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We believe that in order to fully honor the people, culture, and land that it's necessary to know the history. |
— EKBALLO HOUSE —
WHY A COFFEE FARMThe coffee farm gives young people a trendy, adventurous way to gain hands on experience. It helps develop character, work ethic, problem solving, team building, and leadership skills. |
STORYI remember the day over 30 years ago in a California attic when the temperature soared to about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. I brushed off the shredded cellulose insulation that stuck to the sweat on my forehead. There had to be more to life than insulating attics. A dream began in my heart of a farm setting where we could teach young people practical leadership skills combined with ministry training. Decades later, Grandma Willi invited me to come walk and pray on the land she owned in Hawai'i. The land was a long ways from a cultivated coffee farm. I used a machete to clear my path as I climbed over the rocky ground and crawled through the gnarly overgrown Christmas berry. I felt something special on the land, beyond the cool island breeze. There was a tangible peace that seemed to permeate the atmosphere, I sensed the presence of the Lord. Could this be the place I dreamt of all those years ago? The farm in Hawai'i seemed like the best of two worlds coming together. The land would provide a place for a house of prayer and ministry training while the coffee farm would provide practical training and work ethic. Then the coffee sales could support a missional focus to send workers into third world nations. — ROD HALL — Director of Ekballo House |
Founders 5-Part Vision |
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PRAYER | TRAINING | MISSIONS | AGRICULTURE | COMMUNITY HOUSE OF PRAYER: A house of prayer in the most southern gate of the United States of America. TRAINING: Train up intercessory missionaries who will go to the unreached. Young people who will still love Jesus twenty years from now. FINANCE MISSIONS: Send teams to the unreached, but also create funding for our missions trips and the furtherance of the gospel. AGRICULTURE: Supply food for the missions base while training self-sustainable farming in a tropical environment. COMMUNITY: Create an environment for family to flourish and sow back into the land. |
Hawaii's Rich HistoryWe are located on the most southern tip of the United States on what is called the Big Island of Hawaii. All of the other Hawaiian islands combined literally could fit into the Big Island nearly two times. However, all of Hawaii is only a small dot of land mass in the midst of 2,000 miles of ocean. It is the most remote place on earth and has been described as "the ends of the earth." Hawaii is the farthest from the Middle Eastern cradle of civilization and the last to be occupied by man sometime around 400 A.D. The original Hawaiians had a deep rich history of aloha and pono (righteousness & virtue) as they followed Creator God to inhabit the islands. Centuries later after years of conflict, King Kamehameha I unified the Hawaiian Islands into one royal kingdom. Once he passed away his son, King Kamehameha II, became king and saw the fulfillment of prophecy. Someone had once pointed to a specific rock on the shore of Kailua Bay and prophesied, "Here O king, the new God shall come!" In 1820, the missionaries landed on this exact rock. Today it is known as the "Plymouth Rock of Kona." One old Hawaiian prophecy said that the God of peace would return in a small black box and speak a language they wouldn't understand. In the early 1800's, Bibles had to be hand pressed and were extremely valuable so they were put into special boxes on long voyages for safe keeping. The first missionary who stepped onto "Plymouth Rock" carried a small black box to protect his Bible. When the king opened the black box, he found a book (Bible) inside that contained a strange language which he couldn't understand. Various kahuna proclaimed that the Hawaiian God of Peace had returned as prophesied. Though the missionaries made a series of critical mistakes, most of them helped turn the hearts of the Hawaiian people towards Christ through great sacrifice and genuine love. The years of 1837-1850 became known as "Hawaii's Great Awakening" when thousands came to accept Iesu Kristo and 96% of all Hawaiians followed Christ! When Hilo was only a town of 1,000 people, it became the home of the largest church in the world with 10,000 people attending its services. The phenomenon was described as a continuous ten-year camp meeting. About this time it was reported, "One could scarcely go in any direction, in the sugar cane or banana groves without finding children praying and weeping before God." “This land has been dedicated to the glory of God. God is calling us as instruments today to reclaim spiritual inheritance. I am not speaking of redigging a well to return to the traditions of the past, or to rediscover old methods or cherished doctrine. Rather I am talking of coming alive again with the waters of the Holy Spirit.” (Digging the Wells of Revival) by Lou Engle Resourced in part from GOD OF LIGHT, GOD OF DARKNESS, by Daniel Kikawa |
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FARM HISTORY:The land has a rich history. In a land where there had been earnest, humble, persevering wrestling in prayer. Even children were given over to prayer and were often found in the sugarcane and banana groves, weeping before God. Ekballo House is a beautiful story, one that only God could orchestrate. It’s amazing that the land where we spend hours in worship and prayer is also where we are able to serve by tending the harvest just outside the prayer tent. WHAT IT SUPPORTS:The coffee farm is where students apply work ethic and diligence as a part of the curriculum, developing practical skills to prepare them for the mission field. It teaches a level of agriculture and grows community as they do it together. It’s moving to pick in fields that are rich in prayer. Now there's opportunity to help earn towards missions trips through picking coffee. This also gives the students great value and appreciation for those who give into their ministry. |