The Christian Chronicle (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 73, No. 5, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 1, 2016 Page: 4 of 35
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Carolyn and Neil Myers
CONTACTbobby.ross@christianchronicle.org.
years,” Myers said.
And he couldn’t shake the feeling
that God was calling on him to help.
“If you believe that, then you just
can’t turn your back on it,” he said.
So the couple made a personal
financial commitment,
and Neil Myers shared
the story at every
Alabama church that
would let him. “People
have responded,” he
said. “It’s just over-
whelming to me.”
In Colorado, Phil and
Sara Sykora also rallied
support. The Sykoras attended the
Pearl Harbor congregation in the
late 1970s when Phil Sykora, now
an elder for the Littleton Church of
FROM PAGE 3
Moreover, he and his wife
discovered that they knew one of
the elders, John Graham, a retired
sheriff’s deputy with whom they had
worshiped on a Montana vacation
a decade before. Neil and Carolyn
Myers learned that the 150-member
congregation — the largest Church
of Christ in Hawaii — was facing a
major financial challenge.
The church near the U.S. Air Force
and Navy bases known as Joint Base
Pearl Harbor-Hickam needed to raise
at least $1.1 million to avoid evic-
tion from the Navy property it had
leased since 1956, as The Christian
Chronicle first reported last year. The
deadline: May 2016.
Otherwise, the Navy planned to
“excess” — or sell — the site that
houses the church’s main chapel,
its parsonage, a classroom facility,
a training building and a fellowship
hall dubbed the “Aloha Room.”
Church leaders had explored the
possibility of a commercial loan.
However, banks put a high priority on
long-term contributions
by permanent members. |
That was a problem
because 80 percent
of the Pearl Harbor
membership turns
over every three
years. Military families
stationed at bases all
over the island of Oahu
receive frequent transfer orders.
“I just couldn’t imagine the govern-
ment taking over two-and-a-half acres
of land that these brethren had for 60
BOBBY ROSS JR.
Minister's wife Ruth Byrne snaps a photo of a "Love God" symbol she drew in the sand.
Christ, worked for the Government
Accountability Office.
Sara Sykora was baptized there.
“I just think of what a support it
was for all the military wives,” she
said. “So many of the wives had
husbands in the Navy, and they were
out in subs for six months at a time.”
In Nicaragua, missionary Benny
Baker and his wife, Donna, likewise
felt compelled to give.
“I was one of the 3,000 they touched
and kept close to the church by their
love and support,” said Benny Baker,
who served in the Navy from 1968 to
1971. “I do not remember names, just
a lot of special people.”
Here’s the fantastic news: The
Myerses, Sykoras and Bakers are
just a few of the 395 individuals and
68 congregations that gave. The
“lion’s share of contributions” came
from Chronicle readers, minister and
elder Steve Byrne said.
With funds received and prom-
ised, the church has raised the
$1.1 million needed to buy the land
and pay related fees, elders Byrne,
Graham and William Wood said.
“For a small military congregation
like Pearl Harbor to have raised the
vast majority of the needed funds in
just over a year’s time, all the glory
must go to God. We continue to offer
him our ‘Mahalo,’” Byrne said, using
the Hawaiian word for “thank you.”
The church plans to celebrate
during a 60th anniversary reunion
event June 24-26.
Pearl Harbor members sacrificed
to give $450,000 of the total. Women
raised money by holding garage sales
and selling a potluck cookbook.
“Our paying off the debt early
leaves little doubt... that God has
a plan,” said Jenni Logsdon, wife of
Army Lt Col. Toby Logsdon, “and no
man or seemingly impossible amount
of money is going to stop him from
blessing and advancing his kingdom.
What an exciting privilege it is to
be a very, very small part of the
amazing picture that is God’s plan.”
Neil and Carolyn Myers also were
excited to be a part of God’s plan.
Just don’t expect them to make a
habit out of air travel.
“We survived the flights,” Neil
Myers said with a chuckle. “I’m not
anxious to do it again.”
INSIDE STORY
4 THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE
MAY 2016
PEARL HARBOR: Funds raised to buy church land from military
BBB
President and CEO: Lynn A McMillon
lynn.mcmillon@christianchronicle.org
Editor: ErikTryggestad
erik@christianchronicle.org
Chief Correspondent: Bobby Ross Jr.
bobby.ross@christianchronicle.org
Advertising Manager: Tonya Patton
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Reviews Editor: Kimberly Mauck
kim.mauck@christianchronicle.org
Administrative Assistant: Lynda Sheehan
lynda.sheehan@christianchronicle.org
Administrative Assistant: Joy McMillon
joy.mcmillon@christianchronicle.org
Administrative Assistant: Melinda Wilson
melinda.wilson@christianchronicle.org
Editorial Assistant: Laura Akins
laura.akins@christianchronicle.org
Editor Emeritus: Bailey McBride
bailey.mcbride@christianchronicle.org
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Tryggestad, Erik. The Christian Chronicle (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 73, No. 5, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 1, 2016, newspaper, May 1, 2016; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1509365/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.