Many of you have already heard about the 13th International Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture (FestPAC). “the world’s largest celebration of indigenous Pacific Islanders”. being held in Honolulu, June 6-16, 2024, but news about the various events being planned have been slow to get out to the public. The official FestPAC web site is at: https://www.festpachawaii.org/
Who is/are the Interfaith `Ohana of Hawai`i? It was started about 7 years ago by Reverends Tom and Cynthia Lynch, Interfaith ministers who relocated from Mexico to Honolulu, and began the annual UN World Interfaith Harmony Week Celebrations, held the 1st week of February (globally), with a Interfaith Leaders Breakfast. Participation from faith groups and faith leaders has expanded each year across the island of O`ahu, and earlier this year, an Interfaith Harmony Retreat was held at Princeville, Kauai, with participation from Maui, Kauai, and O`ahu, with strong support from the Interfaith Roundtable of Kauai.
In the coming months, the Interfaith `Ohana of Hawai`i hopes to establish a website where information about Interfaith related events can be easily posted and be widely shared. Another goal is to update interfaith mailing lists from past and current participants, and encourage greater from people of faith, who are not affiliated with a mainstream faith.  Another goal is to learn from each other how to reach out to empower youth to freely contribute and participate.
Wishing everyone a memorable Memorial Day Weekend. I cannot do that without referencing the past efforts of Ali`i Bill Souza, deceased member of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, who was the principal organizer of an annual ceremony to remember the men from the Kingdom of Hawai`i who fought in the US Civil War. Please remember these native kanaka and kama`aina men in your thoughts and prayers, as well as those who followed in their footsteps throughout the decades since then.
Ed Young
on behalf of the Interfaith `Ohana of Hawai`i & the Windward Interfaith `Ohana
(808) 223-6343
More information on Carving the Divine: Carving-the-Divine-Info-Sheet.pdf
