Sunday worship in Kona offers many options, and for the past few Sundays we’ve traveled 20 miles up the mountain to attend a church whose building is an antique from the mid-1800’s but whose preacher is very up-to-date. Its official name is Pu’uanahulu Baptist Church, but most people simply call it The Little Red Church.

Pastor Derek has been one of Nelson’s close friends for more than a decade, and the two of them, often a world apart, have connected whenever possible. He’s ministered in scores of countries and has mastered several languages, Hebrew and Greek among them. Birgitta benefited from his teaching recently during her first week of classes here at the University of the Nations.

Ten years ago, Derek became the pastor of this historic church and now shares the task with his gracious wife Heeran and their three children, Andrew, Chiara, and Acacia. Though the church might be tiny, it has a big story behind it.

Here on the island of Hawaii, active volcanoes have always been part of its history. One hundred and fifty years ago, the wooden church stood close to the waterfront on the island’s west side when a volcano’s advancing lava threatened to destroy it.

Parishioners gathered and prayed passionately that God would spare the building, and then they evacuated the area. When they returned after the lava had cooled, they found whole villages burned beneath the red-hot flow (2000 degree F). But they were astonished to find their church completely intact. The lava had divided, moved around it, and come together again afterwards. God had protected their church.

Years later a similar volcanic eruption occurred, and once again the lava split to go around the church. That’s when worshipers decided to move the building to higher ground. In 1871, they painstakingly dismantled every board, loaded it all onto donkeys, and marched the pieces up the mountain to a grassy field, where they reassembled it. It still stands there today.

Since Hawaiian weather is often perfect, the packed-out church uses the meadow for its children’s ministries – a nursery under one tree, Sunday school under another.

This little church proves that God pours power into small churches as well as big ones. A potent reminder of this is a sandy spot surrounded by black lava rock near the Kona coastline – in the shape of The Little Red Church.

Mega-churches have their perks, but God is just as present in a no-frills tiny place of worship as he is in an ornate cathedral that seats thousands. After all, his preferred dwelling is the sanctuary of a humble heart…. which is small indeed.

“Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him.” (Hebrews 10:22)