The language of the native people of the Hawaiian islands is a beautiful, flowing language, full of vowels and very few consonant stops. It is from a Polynesian language background, and was established by King Kamehameha III in 1839 as the native tongue of the Hawaiian Islands. At its peak, it was spoken by approximately 500,000 people. 

Nonetheless, it came very close to dying out….

Originally an oral language, it was, interestingly, protestant missionaries who created the written form. Arriving from New England in 1820, these missionaries converted the chiefs to Christendom, who in turn converted their subjects.  Because a thorough Christianization of the kingdom required a complete translation of the Bible into Hawaiian, the missionaries set about creating a written form of the language. By 1834, the first Hawaiian-language newspapers were published by missionaries working with locals, and the translation of the Bible into the Hawaiian language was completed in 1839. The orthography created for the language was so straightforward that the Hawaiian people quickly learned to read. In fact, literacy in Hawaiian was so widespread that in 1842 anyone born after 1819 had to be literate to get married. 

So how did the language die out? 

Self-ruled until 1893 when the Hawaiian throne and its ruling monarch, Queen Liliuokalani, were illegally overthrown, the Hawaiian islands would become a republic of the United States, and it was given statehood in 1959 as the USA’s 50^th state. When the Republic of Hawaii was set up, English was established as the official language in schools. In addition, due to the era of the sugar cane plantations and the widespread immigration to work these plantations, the native people of Hawaii would soon find themselves a minority on their own islands. As a result, the number of native Hawaiian speakers gradually decreased until the 1950s.

The good news, however, is that there remained a small minority of people throughout history who longed for their nature culture and language. These people founded what would become known as the Hawaiian Renaissance, with the purpose of forming a contemporary island identity. The Hawaiian language began to be revitalized at this time. Hawaiian Immersion schools were set up, and gradually the number of native speakers of Hawaiian, which was under 0.1% of the statewide population in 1997, has risen to nearly 10%.

In summary then, the Hawaiian language did not die and is being revitalized even as you read this, because there were people whose hearts longed for their native culture and language. 

This whole story makes me think of a much larger one. We were created in the image of God, speaking God’s language, even walking with God (See Genesis 3:1-8). But something much bigger than the English language, or even the United States of America, crept in: Sin! And over the centuries, our hearts have drifted farther and farther from God. Nonetheless, as Christians, “… our citizenship is in heaven…” (Ephesians 3:20a NIV). 

The revival of humanity, the return to our Heavenly roots, has never died out completely, praise be to God. Nonetheless, in order for us to fully experience the life, as God’s Children and citizens of Heaven, we need to take lessons from the native Hawaiians. Just as they began to long for their culture and language, we need to have a longing in our hearts for the Lord. We need to value God’s laws and His ways. We need to be able to say, in the words of King David, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” (Psalms 42:1 NIV) 

Unfortunately, this isn’t something that is cultivated by human society. There is only one way for this longing in our hearts to grow: We have to ask God to put it there! Remember: God will never ask us to do what He is not prepared to equip us to do! If He wants us to long for Him, He will empower us to do so! Why not try meditating daily on some of these psalms? 

1. “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.” (Psalms 86:11-12 NIV)

2. “Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalms 25:4-5 NIV)

3. “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” (Psalms 43:8 NIV)

Wouldn’t any loving father want to make a way for his children to be closer to him? And God is no different. These are prayers that God loves to answer. I urge you to keep on praying these psalms until your heart can honestly say, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.” (Psalms 73:25 NIV)


In His love,
Rob Chaffart
Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries

(To access the entire “Hawaii, Here We Come!” devotional series, please click here!)