WAIMEA — Parents will no longer need to walk out of the church service to comfort their crying baby or toddler once a new extension is added to Mana Christian Ohana later this year.
Construction began on a separate building behind Kahilu Town Hall in early August that will consist of two rooms, one specifically for youngsters with a live stream feed to the service. If all goes as planned, the new facility will be completed by late December. The building will be connected by a common rooftop to the church annex with other meeting space and offices.
“Families with 20 to 30 toddlers go to our church,” Mana Christian Ohana’s Kahu Billy Mitchell said. “One of the purposes for the new room will be for a child if it’s crying. We’ll put toys and rugs in there too so young children can be cared for if their parents want to go to the service.”
The Sunday School has been outgrowing the current facilities too, according to Kawena Gomez, the church’s administrator.
”We’ve been talking about doing something for the parents with children for a while,” she said.
Completing the new facility will cost around $450,000.
“When we went to get the permit, the county said that we would need to add some additional paved parking spaces behind the building as well,” Gomez said.
To date, the church has raised nearly two-thirds of the money.
“It’s come from the congregation and donors,” she said. “We haven’t finished raising the funds yet though.”
The non-denominational Christian church opened in 2004 and was renovated in Kahilu Town Hall in 2012 behind Parker Ranch Center in Waimea. An annex to accommodate office and meeting rooms for ministries and community use was added later.
“Another great purpose will be additional meeting space that the community can use in a convenient location with parking. Even nonprofits can get started here. It will be a real blessing,” Mitchell said.
Donations can be made to support the new facility by calling the Mana Christian Ohana office at 640-8654.