About a month ago (July 28-31), 11 youth from our Diocese and two chaperones left SeaTac airport to join 146 youth and chaperones for the Provincial VIII Youth Pilgrimage in Honolulu, HI. 
Pilgrims were traveling from 12 different dioceses across Province VIII, including: Arizona, California, Idaho, San Diego, Western Oregon, Spokane, Taiwan, Guam, Navajoland, Utah and Nevada. The theme of the pilgrimage was “Talk Story” which is a Hawaiian tradition of sharing stories, listening and building connections and community through lived experiences.
Once we touched down in Honolulu, our team packed into a 15-passenger van and headed to the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Honolulu. There, we were greeted by the Rev. Kawika Jackson who was the main point of contact during our pilgrimage, and who probably answered 1,000 questions from chaperones and vendors during our first day there! Phew.
The next two days consisted of visiting Camp Mokuleia (the Episcoapl camp right on the water) and learning about their efforts to protect the ecosystems and providing community outreach to the locals. We also visited the Plantation Village where we learned about the history of Hawaii and the people who immigrated there to start new lives. We also had the opportunity to attend a performance by Kealoha Wong, a prominent indigenous poet and storyteller based in Hawaii, and participate in a Jazz Vespers worship service on our last evening. 
Our days were packed full from our 6:00am wake-up calls to lights out at 9:00pm. All 157 of youth and chaperones slept on air mattresses in the Cathedral gym and had access to 15-minute shower rotations once a day! We enjoyed doing talk story with new friends, learning about the immigration history of each of our dioceses too, and creating memories of a lifetime.
Two of our youth who participated in the pilgrimage had these reflections to share:
“This youth group trip, I felt great and made lots of new friends. I also bonded with the people from my church even more. It truly felt like a family, and I am happy we could all do this together. Honestly, my favorite part of this trip was the people and how I got to see new culture. I was able to learn the stories of new people, both the Hawaiian people and other youth on the trip. I was very curious about others and now I know a little more about how the world came to be.” – Colin DeGroot, St.Andrew’s, Seattle 
“One of my favorite parts of the Hawaii Pilgrimage was getting to represent the Diocese of Olympia and share about our diocese while also learning about the different dioceses across the region. It was really fun meeting new people, hearing about their experiences, and getting to learn from each other. Overall, it was a really meaningful and memorable experience!” – Gloria Mabior, St. Michael’s South Sudanese, Auburn