Week 6 Summary

Week 6 was a really good week and I've already posted a little bit about it earlier in the week. This week's topic was Freedom and our speaker was Pete Mahoney from Japan (presently) and before than Tacoma, Washington. He was great and it was easy to connect with him and his lectures. There is a Freedom course and manual that has come out of Tacoma and it is used widely on the Kona campus. So, we learned about original design, breaking strongholds and walking in freedom this week! Always good stuff!

My favorite lines in my notes from the week are:
- "Original design - what God put in us before the creation of the world."
- "Step into the fire and let it burn off the dullness."
- "When we give in to sin and don't repent of it, we give a stronghold to the enemy."
- "Preach the cross! It is offensive."
- " My personality is chosen by God."
- " Positive thinking isn't going to work! The power of God will!"
- " We often attack the fruit but we need to get deeper to the roots. Otherwise it's just behavior modification".
- " Repentance is a gift from God."
- " Tears are your heart coming out through your eyes."
- " Deal with the sin and move on!"
- " Confess, turn and do the opposite."
- " A spiritual transaction is taking place when we lay hands on people."
- " If He asks you to do something, He has given you the power to do it."
- " The greatest way to love someone is to share the Gospel with them."
- " Offense is the bait of Satan."
- " At the inception of an injustice is the best time to forgive."
- " My feelings need to submit to the truth of God."
- " Faith says whatever God wants to do, He can!"

Other highlights from week 6 were:
- Community outreach on Tuesday was the most enjoyable one yet! We got to have some good conversations with a number of people!
- Hearing the testimony of one of the staff on campus who died in a bombing, saw Jesus in heaven and was raised from the dead by her sister!
- I got to go to a baby shower on Wednesday. Shane and I have work duties with 5 Korean friends and 1 from China. One of our Korean friends became an auntie 1 month ago and I was invited to the baby shower!
- Thursday night's Ohana Gathering was pretty powerful as Andy Bryd put out a call for 2 months of prayer and fasting into 2011 for the release of laborers and revival! Check it out here.

Here are some pictures from week 6:

Shane playing some volleyball at last weekend's class BBQ and Beach Day!

Mmmmmm...the best food we've had since coming to YWAM! Korean BBQ!!

A little time with my buddy, Sven, during worship

Prayer time for Athol, our school leader

African worship is fun!

Week 7 is all on the Holy Spirit! I think it's going to be a good week!

Call2All Partnership Thermometer

God has been so faithful over the last 3 and a half months since we found out we were coming to YWAM in the area of finances. So many incredible partners have come alongside us in the Kingdom! I am so grateful!

I am learning more and more all the time that He is in control and will always take care of us. It's been quite the road to travel down and it surprises me how tied I've been to money. It's sad but you don't quite realize how tied until the usual comforts are taken away. Then what?

I've given the Lord permission to shake the things that need to be shaken in my life. Money has been a stronghold in my family lines for generations I'm sure. So, it has been something that I've really had to wrestle with and give to the Lord to get freedom! The shaking sure has gone to a whole other level with the removal of a consistent pay cheque every 2 weeks. But that leads me to wonder what I've been putting my trust in then.

In the natural it could look a little scary right now. Here at YWAM. No income coming in. Awaiting the remainder of our outreach fees ($4650) that are due in 12 days.

Yet, I feel very peaceful. What breakthrough! I know that we are in the right place and that we will be going to South Africa next month. God calls and He always provides. And He's going to use finances to wow us and many others as He has done before!

He is so faithful and tonight, I am so thankful for His peace in this area.

I've changed the thermometer to the target amount that is needed for November 24th. God is going to bless us and those around us as we watch it grow over the next 12 days! Amen!

November 11, 2010

Today represents a number of things that are on my mind.

1. Remembrance Day - I think of Shane's grandpa whom I have come to love deeply and his service to the country of Canada in World War 2. I think of him now, 90 years old, close to eternity and in the hospital tonight. Lord, cause his heart to turn tonight.

2. The last day of lecture for the freedom week - I think it's a little interesting that Remembrance Day landed during our week on freedom. That's not coincidence! They sure go together!

3. A birthday! - My dear friend Bonnie's birthday is today and I pray that she would be blessed incredibly this year! I sure love my dear friend!

4. Last year at this time - We take our annual trip to Kansas City around this time each year. Back in March when I had to pick vacation days for work, we planned our KC trip for the beginning of November. So, generally we're in KC around this time.

5. The first halfway mark - Today is the halfway mark for our lecture phase in Kona. Wow! It's hard to believe it is only halfway with all the weeks of learning and growth that we've been through. On the other hand, it's strange to think it's halfway over already! It's going to be time to leave for outreach in a snap! We leave in 42 days!

Just some thoughts to share on my way to bed! Nite!

Prayer Request

It's the middle of week 6 and the week is going well so far! The first two days of lecture have been good!

We have a few prayer requests this week. Would you please remember us in prayer?
1. Shane has a sore throat, runny nose and the body aches. Please join me in praying for his healing and for protection from further physical issues!
2. Please pray for our class that we would receive all that God has for us this week! This week is all about freedom, our original design and breaking strongholds!
3. Please pray for Shane's family as yesterday his uncle died and he did not know the Lord.
4. Please pray for Shane's grandpa who is getting close to dying and still needing to turn to Jesus. Pray with us for his salvation and healing.
5. Please pray for provision of our outreach fees. We are still in need of the next $5000 by November 24th.

Thanks for your prayers! God is good ALL THE TIME!

Week 5 Summary

Wow! 5 weeks of our lecture phase are already done and only 6 and a half to go before we are flying to South Africa! It's hard to believe that by next month we'll be on the ground in another country serving and loving on God's people in a part of the world we've never been before.

Week 5 has held some challenges and some joys. I have been missing my close girlfriends incredibly much this week. I cried a lot on Wednesday and Thursday missing my sister, Christina and Bonnie. These are relationships that I value so much I don't have words to say how much and though I knew before leaving how much I love them, I didn't quite know how much. Deep friendships that stand the test of time are like gold.

My poor hubbie had a migraine this week that was pretty awful. His head started hurting on Saturday and the pain finally went away on Thursday! It was pretty challenging and hard to deal with, as I hate when he's sick. This is the second migraine since we've been here =( Please pray that there would be no more headaches for either of us!

Some interesting parts of this week were:
- driving a 15 passenger van for the first time, passing my campus driver's orientation and having to back the van into a narrow parking stall! Stressful!
- getting to use a labeller for the first time at work duty....that little gadget is fun! That could get addicting for an organizer like me!
- having a lecture on the specifics of Call2All and what that means for outreach
- starting a 60 day overview of the Bible and a Proverb a day
- learning a bit more about the documentary Sex and Money. It's about human trafficking..check it out this link.

Our speaker this week was Don Gillman and the topic was on the Word and our foundation. I was challenged on a number of areas, specifically what I based my foundation on. I was really motivated to dig into the Word and have it be the one thing I stand on. It was beneficial to be encouraged to dive into the Word and is something I've been feeling for a long time. I need more time in the Word and I need to make more time for studying it in depth! I'm hungry for it!

Some of my favorite lines in my notes this week are:

- Is the life I'm living worth Jesus dying for?
- God asks us to do stuff that doesn't make sense.
- We've got to die to some of our emotions. If they don't line up with the Word, get rid of them.
- How much is 1 soul worth to us? How much are we willing to give up (dreams, hopes, family, money, etc) to reach 1 soul?
- God doesn't give us the guarantee in entirety because He wants us to live in faith. Stop living for the 100% guarantee.
- Do I follow my culture or the Word of God?
- It takes 27 hours to read the New Testament out loud and at a normal pace. Why wouldn't you devour this book if you believe your God wrote it?

Here's pictures from week 5 at YWAM Kona!

A date with my hubbie for shave ice!

Having a few times at the piano, singing to Jesus has been my saving grace over the past week. My surroundings for doing a devo look a little different these days =)

Catching the sunset as we walked downtown to do community outreach. So beautiful!

I've greatly appreciated seeing our leaders pray together before the day starts!

Tired much? We get a little tired around here!

Thankfully, the weekend is here and tomorrow we're going to the beach as a class outing! Woo! Hoo!

Week 4 Summary

Week 4 was a really good one....painfully good. My favorite weeks here so far have been week 1 and week 4, hands down.

This week's speaker was Ben Nanoa on the topic of the Father heart of God. Whew! I loved the way Ben allowed the Holy Spirit to lead this week. He taught some but the Holy Spirit had an agenda for healing and breakthrough that went beyond a good sermon from the speaker at the front of the room.

It all started with the question "What does the love of the Father look like to you now?" and as we shared, the Lord broke in. I cried each day in class and wanted all that the Lord may have for me. Tuesday was a big day for me and the Lord had an appointment with me when it was my turn to share with the class. It was so good to be vulnerable, bawl and be prayed over, while being ministered on the inside by the Holy Spirit like only He can do!

I need fresh revelation all the time about who God is, what He thinks of me and how He feels about me. I "know" the right answers in my head sure, but does it transcend to my heart? That is where it matters. It is humbling to say how you feel the Father looks when you just want to disclaimer that you know it isn't true and instead share what you've learnt over the years and what you know in your head to be true. But, where's the breakthrough in that?

The Lord worked on my heart in the area of how I feel about myself, the way I treat myself because I want to be perfect, the way I view Him and opened up some room for me to grieve over things that grieve His heart. There were many hard things shared by our class and the last two days of the week the focus turned to confession and repentance. It was so hard to hear the stories but it was powerful what the Lord was doing.

We aren't our pain. Our pain doesn't have to define us. Sometimes it's hard not to label people their sins in a society where diagnosis is key. Instead of seeing a banner over peoples' heads with the name of their sin hanging over, I choose to see the truth. The banner over us is love and the writing on that banner is "FORGIVEN". Doesn't matter what it is....FORGIVEN.

Some of my favorite lines of the week were:
- "We have to come to God in the truth of who we are. If we allow Him, He will always hit the bull's eye. When the truth hits, the healing begins".
- "YWAM is not just about gaining knowledge but about applying it".
- "God wants to woo us".
- "The capacity to receive all that God the Father has for us costs us in two ways. First in vulnerability and second in boldness."
- "If you are going to be called to all than it's going to start with us" - If you are called to give away what you've received, you got to face the stuff and get healed first!
- "God ministers to you the way you understand".
- "Is the knowledge you have of God connecting with your heart? If not yet, let's continue praying".
- "Let God change your point of reference that you see from".
- "There is nothing you could ever do to make me love you less".
- "If there is pain here, then I want to walk it through".

This week held a number of other things too. My first trip to Target while we've been here and my first taste of Starbuck's since home! It was so comforting because it reminded me of home! The completion and submission of my audit for my nursing license (sadly, I get audited for the first time the year I'm out of the country). An afternoon lecture by Andy Bryd who heads up the prayer room here on campus. Another wonderful bible study by our School of Biblical Studies friends! We're learning tools for studying the Word of God and learning together through the book of Jonah! And the major praise report I blogged about earlier about the outreach deposit coming in in full this week! It was paid a day early! Amen!

Here's pictures from week 4 in Kona!

Ben Nanoa speaking on the Father's heart and demonstrating a picture of God's love while giving a girl in our class a piggyback ride

A time of healing and repentance for the men

My little friend Sven from Holland, the son of one of the couples in our DTS. He is SOOO cute!

My friend Val and I enjoying an ice cream party after an emotionally exhausting week. How kind of our leaders to cancel class time and instead do something fun after such a week!

My southern friend Deanna and I!

Shane and I celebrating a week of healing

It's amazing it's been over a month since we got here! What a ride!

Week 3 Posted

I posted week 3 a little late but it's back 3 posts! So check out last week's summary if you'd like!

Provision!

God is so taking care of us. He always said He would, why would I doubt it?

I have a huge praise report from today! We got word from one of our partners that the other $1000 we need for Friday is on the way! Praise the Lord!

Friday's outreach deposit is paid! God is good!

Praise Report!

So...about the $2000 we need for Friday...

$1000 just came in! God is so good! Now praying in the rest! $1000 more for Friday needed!

YWAM Update 1

Here's our first update letter from Kona for you all to enjoy! Tuesday marks 1 month since we landed and lots has been happening from week to week!

We have urgent financial needs related to our outreach fees. We need $2000 by Friday for our outreach deposit to cover our plane tickets to South Africa. The remaining $5500 that we need is due by November 25th. Please join us in praying in the remaining $7500 and prayerfully consider if you are part of the equation!

Enjoy the read!

YWAM Update #1

Week 3 Summary

Week 3 was a hard and good week all in one. There are many things the Lord is working on in me and I'm seeing good fruit in the midst of the tilling of the soil in my heart. In the midst of hard moments, I'm feeling the nearness of the Holy Spirit and an increase in comfort, joy and freedom. I'm hoping for more and more growth and breakthrough!

This week, two brothers were our speakers who have a heart for restoration and have influence in the college sphere and mainstream music industry. This week was corporate week where all the DTS classes were together, bringing about 400 students together. To be honest, the lectures were really tough for me to get through this week.

I felt really grieved, especially during the first 2-3 days of the week. We opened our bibles very minimally for the first number of days and it felt like a waste of valuable learning time to hear stories and motivational speaking. I was a frustrated and asked the Lord to turn my frustration into intercession.

On Tuesday, as the morning was drawing to an end, I was hit with a burden of intercession. As the speaker was winding down and playing a pop music song, I was bawling in my seat, being touched by the Holy Spirit in the area of intercession. It grieves the Lord's heart and therefore grieves mine when we fill this generation with social justice speeches that don't first point them to the One that is first and foremost who we are to be fascinated by. It grieved me that we weren't using His Word for hours of time together and that we were hearing far more stories and radio songs than the powerful Word of God. It grieved me that this generation wasn't being pointed to stare at a beautiful, fascinating God as the first priority. It was sad because it felt that the commandments weren't in the right order.

I skipped lunch that day because I was feeling so wrecked. I went to the room and just bawled and prayed for our generation. This generation is hungry and famished, but they just might not even know it. How often are we feeding them cardboard instead of the meat of the Word that can transform them and point them to Jesus?

It was a tough week for us. There is a bunch of stuff happening back home with our friends and family that is hard to hear about and it's hard not be present to support our loved ones. Shane's grandpa is not doing well and they anticipate he will die soon. We continue to pray that he will turn, repent and make Jesus Lord of his life before he dies. Please pray with us!

Some lines from my notes this week are:
- "It's time for you to learn how to feed yourself".
- "Revival starts when renewal spills out of the church into the street".
- "There is a greater point in creating us than saving us. He has created us for something".
- "The most attractive thing is the life bursting from within you, not the package it comes in".

This week we had some teaching in the afternoon on support raising and we met as an outreach team for the first time! We had a great time in the prayer room on Tuesday as a class praying for our outreach locations. Wednesdays Worship With the Word set from 7-9am was really good for me too!

Here's some pictures of Week 3 to enjoy!

What a special time for our marriage!

Our friendly neighbors

Magic Sands Beach...the closest "real" beach to campus

Oh how we love the weekends! Much needed rest and clear our brains from the week!

One of our classmates, Matt, turned forty on Sunday the 24th! We had a fun little party to celebrate. This picture was taken during corporate week class. The guys in front of him reminded him throughout class of his upcoming birthday!

That's week 3! A little late in posting it but better late than never!

Outreach Location!

Our outreach locations have been decided and announced as of yesterday.....and.......SHANE AND I ARE GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA!!!!

I'm excited about our outreach location! It is awesome how the Lord spoke to us about where we were to go. We've known the options for the past 10 weeks, since we got the call telling us that we were accepted for this DTS. All along we haven't felt one location over another and had no idea where the Lord wanted us to go. Even on Friday morning.

Friday during class, the outreach locations were officially announced and we were given 15 minutes to pray about where God wanted us, coming on the back end of a week on hearing God's voice. It was a good exercise right away!

Shane and I put our heads together, prayed for the Lord to speak and before 15 minutes we're even up, the Lord spoke to both of us and we got the same order of the locations to circle. 1. South Africa, 2. Brazil and 3. The Philippines.

My heart was burning over South Africa during these 15 minutes in a way that it hadn't felt in the last 10 weeks when thinking of any of these countries! I'm so glad He led us faithfully and in unity as a couple!

So, we are heading to South Africa! We are going to need a TON of prayer! Please even now start praying for our flights as it is going to be a 2-3 days journey with A LOT of time in the air. Jesus, help me!

Also, we have been asked to be student leaders and come alongside our team leader for our outreach. We would love your prayers as we help lead our team to South Africa!

It's great to share our news with you all! Blessings from us to you! God is doing good things in the earth right now!

Week 2 Summary

Week 2 is now complete and tomorrow bright and early begins week 3 at YWAM in Kona. Shane and I have been here for almost 3 weeks and are adjusting. Shane adjusted super fast and is loving it out here from the moment we arrived. I am a slower adjuster and require a bit more processing and emotions =)

This week the speaker was Allison Johnston, a young woman from Kentucky who spoke on hearing the voice of God. It was great to be reminded that hearing the Lord speak and allowing Him to speak through us prophetically is simple and for every believer. It was great to see so many of our classmates begin to hear the Lord and speak it forth in ways they hadn't done before. We are also in the process of reading through Is That Really You, God? by Loren Cunningham which is along the same theme of hearing the voice of God. It is interesting to read about the prophetic history of YWAM and to learn about all the miraculous ways that the Lord has lead and built this place.

Some of the parts of my notes that I liked this week were:
- "We have a choice every day. What are we going to think about?"
- "Never let the awareness of a problem become bigger than your awareness of God" - such wise advice especially in the area of intercession!
- "God's always talking. We're just not always tuned in!".

The lectures were tough for me this week. It was a very different flavor of teaching than last week and it was a hard adjustment from the teaching we got from Mark Anderson the week before. It was so good for our class as a whole though and so I know it was important. It also revealed some things in my heart that need a lot more work =) So to sum it up, this week was a tough one but I am learning and God is working on me!

On Thursdays we have a service in the evening with all of the DTSs here and all the staff making up a few hundred people in the Ohana court for worship and speaking. The speaker this week was Loren Cunningham (the founder of YWAM) and I heard him speak for the first time in my life. It was good to hear his heart even though I was exhausted by this point in the week and day.

My favorite lines from Loren's message were:
- "When you pray, you give God just reason to go beyond the ordinary"
- "Saul of Taursus was a terrorist" - I never thought of it that way but so true!
- "When God says go, you go! You don't ask your wallet or bank account! You obey God!"

We had some workshops on God and culture which were interesting, we had time in the prayer room and we did our work duties. I washed windows for 5.5 hours this week! That's more than I've possibly ever done at home!

My favorite part of class (beside my birthday which I will have to blog about separately) was the hour with the people from the School of Biblical Studies on Friday. They are going to be joining our class every week to teach us on studying the Scripture! I am soooo hungry and excited! I think this is going to be a highlight of my week!

Last but not least, the outreach locations were officially announced and we were given 15 minutes to go and pray about where the Lord was leading each of us personally. It's a blog in itself but I don't know if I'll get to share it with the limited amount of blogging time I have here! But, regardless, in the next day or two we will have news on where we are going in December on outreach! It's going to be good and God was SO faithful to speak to us in those 15 minutes and unify us in what we heard Him say!

I have so much more to share but that will do!
Here's some pictures of the week to enjoy (minus the birthday just in case I get around to blogging about it!):

The view from the grass where we were sitting for small group. I am so blessed to be here!

The beautiful ladies in my small group for the past 2 weeks

The beautiful view at the beach

Writing in the sand at the beach

Shane and I at the beach!

Good-Bye 27...

Today was my last day of 27. Tomorrow I turn 28!

To be honest, I've been sad the last 3 days, with today being the saddest. It started when I found out Saturday that my extended family was having a Thanksgiving gathering. Also, the usual celebrations of my birthday won't be happening and that's tough because I love the traditions me and my loved ones have made.

So, I was sad today. I realized I was missing pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin scones and pumpkin spice lattes. Silly and trivial but just what I needed to start crying and feel better. I had a cry about missing pumpkin and my sister (who is leaving for outreach this week), hugged my husband and called my mom which was good for my heart.

Shane had his one-on-one this evening. We have a staff to connect with once a week and Shane started his today. So, I went to the cafe on campus here for the first time. It's a very few steps from our room but we haven't gone there yet in the last two weeks. So, I spent part of the evening journalling and enjoying a frappuccino to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was a strange Thanksgiving this year.

The view to my right (above) and the view to my left (below), as I sit on the patio. Shane is in the distance having his one-on-one (below).

Another thing that was good for my heart this evening was that while I was sitting and having my alone time, my school leader came by and sat and talked with me. I haven't had a lot of time to connect with her and it was so good to share and be encouraged this evening. I needed that =) God gave me what I needed for today. I'm thankful.

While checking out the cafe, some of my classmates were inside and pointed out a thing that looked like a turkey. So, here's my Happy Thanksgiving from Kona!

Week 1 Summary

Week 1 was fantastic! We had incredible teaching and great time connecting with our classmates!

Mark Anderson was our teacher for this week. He is an incredibly passionate and bold teacher and his style was just up my alley! I LOVED each lecture and feel like I gained important knowledge and understanding on the scriptures. Some of the topics he covered were what is Christianity, worldviews including humanism, denying ourselves/taking up our crosses daily, covenants in the Bible, prayer, what is Call2All and Table 71, the time line from the creation, to the fall, to the New Jerusalem, who we are in Christ and much, much more!

Some of my favorite lines in my 29 pages of notes from this week are:
- "We are the most humanistic/hedonistic culture in all of history. We are engrossed in self-gratification and consumption. 24/7 consumed with ourselves and we call our culture "Christian". "
- "Humanism is the original sin."
- "The key to Christianity is killing yourself and staying dead" (denying yourself and picking up your cross daily)
- "If I spend most of my time praying about myself, I am still a humanist!"
- "God doesn't want to improve you, He wants to kill you."
- "Don't concentrate on sin to deal with it. Find out the truth and pray the truth. Never pray the problem!"
- "Everything you say is shifting and moving things".
- "To be secure in what you believe, you have to live it. The truth you know, changes you."
- "Authority comes from God, given to people by free will. Intercessory prayer can stop the natural course."
- "If you are not an enemy of sickness and disease , you are not with God."
- "Don't assign blame to God for what people do or did."
- "There is no place for condemnation".
- "God insults the mind to reveal the heart."

Here are some pictures of the last week to enjoy!

Our welcome on the white board in our classroom

What the board looked like by Thursday's teaching!

A wet but happy ride in the trolley around the coastline!

First day of class!

Enjoying time together with the Holy Spirit

Time in the prayer room during a worship with the Word

Checking out the Iron Man Competition!

Out at a burger joint with many of our classmates! Good bonding times!

There is so much I could share about this week but it would take so long! So, I'm going to learn how to just share some of the highlights because I can't share everything each day with the ones back home.

Yesterday I was a little sad thinking of home, knowing that Thanksgiving gatherings were going on. It's a little tough to not be home over Thanksgiving and my birthday this week because it's usually a big celebration! Also, I'm thinking of my Sanctuary buddies today as they transition to another new home for a season. So, I'm missing home just a smidge but very content to be here and not wishing to be elsewhere!

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends and family!

A Quick Hello!

This week has been a whirlwind! I haven't had any time to keep any of you updated, but I'm hoping to post a blog this weekend when we have some free time!

The lectures have been incredible and my spirit is loving it! My physical body is doing quite well with very early wake-ups and warm temperatures. I haven't had a headache for the last 2 days! That's an improvement!

I got to update the partnership thermometer this evening! Woo! Hoo! I'm so thankful! Everything that is coming in now is going directly towards our outreach phase. We don't yet know where we will be going on outreach or the exact costs involved. I'll keep you posted when we know! We should know our location in the next week or two.

Blessings to you all!

....(sigh)......

(Sigh). Hmmmm.....

Today I miss my sister more than usual. I hadn't talked to her since Monday evening and I have been missing her. Monday evening's conversation was rushed too because we were packing and doing last minute stuff all day.

I missed her when I ate some soup in the LA airport that she would have totally LOVED on Tuesday. I missed her when the New Zealand flag went by during the Aloha Welcome on Friday and I cheered loudly for a country that has my sister right now. I missed her on Thursday when we welcomed a team member that was originally supposed to be on her DTS (very strange story and what a small world). And then again I missed her today when I was eating frozen yogurt, wanting to be eating it with her.

I got to see her face on Skype for a short time but it's just not the same. I miss her today. I like her. I love her. And I want to be together.

Orientation Day at YWAM

Today was Orientation Day for Shane and I here in Kona. Yesterday all the students arrived and today we were welcomed in a big way! The Hawaiian people know how to welcome! The Ohana, meaning family, is very important here and we all were welcomed into the Hawaiian ohana and the YWAM ohana. All the talk of family made me think that they were going to make everyone homesick =)

In the morning we had orientation with all 600-700 students. It was a packed crowd! In a few weeks when all the guests arrive to celebrate the 50th anniversary, there will be 4-5 times that amount of people! This place is going to be packed!

Some highlights from this morning were:
- the marine biologist who talked briefly on water safety. My favorite story that he told was of the DTS students who went diving together. One of the girls stepped on a sea urchin. They have venom and the antidote to it is.....urine! Unfortunately, she didn't have to go to the bathroom! She asked her fellow students and only one person had to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately that was a male! So, everyone shut their eyes and did what needed to be done =) 2 years later those two ended up married! That sure made me laugh!
- the worship team was good! We're going to enjoy Monday morning corporate worship of hundreds of people worshiping together each week!
- the talk on preferring one another. It was great that the leadership was so honest and open about the differences between cultures. We have a ton of different countries here which makes for wonderful relationships, lots of learning and some difficulties I'm sure!

In the afternoon we went to our first meeting in our classroom specific to our DTS! There are 35 students in our DTS (from 9 different nations), which is one of the smaller ones and I'm thankful for a smaller number so we can hopefully get to know each other a little better! I think our times in there will be good!

This evening was a big Hawaiian party called The Aloha Welcome complete with Hawaiian dance and all! The best part of the evening was the honoring of all the different countries. They had a video which was of a map of the world and it pointed out all the different countries represented by present students one at a time as a student or staff came up with the flag for that nation. There was fun music and when your country came up, you got to stand and cheer! Shane and I did our best to holler for Canada when it was our turn =) There is a number of Canadians on base here! It was so fun to join together as the Bride of Christ welcoming and blessing one another from so many different countries!

I cheered hard for New Zealand because they are blessed with my sister right now and I got the most emotional about the country of Haiti which I wasn't expecting. It brought tears to my eyes =)

And that's a wrap! Orientation Day complete!

Pictures of Kona!

It's been a great last 2 days here in Kona! This place is gorgeous and the people are super friendly! The weather is warm and shorts and t-shirts are all we need!

I have been super tired and strangely dizzy. The dizziness was happening while on the flights and got worse by Wednesday. Thankfully, today (Thursday) was better and I'm hoping that means it's on its way out the door! Dizziness plus the time change and the heat has had me pretty wasted and has sucked a lot of the energy out of me. I've been sleeping pretty good at night though and today I didn't even nap!

It's been such a blessing to be here. We have had great accommodations and have enjoyed getting out to the harbor just the two of us to get to know the island a smidge. It's felt like a vacation over the last 2 days because we have mostly been relaxing and resting prior to school starting. I'm so thankful we arrived early and got to adjust a little before orientation day tomorrow! I'm looking forward to our start tomorrow!

Here's a few pictures from our first two days here!

The view from our building!

Us in front of the sign at the entrance to the University of the Nations property.

The beautiful palm trees on the driveway up from the entrance to the University!

A hilarious sign we found at a local park! I love Shane's face on this one too!

Climbing on the rocks at the shoreline while the tide is coming in!

A sign you find near the harbor!

God's provision continues....found this in my Bible this morning! Thank-you to the mysterious $20 partner who left the gift in the book of Job!

Our door tag outside our room

Our first shave ice experience!

Registration Day and equipped with our ID badges! Now we're really students!

What a lovely 2 days so far! Tomorrow is orientation day so off to bed!

We're Here!

After a long day of travel including 3 different flights and 14+ hours from taking off in Winnipeg to landing in Kona, we are here safe and sound, happy and exhausted! Things went really well and travel went smoothly, without a hitch. There was a ton of grace and peace over us and specifically me in the area of fear related to flying. God was so good and His comfort was tangible. Praise Jesus!

We've been preparing and traveling for 42 out of the last 46 hours and we are beat! 4 hours last night just wasn't enough =) Time for bed!

Good night to all and our first good night to Hawaii! We'll get to see you more tomorrow!

Whew! What a day!

The day before a trip is always a little psycho! I feel that way with our trips to Kansas City, never mind a 6 month trip across the world!

Today had wonderful highlights, sad moments, tense packing moments and was full, full, full of last minute details! I'm looking forward to a few hours of sleep before heading out in the morning!

Please pray for us as we travel tomorrow. I'm not a huge fan of flying because I'm not too keen on turbulence. Please pray for peace and enjoyment! Pray that we catch all our flights and we and our luggage make it to Kona wonderfully! Pray that there is grace for us in our interactions with people and each other. Pray that our hearts aren't too sad with the last of the good-byes tomorrow morning.

Bless you all! Thank-you for your love and support!
I'll blog again from another part of the world next time!

Tidbits of Info

Tonight was good-bye with Shane's parents and grandpa and it's too late on a night that was full of emotion to write about it right now. So, instead, I'll fill you in with a few random trip preparation details.

1. Our van is clean and ready to head to bed for the winter! We have our stabilizer fluid, we've been to Mr.Lube and we visited the car wash today. The storage lady finally called us back and we've got a date on Monday to tuck the van in to bed for the next 6 months.

2. The shopping is done! We finished up the last of the stuff today and that was my goal. I didn't want to be doing any shopping after Friday and my list is crossed off! Woo hoo!

3. There are only a few things left on my list of things to do before we leave! Soooo many have been crossed off!

It's pretty neat that this time next week is Orientation Day! I must say, as someone who loves organizing, administrating and scheduling, I am so pumped to get my hands on our binders that we get at registration! I always loved the part of each new school year when I got new school supplies, new classes started and I got to look through new syllabuses in university.

I haven't been a student over the last 5 years and I'm really looking forward to it again! Woo! Hoo!