‘Onipa‘a: Discipling Hawai‘i from the Foundations Up

‘Onipa‘a’s Vision

‘Onipa‘a exists to huli the counterfeit sex narrative. We envision rebuilding and restoring broken foundations in Hawai‘i by teaching healthy sexuality within a lifelong loving marriage—resulting in whole individuals, committed marriages, loving ohana, blessed generations and a strong, vibrant, prosperous lāhui that has the capacity to bless nations.

‘Onipa‘a’s Mission

‘Onipa‘a has a goal to teach 8-20,000 youth in Hawai‘i ages 10-19 by the end of 2030 in order to reach the “tipping point” to positively impact culture with a life-giving message.

Goal of ‘Onipa‘a:

Equip youth to stay pa‘a (steadfast, immovable) despite ongoing sexual ‘oni (shifting, shaking, confusion)
Promote optimal holistic health

Primary Content of ‘Onipa‘a:

Personal values, goals, and dreams
Healthy family formation, including info about the reproductive system, conception, fetal development, and birth
Benefits of delaying sexual activity for a lifelong, loving relationship, such as marriage (“the gold standard”)
Healthy relationships
STD facts
Love, lust, and infatuation
The S.A.F.E. plan and refusal skills

Benefits of ‘Onipa‘a:

Reduced risk of “drama,” trauma, STDs, unplanned pregnancy, poverty, being trafficked
Increased holistic health, healthy relationships, vision for lifelong loving marriage

Why should we care?

Back in the 80’s, we were fed messages that what happens sexually behind closed doors, doesn’t harm anyone. Now, 40 years later, we know better. Personal sexual choices made in private, impact everyone and everything publicly… i.e. divorce, family breakdown, generational destructive patterns, mental health, foster care, homelessness, systemic poverty, the education system, the healthcare system, the economy, the prison system, and more result from private sexual choices made outside of a lifelong loving marriage. Destroy sexuality, marriage, and family, destroy the nation(s).

“If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,
a pound of sexual prevention is worth a LIFETIME of cure.”

What ‘Onipa‘a Does

We believe that parents are the primary educators of their keiki and that every child is valuable and has the right to be protected. We come alongside parents and organizations to offer a 5-8 hour ‘Onipa‘a sexual risk avoidance teaching to youth ages 10-19 for optimal health and healthy family formation. We hold parent/leader info meetings to learn the core class content, ask questions, vet us, and learn the compelling language for ongoing dialogue with keiki. We can assist any organization with teaching on just about any topic of sexuality, and where we cannot, we partner with other organizations such as Explicit Movement who can.

‘Onipa‘a Praise Reports

After leaving a middle school principals’ meeting filled with talk of relationship drama, sexual stuff, disrespect, and more, a principal realized that she is not dealing with those issues at her school because we have taught 5-8th grade four years in a row and trained the faculty twice which has impacted the ethos and culture of the entire school.
We are working with one school on a comprehensive healthy sexuality K-12 plan which can be used as an adaptable template for all schools.
The ‘Onipa‘a team has taught over 3400 youth on 5 islands and in 12 schools, as well as youth in the Philippines and Canada.
Youth ages 11-19 report…
- “This taught me not only the deeper meaning of sex, but the deeper meaning of life.”– HS male
- “I didn’t know I could say no. This taught me that I am worth protecting.” – HS female
- “This taught me to care for my body and for myself.” – HS female
- “I knew I wanted to save myself for marriage, but now I know why I want to.” – HS male
- “It was informative, eye opening, and entertaining.” – MS girl
- “Teachers were kind and helpful.” – MS boy
- “I’d recommend so that [friends] can learn about sex in a safe space.” – MS girl
- “I learned a lot about my dignity.” – MS girl
- “I liked everything about this program.” – MS boy
- ‘Onipa‘a videos and material are being used in Canada by Phil Lees and pastors are saying the materials need to get out far and wide and used for singles, pre-marital counseling, marrieds, and families.
In 5 years, we grew from 1 teacher to 20 Divinely appointed and called kumu who have been shaped and healed by the message and live the message. Many of the 20 in the core team have experienced the dark side of sexual consequences and are passionate about giving keiki a healthy, dignified, and beautiful picture of sex within the right context, a lifelong loving marriage. Our teachers are very dedicated, ordinary people, married and single, dads and moms, who work 1-2 jobs and teach ‘Onipa‘a when can.

How to help

Live the ‘Onipa‘a message and be agents of transformation in your ohana and spheres.
Pray for strategic connections, logistics, provision, and more.
Connect us to parents, leaders, kahu, organizations, schools, and churches.