Big Apple Adventure on the Big Island

Sorry that I have not been posting lately! We have been getting in late and I am with lots of other people. This week I am on the Big Island teaching 1^st and 2^nd grade VBS at Hawaiian Paradise Baptist Church. It is going really well so far and all the kids are really cute and sweet. Hawaiian Paradise has been identified as the fastest growing neighborhood in the state of Hawaii and there are only 2 or 3 evangelical churches in the area. After VBS today, we prayer drove around the neighborhood (it is too big to prayer walk. ) God is really showing me the importance of coming to Him in prayer about all things and how much I really on my own ability instead of seeking His  supernatural power.

After prayerdriving, we went to the Akaka Falls. It is beautiful!! There are no words to describe its beauty. What a creative God we serve!! Well lots of love to all! I will be home in less than a week!

 Crime scene? Nope… just a desperate girl trying to recover  precious commodity.

Cost of Living has not been as expensive as I thought it probably would be here in Hawaii; however, my dumb mistakes have MORE than made up for the expected added expense. First, my cell phone ticket….Now being so mesmerized by a sea turtle  that I did not notice a wave crashing high on the shore  drenching my towel, book, and SADLY my PHONE!!  Not stopping to put on a cover-up or shoes , I dash upstairs to see if I can salvage my phone. In all honesty, I am not thrilled with my phone, but at this moment I love it because it represents me not having to go and purchase another phone that I really had NO need for before today.  Upstairs, I am frantically blow drying the excess water off and getting ready to put all the pieces into rice (which thankfully I have on hand, thanks to my over packing of food.) I pull the sim card out and it flings across the foyer into the sliding door crevice that is now home to my sim card, 20 years of dust bunnies, and who knows what kind of insects. “Uhmm, “ I think to myself. “It cannot be that hard to get a sim card out of this crevice. If it went in there has to be a way out.” I then start scouring the condo for something long and skinny to assist me in my search and rescue of the sim card.  A mop handle is too thick. Some long pulls of too much extra pieces on the end to serve the purpose of recovering the sim card.  Finally, I decided on some bungee cords. For the first 10 minutes, I successfully pushed the sim card farther back and under the door.  Grabbing a hanger, I started dragging it with a hanger. Success it is working. Finally, it is within my reach, but it sandwiched in between the sliding door and the floor. So close and yet another set back. “ What can I use to free this sim card?” AH HA, I’ll use my tweezers. I grabbed my tweezers and pinched the sim card with them and pulled it free.

Maybe God is teaching me that I have an unhealthy attachment to my phone!

It has been FUN FUN FUN to have mom with me in Hawaii. Yesterday we went snorkeling, on a farm tour, and to the north shore.  One of my all time favorite movies is Gidget. I watch it every summer. Right before coming to Hawaii, I watched Gidget Goes Hawaiian.  Anyway, on our snorkeling adventure, I felt like Gidget at the beginning of the first movie when she went on a “man hunt” dressed in snorkeling gear…. I had the 60’s style bathing suit, the ridiculous looking snorkel gear….all I needed was a Moondoggie to come rescue me! In all seriousness, getting ready for snorkeling was very comical and actually snorkeling was amazing! We had the opportunity to see lots of fish and mom even saw a sea turtle.  After snorkeling we went to the Macadamia Nut Farm for a tour of the farm. We got to see where a lot of movies and television shows were filmed including: Gilligan’s Islands, Jurassic Park , 50 First Dates,  Fantasy Island,  and You, Me, and Dupree.  During our tour with our hilarious tour guides , a chicken was mere inches away from my back when I was sitting down. At the same time, there was about 4 or 5 about a foot in front of me trying to eat the coconut (who knew chickens ate coconut?)  I was nervous as a cat and wanted to jump up and run away. Thankfully, the tour guide could see my fear and threw the coconut in the opposite direction to get them away from me!  I survived!! Contrary to my irrational fear, the chickens are not out to get me;  today they wanted the other cocoNUTS!  Love to everyone back home! Less than two weeks until I will be back in Douglasville readjusting to heat and humidity!    

It was a busy, busy, good week!  I have not been updating my blog because I lost my internet connection at my apartment.  I thought that I might be a little sad that I wasn’t at Preteen Camp this week, but I woke up early and went to bed late and stayed busy in between just like at camp.  Over the whole summer, God has been teaching me to let go and let Him work in my life and in the lives of people around me.  It was really cool to see how God worked through and in individuals lives this week. He  is so faithful! Currently, I am so tired that I cannot really think clearly to write  details (plus Starbucks closes in 15 minutes).  

I am very excited to have my mom join me for the week!! I am looking forward to seeing some more Hawaii sites with one of my favorite people! I successfully made it to climb Diamond Head today without getting lost. It sure helps to have someone with you with a GPS... Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car, so I do not have any pictures of the amazing view at the top yet!

Much love to all and happy 4^th!

Calling ALL pets to make an appearance at Backyard Bible Club!!

Chuukese Dog must of reported to all of his animal friends that Backyard Bible Club was the place to be today! Not only did he show up, but several of his chameleon friends did too!  Chuukese dog made himself right at home during crafts and therefore became the recipient of the fish key chains that the  were making.  The chameleons traveled on kids’ backs, their hair, their shoulders,  and participated in all the activities (providing a great distraction mainly). 

Unless the Lord build the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1

World Changers is here for the week working in Waianae, so I will be busy tagging along and assisting wherever needed. We went to their worship rally tonight and their key verse for the week is Psalm 127:1. I don’t recall ever having read this verse before, but it sums up what the Lord has been teaching me here in Hawaii.  It is all up to God…He works through us, but HE is the one at work!

 We have to be at the World Changers site tomorrow morning at 6:00 am, so hopefully that means that tomorrow I will post pictures of the sunrise!! I have been waiting for a morning when I had to wake up that early before seeing a Hawaiian sunrise. I have to check the exact time, but I am pretty sure it is 5:45 am. 

Love to all!  Internet difficulties the last couple of days. I will post pictures when I can!! 

Calling ALL pets to make an appearance at Backyard Bible Club!!

Chuukese Dog must of reported to all of his animal friends that Backyard Bible Club was the place to be today! Not only did he show up, but several of his chameleon friends did too!  Chuukese dog made himself right at home during crafts and therefore became the recipient of the fish key chains that the  were making.  The chameleons traveled on kids’ backs, their hair, their shoulders,  and participated in all the activities (providing a great distraction mainly). 

Unless the Lord build the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1

World Changers is here for the week working in Waianae, so I will be busy tagging along and assisting wherever needed. We went to their worship rally tonight and their key verse for the week is Psalm 127:1. I don’t recall ever having read this verse before, but it sums up what the Lord has been teaching me here in Hawaii.  It is all up to God…He works through us, but HE is the one at work!

 We have to be at the World Changers site tomorrow morning at 6:00 am, so hopefully that means that tomorrow I will post pictures of the sunrise!! I have been waiting for a morning when I had to wake up that early before seeing a Hawaiian sunrise. I have to check the exact time, but I am pretty sure it is 5:45 am. 

Love to all!  Internet difficulties the last couple of days. I will post pictures when I can!! 

The Misadventures of Island Living

taking a goofy picture in the reflecting mirror by the diamond head lighthouse

Sharoleen and me by the ocean

This was before we found the big cardboard. This piece is really too small for me, but I wanted to have the experience anyway!

I was a much better cardboard sledder on the big piece of cardboard,  my camera died so I couldn't get pictures

Lastly sliding down the hill!

This morning started out to be a promising day to hike Diamond Head and enjoy Bible Study in the park… only I overestimated my sense of direction in Hawaii and set out to find the Chevron past the Jesus is Coming Soon Church without a GPS. On my way to pick up Philios, one of the Chuukese college students, I got lost. I was told to exit off King Street, so that is what I did. I exited off of the King Street that I had come across a couple of weeks ago…Little did I know that King Street is BIG and the freeway has multiple King Street exits. I am not even in the right town. I stop at a gas station to get directions and then head back the opposite direction to hopefully find my way. In the process, my phone rings and Philios is trying to get me there too! Well I couldn’t hear him on the speaker phone and pick up my phone. I maybe have it next to my ear for 15 seconds when the blue lights go on behind me and I am getting pulled over.  I pull over and wait for the officer (the window is already rolled down because there is no air.) thinking it might be a really good time to shed a tear. Of course no tears come and all I can say is how sorry I am and that I know that I was wrong. I did manage to tell him that I was lost and he said that he would get me to where I was going.  After taking my license, I prayed that maybe  he would have mercy on me the poor lost girl driving a beat up van. Not so, he came back and apologized for having to give me a ticket. Then he asked for my local address and for the life of me I couldn’t think of what it was. At that moment, I don’t even think that I could have told him the town that I was living in. I think I am the only person in the world who can get pulled over, have a amiable friendly conversation including laughter and still get a ticket... I think I just look guilty... which I was... there is no denying the fact that I was on my phone even if I was getting directions. At least I got good directions to the Chevron Station right past Jesus is Coming Soon Church from him...those were the most expensive directions I have ever received!  Lesson learned: Don’t talk on the phone while driving in Hawaii…no exceptions….follow all traffic laws because I don’t have the gift of getting out of tickets ( and it is the safe thing to do).

I arrived at the Chevron station past Jesus is Coming Soon over an hour and fifteen minutes late… making it impossible for us to climb Diamond Head and still be on time for Bible Study. Instead we drove/walked around Diamond head and took pictures at all the scenic places!

At the park, all these kids were “sledding”/ sliding down the side of the hill on cardboard boxes. My inner child came out and I had to try it (after all the kids went home and left the boxes!) Not as fun as sledding in the snow, but it is a fun memory!

During Bible Study the birds surrounded us from all sides… I probably was the closest I have ever been to a bird. I tried to remain calm, cool, and collected. The only time it didn’t work was when they were flying mere inches above my head.

Finally, to conclude my evening, I remembered how much I love to do laundry in a laundry mat… You wash all your clothes at once and dry them all at once! In less than 2 hours all the laundry is done!! I love it!!!!

Happy Sunday to you all!

Love, Kelly

Still having a good time even if we are not hiking! Lastly and Philios are with me in this pictures

Lastly, Philios, and me... climbing trees 

Meet Raston and Kimwill

Raston sporting my sunglasses!

Salvation belongs to the Lord. Jonah 2:9

When I first met Raston a couple of weeks ago, he could tell you the plan of salvation, quote scripture flawlessly,  and was at every church related event we had, but it was all head knowledge. He had no interest in having a relationship with Jesus.  Tonight during the invitation,  he came forward and gave his life to Jesus. He is so excited, and I am so excited for him. I was out of the room talking to another boy (who I ‘ll mention in a minute), so  I didn’t actually see Raston make his decision.  He told me later. I asked a group of kids what their favorite part of VBS was and the answers varied, but Raston’s answer was “allowing God to change my life.”  The change in his life is already evident! 

Kimwill eating a sucker!

I had the opportunity to talk to Kimwill this evening about what it means to be a Christian. We had a long discussion going through the plan of salvation and talking through the meaning of some of those churchy terms that we have heard all our lives, but are brand new to these kids. We discussed how you either believe that Jesus died on the cross taking our place and that there is no other way to have a relationship with God except through Jesus …. Or you don’t. There is no in between and you can’t ride the fence.  Kimwill said, “I believe Jesus took my place.”  After praying, he requested that we pray for his dad.  Kimwill’s favorite part of VBS was talking to God.

Pray for these 2 preteen boys. They have a hard road ahead of them. Most Chuukese boys in this neighborhood drop out of school and gangs are prevalent.  Pray that God will put his hedge of protection around these boys and keep them from evil. Pray that God will send a man to mentor and disciple these boys and teach them to be godly young men.

Me, enjoying my hat! 

On a lighter note,  today I went to the Makaha resort with Darla for lunch.  I had been on the beach earlier in the day and was planning on going back to the beach after we were finished, so I thought that was a good enough excuse to wear a hat to lunch!! How I love hats!!  I really wish it was fashionable to wear them all the time! One of the wonderful things about  being in Hawaii is that no one knows me, so I can wear hats anytime I want. Of course the fact that I am posting it on my blog for all of you back home to see I guess defeats the purpose. One day I am going to wear a hat to church! How much fun would that be?

Tomorrow ( Saturday) I am hiking Diamond Head with the Chuukese youth that are going on the Big Island mission trip!

Love to all of you! 

Meet Maile

Exuberant, energy filled, and eager to learn about Jesus!  Out of the girls that I am discipling, she might just be the most excited! They are all excited, but she is ecstatic! Tuesday she blessed our food and included in her prayer…. “ Dear God thank you for the food and please please please make Aunty Kelly stay in Hawaii.  That was her prayer request Tuesday too! She went out of town yesterday, so she was not here when we met today. I took the girls to Pizza Hut (They were besides themselves. When the check came, they didn’t know what it was. They also wanted to take their drink glasses home with them. )   Back to Maile, she was riding on the bus home and saw it at Pizza Hut. We waved and stated that she was going to be sad that she missed it. Meanwhile, Maile is getting off and the next bus stop and making her way to Pizza Hut to join us. (Just one way life in Hawaii is different from on the mainland.)  Today we reviewed our lesson from Tuesday. Tuesday I used the storying concept with them to talk about to talk about assurance of salvation using the story of Jesus when he was telling the Jews about how we are like sheep in John 10.  After discussing how I am teaching them the true stories of the Bible  so they I can teach them to others, I asked if  any of them wanted to re-tell the story.  Maile’s hand shot up and she exclaimed, “ Jesus is the Shepherd. Christians are his sheep and will not perish. God gave the sheep to Jesus. No one can snatch us out of God’s hand or Jesus’s hand. God is all powerful and God and Jesus are one! “ She definitely understood the main point that is conveyed in John 10:22-39. We also talked about prayer and looked at the Lord’s prayer as an example.  She wanted to close us in prayer and was careful to include praise to God, asking for His will, for God to provide for our needs, forgiveness for her sin, and help for her to forgive those who hurt her.  She is a true doer of the Word  (James 1:22) and an encouragement to me and my walk with the Lord. Pray that precious Maile will continue to grow in Christ and stand steadfast in the truth!

Throughout my conversations this week with youth and kids alike, I have noticed how over and over again the divisions between the different people groups have come up. I have heard how the Chuukese youth are picked on at school. I have heard which groups fight which groups, but today broke my heart the most. One of my little girls had a Chuukese skirt which I was complimenting because they are very beautiful and unique. When she found out that we were going out to eat, she commented on how she shouldn’t have worn the skirt. When I asked her why, she said it is because other kids make fun of the Chuukese and would make fun of her if she was wearing the skirt.  Upon arriving at the restaurant, she was no longer wearing the beautiful skirt.  There is a great division here between the different cultures here in Waianae and it is really sad to hear the kids talk about it.

Much love to all of you!!  To those of you who are going to camp next week, I will miss you and be praying for God to move mountains in these preteens lives. 

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Wow, I never knew how much I valued adult fellowship! Darla has been in a training all week, so I have been working with the kids alone with some teenagers helping me. Today (Wednesday) I realized how little I have conversed with other adults throughout the week and how starved I was for some adult time!! Of course, I realized this at about 11:00 this morning and I had a full day of kids! My prayer was 2 Corinthians 12:9 throughout the day because of I was weak and my patience was thin!  “ We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 was our memory verse at VBS last night. How appropriate it was for me today to reflect on it after recognizing how unloving I wanted to be to these children who would not listen!!! Isn’t it amazing that God loves us despite all the times that we don’t listen or miss what He is teaching us and that He continues to pursue us and doesn’t give up teaching us. The only reason I can love is because Jesus loved me first! 

      Tonight at VBS was the gospel presentation and two of my girls checked that they had already made a decision to follow Jesus and that they were ready to make a decision to follow Christ. I had the opportunity to talk to one of the girls tonight (I’ll talk to the other tomorrow.) to see where she stood. We discussed how once you become a Christian you cannot lose your salvation because God has you in His hand and no one can snatch you out of His hand. John 10:29 Then we talked about recognizing our sin and how it separates us from God, believing Jesus died for our sins so that we can have a relationship with God and Confessing Jesus as Lord. After presenting the gospel and the fact that if she had already made I decision to follow Christ, I asked her what decision she felt like God was leading her to make. She became a Christian tonight!! Praise the Lord.  

      A lot of Chuukese people have a Catholicism background, so some of the kids have the misconception that they have to become a Christian all over again every time they sin. Tuesday I talked with my girls that I am discipling about having assurance of their salvation. I am so thankful that our salvation is only based on Jesus and that He paid the price for my sins once and for all!

      Please continue to pray for the Chuukese teenage boys and young men and that their lives will be transformed. Pray that God will send a man to disciple and minister them. The more that I have conversations with them, the more that my heart is burdened for them.  I can see that God is working in their hearts, but there is little evidence of a life change (from my perspective). Chuukese male teenagers put little value in education and most of them that I have met have dropped out of school. This leaves them with nothing to do and little ambition. We all know that this leads to trouble. My prayer is that they will experience true life change that can only come through Jesus and that through them God will reach the Sunflower community.

Much love to all!!

Opps...Everything was not included in the last post!

What a crazy day!

A little girl kicked and slapped another boy in the head while in a tree producing massive tears.  The girl then runs away and hides!

 The “Chuukese dog” decides to come and play sending a little girl into hysterics. “Who does the dog belong to?” “No one, he’s a Chuukese dog. (Who knew dogs had nationalities?) He just lives here,” children explain as they tackle the dog. “ Well don’t hurt the dog.” “Don’t worry he’s our dog.”  

My little buddy’s feet start bleeding!

Surprisingly enough, even with all the craziness, I think that our Bible time was the best that we have had so far. They are learning to settle into a routine I guess.

Needless to say I was mentally exhausted and then went and taught VBS. I had 5 youth girls for VBS tonight. Three appeared to be really engaged and two seemed to careless. Pray that all of them will be open to hearing what they Lord wants to teach them this week!

Several of the kids said I was a good dancer…. A comment that I will only hear at VBS! haha

Love to all!! 

PS. The video appeared twice on the post below this one...It is the same video. I don't why it is on there twice, but I struggled to get it up there at all. I decided to leave it! 

Yesterday was a wonderful day of worship! It is so comforting to be to go and worship corporately with other believers even when you are far from home! 

I took a few pictures of the sides of the sanctuary so you are able to see how the outside air flows inside. 

Last night we were out a choir 

Jayreen, the little girl who accepted Christ on Friday. She came to Backyard Bible club today and brought 3 friends!

Hopefully, this will work!

performance and some of the Chuukese teenagers sang in Chuukese. I recorded it on my camera, so you could listen to it! They sang it first in Chuukese and then switch to English in the middle.

Side of the sanctuary. Notice how doors and windows are open!

Making Musabis... it was a lot of SPAM

Kids enjoying the musabis!

Today was a BUSY Chaotic day! I learned to make  spam musabis; these children's favorite snack!! I was  enthralled with the rice cooker and I have determined that I need to buy one once I am back on the mainland. Seeing that much SPAM made me loose my appetite and the seaweed just looked strange, but I was optimistic and definitely willing to try new something new! What I discovered?.... I do not like seaweed!! I took one bite of my musabi and gave it away. I am glad that I  helped make them, so I did not feel obligated to eat the entire musabi! 

Friday we had or kick off for VBS that starts Monday. A missions team from Oklahoma came and performed and the kids played games. Oh, and this man made barbeque, and it was quite possibly the best barbeque sandwich I have ever had! Which is pretty remarkable….because it is hard to beat Hudson’s Barbeque. 

I had the opportunity to share the gospel with several kids and a young man too. I was going through what Jesus did for us to us and before I even finished, the little girl that I was sharing with, Jayreen, exclaimed, “I want to follow Jesus.” It is really exciting to get to be a part of sharing the gospel with others. One of my favorite verses is Philemon 6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. I feel that this verse accurately sums up the feeling I get when I have the opportunity to share the gospel with someone else. Experiencing the gospel again through someone who is hearing it or receiving it with their hearts for the very first time is one of the most indescribable  sweetest experiences… yet I am trying to explain it in this blog.  God doesn’t have to use us to accomplish His will of spreading the gospel to others, yet He gives us the privilege, so that our understanding of who Jesus is and what He did for us will resonate in our hearts. Please pray that for Jayreen. and that she will grow in her relationship with Christ. She is going to try and come to the backyard Bible Club…pray that she does.

The conversation that I had with the young man, Ricco, started with the simple question of “How long have you been going to Bible Study?” In response to that question he proceeded to tell me how he was trying to clean up his life before giving it to God. I assured Him that God does not want our “cleaned up” life, He wants us just as we are!! We talked about how only God can truly change our lives and our heart and how He wants to do that for Ricco. During the service that night, he went forward. I don’t know what his decision was, but I know he got to talk to the leader from the church back in Oklahoma.  Hopefully, some of his questions have been answered! A couple other older teenage boys/ young men made decisions to follow Christ Friday night too. This elated my heart, but I also felt a heavy burden because I know these young men need more than is being offered right now to help them grow in their new relationship with Christ. The ministry offers a lot of things for children, but it is not geared towards older youth/young adults. On one hand, it is incredible to see how the Lord moved in these young men’s lives in the midst of ministry geared to children, but on the other hand, I see that to grow they need to be discipled and invested in by a man that loves the Lord. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Matthew 9:37 I saw this clearly Friday. Please pray that God will bring a godly man into their lives to disciple them.

Saturday I just took it easy and relaxed!

Happy Father’s Day! Love to all!

 -Kelly

What spiritual truths are most important to teach new believers?

What spiritual truths are most important to teach new believers when you only have a small window of time to invest in their lives?  I asked myself versions of this question multiple times throughout the day because I began meeting with the a few of the preteen Chuukese girls that made decisions to follow Christ. My brain thinks a hundred different things at any given time. If you have ever heard me tell a story, you know this to be true. In the same way, when thinking and praying about what to teach these precious young ladies in the few short weeks that I have with them, I want to teach them everything that the Holy Spirit has revealed to me over the years. My mind is running overtime thinking about how I can fit 16 years of lessons and special moments with the Lord that has shown me what an amazing and powerful God we serve, but also what a very personal God we serve. The answer in short is that I can’t possibly fit all of that into 7 meetings with these girls.  That would take a lifetime of living life together.  So what is most important for these new believers to hear and learn? When I became a Christian, what were those lessons that I learned first?  What does it really look like to follow Jesus, and what tools can help these ladies with their walk with the Lord? The conclusion I drew today (It might be different tomorrow, and I welcome suggestions.) is that these girls need to know their story of how Jesus changed their life (testimony), know how to pray, know how to study the Bible, know what the Bible says about them as believers,  and know how to share Jesus with others. Just typing out the list overwhelms me because even the basics could be taught over a period of several weeks.  Earlier today, I had to stop and remind myself that God has began a good work in these young ladies and He is going to continue working in their lives long after I have returned to the mainland. I am so thankful that God is in control and not me! I cannot even begin to comprehend the plan that He has for these girls’ lives and the impact they will have on His kingdom.  What amazes me even more is that God has given me the opportunity to play a role in their beginning steps as new Christians. What a privilege!  This pondering of what to teach has also reminded me of how very blessed I am to have wonderful parents and family who have shared Jesus and spiritual truths with me my entire life, and a church family and friends who poured out your lives (and continue to do so) sharing God’s love with me. To all of you, I do not take this lightly. You have impacted my life greatly. I know that the Lord used you all to shape me into the person I am today.  Mahalo (thanks) for being obedient to God and sharing His love with me.

  Please be praying for the time that I have with these ladies and that God will place someone in their lives to continue to teach them after I have returned home. 

Also please be praying for the church plant in Kapolei and that people will be responsive and come when they hear about the church. I have decided you have to have a lot of faith to plant a church!!

Below are a few pictures from meeting with the girls today. After we had our Bible study, we went and enjoyed the beach! Love to all!!

Promised Pictures

 Several of the Chuukese girls helping prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Backyard Bible Club

 Could you ask for a better location for a Backyard Bible Club? A school is in the backyard, so thankfully, this field is well taken care of and safe for the kids to play in barefoot (none of them keep their slippahs (flip flops) on.

 This is my little buddy who has become attached to my hip. He does not speak any English...well one of the older kids said he only says bad words in English :(.  He has taken a liking to me and will run up to me and throw his hands up in the air waiting for me to pick him up.

 Some of the children posing for a picture with me inbetween racing each other.

                                                      Here's the boys sitting on their nests.

                                             Building their nests

                                            Sunset Monday evening outside my condo!

This has nothing to do with missions, but I thought that it was really cool. I was at McDonalds on Tuesday and the drive thru was separate from the restaurant. Walking in I wondered how the cars got their food (Carhops like the Varsity maybe?) Upon entering the store, I was amazed because they have a conveyor belt over your head that goes outside and transports the food to the drive-in. I am sure that they have some of these on the mainland too, but I have never seen one. 

Tuesday I met with the Director of missions and picked up the van that I will be using for the rest of my trip. I am so thankful to have a set of wheels. God is faithful to provide. It is a Mercury Van without air conditioning and a furry seat cover in the drivers seat. It is not too bad when the windows are rolled down, but I do wish I could lose the fur!!  Driving in Hawaii is a little different than driving on the mainland. For one, the on ramps to interstates tend to be shorter and the highest speed limit is 55 mph. The road that I live off of is 35 mph. Even though I tend to be a speedy driver in Georgia, I drive very slowly in Hawaii. You never know who might walk in front of your moving vehicle.

Since I was in the Honolulu area, I stayed in town for the University of Hawaii's BCM meeting. Throughout the summer, the BCM is teaching through STORYING. Storying is a method of discipleship where you learn stories from the Bible and you share these stories with others. The people you share the stories with then go on to share the story with others and so on so forth. You always start with this is a true story from God's word, the Bible and then conclude with these 5 questions. What did you like about the story? What did you dislike? What can you learn about God from this story? What can you learn about man from this story? What action do you need to take in your life to be obedient to what God is teaching you through this story?  Several people that I am ministering with while I am here went through the storying training a couple of months ago. It is very beneficial for people who are not literate in the English language. I am excited about it because when you learn a story from the Bible you are learning it in entirety and telling it in entirety. Therefore, you are in essence memorizing passages of scripture at a time. Then,  the people that are hearing the stories and learning the stories are learning scripture as well. I have not experienced storying a whole lot, but I am very intrigued and looking forward to learning more about it. 

Backyard Bible Clubs went smoothly today. They all call me auntie. We played with playdough and talked about how God is molding and shaping us into who He created us to be. We had between 20 and 30 kids again today! 

Tonight the mission team that is going to the Big Island met. We went out on the beach to enjoy the sunset and ended up talking to one of my neighbors who was selling seashells. It was really cool to hear the Chuukese teenagers talk to her because they were describing how they used the shells back home. One of the shells they used as a spinner. Another one of the shells they used to grind flour. When I look at a seashell, I see it as a decoration. When they look at a seashell, they see it with a specific function. These Chuukese youth are really special and I look forward to hearing more about life in Chuuk as I spend more time with them.  Oh, one more interesting tidbit I learned from my Chuukese friends.  If you look up the Chuuk on a map, you might find it under Truk; however, according to the Chuukese it is really Chuuk. At one point, whoever was making the maps couldn't understand how the Chuukese pronounced their country's name and wrote it as Truk. 

Well I intended to only post pictures tonight because I was exhausted, but I guess I had a lot to say! Love to all! 

Day one of Backyard Bible Clubs

Whew…what a day yesterday! I don’t know if anything could have prepared me for a Chuukese Backyard Bible Club.  It was good, but I don’t think that it resembled any Backyard Bible Club in which I have participated. The festivities started at 1:00, but all the children started coming around 1:30 or 1:45. We started singing and then had the Bible story. Praise the Lord that these children are familiar with hearing Bible Stories, but they are not familiar with participating in activities that go along with the Bible Story.  Next we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We had to remind the kids to throw away their rubbish (trash) otherwise it would have just been left on the ground. They also were stuffing extras into their pockets to take home  and eat later. Next we started playing games. I am not sure that these kids are used to playing games organized by adults. After playing one game they organized themselves into race groups and ran races for about 20 minutes. They were much better at organizing themselves!!! I have never seen anything like it.  Finally, we ended our day with making crafts (salvation bracelets). They really liked the bracelets. Several of the boys wore them as anklets. After it was all over, the kids stayed around and started building nests out of the wilted flowers that were under the tree. After they perfected their nests, they sat on them and squawked like a bird. Oh what entertains children! All of the Chuukese/ Micronesian children are fascinated with my accent.   One girl told me” You sound like Bailey off of Zack and Cody, Hi Yall!” Other children have told me that I sound like a cowgirl.  Yesterday,  I am supposed to be getting the van that I will be driving. This will be a blessing because we have had to make several trips back and forth to get all supplies and people to the Backyard Bible club. Love to all!  

I have some great pictures of this, but for some reason they are not downloading quick enough!! I will definitely post them later!!

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I have heard that some of you are trying to leave comments and can't... Being the highly technological person that I am not, I am not sure how to fix it. I did go and change some of my settings, so hopefully that will enable you to comment if you would like to! I would love to hear from all of you and I am very sorry that you have not been able to comment up until this point.  Mahalo (Thank you) for keeping up with me, thinking about me, and praying for me.
Correction to my last blog: Baby chicks usually are yellow when they are born, then they lose their down and become the color that they will grow up to be. In researching this, I found picture of just born baby chicks that are black too. I also discovered that flamingoes are born white, but turn pink from eating shrimp.
Love to all!

Wow! This weekend went by quickly. Saturday morning started at the Farmer’s Market. I am very thankful to get tomatoes. It is not summer without tomatoes.! Next we ventured out to the SWAP meet that surrounds the football stadium.  The SWAP meet is like a giant flee market/ CANAL street experience. Those of you who know me well, know that I get extremely excited bargaining; therefore I often times get carried away!! The vendors must smile when they see me coming. My favorite purchase of the day was a hand carved wooden frog instrument that you can make it croak. The man who sold it to me actually goes to the church that I visited today!

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After the SWAP meet, we went to Pearl Harbor and got to see the Arizona memorial. It was very moving to see pictures and read about the sailors and soldiers lives the days leading up to December 7, 1941.  How blessed we are to live in a free country.

Following Pearl Harbor, we went to the Macadamia Nut Farm to see if we could take a tour. Tours of the day had already concluded, but I did encounter my first set of chickens running around freely… I did not love it, but I was a lot better than I would have been 10 years ago. I was mostly amazed at the baby chicks. I think of chicks as being fuzzy and yellow; however, these are brown and not very cute. It makes a lot of sense because we don’t see many yellow chickens running around. I guess it just shows that I am really a city girl after all. 

This morning for church we went to International Baptist Church and University Avenue Baptist Church. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming.  Most places in Hawaii do not have air conditioning including churches.  In one church the shutters were all open, but in the other church the sanctuary had rolling doors on one side and they opened them for the service.  This evening Darla and I spent the evening with the couple who is starting West Oahu Community Church.  They are beginning a Bible Study in the park this upcoming Thursday.  Please be in prayer that people will come that need to hear the good news of Jesus.

Our Sunflower project Backyard Bible Club begins tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect, but I am sure that I will have some interesting stories to tell. Pray that God will bring the children that need to hear the gospel and that His word will fall on receptive hearts. 

Oh interesting Hawaii fact… Hawaii consumes more Spam than any other state. People even order it at restaurants.  I had my first Hawaii Spam Friday night, it came with my meal!

Love to all! I am praying for all of you who are teaching VBS this week!  

This is a school in Wai'anae. Schools all over the island have multiple buildings .  This is a high school, but the intermediate and elementary schools look just like this one!

Prayer Walking in Waipahu

Today was a great day of ministry.  We went and prayer walked in the Waipahu and passed out flyers for the upcoming Block party and VBS that will be held in the local church.  Meeting the residents and children of Waipahu opened my eyes to the great need that this community has for Jesus.  After prayer walking we returned to the church to prepare for the evening worship service. During this time, I had the opportunity to talk to the pastor’s father about the ministry and the needs of the community.  Several times throughout the evening I heard about how the Chuukese children often struggle to finish school often quitting at a very young age.  I also learned that there are 75 Southern Baptist Churches on Oahu and yet only 0.5% of the population is being reached with the good news of Jesus. There is a great need in Hawaii for the gospel to be shared.  He also shared with me that the Chuukese ministry is funded or partially funded by the Annie Armstrong offering. Hearing this, I realized what a blessing it is to be able to see how mission offerings are being put to use on the mission field.  Please be in prayer for our Backyard Bible that is starting on Monday at the Sunflower Projects. Love to all! 

Aloha!

       12 hours of flight time and sitting in airports and I have arrived! Thank you everyone for praying for my safe arrival! The flight was smooth, comfortable, and the food was very good!! I arrived in Hawaii around 2:30 and Darla, the missionary here picked me up. After grabbing a bite to eat we met up with the pastor of  a new church plant and his wife and passed out drinks and information about a Bible study that is starting next Thursday. Then we went to see my condo... which is AMAZING!! My bedroom is about 50 yards from the water! I sleep to the sound of waves. My first night here I thought I would sleep through the night because I was so tired, but I jet lag won and I was wide awake at 4:00 ... 10:00 Georgia time.  Thankfully, I was able to go back to sleep and sleep until 8. Maybe, for the first time in my life, I will be an early riser without an alarm clock. :)
        Yesterday (Thursday) Darla took me around to see the Island of Oahu. Breathtaking is the only way I can describe it! I saw the Dole pineapple Plantation, North Shore, several beautiful scenic points, and we ended our evening at Waikiki beach and the international market. All along the side of the road people sell homegrown fruit and other food items. We bought this seasoned and grilled corn on the cob that melted in my mouth. I also purchased a pineapple and fresh apple bananas. I haven't tasted the pineapple yet, but the bananas put our bananas back home to shame!
         Today starts ministry. I am meeting the Chuukese pastor and we will be prayer walking and passing out flyers for the upcoming VBS. Starting next week I will also be doing a backyard Bible Club and discipling some of the Chuukese girls.
         I am so thankful that the Lord has opened the door for me to spend my summer in Hawaii. I am anticipating great works to be done in my life and in the lives of the people here! Much love to all!

My backyard at sunset on my first evening here!

Tired, but happy I made it to Hawaii!

Dole Pineapple Plantation The vegetation is beautiful.

                        

The rock behind me got the giant hole in it when a tsunami came through many years ago!

-Kelly