Has it been that long?!

Wow, I just realized it's been since March 23rd that I wrote the last update.  Sad.  And I'm sorry to those that look forward to hearing what's been going on!

It's been a transition time and it's been busy and lots of changes as outreach has begun.  First of all, we all moved off campus and into a hotel in town.  Only a few minutes away from YWAM but right in the core of this town of Kona.  It's been a great transition surprisingly to me.  I thought it would be harder moving into a small hotel room with all 5 of us but it's been good.  We downsized, yet again (HAHA) so that all our things would fit without feeling too crowded.  So, really, just brought our essentials over. All part of outreach!  So, we are sharing a room with 2 double beds and have Judah's pack n play set up for him.  Being in the middle of Kona has brought a new light to this place and has allowed us to mingle more with the people.  We will be here for another 2 weeks.  It's already been 2 weeks here.  And then we will be moving on to the other side of the island, Hilo.
We have been doing some Bible distribution - working along a project that is being head up here to attempt to get a Bible into every home in Kona.  We are also involved in a few things with Salvation Army and also did a BBQ this past Saturday which we'll do this coming Saturday again for the people in that neighborhood.  We have seen a handful of people give their lives to Jesus and it's been great to hear the testimonies when we talk about our day.  God is so faithful to willing hearts.

Today was especially fun for us.  Mike lead a small group of us out this morning with prayer and just asking God to give us a word or a picture of something that would direct our path for the morning.  So, the words were simple: a book, plumeria flower, bread, lantern and something wrong with an arm.  Well, as we felt directed to a specific shopping area, we weren't sure what to do next but started walking.  We saw a bakery! So, we went in and bought some bread.  When we walked outside, we noticed the next restaurant over had lanterns hanging outside of it. Cool! So, we felt we were in the right place.  As we were hanging out there for a bit, we noticed a guy sitting, reading a book - so a few from our team walked over to talk to him and as they were headed over, we noticed he was sitting under a plumeria tree!  That was pretty cool!  Well, needless to say, this young man was who God wanted to welcome into His arms today.  He was ready and sincere and wanting all we had to share about Jesus.  As we were wrapping it up with talking to him, we were all over to meet him, Mike asked if anything was wrong with his arm.  He has been a drug addict so had lots of track marks and caloused veins so were able to pray for that too.  That God would set him free from his addictions.  He was so thankful and open.  We'll continue to pray for Aaron. Please join with me! We also exchanged numbers so hope to see him again.

So, it's short and sweet today..but atleast I'm finally present after 3 weeks!
Here are some pictures :) Enjoy

This was from Easter - they had a really fun easter egg hunt at the ywam campus at the preschool that runs there.

This is at the hotel we are staying at.

Also at the hotel we're staying at...Judah has discovered motorcycles and absolutely has found a new love!

This is at the hotel - Judah is in love with this Marlin on the wall.  Every time we walk by it, he has to go and see it up close. Cute...

Here we are helping out at the Salvation Army with food sorting and distributing to the poor.

                                           The board walk in town

Here we are having our community team dinners...at the hotel, downstairs (we take turns cooking - often in several crockpots and bring them down for dinner)

                                       The kids were treated to a shave iced cone by our awesome friends.  Lovin' it!

                                          Just chillin' at the beach

                                   Here is our first day of our evangelism team

                                         Here is the bakery and the lanterns

                               And here is the guy reading a book under a plumeria tree who found Jesus this day

These 4 pictures below are from our 'lovefeast' for our DTS - kinda like a final nice dinner before sending us all out to the nations.

Judah being a complete ham....and his cute little friend Mercy who loves to say, "my Judah". So cute.

The last few pictures are from a camp area that we were checking out for our team to stay at for a couple days at some point.  Lots of fruit trees.  Madison was all for the guavas everywhere.  The kids had a lot of fun!

Lecture Phase... DONE!

Lecture Phase is over!  I can't believe that time has gone by so quickly.  Done!
And what an amazing time it has been.  What an amazing thing that we have been a part of.  We feel so privileged to be able to be here.  To be able to soak up all that God has been putting out there for us.  To be in such a 'presence' here on campus.  God is so good to us.

So, a recap of the last few weeks!  Some great speakers of course.  The week that stood out to me the most was a man from South Africa, David Gava.  This man lives a life that I admire.  The relationship that he has with Jesus is something I hunger for.  He imparted faith to all of us and most definitely a hunger to walk in a deeper level with our maker.  He is such a humble and sweet man but comes with a powerful anointing and authority.  Among MANY amazing and incredible stories, this one is one of the coolest... When he was 6 yrs old he had to have a surgery done and as they finished, the doctor came out to tell his mother that he had died during the procedure.  Being a mother, she demanded to see him.  They refused initially but with her persistence finally allowed her.  The doctors had already wrote up a death certificate...but on went his mother to pray.  Not accepting his death, she prayed for 2 1/2 hrs for his life to return.  Then, he began to cough and life returned.  And, here he is today to talk about it.  Not only to tell the story but to tell the story fully restored.  No deficits, no brain damage....absolutely faith inspiring and frankly, a MIRACLE!  God is so good and we are in a time right now where He is ready to use those who are willing to be used....to raise the dead!! To heal the sick.  To perform signs and wonders.  Why?  Because He loves us and because He wants ALL men to know Him.  Don't forget that this is in the Bible.  It says it right in there!  He says in John 14:12-15
 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. ¹³ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask^[a] anything in My name, I will do it."
Wow.  I'm not content any longer with the life I've been living.  It is time for awakening in the world.  Time to shake it up a bit!  I liked what David Gava said in response to his questions of what we expected or wanted from God...he simply said, "That's too small of a thing for Him to do, what do you want?"  He is a big God.  Think BIG. 

This week was our last week with a lot of outreach prep and last words of advice.  Really great stuff.  Loved it.  Today we had the amazing privilege of having Loren Cunningham - THE founder of YWAM - speak to us and pray for us.  So great and so full of wisdom.  So blessed.  
Next week, starting Tuesday, we have teams starting to leave for the Nations.  Going throughout the world and United States.  So excited to hear all the will transpire through these next 2 months.  

It was also Judah's birthday! Yay!!  So fun.  And he is getting SO big.  He is also SO heavy!! Love that kid so much.  We had a fun little family time celebrating his birthday.  We've had a lot of birthday celebrations with cake around here so I decided to get some donuts to change it up a bit and the kids loved them.  Judah also had a little 'party' with his friends during the day as Sarah watched him.  Sarah and Judah have found good friends in 3 other little kids that are part of our team that are also being babysat. So cute.  I'll have to ask Sarah is she has any pictures of them all hangin' out :)  They are all so stinkin' cute!

Oh - and just to keep you posted on financials for us...we continue to ask for the Lord to speak to your heart as to if He would have you help in any way.  Again, we are SO thankful for those of you that have sowed into our time here. SO thankful!  I can't say it enough.  
And, if not financially, please take a minute to lift us up in prayer.  We appreciate being covered in prayers so much.  Also, if there is anything we could pray for you, we'd love to hear from you and would love to pray for you.  Let us know!

And here I'll leave you with some more pictures.....
The first 5 pictures were graciously taken by a guy in our school that is an amazing photographer. A Blessing! Credit goes to David Parks.  LOVE them!!!  His photo's are awe inspiring...have a look!
www.davidparksphotography.com

And here are some pics taken over the past few weeks...
Okay, they seem to be only beach pictures...I really need to take more around here.  This is not all we do - lol.  We actually don't get to the beach too often - perhaps that's why the pictures - to savor the moments.

A couple more weeks done! Wow...time is flying.  Today makes 2 months exactly since the start of our school here in Kona.  It has flown by!  I can't believe how quickly time has gone.
The last few weeks have been good - just like the other 6 weeks before that!  We've had some great speakers come in enlightening us more to the word of God.  Amazing the insights we are receiving and it just keeps coming! Yay God for endless amounts of revelation He has to give us for the rest of our lives!!

Firstly - I NEED to say THANK YOU to my wonderful friends that I just love so much for your amazing support prayerfully and financially!  We are so forever thankful for you all.  We pray for your families - that God would bless you guys so much.  Thank you for sewing into us and God :)
We continue to need finances - and like I mentioned before - your prayers.  We value your prayers.  I would love to hear from anyone who's been praying for us.  It just means So much to us - we need it! And thank you!

This week one of my biggest highlights was meeting with my dear friend Kari Adams.  I love her soooo much!  We did our DTS together back in '97 and then a leadership school in '98.  We have been in touch since...mostly by distance with an email here and there throughout the years.   I called her up a few times just before coming here - talking things over about what we were going to be doing and asking her for some insight as she'd been on staff here in Kona for quite a while but was then living in Washington....THEN, a crazy little story of hers, ended her and her husband moving here just this past November before we got here!  God knew I needed her here :)
She met us at the airport when we arrived and we've seen each other here and there throughout the 2 months of being here.  She's been a blessing and has been a great listening ear, encourager and prayer friend.  This week was just extra special.  Just Love her so much.  Thanks Kari for your deep friendship that we were able to pick up as if we'd only been apart a couple weeks rather than 14 years!!! :)

Oh, I also wanted to share this really cool healing story that happened!
One of the girls here was in a pretty bad moped accident (hit by a car/no helmet - no one wears them here for mopeds).  She wasn't able to tell the ambulance guys her name and had a pretty messed up leg. They did a scan which showed her back to be fine and no internal bleeding but that her right leg was broken in several places and needed surgery to place screws/plates. Initially they thought she was bad enough to be flown to the main hospital in Honolulu (different island).
Right away, there was a huge ban of people praying for her all over here and at the hospital with her.  So, then comes the news: - no internal bleeding (they thought she may've had this on arrival)
-they could do surgery here and not have to fly her.
Then, she went into surgery and as she came out of recovery - the Doctors reported she didn't have any broken bones in her leg! Wow - just awesome.
So, she walked away with a leg that is still quite sore and will take a couple weeks to gain full walking on it BUT no broken bones, NO head injury, NO internal injuries!  God is good and what an exciting faith builder for us all!

And here are just a few pictures....I need to be a bit more intentional with the camera! Not that many pics this time....

                                                              After the rain fall

                                 Just came across this one - Madison took it - so sweet.

                                     sisters...I did have to get them to pose for it though. :)

It rained!! It doesn't happen often but it did right at dinner time and Judah had so much fun getting soaked! I took him off guard on this picture...haha

Week 5 of Fire and Fragrance!

This week we have Lou Engle speaking to our school.  What a great and obedient man after God's heart!  I remember when he spoke in our youth group in around 1996.  I vaguely remembered until I spoke to him about it and then the memory of him weeping came to me as he was sharing with me how God spoke to him at that retreat so strongly.
So, how refreshing to be listening to him again.  What a man of God he is.  He started 'The Call' and has a huge passion for praying for this world.  Praying for revival in America and throughout the nations.  His heart burns with zeal and it's contagious.  The things that are happening through his life are inspiring to walk closer to God...to have the encounters with God like he does is what I hunger for.  He's got some great stories.
We are excited for what is to come.  And that we get to be a part of it.  Sometimes I can't believe that we have been chosen for this time and that we will see great things yet to come.  And it will be all in the name of Jesus!  Thank you Lord for what you are going to do in these nations. In America.  In Canada!

And, Let me just say a great big THANKS to you who have sown in to us financially.  We are so forever grateful! We are still needing to meet our goal and need about $4000 (which is overdue). Continue to pray and see if God would speak to you about this. (monthly or one time gifts)
We are also so very GRATEFUL for all your prayers that come our way! Thank you, thank you!  Those are SO important...more than money.  God will provide but prayers are continually needed for this little family.
We love all of you!! xoxo

On another note, the kids are doing great!  The girls are enjoying the school program here and are pretty well adjusted to the busy schedule we all have.  It really is non stop from 7am till after dinner.  They love it though and fit in lots of play time in at the park right by our apartment.
It was Madison's birthday yesterday and we had a little party for her over the weekend on my birthday. We got a cake and had all our friends come and hang out for a BBQ.  It was really nice.

                                                     one of many geckos around here

                       Maddy and Kaiyah had an 'animal day' at school so we did some face painting

                                         Going for a swim - the pool is right below our room

                                                      Madison and my birthday party

Judah and Sarah (who watches him everyday) are getting along great.  He really enjoys hanging out with her and is excited every morning that she comes. They seem to have a routine going on that starts with swimming every day!    He'll be 2 next month! Time is flying.
Sarah seems to have adapted well to Hawaii too.  She loves it here and has had lots of adventures...I'm waaay behind in that area! Hoping to catch up though. There really is SO much to do on this island.  It features 11 of the 13 climate zones of the world.  So, you can just imagine the amazing things to do and see here.

                                                               Sarah and Judah

(photo credit to someone in our school)

 This was at a lady's house that was touched with our community outreach we've been doing near/at a beach that's a bit run down.  So, she wanted to bless us and invited us all over for dinner to her place! There were about 200 of us there - if not more!  What a blessing to all of us. And what a beautiful place she has!!

      Kaiyah hanging around these cool climbing trees.  The kids can literally hide in them. Very cool!

Financial Update....I know, I know....

I just wanted to clarify myself a bit better as to what our financial needs are as I have had some people message me to clarify as I guess it's a bit confusing.  I'll try to be more straight forward!

First of all, we are REALLY looking for anyone who would join us in support on a monthly basis.  It would be such a great help to know we have a certain amount each month coming in.  And, really, ANY amount is fine.  If we could get 10 people at $10/month - what a help! No amount is too little (or too big! ha)

Secondly, one time gifts of support would be great too and greatly appreciated.

I can't stress to you enough how grateful we are to each one of you who have helped us financially.  I know it's a sacrifice and we SO appreciate every dime! Thank you, Thank you.....

But we are really short on our funds that are due now.
We need $5000.00 as our down payment for our outreach here in Hawaii.  And we need your help.

So, I just ask that you think about it, pray about it - even just take 5 minutes right now. :)
We trust God in all this.  He has taken us this far and we believe he'll continue to take us.  He is a good God that wants the best for his children.

Thanks  :)

It's been a MONTH here in Hawaii!

Alright, I got my hand on a laptop to borrow for a couple hrs. so thought best thing to be productive would be to update the blog and the happenings here!

We are going in to our 5th week here.  I can't believe it!  The time is flying by - literally, our days come and go quickly and before we know it, we're into our next week!
Our typical day is something like this: Breakfast 6:15-7:15. Classroom time 8am-12pm.  Prayer room or small groups 1pm-3pm. 3-5 off with kids. 5pm-6:30pm dinner.  Mondays and Thursdays we have evening stuff as well.  It's a busy time but it sure makes us appreciate our downtime that we do get!

We are learning so much more about God and about ourselves as well.  It has been so great.
In a quick nutshell, we have had different topics of teachings each week with a different person teaching them as well.  We have had a week on "Pure Heart" - a lot of inner healing things spoken about in this week. Very powerful and wonderful. It's such great teaching and although I've heard it before, it never gets old.  I love it and learn something every time.  It's a deep cleaning :)  Another great week was with Brian Brennt who came with a message of Freedom.  Just going over the simplicity of the gospel and how easy it is to find freedom from things that have bogged us down for years or decades.  Loved it! Learned a ton!  This coming week we get to listen to a lady - Amy Sollars.  I cannot wait for this!  I think it's going to be fantastic and have high expectations.

As you may haveread already - we have found out where we'll be headed for outreach - and it's right here! haha.  We have teams going to South Africa, Uganda, India, Nepal, Tibet, Amsterdam, London, Washington D.C, New York state, Los Angeles and Hawaii!!  All such super exciting places but also super rural places where it'd most likely be pretty tough to be going with kids.  So, we are posted here in Hawaii and we are truly excited about what's going to happen.   I'm still learning a lot about this place and there is quite a bit of poverty in some areas.  Also a lot of tension between the locals and the Marshallese people that live here.  Hawaii also has a few of the the "top 10" worst schools in the nation.  There is a lot of opportunity for us here and we are excited to see what it all will look like.  I'll keep you posted as I find out more of what our particular focus will become.
Our team consists of 1 single and 7 families.  It's so great.  We love our team so much and can't wait to get to know one another even more.

Today we celebrated one of the girls birthday (5 this week) and went to a beautiful place where the kids could swim and see dolphins and all sorts of other sea life.  They loved it! And I finally was able to see some whales jumping out in the distance!  It was so great! And so great that we can have all this free entertainment - God's creation!
We missed "dad" though as he has gone for the weekend (on his way back as I type).  He went to Los Angeles for 4 days with a team of about 20 others from our school to be part of wildertour.  The link highlighted will be able to tell you more about it than I can but I can't wait to hear all about it tonight!