20th October, 2005
DAVID ADAMS

It was in a Borders bookstore in Kona, Hawaii, that the idea of writing the Gospel in poetic form began to take shape in Kealoha Wells’ mind.

Diagnosed with leukemia in early 2002, the 33-year-old Hawaiian was in the latter stages of her recovery when she walked into the bookstore.

“(I)t occurred to me that there was a Bible in nearly every language, with a translation for every Christian preference under the sun, but I had never seen the Gospel presented as poetry,” she would later recall when writing of her experience.

Hawaiian poet Kealoha Wells. “(It’s a) helping hand to those who don’t understand but are seeking truth and those not seeking Him at all,” Wells says of her book, 'The Gospel as Poetry'.

“I thought it would be a wonderful way to share the truth of salvation with those who would never pick up a Bible and those who want to understand the message but are intimidated by the Book. So I pulled out my Bible and the chapter I already had an went to work, praising God all the while for such a great commission and a new lease on life...”

The result is an 84-page book, The Gospel as Poetry, which contains the Gospel story itself as well as Biblical books including The Acts of the Apostles, the Epistle of James, Jude and Revelation - all written in poetic form.

Wells says the book isn’t supposed to be a replacement for the Word of God, but a way of providing a bridge to it.

“(It’s a) helping hand to those who don’t understand but are seeking truth and those not seeking Him at all,” she says.

Wells has published the book herself, using a print-on-demand company called Lulu. This simply means that books are printed as orders are placed.

She says that while she knows some people think self-publishing simply floods the market with “junk”, she believes that services like those of Lulu “levels the playing field for people who have talent but not the money or fame”.

“It puts the ball in your court and if you have a good book and the motivation to get it out there, this opportunity is a blessing and a half,” she says.

Having considered herself a “poet” ever since her second grade teacher selected her poem about a puppy to illustrate to the rest of the class what poetry is, Wells says she relied on God to inspire her when writing the book which took around eight months to complete.

Perhaps surprisingly she says it was easy to work on, adding that she had already started work on a second.

“Now that I have completed the first book, every time I read the Bible, there is a little voice in the back of my head converting it to rhyme,” she says. “I am currently working on some books from the Old Testament.”

Wells accepted Christ into her life as far back as 1994 and describes her relationship prior to being diagnosed with leukemia as “very strong”, although she admits she had “some serious bouts of backsliding”.

She says that while she was stunned when initially diagnosed - in particular she feared what would happen to her daughter if she died - her experience with leukemia brought her even closer to the Lord.

“I am at a place now where I can truly be thankful for the trials,” she says. “Well, most of them anyway.”

Her two-year treatment program was not a pleasant experience and Wells remembers coming to a point where all she could do each day was get up and get to the restroom when she needed to.

“One of my worst memories was throwing up for over three hours,” she says. “After a certain point there is nothing left to give and if feels like you are trying to expel your stomach lining; very painful.”

She recalls a phone conversation with her sister-in-law while she was still in hospital.
“I said to her ‘You know Rachel? I understand now what Job meant by ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him’. I thought I knew before but at that point, I really knew.”

Now completely healed, Wells has only just started promoting her book commercially but says that the feedback from the “test crowd” has been favorable.

“Most satisfying and what makes me the happiuest is when...unbelievers tell me they liked it,” she says. “Of course, I am happy when believers tell me they enjoyed it too, but there is something special in knowing an unbeliever might just be walking around pondering the message in the poems.”

Excerpts from The Gospel as Poetry

From the Gospel story - Jesus in the Gardens of Gesthemane:
“Darkness fell, the sixth hour had come
Twelve O’clock noon with no afternoon sun

Three hours of nightfall, ninth hour of the day
All within hearing then heard Yeshua say:

Father, My Spirit, committed to You
The temple veil was torn in two

It was finished; Yeshua had died
The King of Glory, Crucified.”


From the Book of Revelation:
“I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end
The First, the Last, the Shepherd, My own flock I will tend

Blessed are those who do His words, that they may have the right
To enter through the pearly gates, to the city of His light

I have sent my angel, to tell it near and far
I am the Root of David, the Bright and Morning Star

Heed this word of warning; to this book add not a page
For if you do, He’ll add to you, a punishment, a plague

Heed this word of warning; from this book don’t take away
Not one jot or tittle, lest you not be found that Day.”

• The Gospel as Poetry can be ordered from www.thegospelaspoetry.com for $US9.99 plus shipping and handling. Free shipping is available for orders of between $25 and $100.