It is impossible to speak of Solomon Kahaloa--known as `Sol' to his many friends--without speaking of his family, for it was as a family that they served the Cause of Baha'u'llah. One of Sol's sons was the first to accept the Faith through the teaching of various friends, including David Schreiber, the Knight of Baha'u'llah for the Leeward Islands, but in a very short time the entire family had embraced it and begun to serve actively on their home island of Hawaii in the State of Hawaii.
The Kahaloa family, drawing strength from Sol, was instrumental in forming the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Puna, Hawaii. An old-fashioned house raising, in which Baha`is from all over the Island took part, provided the first Baha`i Center for the Puna community. It was situated, as is the present Center, on land donated by Sol. He was well-known in Hawaii, and later on Guam, for his Hawaiian luaus, complete with kalua (or pit-roasted) pig and Hawaiian music. One of these events was the scene of the declaration of twenty-six souls including some tourists from passing buses. Sol had arranged a hukilau (an outdoor feast at which a large fishing net attached to a long rope is placed in and then pulled from the sea). As these visitors to Hawaii assisted in hauling in the rope they were themselves drawn into the ocean of the Most Great Remembrance.
In the early 1970s the Kahaloa family moved to South Hilo on the Big Island where they rented a large house for the purpose of attracting and teaching youth about Hawaiian arts and crafts as well as introducing them to the Baha`i Faith. They worked tirelessly before, during and after the 1974 Baha`i International Youth Conference, an event still warmly remembered there and around the world by Baha`is and non-Baha`is alike.
Guam, a goal of the Hawaii Baha`i community, has a sizeable population of Hawaiians, and the Kahaloas have relatives there. Those facts, and the desire to serve as pioneers, brought Sol, his wife, Emily, and their two youngest children, Bonnie and Sam, to the tiny southern village of Inarajan in 1975. The family immediately plunged into Baha`i activities. Sol continued the tradition of preparing one of his famous luaus with its blend of physical and `spiritual' food. The family lived at first in an old wooden house near Inarajan Bay. A few months after settling into their home it and all their possessions were swept away by typhoon Pamela. With the assistance of their son, Greg, helpful friends and the Red Cross, the Kahaloas were moved into a small apartment a few miles further south. That apartment and two vacant ones became the site of a Baha`i winter school later that year, and a nearby private beach owned by Sol's employer was made available for a Baha`i youth camp-out, activities for which, as always, Sol and his family provided the food. Later they moved to Mangilao in the central part of Guam where their home again became a center for Baha`i activity and the sharing of Hawaiian-style hospitality.
In 1980, at the request of the National Teaching Committee of the Mariana Islands, Sol made a trip to the small neighboring island of Rota. Emily met him at the airport upon his return. On the way to their home their vehicle was struck by another car, injuring both Emily and Sol. A few days later, on 1 December 1980, Sol succumbed to his injuries and pneumonia. During his last days he talked animatedly of the Rota teaching trip, the great potential for teaching the Faith there, and his plans to move his family to that island to spread the Message of Baha'u'llah. Throughout his years as a Baha`i he gave open-handedly of his possessions, his kindliness, patience and love, and finally his life itself for the love of his Lord. He lived and died with the promise of Baha'u'llah f. . We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid whomsoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the host of the Concourse on high and a company of Our favored angels. We, his co-workers who are left behind, joyfully trust that Sol has joined that favored company. [Richard Grahm, The Baha'i World, World, vol. VIII, pp. 741-742.]
The Kahaloa family, drawing strength from Sol, was instrumental in forming the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Puna, Hawaii. An old-fashioned house raising, in which Baha`is from all over the Island took part, provided the first Baha`i Center for the Puna community. It was situated, as is the present Center, on land donated by Sol. He was well-known in Hawaii, and later on Guam, for his Hawaiian luaus, complete with kalua (or pit-roasted) pig and Hawaiian music. One of these events was the scene of the declaration of twenty-six souls including some tourists from passing buses. Sol had arranged a hukilau (an outdoor feast at which a large fishing net attached to a long rope is placed in and then pulled from the sea). As these visitors to Hawaii assisted in hauling in the rope they were themselves drawn into the ocean of the Most Great Remembrance.
In the early 1970s the Kahaloa family moved to South Hilo on the Big Island where they rented a large house for the purpose of attracting and teaching youth about Hawaiian arts and crafts as well as introducing them to the Baha`i Faith. They worked tirelessly before, during and after the 1974 Baha`i International Youth Conference, an event still warmly remembered there and around the world by Baha`is and non-Baha`is alike.
Guam, a goal of the Hawaii Baha`i community, has a sizeable population of Hawaiians, and the Kahaloas have relatives there. Those facts, and the desire to serve as pioneers, brought Sol, his wife, Emily, and their two youngest children, Bonnie and Sam, to the tiny southern village of Inarajan in 1975. The family immediately plunged into Baha`i activities. Sol continued the tradition of preparing one of his famous luaus with its blend of physical and `spiritual' food. The family lived at first in an old wooden house near Inarajan Bay. A few months after settling into their home it and all their possessions were swept away by typhoon Pamela. With the assistance of their son, Greg, helpful friends and the Red Cross, the Kahaloas were moved into a small apartment a few miles further south. That apartment and two vacant ones became the site of a Baha`i winter school later that year, and a nearby private beach owned by Sol's employer was made available for a Baha`i youth camp-out, activities for which, as always, Sol and his family provided the food. Later they moved to Mangilao in the central part of Guam where their home again became a center for Baha`i activity and the sharing of Hawaiian-style hospitality.
In 1980, at the request of the National Teaching Committee of the Mariana Islands, Sol made a trip to the small neighboring island of Rota. Emily met him at the airport upon his return. On the way to their home their vehicle was struck by another car, injuring both Emily and Sol. A few days later, on 1 December 1980, Sol succumbed to his injuries and pneumonia. During his last days he talked animatedly of the Rota teaching trip, the great potential for teaching the Faith there, and his plans to move his family to that island to spread the Message of Baha'u'llah. Throughout his years as a Baha`i he gave open-handedly of his possessions, his kindliness, patience and love, and finally his life itself for the love of his Lord. He lived and died with the promise of Baha'u'llah f. . We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid whomsoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the host of the Concourse on high and a company of Our favored angels. We, his co-workers who are left behind, joyfully trust that Sol has joined that favored company. [Richard Grahm, The Baha'i World, World, vol. VIII, pp. 741-742.]
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