Vern, as we call her, is a special cookie. Not soft and gooey. But the kind that travels well amid jostling and heat, so that it still tastes good on arrival. The kind of cookie you want in a bar fight. What I mean is she's tough. Able to talk down a survivor holding a knife in her kitchen while her baby is sleeping down the hall. Willing to walk Kuhio Avenue year after year to reach out a hand to drowning, terrified women as they pass in the night. Hardened enough to wait out hours and hours of court, hospital and police bureaucracy. But soft enough to cry in frustration or relief or prayer for a girl no one else seems to care about.
Once a CAD designer in an architectural firm, Vern answered God's call to oversee the justice ministry at Bluewater Mission. Wife and mom to two, she's always on the move. But her vision is to equip everyday people and create community-based safe homes in Hawaii. Since 2008, Vern and her team have mentored well over 100 sex trafficking survivors in their journey to leave the exploitative sex trade. She has lived with most of them as she ran their first safe house out of her home. Today she combines her tech skills and ministry experience to provide important, proven training materials that can be watched anytime and anywhere.
For our last women's gathering of 2019, we are thrilled to have Vern share about "Giving It All You Got" in which she'll cover knowing how to hear from God and being called to action. You couldn't have a better authority on the subject. And it 's a great opportunity to get to know one of our church's most enigmatic ladies a little better!
Please join us this Saturday, November 9, from 9 to 11 am at the Bluewater Church Office, 810 N. Vineyard Blvd. We'll share a potluck breakfast/brunch and have a time of worship before hearing from Vern. Park in the lot on the corner of Palama and Vineyard Blvd. You don't want to miss her amazing testimony of having faith and passion to move forward in the midst of failures and successes. If you can, please bring a food item to share.
Please join us this Saturday, November 9, from 9 to 11 am at the Bluewater Church Office, 810 N. Vineyard Blvd. We'll share a potluck breakfast/brunch and have a time of worship before hearing from Vern. Park in the lot on the corner of Palama and Vineyard Blvd. You don't want to miss her amazing testimony of having faith and passion to move forward in the midst of failures and successes. If you can, please bring a food item to share.