Final Post

We did go to see the lights at the "Ritz" last night, unfortunately viewing Christmas lights and trying to share by photo are two different things. I am attaching three just to try and share. The Ritz Carleton is a huge complex and they put up thousands of lights. It was quite a sight and we had eleven couples in our group so I'm sure the hotel staff were glad to see us crawling back in our vans to leave.

We all went out to dinner before, and the couple in the picture are Lyle and Gaylene Knutson, from Elbow, Saskachtewan. Lyle is the volunteer supervisor of the men. This is their 4th time here I believe and they are a wonderful couple.

Since this is my last post, I thought I would comment on what we expected here before, and what we found. My original post was Sept 16 on what we were doing.

The most important thing I have learned here, is that Haggai has a solid vision that they are following with a passion. This program was started in 1969 and to date they have trained over 56,000 individuals, at two locations (Singapore and Maui) with leadership skills which will help them to evangelize in their own countries. The current waiting list is between 7-8,000 men and women. These are people who have been recommended by past participants, faculty, etc and who have been screened by area representatives around the world. Some of the sessions the participants attend besides evangelism are communications, family, integrity, and motivation. The teachers or faculty come from non North American countries, since they are concerned the participants are not being Americanized. The cost per participant is US$9,600 of which the participant must pay $500. While it is not a large percentage, to some countries such as African nations, it is huge. Besides travel costs for participants and faculty, the expense includes the operation of this facility and the one in Singapore which is not owned (Singapore does not have a volunteer program either). The administrative operating expenses which includes the Head Office in Atlanta are covered by donations from the Board of Directors. Some sessions which includes up to 60 participants are sponsored by a single donor (US$546,000). So you can see they have some supporters who also believe very strongly in the program.

Our almost three months has been a wonderful opportunity. The only item on my to do list that I didn't get done was to attend an NCAA football game over at Honolulu. I couldn't find anyone to go with and there just doesn't seem to be much interest.

That's about it, since we leave for the airport in one hour!