The ancient Hawaiians only had an oral tradition, so the first missionaries had to  create a written language then teach the ancient Hawaiians how to read and write their own language. It is a truly remarkable achievement of this first team of missionaries to Hawaii!

Key to this endeavor was Elisha Loomis who just happened to bring on board with him an old printing press. This led to a 75% literacy rate second only to Scotland.

The story of Jesus coming to Hawaii begins in New Haven, Connecticut, where a young Hawaiian man named Henry Opukahaia became an on-fire follower of Christ. He would often speak of returning to Hawaii to share Jesus with his people, but sadly Henry died of Typhus Fever in 1818 at age 26. So with Henry gone how did the Gospel come to Hawaii?