August 9th, 1997

My daughter and I spent the day on Moloka`i. Coming back from our visit to Halawa Valley, we happened across a pretty popular beach that has a great view of the island of Lanai. Its also situated on a point so that when you look around you see quite a bit of coastline both east and west.

As you pan around you'll see Bruddah Issacc and his wife Cheryl watching the kids at play in the sparkling clear waters. I asked Issacc what the name of the beach was and he replied,"Morris Beach". Apparently it is named after someone locally noteworthy but he didn't know much more than that. Issacc is a minister and a wholesaler of household goods. He moved over from O'ahu in '74, met Cheryl, a Molaka`i girl and they were married a few years later.

Issacc told me that the lil green church up in Halawa Valley is a "retreat" for members of another green church which is located across from the ocean just a few miles outside of Kaunakakai. That explains why a sign on the church only listed services for the first and third Sunday of every month (weather permitting, I'd imagine).

Moloka`i folk enjoy a very religious community. There is virtually no nightlife on the island and the various small churches provide not only for the member's spiritual side but also for their social side, with plenty of church functions and comradery.

Yes, life on Moloka`i may be slow and economically challenging but, it is rich with family, local, community, school, and team values and activities.

A High Res Version is here

Some of our digital imaging equipment graciously provided by our good friends at 3Com.