schumacher, Regional Reporter

​[June 27, 2024]  ​On Saturday, June 22, 2024, with approximately 140 attendees (the largest number ever!), St. John’s Kula members and friends served up a delicious Chinese feast in honor of the church’s founder, the Rev. Shim Yin Chin, his wife Mrs. Kui Kyau Shim, and family. The evening, celebrating St. John’s 124-year history, began with a menu prepared by Sarah Shim, which included lychee chicken, sweet and sour shrimp, braised pork with chestnuts, En Pin’s chow mein, rice, mandarin salad, dessert, and Chinese tea.

Earlier in the evening, the founders were also commemorated during an hour-long tour of St. John’s special building features and a history presentation by former St. John’s rector, the Rev. Heather Mueller. (Pictured below: Sarah Shim with the Revs. Heather Mueller and George Wong; Shim with Di Jiang; members serve up a delicious feast)

“The first Founders’ Day occurred in June 1982, the year that I began my ministry at St. John’s, and the tradition has continued every year with great success,” said Mueller. “Looking back to what life was like is always interesting. The problems of life experienced in each decade, though different, still are much the same. Nonetheless, I have always believed that our lives and accomplishments are all built upon the foundations of our predecessors. We remember them with deep respect and appreciation. It is right to honor all those who have laid their footsteps across the threshold of this holy place. We are so grateful!”

St. John’s Priest-in-Charge, the Rev. George C. Wong, said, “Reverend Shim Yin Chin and family represent everything one would want in a founding family of a church community: faithfulness, perseverance, vision and deep compassion for their flock. Given the fact that Reverend Shim boarded a ship, and at that time basically came to the other side of the world, to serve other people, I have a great admiration for him and his family. In a very compassionate way, he walked amongst the people to bear their concerns like Jesus did. Their legacy is the good ground upon which St. John’s has thrived for 124 years and, God willing, will continue to thrive.”

St. John’s Church Administrator Janet Makua added, “I feel it is important to remember and honor our founders because St. John’s, this beautiful, spiritual place loved by so many, would not exist were it not for the sacrifices they made.”

​HOW IT STARTED - The year was 1899 when Shim Mook of Kula wrote to his people in China to ask them to send a teacher for the Chinese children of Kula. Father Shim, who had been ordained as a Lutheran minister in China, came to Hawai'i at the age of thirty-one at the urging of his friend and former classmate Kong Yin Tet, Vicar of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Honolulu. He courageously left his wife and children behind, journeying far to meet his new calling.

Fr. Shim arrived in Kula with no land or buildings to support his work. He knew only that a large number of his fellow countrymen had settled there and were in need of Christian ministry. He established the congregation in response to the desire of Chinese farmers, the primary inhabitants of Keokea at the turn of the twentieth century, to learn more about Christianity. He was accepted into the Anglican Church by Bishop Willis. On November 11, 1900, Fr. Shim presented Bishop Willis with candidates for confirmation and baptism, making them the first members of St. John’s Mission.

Construction on the structure that still serves St. John’s congregation started in 1906 and was completed in 1907. Materials for the wood frame building were floated off a boat at the Makena Landing in South Maui and transported by horse-drawn carts uphill to the church’s 3,000-foot elevation in Keokea. The $2000 required for the job was raised by Father Shim from friends on Maui, and St. Peter’s Church in Honolulu. At that time, the building served as both a church and a Chinese language school. For classroom sessions, sliding doors shut off the chancel, and each pew could be changed into a desk by raising a leaf attached to the back of the next pew.

Father Shim was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood by Bishop Restarick at St. Andrew’s Cathedral on July 4, 1909. After addressing the Women’s Auxiliary, he was given Eucharistic vessels, a bell to call the people to worship, and a horse to enable him to visit his parishioners up and down the slopes of the Haleakala mountain. With God all things are possible!

After dinner, master of ceremonies Brian Moto introduced the Chinese entertainment coordinated by Sarah Shim. Pictured above, the attendees stood to sing "Sandalwood Hills" and "Mountains of Gold" led by Mueller, Paul Janes-Brown, and Dr. Paul Schumacher. The entertainment continued with solos performed by Shim, who sang "Tian Mi Mi," and Di Jiang, who sang "The Night of Ulaanbaatar."  Jiang also performed a Tai Chi demonstration.

Special guest Dr. Busaba Yip, Cultural Director and Docent of the Wo Hing Cookhouse Museum in Lahaina, (which burned down in the August 2023 wildfires), thrilled the audience with her heartfelt Chinese fan dance, "Dance for Peace, Grace, and Mercy." (Pictured above center is Dr. Yip dancing, and at right with Mueller.)

“It was an honor to be invited to this very special event,” said Dr. Yip. “It was a wonderful opportunity to participate, learn and share our stories remembering and honoring the 1900 history of the Rev. Shim Yin Chin and the Kula Chinese families and community. It was also an honor to share my Chinese fan dance. Performing at the Founders’ Day commemoration was a powerful experience, as was attending Sunday services the next day. The congregation faithfully celebrates the importance of their founding fathers and the way the church helped the Kula Chinese since the early 1900s. It is heartwarming to see that it continues today, not only supporting the Chinese, but people from all walks of life. The members of St. John’s church, their families and community support each other in such a beautiful way. I am so touched by knowing the church continues to play the significant role of keeping history alive for future generations. This is so significant!”

Dr. Yip’s personal fire story is one of heartbreak. She realizes that if she had been at work on August 8, 2023, she may not have survived the wildfires. As it is, the Wo Hing Museum and Cookhouse burned down in the fire and that day she lost not only her home and personal possessions, but her business as well.

“For a long time, all I could do was weep,” she shared. “Yet, while the Lahaina fire destroyed all the Wo Hing buildings, it did not destroy my commitment to keep hope alive, to rebuild and restore. It is time to reflect on our lives over the past year, to plan for the future, and to try to recreate what Wo Hing used to be. Right now, though, my wish for the community is to be safe, as we rebuild our West Side and island community together.”

​Luckily for Dr. Yip (and the whole community), a few months before the fire, a friend from Microsoft came to Wo Hing and backed up all of her documents and research. “I had no idea at the time how fortunate this would be,” she explained. “Although I lost my computer, phone, and all my contacts, to the fire, I am thankful for my life and all my years of research to be saved.”

The evening ended with closing remarks by Father Wong. “Tonight, we celebrated love, faith, dedication, hope and community. Moving forward, our  125th Anniversary Committee recently had their first meeting. We will have events all year, beginning in January 2025, to celebrate. All are invited to our 125th Founders’ Day Commemoration next June.”

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Photos:  Bruce DeGooyer, Gloria Lau, Cindy Schumacher, Dr. Busaba Yip, File photos