Different Culture, Same God

So we've been in Oahu for 6 days now, so let me tell you what its been like. Hawaii is extremely multicultural. The "local" culture itself is a culmination of a history of colonization and immigration. The campuses are even more diverse, since there are a number of international students and many from the mainland. Over these last few days, we've been trying to form relationships with the local students here. We met some local Christians who had met some past summer project teams. They welcomed us like family and invited us to their weekly meeting.
When we got there, we entered the main room of the house, filled with couches and chairs, and we were greeted by some of the local believers while they gave us pasta and poke. After introductions and a short meal, everyone gathered up for worship. It's empowering to see, despite cultural differences, people love God with the same spirit as I see at home. After worship, the main speaker, Tim, gave a "goodbye" to one of the brothers who is moving to the mainland. We were then treated with a farewell song sung by one of the girls. Afterward, we all laid hands on him and prayed for his departure. Tim then got back up and gave a short word on what it means to have an attitude of reverence for God, after which we broke up into small groups and discussed. One of the locals, John, shared with us that he was going on a missions project to California to help teach kids, but he was worried because his flight leaves on Monday and he still has not raised enough support. It was such a perfect opportunity to use what God had put us through at briefing to encourage this brother who was in the same situation. After I told him about how we got to Hawaii, John responded with genuine relief, "Well I guess I'm going."
Afterward, I also had a chance to speak with another local named Cory who had met our 2008 Epic Summer Project team. He shared with us that he was not a believer back then, but only recently in November did he receive Christ. It was a huge encouragement to tangibly see the labor of a previous team having come to full fruition.
Even though they have a very different culture here, I still witness the same spirit guiding the believers in Hawaii. It is apparent that God is moving strongly on Oahu.