Two months ago i got to hawaii.
Two months from now i will just have celebrated my birthday in South America
wow.
I feel like the older i get the faster time goes by!
i will be 40 before i know it.
This week in lecture we talked about the nature vs the character of God.
reverence vs intimacy
He is Big
He is Good
It was a good yet rattling week for most students because it makes us question and go deep into our heart issues.
Lets just say i came out of this week with more questions then answers, and maybe that is how it should be most times.
I am looking forward to next week we have our one and only female speaker Faith Dutton talking on Relationships.
Oh man.
Always interesting!!
Monday i experienced something new....something called Zumba class. Basically an exercise class where you dance the entire time. Mainly salsa and latin american dancing, but there is some other cultural stuff thrown in there. So yes that is my new experience of the week. After an hour and a half of dancing i can safely say that my dance skills have improved....which isn't saying much with my skills.
anyways.
Wednesday was the halloween party at the community outreach that i am apart of Meet 'n' Eat. We went in costume (me as an 80s prom queen) and ate with the kids and danced and gave out food and toys. It was so so much fun!
Friday we saw over $15,000 come in in just over an hour.
wow GO GOD!
friday was the deadline for the first amount of money for the outreaches we are going on in just over a month and there was still a need for some. It was amazing seeing God come through. For me it was really testing my faith and trust in Him.
Was i willing to give over and above what i really have in order to trully trust in God? Well lets just say that i am more joyful after giving, and if i think about it i have so so much. why not give.
Saturday....yesterday was a really fun day!! There is a local church that puts on this huge halloween event for the community. They set up a life-sized candyland and over 6000 people come through.
Everything is free!!
there is a maze that they go through and collect candy along the way, games they play for candy, inflatable jumping things, climbing wall, and everyones favourite....hot dogs! Crazy how they can do this every year and continue to make it free! Our school got the priviledge of helping out running games and handing out candy and just hanging out with the kids showing Christs love. This is my third time doing it and it never grows old.
So yes that was my week.
I'm so full of joy and excitement for the future.
Please keep me in your prayers over these next few weeks as i am preparing for my trip to Colombia.
Peace, Wisdom, Trust.
I am my beloveds and He is mine!
west coast trail
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
The weeks go on...
Another 2 weeks have passed and it feels like it’s been a month. Only 2 more months and I will be on my way into the nations, it will be here before I know it.
This week I got the amazing opportunity to share my heart on community outreach. I believe that there is more to this then just going to lectures and developing our relationships with Christ then in three months going and practicing what we got taught. Why don’t we put it into practice now? Why do we have to wait?
Acts 1:8>“But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses-in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.” When Jesus said this they were in Israel and He calls them to FIRST be witnesses in Jerusalem, right where they are. So i believe that we should first be witnesses where we are and here in Hawaii there are so many places where we can shine light and share love. Being the community outreach co-ordinator allows me to seek out opportunities in the community and become involved. Some of the different opportunities involve an after school program at the Salvation Army, Skate Night which involves kids and youth from the community coming to the University and having skate board jumps set up and just spending time skate boarding, building relationships and being in a healthy environment. Then there is going to Planned Parenthood and praying against abortions and talking to ladies that come to get them. My all time favourite is something called Meet ‘n’ Eat, a wonderful outreach to the Marshallese refugees. The Marshall Islands are located just southwest of Hawaii and some years back the U.S.A decided to test their nuclear weapons there creating somewhat of an issue for the Marshallese people. Since then they are allowed a free pass into America to live and most of them came to Hawaii. So even though they are living in America they are still living in poverty, in their little communities where most of them don’t speak English, go to school or have a job. So once a week they get a free meal that is donated by different places in the community and we get to be a part of it. Serve food, play games with kids, tell them about Jesus, and build relationships. It is a blessing to be a part of it and for sure something i look forward to!
Along with sharing on community outreach i also got to share my story, my journey of where God has taken me and how faithful he is. It is always a pleasure to share what God is doing and how He invites us to be a part of what He is doing on the earth.
Our speaker last week was Andy Byrd.
Wow.
Let’s just say he definitely stirs something up in your soul when he speaks. The passion he has and the excitement makes you want to go deeper with Jesus everyday. He spoke on Revival and Reformation. It all starts with the revival of our hearts, realization that Christ loves us and gaining a deeper understanding on what that love looks like. After we realize and receive that never ending love it causes a reformation of our life styles, a longing to change our lifestyles to get to know this love and this person of love.
It changes religion into relationship.
It makes us WANT to read our bibles, it makes us WANT to pray, it makes us WANT to go into the nations.
It is bringing the first commandment into the great commission.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength”
“Go and make disciples of all nations”
You can’t love your neighbour, or love anyone around you unless you have the love of God in you and filling you.
Basically we nee our eyes more open to love.
Greater knowledge of His love.
Then we can love others
Then we can transform nations
Then we can change the world.
Revival of the heart and reformation of the lifestyle can flow into revival of the church and reformation in the body, which can then in turn send a revival into the nations.....His Kingdom come!
So yes that was very powerful when he was speaking.
Our week this week was with two amazing brothers Tre & Trent Sheppard. They come from the east coast and Ireland and they spoke to all of the DTS’ together. Sometimes we have something called a “corporate week” where all the schools join together for a time of teaching together!
It was really fun and at the same time really challenging. They spoke a lot of the history of the Hebrews, the covenant and how that shows us our identity in this Kingdom. One of the major things they brought up was the story of Moses and how God used what was in his hand-a staff- to free all the Isrealites from captivity. A staff.....something so small that seems so useless yet God chose to use that. It was a great message that God can use whatever we have in our hands, no matter how small. Sometimes we seem to overlook the small yet significant things we can do because we are just looking for something BIG we can go for. If we are willing to give Him what we have in our hands then He can and WILL use that to set the captives free, cloth the homeless, feed the hungry, and give homes to the orphans.
Wow.
What is in your hand?
So that was a really great week of teaching that i know a lot of us will be thinking about for a while. Also something super cool that went on this week was announcing the outreach locations and the different teams.
The options are: London & South Africa, Mozambique & South Africa, Rwanda, Mal Dives & East India, Cambodia, and Colombia/Amazon
So what happened was the students came to class, we put the options on the board and then they had 20 minutes to go off on their own letting God speak to them and come back with two options. Then us as staff took them and prayer over them and put them into teams. It is so hard because sometimes the students don’t get their first choice or even any of their choices. But we know that God is good and that He has a plan for each student wherever they go.
I am taking a team of 9 students to Colombia/Amazon for 3 months. It will be very fun and for sure challenging at times. Going into the Amazon is no easy task, the heat alone will be something that we have to get used to, but we know this is where God is taking us, that He is the leader and because of our obedience it is going to be an amazing time.
I am so excited, i have wanted to go to the Amazon for a long time and it is amazing that Jesus is finally giving me this time there. Who knows....i might just stay there!!!
So with that said there are plane tickets to be bought, visas to be arranged along with some very expensive shots and some jungle supplies! We are planning on buying plane tickets within the next two weeks and the money has to be in next week.
If you want to be apart of this ministry and help out that would be amazing. Of course there is always a financial need, with missionaries there always is. But more importantly we need prayer, lots and lots of prayer. Prayer for safety is very important, let’s just say that the Amazon jungle is not the safest place you can go too, but we are under God’s hand so it IS the safest place we can be for this time. Also pray for health; disease and sickness are very prevalent in this area we are going to and I want to avoid that at all costs. But above all just pray for God’s heart to be imparted to us before we go, that we may be aware of the things of His heart and what He wants for the nation of Colombia and the people there.
Well that pretty much sums up the last two weeks minus some stories that are probably better untold. For instance we had a crazy manifestation of maggots in our kitchen last week.....yuck or the many people that have stepped on sea urchins and had to get peed on.
Good stuff!
Well i have a very fun job of feeding the pigs here on campus. There is about 14 of them and one little baby that i get the privilege of feeding the slops to each and every Sunday! It truly makes me have a better picture of the prodigal son; i can’t imagine eating that food!!
So i’m off to tend to the pigs.
Ta-ta for now!
This week I got the amazing opportunity to share my heart on community outreach. I believe that there is more to this then just going to lectures and developing our relationships with Christ then in three months going and practicing what we got taught. Why don’t we put it into practice now? Why do we have to wait?
Acts 1:8>“But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses-in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.” When Jesus said this they were in Israel and He calls them to FIRST be witnesses in Jerusalem, right where they are. So i believe that we should first be witnesses where we are and here in Hawaii there are so many places where we can shine light and share love. Being the community outreach co-ordinator allows me to seek out opportunities in the community and become involved. Some of the different opportunities involve an after school program at the Salvation Army, Skate Night which involves kids and youth from the community coming to the University and having skate board jumps set up and just spending time skate boarding, building relationships and being in a healthy environment. Then there is going to Planned Parenthood and praying against abortions and talking to ladies that come to get them. My all time favourite is something called Meet ‘n’ Eat, a wonderful outreach to the Marshallese refugees. The Marshall Islands are located just southwest of Hawaii and some years back the U.S.A decided to test their nuclear weapons there creating somewhat of an issue for the Marshallese people. Since then they are allowed a free pass into America to live and most of them came to Hawaii. So even though they are living in America they are still living in poverty, in their little communities where most of them don’t speak English, go to school or have a job. So once a week they get a free meal that is donated by different places in the community and we get to be a part of it. Serve food, play games with kids, tell them about Jesus, and build relationships. It is a blessing to be a part of it and for sure something i look forward to!
Along with sharing on community outreach i also got to share my story, my journey of where God has taken me and how faithful he is. It is always a pleasure to share what God is doing and how He invites us to be a part of what He is doing on the earth.
Our speaker last week was Andy Byrd.
Wow.
Let’s just say he definitely stirs something up in your soul when he speaks. The passion he has and the excitement makes you want to go deeper with Jesus everyday. He spoke on Revival and Reformation. It all starts with the revival of our hearts, realization that Christ loves us and gaining a deeper understanding on what that love looks like. After we realize and receive that never ending love it causes a reformation of our life styles, a longing to change our lifestyles to get to know this love and this person of love.
It changes religion into relationship.
It makes us WANT to read our bibles, it makes us WANT to pray, it makes us WANT to go into the nations.
It is bringing the first commandment into the great commission.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength”
“Go and make disciples of all nations”
You can’t love your neighbour, or love anyone around you unless you have the love of God in you and filling you.
Basically we nee our eyes more open to love.
Greater knowledge of His love.
Then we can love others
Then we can transform nations
Then we can change the world.
Revival of the heart and reformation of the lifestyle can flow into revival of the church and reformation in the body, which can then in turn send a revival into the nations.....His Kingdom come!
So yes that was very powerful when he was speaking.
Our week this week was with two amazing brothers Tre & Trent Sheppard. They come from the east coast and Ireland and they spoke to all of the DTS’ together. Sometimes we have something called a “corporate week” where all the schools join together for a time of teaching together!
It was really fun and at the same time really challenging. They spoke a lot of the history of the Hebrews, the covenant and how that shows us our identity in this Kingdom. One of the major things they brought up was the story of Moses and how God used what was in his hand-a staff- to free all the Isrealites from captivity. A staff.....something so small that seems so useless yet God chose to use that. It was a great message that God can use whatever we have in our hands, no matter how small. Sometimes we seem to overlook the small yet significant things we can do because we are just looking for something BIG we can go for. If we are willing to give Him what we have in our hands then He can and WILL use that to set the captives free, cloth the homeless, feed the hungry, and give homes to the orphans.
Wow.
What is in your hand?
So that was a really great week of teaching that i know a lot of us will be thinking about for a while. Also something super cool that went on this week was announcing the outreach locations and the different teams.
The options are: London & South Africa, Mozambique & South Africa, Rwanda, Mal Dives & East India, Cambodia, and Colombia/Amazon
So what happened was the students came to class, we put the options on the board and then they had 20 minutes to go off on their own letting God speak to them and come back with two options. Then us as staff took them and prayer over them and put them into teams. It is so hard because sometimes the students don’t get their first choice or even any of their choices. But we know that God is good and that He has a plan for each student wherever they go.
I am taking a team of 9 students to Colombia/Amazon for 3 months. It will be very fun and for sure challenging at times. Going into the Amazon is no easy task, the heat alone will be something that we have to get used to, but we know this is where God is taking us, that He is the leader and because of our obedience it is going to be an amazing time.
I am so excited, i have wanted to go to the Amazon for a long time and it is amazing that Jesus is finally giving me this time there. Who knows....i might just stay there!!!
So with that said there are plane tickets to be bought, visas to be arranged along with some very expensive shots and some jungle supplies! We are planning on buying plane tickets within the next two weeks and the money has to be in next week.
If you want to be apart of this ministry and help out that would be amazing. Of course there is always a financial need, with missionaries there always is. But more importantly we need prayer, lots and lots of prayer. Prayer for safety is very important, let’s just say that the Amazon jungle is not the safest place you can go too, but we are under God’s hand so it IS the safest place we can be for this time. Also pray for health; disease and sickness are very prevalent in this area we are going to and I want to avoid that at all costs. But above all just pray for God’s heart to be imparted to us before we go, that we may be aware of the things of His heart and what He wants for the nation of Colombia and the people there.
Well that pretty much sums up the last two weeks minus some stories that are probably better untold. For instance we had a crazy manifestation of maggots in our kitchen last week.....yuck or the many people that have stepped on sea urchins and had to get peed on.
Good stuff!
Well i have a very fun job of feeding the pigs here on campus. There is about 14 of them and one little baby that i get the privilege of feeding the slops to each and every Sunday! It truly makes me have a better picture of the prodigal son; i can’t imagine eating that food!!
So i’m off to tend to the pigs.
Ta-ta for now!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
It has BEGUN!!
Okay so i realize that is have been just about a month since my last blog and i am supposed to be keeping you all updated.
Oh man i apologize, i could use the excuse that the internet has been bad (which is has) or that i'm extremely busy (which i am) but i shouldn't use an excuse and i should just make time cause this is important.
So let me update you on what has been going on so far in this Beautiful place called Hawaii.
A lot of staff training was happening and just preparing for this intense amazing 6 months, a lot of resting and enjoying having some down time, oh and i got a tattoo.
yes yes yes.
The students got here just over a week ago on the 30th and boy do we have some really cool nations represented in our school.
We have students from Uganda, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Switzerland, Norway, China, South Korea, CANADA (13 out of 61 to be exact....way to represent) and of course the majority USA. So it is a great mixture of culture, language and definitely humour.
Our theme that we really felt like God gave us for this school was the word GRACE, and it is so cool hearing how relevant it is to most of our students as they got to share how they got to be here. I really like this group of students and i can see all of them being world changers.
This week we had Don Stephens as our speaker talking on Worldviews and how to live with the KINGDOM as our main focus. It was really sweet to hear about Gods Glory and how it is all around us, and the difference between religion and relationship.
great quote: "Religion is mans attempt at earning points with a God who isn't keeping score"
so so true.
SIDE NOTE>>I came to realize this week that i really like the Apostle Paul and that i would love to be the female version of him!!!
Anyways there is so much excitement for this quarter and for all the students that are here. Already God is doing so much in their hearts and i am so excited to see where God takes them. At the end of this week we announce the 7 different outreach locations that the students will be able to choose from, and oh boy is that just the most exciting time!!!
Also something else that has started this week is the class that i am actually taking. It is called BLTS Basic Leadership Training School and it is a great class to learn leadership skills and to use them NOW while we are all in leadership positions. I am reading a book called "Developing the Leader within you" and it is actually really good.
Life consists of going to lecture, doing my BLTS homework, leading small groups, engaging in 1-on-1s daily, organizing different outreach options here in the community, being available and of course having fun!!!
This weekend however is one of the most amazing sporting events ever!! The World Championship Ironman Competition. People-really fit people-have to qualify and then travel here to try and be the world champion.
whoa.
they are seriously so so SO intense.
This morning i woke up early and went down to the water to watch them start with the swim, which is just under 5km, then we went and watched them start on the bike ride which is 180km, and then they transition into running an entire marathon.
So in about 2 hours we will go see the first person, the winner come through the finish line....8 hours later.
Let me just say, anyone who can finish this is just insane and super dedicated!!
Then the fun begins when tonight our school gets to be a part of security from 6pm-12am which is the cut off time. So that will be fun to see everyone finish, cheer them on and keep them safe!!
So i think that is all to update on right now. We are going to have another really good week this week and i can't wait to see what God is going to do and how he is going to show up!
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