Thank You for Helping Us Say Goodbye!

We had an incredible memorial service for my dad last week. I can't begin to express the gratitude I have for everyone who loved on us during this time. Friends flew in and drove in. Our YWAM family took a offering to help with travel expenses. We were given a car to drive while in town, beds to sleep in and so much good food I gained a few pounds while in Oklahoma!  Thank you to everyone who truly made the burden of saying goodbye to my dad a bit lighter and our days a bit brighter.  Here is a link to the memorial video slideshow of my dad.  A Life Well Lived!

We Don’t Mourn Like Those Who Have No Hope....

On Monday Feb 11th my Father passed away in a fatal car accident. He was 63 years old and could have possibly had a heart attack, we will never be sure. The police reported that he was killed instantly and for us that is a comfort. 

Here is how the conversation with my mother went...

Me: “Hi Mom”
Mom: “Where are you?”
Me: “In my kitchen”
Mom: “You need to get by yourself, I have bad news to tell you and you are going to want to be alone to hear it”
Me: “how bad?”
Mom: “BAD”
Me: “Okay, I’m by myself, sitting down....I’m ready”
Mom: “Your dad was killed today in a car accident”

That conversation will be forever seared into my memory, after that it’s pretty much a blur. There were details she told me that I had to re-ask about later because I had no idea what she really said. 

I have been crying since I heard the news. It is just so shocking that someone can be here one minute and gone the next. How can it be that I can not pick up my phone and call him? It is nearly incomprehensible. I was however given a gift last week and that is what I really wanted to share with everyone because it speaks of the kindness of our Lord.

God often speaks to me in my dreams. One week before my Father died I had a dream about him. I could not remember the dream but I woke with a heavy burden to call him and tell him that I loved him and appreciated him and that I was glad he had been my father. It took me three days to do it but the burden was so heavy that the thought ran through my head, “if my father dies this week and I didn’t call and tell him, I will regret it for the rest of my life”. 

 On Wednesday Feb 6th I talked to my dad for the last time. I cried on the phone while I told him what a good father he had been and how grateful I was that he had been my dad. I thanked him for being a good dad and for always being there at all my basketball games as a kid and that sort of thing. I have never really had that kind of conversation with my dad, I am so glad I did it! He told me how proud he was of me and my sister and the lives we have chosen. He told me how happy he was with both the men we chose to marry. He also expressed how thankful he was for the marriage he has had with my mother for 36 years. We talked for about an hour and if you have to have a last conversation with your father without knowing he will be gone in a few days, I had it.

Even though his death came as a shock to us, I am certain it was no surprise to the Lord. The Bible says that not one sparrow falls to the ground with out His knowing. My dad’s passing was in God’s timing, I’m certain of it. He gave me the gift of the dream and my last conversation for my comfort. The Holy Spirit being our comforter has never been more real to me. I am so thankful for the kindness of our Lord. I cried for a few hours that first night and after finally getting to sleep I woke up at 3 in the morning with a strong peace overwhelming me. Either the Lord was speaking it or my imagination was running but either way I felt the Lord tell me that he had my dad. He said my dad had a place of honor and was one of God’s chiefs, governing. I thought that was very fitting. My dad cared more about the Lord than anything else. My sister and I joked about him being up there getting all of his questions answered. He was working on his masters in apologetics, I suppose he has it now. 

I will miss my dad an incredible amount in the years to come, but I am so happy for him that he’s finally home. I imagine him young and vibrant and as alive as ever. It will be a grand reunion to see him again. 

We will be having a memorial service for him in a few weeks in Oklahoma. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and celebrating his life. Here is one of my favorite pics of him.

Commissioning Night & Darleen Cunningham

Darleen Cunningham (co founder of Youth With A Mission) came to share with our base in the morning of January 18th. Personally I felt completely infused with faith by her. Darleen's life is a testimony to the faithfulness of the King. As I sat and listen to her tell the story of the beginnings of YWAM I couldn't  help but think, "I can't believe it worked." It worked because a group of young people had more faith in God than their own strengths or abilities. They had confidence that He was on their side and that faith in God has sustained the Mission for more than 50 years. 

That evening people showed up from all over the island to partner in commissioning us into the the next season of YWAM HNL. It is difficult to describe how grateful I am for the people who have gone before us in this mission. So many men and women of faith have laid their lives down for the calling of fulfilling the great commission and to have many of those people lay hands on us and pray for our future was overwhelming to say the least.

We felt loved by not only the people who have gone before us but also the many staff who are currently on this adventure with us. Chris and I were pretty blown away by how hard the staff worked to pull off the night and by what a fabulous job they did. I have never had so many leis placed around my neck. We definitely weren't expecting such a display of love and were incredibly humbled by the honor that was shown to us. We were both crying, something I had never seen Chris do!

Thank you to all of those that were a part of making this night so special and memorable for us. We will always hold January 18th, 2013 very near to our hearts. It will be a stone of remembering for us! 

Here is a video link to.....The prayer section of our Commissioning

ALOHA DAY...and so it begins again

1-10-2013 

48 amazing young people in 4 counties in Asia on outreach
26 new students joining us this week from all over the world to begin their DTS journey.
1 Korean Speaking DTS running along side our English school
3 years of marriage
billions of people who have not heard the gospel
1 small ministry on 2.74 acres of land in Manoa Valley trying to make a difference


How can you pray for us?

*Integrity in character- This morning as Chris and I prayed I felt lead to pray that God would continue to refine us. As we take on more and more leadership I pray that our sphere of influence would not outgrow our character. Pray that we get the right tools and training we need to do our job well.

*Training Schools- I believe DTS is more needed now than ever. I am continually amazed and saddened by the stories we hear from our incoming DTS students about their life before DTS. Youth are exposed to way too much at earlier and earlier ages. Our only hope is Jesus! Our prayer is that our training schools equip students with the truth that they need in order to be prepared for life after YWAM or as staff in YWAM. Either way we want to make disciples who are rooted and grounded in truth.

*Community Outreach- God has called us to be a light in Honolulu. For many years YWAM Honolulu has focused on unreached people groups in Asia and the South Pacific. Frontier Missions has been our strength. In moving forward we want to hold onto this strength and add to it  a focus on the city of Honolulu and community outreach. Pray that we are able to effectively minister to people of all ages and backgrounds in Honolulu.

*Member Care- YWAM Honolulu processes support for hundreds of missionaries around the world. Our desire is to stay better connected with the missionaries we send out. There is a depth of wisdom from them that can help our young people grow. Our desire is simply to bless our long-termers in whatever way is most tangible to them. It will take many hours and much effort to find the best way to serve our long-termers. Pray for us as we strategies with the Lord on how to serve them. 

*Financial Support- We have been very busy lately and have not done a good job raising personal financial support. We are in a season of need, most likely due to not communicated our need well. We are praying that God will give us new strategies on how to build a better support system. Pray that God will bring a team along side of us that can help carry this aspect of our ministry.


I stole all of these photo's from our staff/student's facebook pages. I just couldn't help it, I am so proud of them and love seeing pic's of them in the nations. I love the digital age, I get to see pic's daily of what our team's are doing on outreach. It warms my heart to see these smiling faces sharing the love of Jesus. He really is the only thing that can change the world!

Cambodia

NEPAL

NEPAL

Cambodia

NEPAL

NEPAL

BIG NEWS FOR US!

It has been an exciting week here at YWAM Honolulu. On Tuesday at our weekly staff meeting Mike and Vivian Heath announced to our staff that they would be stepping down from leading the ministry of YWAM Honolulu and that Chris and I would step into their roles. We are very honored and humbled by this turn of events. We have loved YWAM Honolulu for many years, it has become our home and our family. We feel God has been preparing us for this role for the last few years and when the opportunity was presented to us it was not a difficult choice to make. I am sure there are many questions people have about this change of leadership so if you are one of those asking questions check out the Q & A below, hopefully I answered your questions. If I did not shoot me an email and I would love to do so. We are very much in need of your prayers and support as we take this new step on our journey. 

How long have you known?

In October Chris’s parents came out for a visit. Around that time Chris’s mom Joy Solima had a prophetic prayer which prompted her to encourage us that we may be offered leadership at YWAM Honolulu. She strongly encouraged us to be prayed up and ready with an answer if that did happen. Thankfully we have learned to take her dreams seriously.

Shortly after that Mike and Vivian started processing the idea of taking a sabbatical. We knew if they did that then they would most likely be coming back to YWAM Honolulu in a different capacity. It has been our hope for a long time to see them released to pursue their passions. 

Last week Nov 26-30 Danny Lehman (the Hawaiian Islands Director) was in Honolulu to share with our DTS students.  As he processed with Mike and Vivian it became obvious to all of them that God was moving Mike and Vivian forward to go into a time of sabbatical. With that decision made they felt led to ask us to take on the responsibility of leading YWAM Honolulu. So the short answer to the question is...we have only known for 1 week. We have however felt the Lord preparing us for awhile and thanks to Chris’s parents we were ready to give an answer when approached with this decision.

What will Mike and Vivian do next?

Mike and Vivian have always carried a heart for long term missions. They have been church planters in Asia and have a passion for frontier missions. It has been their aim the entire time they have been at YWAM Honolulu to work connecting the local body of Christ with frontier missions. I am pleased to tell you that when they return from their 6 month sabbatical that they will be released to do this full time. Our prayer is that during their sabbatical they will find rest and refreshment the Lord as well as get energized with new vision and dreams about what is to come. 

Who will lead the DTS program?

 There is no one whom we feel is the obvious choice at this time to lead the entire program. That being said the DTS is very healthy and strong. We currently have an amazing team of DTS staff! We have experienced school leaders scheduled to lead the next 2 schools and Chris and I will still have the privilege of discipling the staff which has been our primary focus since taking on the DTS director role. Our staff are all very capable of running the day to day events of the school and we will continue to oversee the whole. In looking towards the future we expect God will raise up new permanent leaders for the DTS program.

Are there any new changes that you will implement immediately? 

No we feel it is best to transition any major changes slowly. We truly love the staff and ministry that we are apart of and the last thing we want to do is bring insecurity to anyone as we make this transition into leadership. Of course there are many things we feel God has put on our heart but we want to work with the other staff and our leadership team to pray about the vision for the future and any changes God would call us to make.

How can you pray for us?

#1. Chris and I are coming upon our 3 year anniversary on Dec 16th. If you had told us 3 years ago in that little chapel in Las Vegas that in the next 3 years we would run 2 Bible Core Course, 3 Discipleship Training Schools, become students in the School of Missions and Evangelism and lead an outreach team to Vietnam as well as visit The Philippines, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal, China, Mexico and by our 3rd anniversary we would become the new leaders at YWAM Honolulu I would not have believed you. Pray for our young marriage as we are 2 strong personalities that have the potential to compliment each others strengths tremendously and make a great team. We are unfortunately also capable of driving one another totally nuts. Pray for us as we step into this responsibility that we would love and prefer each other, that we would grow and celebrate each others strengths and offer grace for each others weaknesses. Pray that we would walk in wisdom and humility and more than anything that we would have the courage to do what the Lord asks of us because we believe He has great plans for YWAM Honolulu! 

#2. We have stepped into leadership at a time where as a base we have some major challenges ahead. It is our plan to restore 4 of our buildings in 2013. This will of course present housing and financial challenges and require a lot of flexibility and grace on everyone’s part. Housing has for a long time been a major challenge for YWAM Honolulu. We are praying about future growth and know that changes must be made. Pray for us as we seek God for direction, faith and favor for the next chapter.

#3. We are struggling with infertility. I have found out this year that I have PCOS. In short this means in is VERY difficult for us to become parents naturally. I am however making lots of dietary changes and have learned a great deal about health through this process. We are praying about our options which include seeking out  infertility treatment, waiting, or looking into adoption. On a somewhat side note though still related I have felt a major pull towards foster care. We went to an informational meeting and are seeking more information about this. You can pray for wisdom, health and faith in God, we know that He is ever good!

Adventures in Asia

May 4th, 2012, Battambang Cambodia

I have been in Asia for less than 48 hours and there is already so much to write about.  It is currently 5:38 in the morning. I woke up a few minutes ago and though this is not an hour I typically wake up I am pleased to see have slept though the night. It is incredibly hot and humid here and I was afraid I would be too hot and jet lagged to sleep.

Traveling from Bangkok to Battambang turned out to be much easier than I expected. 5 years ago I did the same journey with 3 other girls and it was a scaring experience. The difference of 5 years of experience as well as having a man with you makes is enormous. Travel in Thailand was easy of course. Thailand has amazing public transportation. We were able to get a free shuttle bus from our hotel to the airport and then took a bus directly from the airport to the border for 187 Thai Bath, roughly $7 USD.

The Poipet border crossing is notorious for being the worst border crossing in Asia because of all the scams. We almost got had. As soon as our bus stopped at the border a man got on our bus who we assumed was with the bus company, (hindsight, I think not). He proceeded to be extremely helpful and lead us into a office which said consulate on the window. He handed us visa forms to fill out and asked us for our visa pictures, telling us that we had to purchase our visas before going to the border and then we would only have to get our passport stamped at the border. It seemed like he could have been telling the truth, especially because he was telling us the official price of $20 USD. I had done some reading on travel blogs which warned of many kinds of scams, so thought he mig be lying.. Poor Mandy had to experience Chris and having tension because he thought the guy was telling the truth. I understand why Chris wanted to believe him, it was VERY hot and a long walk to the border crossing. If I had been wrong then it would have been extremely annoying to have to walk back simply because I had a hunch that the place was not legit. Thankfully my hunch was right, it had been a scam. There were signs posted later about not believing scammers that said exactly what he did. That guy would have had our money and our visa pics. I kept thinking I shouldn't  to be mad at him because of course it's expected to get scammed but it took me some time to shake the feeling of being lied to. Thank you Lord for the discernment to not get ripped off. I'm also thankful for a husband who listens to me even when he thinks suspects I'm wrong:)

Being too hot to eat we just wanted to find a taxi and be on our way. Thankfully the first taxi driver offered a fair price and we were quickly on our way to meet the team. I would do the Poipet border crossing again but hopefully always with Chris as I felt much safer this time around.

We are staying at a beautiful rustic orphanage. There are 32 of the cutest most affectionate kids you've ever seen in your life. They made us a delicious dinner of sautéed veggies, beef, noodles and rice. With lychee fruit for dessert. After dinner we had a time of worship, prayer, testimony's and teaching from our DTS students as well as one of the girls who lives at the orphanage. Her story was very sad yet encouraging to hear her hope. Her father left her family when she was a small child and here mother became ill and eventually died leaving the responsibility of her care to her older siblings. Her siblings were given the opportunity to let her live at the orphanage and allow her to go to school. She accepted this as a major blessing. She shared her feelings about wondering why she didn't get to have a normal family and longing for that. However she shared about the hope and joy she has found in Christ. I found her testimony very humbling and encouraging.

Just being in Cambodia makes you realize just how fortunate you are. This is a beautiful country but lacks the basics most of us take for granted everyday, a.c., regular showers and paved roads to name a few. I'm wondering if there is blessing in that too. The children seem to be much better behaved than most in the west, they also have the ability to make just about anything into a toy or create a game in any setting. I am so blessed to be here. 


May 8th, 2012 Bangkok, Thailand

We have made it safely back to Bangkok, Thailand. We're in a
clean and air conditioned hotel room which I am extremely
thankful for. After taking bucket showers with river water
and getting pretty eaten up with jungle bugs we are thrilled
to get a real shower and sleep in a king size bed. Poor
Chris had to sleep on the floor, while I was on a bunk bed
with Mandy.

Even though it was not a very comfortable place to be we are
so happy we got to go there. It is an amazing orphanage with
32 kids. They were honestly some of the most affectionate
and cutest kids I have ever been around. I was ready to take
a few home but I didn't think I could get them through
customs. Chris and I were very pleased with how well our
team is doing there. We got the chance to meet with each
person individually and pray with them. I think our trip was
pretty refreshing for them, it was for us. Taking them out
to eat was pretty fun. We took them to a cute restaurant in
Battambang (a small city an hour by truck, the whole team
sitting in the back), where  we told them their budget
was $5 each. You would have thought we took them to a 5 star
restaurant by their response. It was a lot of fun and
everyone left well feed.

We had some extra DTS money we were able to donate to the
orphanage, $500, so that was pretty fun to do. We heard a
few of the teenagers give their testimony about how they
came to live at the orphanage, it was heart breaking but
also encouraging to hear how thankful they are for simple
things we take for granted like clothes, food and education.
I decided while I was watching the kids walk to school in
the morning in their uniforms that was soon as our nieces
and nephews are old enough I'm taking them on a missions
trip so that they will know how blessed they are.

We have about 24 hours to rest and relax at our hotel before
we head out to India. I'm going to do some laundry by hand,
read and book and go out for great Thai food tonight. I am
so happy to be doing this job and traveling the world with
my husband, Chris and I are a great team. It was fun to see
him in action in Cambodia, I got lots of great pics.

We are off to Asia again! Tomorrow morning we leave for the nations of Cambodia, India & Thailand. We have 29 amazing young people serving the Lord in these nations and we can’t wait to see them! It’s always exciting to get to travel and be reminded of why we do what we do in the day to day tasks. Chris and I have a lot of expectation for what the Lord is going to do in our lives during this trip. We are praying that God will strengthen our relationships with the long term workers in Asia but we are also praying that God will open new doors for us and YWAM Honolulu to expand our ministry. 

Here is a brief outline of our itinerary:

May 2nd-  Honolulu to Bangkok

May 4th- Bangkok to Battambang, Cambodia

May 9th-Battambang, Cambodia to Bangalore, India

May 13th- Bangalore, India to Phuket, Thailand

May 18th- Phuket, Thailand to Chiang Mai, Thailand

May 23rd- Chiang Mai, Thailand to Honolulu

May 24th- Home Sweet Home in Honolulu

Things to Pray for:

1. Wisdom from God to give out to staff and students. That God will bless them during this time.
2. Traveling grace, no sickness or getting lost, great lay overs and fair and safe bus and taxi drivers!
3. That we will be diligent to pray and listen to God during this time, being obedient to His voice.

An added blessing of this trip is that our good friend Mandy Fowler is joining us. Mandy and I were bunk mates in our DTS 12 years ago and the Lord has called her back into YWAM. She will be coming on staff with us in Sept so we thought that a crazy whirl wind trip to Asia would be the perfect thing for her to step back into YWAM. Here is a link to her blog if you want to catch up on what's going on with Mandy .

mandyjoyblogs.wordpress.com

A special THANK YOU for reading this and keeping up with us and to those of you who faithfully support us, THANK YOU!!!!!!!