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!