open the floodgates of heaven.. let it rain.

I may be a little behind on the blogging, but this was to good to forget.
This week is our 50th celebration of YWAM, which is a BIG deal.
Anyways.. all week we have had speakers and events and people everywhere, which has been both tiring and exciting. Today was the big birthday celebration, which basically meant.. huge party. All week the hundreds of people were gathering morning and night in a pavillion, outside with some sails which barely blocked the sun.. just to give you an idea. Anyways tonight as we were listening intently to the speaker, (playing games on our ipods..haha) we started to feel some rain. Yes very chilly for hawaii, so i decided to get my sweater. The second I got out to the sidewalk it started to pour.. not just rain. but downpour, so i ran to my room, and proceeded to run back. Hahah, as soon as i went to find my seat, every person in the pavillion had their chairs above their heads as an umbrella... and the hawaiian's on the stage were dancing with fire and playing the music even louder. Considering most of the people were ywamers or ex ywamers, most weren't shyed away by the rain.. they continued the show as everyone gathered around the front shouting and singing. Might i add, this the the most rain I have EVER seen in my life. I believe there exact words were " this is a night we will never forget." Guessing God wanted to make sure we wouldnt dismiss the 50th as a day.. but as a mark in YWAM history.. a day to realize, yes our God is that Big. and yes, we will stand in the pouring rain and yes we will acknowledge this is no coincidence. They served the hundreds of soaking wet cupcakes, as Loren Cunningham stood under his chair smiling from ear to ear. We've really got something right here. I cant believe i have the privilege of being apart of something soo much bigger than me. No we dont have a textbook God, and no this is not about religion and rules. This is about happiness. This is about love, and laughing, this is our God. This is our life.

the farm of my life.

I heard that maybe I make everything here sound like beaches and classrooms.
and that simply isn't so.
I have a whole other aspect to my weekdays, and its something I like to call the light of my life.
not actually.
It is the natural farm that is my work duty 2 hours monday to friday.
basically we pull weeds, plant seeds, move veggies, harvest lettuce and bok choi ( which i love to say)
we have pineapples, which by the way are grown in the ground
and papaya tree's
and we have our own colony of mosquitos, oh yes
and pigs.. we have a few pigs, which I have named and forgotten, and eaten.. :)
they rescue the golf course from wild boars and bring them to our humble natural farm, we kill them.
circle of life.
soo in order to run a natural farm we make solution instead of fertilizer.
that in itself is like a science experiment.
we collect weeds, put them in the blender with water, strain them, add weird black stuff and bone stuff and mineral stuff, and sugar, ocean water, and regular water. let it sit for 3 days until it stinks and then spray it all over the plants that we later eat.
our leader is a jolly korean man who is actually an amazing chef.
we have lots of koreans here, and i've learned some of the language. a kids song, and some words.

in all honestly, I love going to this farm, and its often the best part of my day.
and if you know me. you will think i've gone insane.
but it really makes me happy when i'm there because its like nothing else.
It's also a really good place to talk, and reflect on my day.

p.s. I wear rubber boots there.

of my month in Kona.

This month we had speakers who came to talk about, in short, us and God. They did their best to convey the truth without getting the in the way, and honestly did a really good job. Want the basis of the message? God created humans in order to love them. He created worship and service for our benifit. There are billions and billions of stars in our galaxy, and billions of galaxies within that. He knows each one by name. We are only a small part of a big picture. Chances are we may never understand what we are meant to accomplish in our lifetime, and chances are we may never do great things, or be known. But if we let God use us, and fight for justice in our world we can really make a difference in the long run. God is not always fair, but He is just. Life is not fair, but we don't have to sit on the sidelines and let it stay that way. Miracles are the exception, not the rule. Not everyone will be healed, not everyone will experience profound things. But that doesn't make His love any less. There is nothing we can do to earn His love, and nothing we can do to loose it. It is a free gift. We do not need to figure out the right way, he created the right way. The question is not what can I do to earn my salvation, but how can I show how thankful I am for Him. We don't try to get people to join our club of christianity, we simply know a better way of living and invite people to find it for themselves. Missionaries live everywhere, work at every job, and are very different from what we expect. We are not radical christians, we are what all christians should be. Comfort the sad, feed the hungry, and take in the homeless. These are not radical ideals, these are ways of life.  We are all striving to find what the world was meant to look like, and get back to that place. We aren't crazy or irrational we have big dreams and try our best to follow them, but don't be mistaken, we can't accomplish any one of these things alone. God gives strength for the situation, for the day, for the moment. Sure, this changes everything in seconds and we can never really be sure of anything, except the unfailing love that guides us. He created the universe and the earth, watched humans make a mess of it all, and still took on human form to rescue us. He lived a human life, as human as you or I but without error. Loving and inspiring walked our earth and died the most humiliating death in order to prevent any of us from ever having to die for our mistakes. Completely forgiven we are still ignorant. But instead of hating us, He waits for us, and loves us, picks us up and dry's our tears. His kingdom is not one of defence, but offence. Bring light into the darkness, and loving the world. We have absolute authority and with the Holy Spirit can take on anything. God's power to keep us is stronger than the enemy's power to deceive us. He is not in control, but is sovereign. He will never allow anything bad to happen to us, unless something good will come out of it. He does not make these things happen, but we are a fallen world and they do. We may not know allot. But He knows it all. Most of all, He is worthy.

we basically have way to much fun here.

so many of you may be wondering what is a YWAMER. well i've come to realize what exactly that is. Not only are we youth, we are old and young, children and grandparents. We are all nations and colours and languages. We eat all together, and spend our free time at the beach or jumping off cliffs. We all know God, but experience Him in different ways, shapes and forms. Not one of us knows all the right answers, and not one of us has too. We accept eachother in the simplest way, no one is perfect, and we all have to work. It's polite to say hello to everyone, even if you are sure you don't know them. People are constantly sitting around the stairs to our rooms, and we talk., allot. It's hard to find a place on campus to be alone, but its easy to find a friend. We get upsurde ideas and dreams, that almost always have someone backing them up. Later making them true. It's important to have a sense of humour, and lack of personal space. We eat supper for lunch and lunch for supper, and everyone drinks diet coke. We climb tree's and body surf, and bury people in the sand. Yes, we always get rides from strangers and meet new people. There are baptisims in the ocean, and korean translation for everything. We feed pigs, plant gardens, and clean our rooms. There is always a very very stupid great idea.  A dodgeball tournoment on friday night, which actually turned into everyone dancing, which turned into dancing in the rain, which turned into turning the ohana court into a slip and slide, which later turned into games night. Now i'm not sure how we do it. Or how that happens, but it leads many to say. Only a YWAMER.

smileee

one of the great things about it here, is that you really never know what is going to happen in a day or how you are going to get there...

typically we hitchhike and ride in the back of trucks ect. ( no need to worry, we are in groups with guys, and its a common thing here)
well. today we woke up early had breakfast, and made our way to the "magic sands beach" its very beautiful and the water is superr clear and the waves are the perfect height for swimming/ body surfing. after spending the morning there we walked to get frozen lemonade and snacks, after that we decided to find a way to the end of the world. the end of the world is a place to go cliff jumping.
as we started on the road we met a guy who worked for the city and had a huge truck, he told us they were just heading to the end of the world and we could all hop in. sooo about 15 of us jump in the back of the truck and we are on our way.
once we get there, its basically volcanic rock and lots of it.
we walked up a ways and saw where it was we were jumping from,
meanwhile chatting with a guy who was in the truck about YWAM and being a missionary ect. now the jump itself is about 30-40 feet depending on where you stand. and i knew if I thought about it i wouldnt be able to do it. therefore, i was one of the first ones to jump, (later to realize no one got a picture and i had to do it again.. ) SO we spent the day there, and it was crazy. After that the same guy came back and picked us all up, fitting 19 of us in the back of his truck.. yeah. and.. he brought snacks. :) he took us straight back to the university. and later tonight we went for dessert and a bit of browsing the shops.

just to give you a snapshot of a saturday around here. its great mostly because everyone is pretty much open to anything. really anything can happen. the next plans are for this beach called green sands, its apparently one of two beaches like that.and zip lining is also something, oh and snorkeling here is supposedly awesome as you can imagine. we have already seen turtles in the water. with us

whats good is the balance the weekend brings. we have a long week full of information and lectures. lots of it is really intense and draining ( in a good way) but nonetheless tiring, so when we get the chance to just have fun, its a blessing.

tuesday is the day we find out our outreach teams, now i cant even really say anything about where im going because i honestly dont know at this point..
which also is good!

love you all! hope winter is treating you well.

Ohana

Aloha,
Everyday has been quite busy, all day is full, we are spending allot allot of time with the class, like 60 of us, and we are all becoming very close. It's a crazy good enviroment to share everything and anything. Even with the 7 girls in my room, i'm not sure how i'll live alone after this ;)

I'm learning allot about the definition of love, and family, and comfort. Like, unconditional love from God, family made from friends i've known for a week, and the comfort in being totally uncomfortable. I can't explain how beautiful it is here, today is very sunny and cool in the shade which makes for a perfect day. I LOVE the constant view of the ocean and even hearing the waves from the farm. Sunsets are amazing i guess thats obvious. Surprisingly though, i'm starting to really really enjoy farming, like weeding and harvesting veggies, and feeding the pigs..(i know everyone who knows me is not beliving this, but im serious!) I'm even getting used to the bugs, OH and we get 25 baby chickens at the end of the month. :)

We do lots of walking and went to Walmart a bunch of times to buy snacks, we have a completely  full cupboard of food, its great, the meals here aren't to bad though, yesterday we had supper with our work duty leaders and they made bbq pork, and lettuce wraps, and chicken curry, and watermelon. YUM.

The weekend is nice because we get some free time, i think we might go cliff jumping tommorow, but i'm not sure yet.! i want to though

Today we are volunteering for the IronMan triathlon as security. It should be fun, we went down to the pier this morning at like 4:30 to get a good spot to watch the race. They started with the professionals and then the others, there were 1800 swimmers in the water at one time, it pretty much looked like flying fish jumping out of the water.

pictures are coming!! i promise! tommorow at the latest.

new new and more new

aloha everyone, well, everything here is going good, i'm midst some trials, and testing in my life and of my faith but those are only building blocks and i understand that. so its good! really honestly. and i'm loving getting to know the people here, they are all so supportive and loving , and its really a good enviroment to grow.

i'm farming for my work duty, and its going to be a struggle i can tell already. more bugs then i've ever seen in my life! ah. and pulling weeds, but there is time for everything and from 3-5 everyday its farming. haha we have pigs, baby ones, and a fish farm too.

EVERYONE
here is a website/organization that i've learned about.
its super effective and easy to use, i urge all of you to check it out and DO IT.
its called kiva, and the website is kiva.org ( i think or else google)
anyways, its a program of microfinancing, and it helps people in third world counties to get small loans and start their future. soo simple, you loan someone over the internet, ( or an app) from $25 - $100 and they start a buisness ( sewing, farming, ect.) and then once they make the money back they pay the loan back. there is a 98.5% return rate of the money so pleasee check it out!nothing to loose guys!

and just to wrap it up here, i want to thank everyone for the support you are giving me, and i feel, well i know that is a huge part of the reason that i am who i am. love it!

p.s we got to swim off the pier and oh my, the best thing ever, clear water, warm water and it was awesome, i feel like im living out the things i love most in life and its awesome. We went to a new church and it was really good, had an awesome view and im getting some good pictures which i'll try to get put up as soon as i get some time.  and we went to bubba gumps for lunch it was soo good. well worth the money. hmm nothing i can think of to say. thats it. :)

aloha

hello, sorry it took so long for the blog, internet is a funny thing right now and it doesn't help I don't have a computer ;)
Everything is good here, its very warm during the day and quite humid,
we wake up bright and early 6am and have breakfast. I share a room with 7 girls, and we are in the oldest building on campus, its not bad though we have a great view.Today was the oreintation which was awesome because it was an introduction to the Hawaiian culture. We met all of our leaders and they seem very dedicated to the school and the people. I got the all in memo as they put it, there isn't a lukewarm here, its all in or go home (they say it nicer) I'm excited, I want my world to change, I want my outlook on life to change, and I want everything I once knew to have a different prespective. I'm supposed to be here, and have no doubt in that. It's good to be surrounded, for the most part, with people who feel that same way. We have an awesome group, and I can't wait to get to know everyone better.

Currently i'm sitting under a banyan tree at a cafe, with a straight view of palm tree's and other plants, and just past that, is the ocean. .... and i'm not wearing shoes. just to give you a picture of what my life is at the moment :)
i'm happy, very happy. and I'm excited.

oh and mom, the bugs here aren't to bad, saw a flying one thats like Africa.

i'm trying to get pictures but I'm not sure when i can do that.. soon hopefully!

Love you all! Beach tommorow!

:)

Less than one week untill I leave, and everything is almost packed.
Just got the "memo" yesterday that I will be sharing a room with 6 or 7 girls.. one bathroom
at least there is the possibility of an ocean view outside our room.
As for the lecture phase, we spend each week learning a different topic, and having speakers come and talk to us, so that should be exciting. I'll know more once i get there. And with the outreach phase, we learn about the places ( Cambodia, Thailand, Haiti and Togo) and what it would look like to be there, and then pray about it and see where we are directed. There will be around 12 people in each team for outreach, and once again, i'll learn more once i'm there. Not a lot left to do before I leave, and with 5 full days left in Red Deer, i'm not sure how I feel.

SMILE

Reason

Beyond leaving my family, beyond saving my money, or giving my time, beyond the places, planes, or adventures, there is a purpose so much greater then anything I could ever know. I get the chance to be a small part of a huge revolution. Millions of people every year are being treated like they don't deserve to live. Millions of women and children are forced into sex trafficking every year against their will. People dying because of poverty, hunger, lack of clean water, and AIDS, are all thing we can fix. It's so easy to close our eyes to the truth and desperation of those people in our world who need our help, and the biggest misconception is that not everyone is qualified to help. That in itself stops us from moving forward. Everyone can help. Everyone can make a difference. It's giving what you can to help. Donate; time, money, clothing, resources, prayers, support and most of all the understanding that the world isn't perfect, and that they need your help.

"If you think you are to small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito." - Betty Reese

 I feel very blessed having this opportunity to learn about these injustices even further. I have a long way to go, but I feel like this is a perfect start.

"This is our moment, this is our time, this is our chance to stand up for what is right. Three thousand Africans, mostly children, die every day of mosquito bites. We can fix that. Nine thousand people dying every day die of a preventable, treatable disease like AIDS. We have got the drugs. We can help them." - Bono