More Pictures... Summer Missionaries

These are some pictures of the other summer missionaries. 

 JD Mason, Rob Grob, Celleste Williams, Katie Hagen, The group of young extroverted people on Gods mission are together before the Backyard Bible Club begins.

 Here is Celleste with Maile and Sammiieh, having fun at Backyard Bible Club!

Celleste swinging kids around.

Erko on the ground laughing.

Brianne, Celleste, and Amy

JD and drake in the luxury car.

VBS, Birthdays, and Hula

  Church on Sunday... Emmi is wearing a traditional Chuukese dress.

 Backyard Bible Club

 Lesleen and Dory

 Maile and Prima

 Studying God's Word together

 Playing a game at VBS

 Satak and Drake in the car that I am borrowing. Pastor Dave and Mrs. Annette are letting me use it for the next 2 weeks.

 Hula lessons

Aiko is a talented hula dancer. Heather and I are beginners.

 Chuukese dog made an appearance at Backyard Bible Club. He is happy with the attention. Thankfully, no one was scared of him this time. His real name is Pumba.

My new friends Heather and Julie. They were with the missions team from Houston.

Aloha! This week has been slammed from sun up to sun down, but the Lord has been good throughout the whole week. VBS was really good. The kids had a blast and were begging for the church to have it again. Some of them even came back and watered the flowers in the afternoon.  One little boy in particular was asking a lot of questions about being a Christian.  He is still a little confused, but he is searching. God is faithful and I know He will continue to work in this young boy’s life. Seeds have definitely been planted in his and other children’s lives this week.

God really blessed me personally this week in VBS with sweet friendships that developed over the course of the week with the other team members. It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord will bring people into our lives even for just a short time to encourage us in our walk with Him.

I have also had the opportunity to get to know a Hawaiian family that rode in with me everyday to help with VBS.  I have really enjoyed getting to know more about the Hawaiian culture through this family.  God is really growing in me a love for the people who live on the island. Last night, I was at a luau (more on this later) and the mc told the audience that 80% of the Hawaiians live on the Waianae Coast.    

Pray for my discipleship group, and that I will love them and treat each moment with them with wisdom and grace. Pray for unity among the young girls and that the Lord will give them a deep desire to know His word.

Wednesday night we celebrated Satak’s birthday at  Pizza Hut and then we played volleyball at the park. I have always loved birthdays. It is even more fun to celebrate their birthdays because they get so excited!    

The Chuukese teenage boys are thriving under the leadership of the summer missionaries. The summer missionaries have done a wonderful job coming in and establishing relationships with the guys and starting discipleship groups. The guys are really excited to be following Jesus.  Yesterday, JD (one of the summer missionaries) was meeting with three of the guys (Satak, D-Ray, and Urkel) at McDonalds for Bible Study. He was talking to them about serving others.  A lady came up to their table and laid down 4 gift cards. She had handwritten scripture or a short note in each of them. One of them said; God is faithful. Another one said, With God all things are possible.  Each message applied directly to an issue that the guy who picked up the card was dealing with. They ended up speaking to the lady, and she told them that God laid it on her heart to give them the gift cards and write the messages. She knew that the right message with go to each person.  The guys were so excited to experience the Lord in this unique way.

So, I learned to Hula… I might need to be a little more loosey goosey; I look a little bit stiff. However, I drew this conclusion after watching the video of me hula dancing at the Paradise Cove luau. I think it is safe to say, that I do not have a future in any kind of dancing.  It was fun learning, and it was fun dancing at the luau. My new friend Heather and I went up there together… In the days ahead, there might be a YouTube video of me dancing the Hula. Kiko, my hula teacher, explained to me the different times that they perform hula:  Weddings, graduation parties, baby showers, etc. I will be back towards the end of July; send me a message if you would like me to hula at your next special occasion. :) 

Much love to all!  

Riding in Style

Aloha family and friends! I hope this post finds you all well! This week, my days begin at 7:00 and end ????  VBS starts my day, and the Lord is really working.  We doubled the number of kids from Monday to Tuesday. Please pray for these children and that God will work in their lives. He has reminded me this week of how His Word is living and active. Because of this, I can learn from these stories as well. Tomorrow we present the plan of salvation. Pray that God will draw children unto him. The mission team working the VBS is from Houston. It is always so good to fellowship with other believers and see how the Lord is working in their lives. Lunch is provided after VBS and a local church provided lunch the first day. It was by far the best Hawaiian food I have had since I have been here (either trip). They made Kailua Pig in cabbage, and then this really good chicken. Of course they served rice! I need to learn how to make Kailua Pig in cabbage and bring it back to the mainland! I’ll have to ask for the recipe. The cook’s grandchildren came to VBS today and were in my class…I’ll ask tomorrow.

Yesterday, I had my 2^nd discipleship time with my fabulous young ladies. We went to McDonalds and ate ice cream and studied God’s word. Throughout the summer, we are studying what it means and how to be a godly young lady.  Yesterday, we talked about how God created us in His image, and He gave women a unique role of being a helper. The word in Hebrew used for helper that was used in Genesis 2:18 “I will make a helper fit for hi.”  is the same helper that is used to describe God in the following verses: Exodus 18:4, Psalm 10:14, Psalm 20:2, Psalm 33:20, Psalm 70:5, Psalm 72:12-14, and Psalm 86:17. These verses describe how God is our helper. Since we are created in His image, these verses also help us know what being a helper entails. I love that God created us in His image!

On a funny note, sometime during our ice cream fellowship, the girls decided that when I get married I should fly them over, so they can be bridesmaids.  They were really excited about the idea of me having Chuukese bridesmaids in my wedding. I’m not sure how we even got on the subject of me getting married. I guess I need to start saving money now…airfare for 5 from Hawaii would be pretty expensive. J

Pastor Dave and Mrs. Annette graciously gave me their car for the week of VBS, so I can get back and forth. It is the luxury model of the Chrysler 300. Since getting the car, I am a little more popular with the teenage boys. When I arrived at Backyard Bible Club today, Satak said, “Auntie Kelly, thanks for bringing back my car.”   They all want ride with Auntie Kelly. 

Tomorrow is another day of VBS, Backyard Bible Club and Discipleship. Tomorrow evening we are taking Satak out for his birthday!  In the near future, I have a tennis match with one of the Chuukese boys. Much love to all! 
I am having a hard time posting pictures... no quite sure what is up, but I will try again soon!

Busy Weekend... Busy Week Up Ahead

Yard Sales, basketball games, a quick trip to the beach, a Chuukese church service, and a service at West Oahu Community Church has kept me busy.  The Chuukese church service was very different and entirely in Chuukese. When the congregation applauds someone or something, they have an organized rhythm that they do each time. It was pretty cool and unlike anything I have experienced in a church congregation.  The first prayer of the service I was thrown off at first because I couldn't understand what they were saying to God. However God quickly reminded me that He understands all languages and that He knows our hearts. Just another example of how God has no limitations!

Please pray for this week. It will be VERY busy. I have VBS in the mornings in Kapolei (about a 30 minute drive East), and then I will head straight back to Waianae for the Backyard Bible Club. Monday and Wednesday I will disciple my younger girls. Monday night we will go work at the homeless shelter. Wednesday evening we will be celebrating Satak's birthday. Thursday, the mission team working the VBS is taking the pastor, his wife, and me to a luau. I am anticipating immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine for this week! Please pray for all the kids in Waianae and Kapolei that God will transform their lives and seeds will be planted. Please pray for me... I am tired just from anticipating the exciting events of the week. Please pray that God gives me the energy and the strength needed.
Love to all of you. I will post more pictures soon!

Hanging out and Playing Games

Have you ever noticed that some of the best memories are made following impromptu plans? Yesterday was a busy day exercising, cooking, talking story at Backyard Bible Club, teaching during discipleship group, and entertaining the sweet girls afterwards. My day started at 6:45, and the last little girls left around 6:30. I was tired and ready to work on some VBS prep before calling it a night.  However, that was not the conclusion of my day. The older girls were coming over for a Bible study with the other girls who working, and along with them came two middle school boys.  The middle school boys went with me to pick out games to play. We then had an evening of Jenga and Farkle. These boys were Mr. Personalities and laughed at all my jokes.  The evening was completely unplanned, but it was loads of fun. One funny moment came when Urkel asked if I was the one last year that got their attention in a funny way.

 “What do you mean?” I probed.

“Well simmer something.” He replied.

“ Simmer Simmer Down?”

“Yeah,  that’s it.!” He exclaimed.

It is amazing how kids remember adults.

Tonight I went to Waipahu for the Friday night Bible Study. Afterwards, we were waiting to leave and I started singing and dancing with Maile, Lesleen, Amy, and Victor. We were SUPER SILLY, but we had a lot fun!

Through both of these experiences I realized how much I have come to love middle schoolers. When I started teaching two years ago, I wasn’t quite sure that I had the “middle school gift”.  Over the last two years, I have grown to love their quirkiness. It was really cool to recognize how God has changed my heart and given me a love for this sometimes odd, but very cool age group.

Mafia comes to Waianae

I love to play games. Several of the older girls gave over to watch a movie tonight, but instead we played games!!!

In a perfect world there is…..

Paddles but no boats

Mattresses but no beds

Desserts but no cakes

Of course, we also had to see who could see the moon… By the end of the night, almost half of the room could see the moon. I tried to tell them, it all comes down to being polite.

 Then we ended the evening with Mafi.  It  isn’t quite summer without a game of Mafia. I only died once. A peacock attacked me and bit of my head or something like that. J

 Marsely came to Waianae to visit and help with Backyard Bible Club for the day.

 Satak is back!

 Mdian working on decorating her beach bag.

 Lesleen dancing to VBS music.

 Maile eating Baked Ziti with Tabasco

Kimbel and Urkel playing Jenga. 

Much love to all! Tomorrow I am going to the church plant's yard sale. They are hosting a community wide yard sale in order to invite children to VBS. 

Tabasco and Baked Ziti

I’ll take a Sprinkle of Tabasco with my Baked Ziti, please.  Before today, I don’t think that I would ever that phrase. However, our discipleship time ended lasting until dinner time, and the girls had to eat. For lunch, I had made Baked Ziti (my go to, know the recipe by heart meal). Since Chuukese like different types of food then people from the mainland, I warmed the ziti up and allowed everyone to try a bite before giving each of them an entire plate.  Surprisingly, all but one declared they liked it and wanted it for dinner.  When each of them received their plate, they brought out the Tabasco and started drenching the Ziti…So, the next time I make baked ziti, it might just have an extra kick to remind me of my Tabasco-loving Chuukese friends! J

During Backyard Bible Club today, I talked story with several of my discipleship girls from last year. We walked and talked. Over and over from different precious young ladies, I heard about how often they get made fun of for being Micronesian.  Apparently, the non- Micronesians like to call them microwaves and tell them to go home. What do you tell a kid when they are called names?  Do you tell them not to listen? It’s almost impossible not to listen.  Then it occurred to me how important it is to saturate our lives with God’s Word.  So often we buy into lies that the world likes to tell us… you are not good enough, you aren’t beautiful, you are only important if you are successful, you have to do _______ to fit in, you are not complete without a boyfriend or a best friend, you have to buy the name brand clothes, I’ll only like you for what you can do for me, and if I only looked like this, then I’d fit in.  I’m sure we all relate to at least one of these lies that the world screams or whispers to us and tries to get us to believe.  These precious young ladies are no different. Romans 1:25 says They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped  and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised. How often do we buy into these lies instead of believing truth. We need to know what God says about these issues, so that we can stand firm on His promises.  Then we need to constantly renew our minds with scripture…every time the world tells us a lie, look to God’s word and see the truth.  Thinking about this is further confirmation about how important it is to hide God’s word in our hearts.  (Psalm 119:11)   What scripture counteracts the lies we believe? The Lord has laid it on my heart to find scripture about who we are in Christ and how the Lord sees us and teach these scriptures to these precious young ladies, so they can stand firm on God’s promises. The Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God  (Ephesians 6:17) is part of the armor of God.  Yes, it is impossible to completely ignore someone’s hateful and snide comments or remarks, but it is possible to  choose to believe what the Bible says; therefore, taking away the power of the unkind words because we cannot believe both truth and a lie at same time. 

Much love to you all back on the main land. 

Day 1 Backyard Bible Clubs

Over the past 6 months, the Lord has been teaching me to delight in Him  (Psalm 37:4).  I have loved the Lord for several years now, but I am really learning to delight in Him.  It all started when the Lord revealed 2 Samuel 22:20 to me  “He brought me into a spacious place; He rescued me because He DELIGHTED in me.” We all want to be delighted in, don’t we? I knew that the Lord loves me more than I can ever imagine or comprehend, but somehow I never really thought about the Lord delighting in me.  Learning this truth, has changed my heart. If the Lord delights in me, then I certainly want to delight in Him!!  To truly delight in Him, we have to know Him and spend time with Him… He is faithful and He will reveal Himself, so we can delight in Him. 

            What does all of this have to do with Hawaii?  Well, in the process of learning to delight in the Lord, I am learning to recognize the sweet God moments where you know that the Lord is speaking to you. I want to share with you the first God moment of my trip.

God Moment #1 Right before take off, I was reading out of the book of Jude (I can count on my hand the # of times I have read out of Jude)  and vs 24 says “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy”  Now I know that this verse is not directly talking about falling out of the sky, but minutes before being thousands of feet in the air, I love that the Lord pointed out that He can keep me from falling. J

            This morning before the Backyard Bible Club started, I was studying about how the Lord is our Righteousness.  I was reading in Jeremiah about how our hearts are deceitful and beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9), but how thankfully, the Lord provided us a way through Jesus.  Ezekiel 36:26 says I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  Later during the day, I was seeing kids and teenagers from last summer. It was so good to see them, but it was frustrating to see and hear about some of the choices that have made throughout the year or are continuing to make in this moment. Sadly, these choices do not glorify God.  In reflecting on the day, God brought to my attention the verses that I read earlier.  The Lord is our Righteousness  Jeremiah 23:6.  Only through Him, can we have a new heart. Please be praying that God will do a mighty work in the hearts of these children and that He will give them a new heart and a new spirit.  I am so thankful that we rely completely on the Lord to be our Righteousness!

            Funny moment of the day, several of the little girls asked me if my toenails were fake.  I guess French pedicures equates with fake nails.

 Philios came with Darla to pick me up.

 One of the views from the building I stayed in last year. I never noticed it because I stayed on a lower floor.

 Happy to see Lesleen! We'll start our discipleship group up tomorrow.

 I look a little more awake in this picture. Philios and Darla gave me this lei at the airport.

 Remember my little buddy that would ride on my back.... He still does!

 Raston... another year older. He informed me we were frienenemies because I graduated from UGA. Hawaii fans do not like the bulldogs because of the Sugarbowl several years ago!

 Remember Amy? She's on the left!

        The whole team... except for Darla and me.

    Much love to everyone! 

Aloha from Hawaii! I'm here!!!  I arrived at 2:00 pm Hawaii time, and I have managed to stay awake until 9:00 pm. My body is screaming at me to go to sleep. It still thinks it is 3:00 am. I haven't stayed awake that late since my college days. My flight was wonderful. Darla and Philios welcomed me to Hawaii. Later in the day, I met the other summer missionary. This is their 3rd week of Backyard Bible Club. I will jump right in tomorrow. I'll post pictures and more updates when I am no longer sleep deprived. Much love to all! Thanks for your prayers for safe travel!

After spending lots of time in prayer, the Lord has opened the doors for me to go back to Hawaii for the summer! To say that I am excited might be the understatement of the year....a mental packing list has been made for the last month, I dream of Oahu regularly, and the countdown to my departure began weeks ago! 

When I called Darla to inform her that I would definitely be coming for the summer, the young girls that I discipled last summer were over at her house for discipleship time. I had the opportunity to speak to each one of them (so exciting!!). Sweet Maile got on the phone and asked, "Auntie Kelly, are you coming back?" After telling her yes, she exclaimed, "Oh good, we've been praying you would come back."

I consider it a blessing to be given the opportunity to go back and serve the Chuukese this summer. God is so good!!  Through  figuring out the details and logistics of the trip, there was one point where I was figuring out the approximate cost of the trip. I knew that more than likely there would be some added expenses this year that I did not have to cover last year. With a pencil and paper in hand trying to add all the expenses together to get a grand total, I realized I needed to give it to the Lord, our Provider. I began praying that God would provide for these needs. There were several needs, but the overwhelming need was for a car because since I am still a “youngen” it would be outrageously expensive for me to rent a car for the entire month.  God is amazing…not only did He provide a car, He also provided me an awesome flight, and a place to stay!!  It amazes me how God uses people and their resources to provide for others. I hope that I choose to be generous with the blessings that the Lord has given me, just as the people who the Lord provided for me through are faithful and generous beyond measure with what the Lord has given them!  

“ Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20 This verse is one of my favorites and God has consistently shown me immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine. He has already shown me immeasurably more in His provision for this summer.  Please join me in praying for the Chuukese this summer and that the work the Lord is going to do in Waianae, Hawaii and in my own life will be immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.