Monthly Archives: August 2015

Summer seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye. In some ways it went by incredibly fast and in other ways, not fast enough!
We kept busy with staff meetings, worship, intercession, evangelism, and numerous community outreaches.

We did some unique things these past couple months including hosting a Ywam Hawaii leaders retreat, helping organize a 24 hour prayer and worship event, and coaching kids at a sports camp.

The other day I made a comment about sports camp being the highlight of my summer, to which my friend Josh went “Woah now, the highlight?! What about going home?”
“Well besides home, obviously…I meant as far as ministry goes.”

For a week in July I had the privilege of being a basketball coach, which, according to my team of six 8-11 year olds, was a poor choice on my part as I am “really bad at basketball, you should have coached cheerleading instead”. I love kids because they are brutally honest and just tell it like it is! Even though I taught them very little about basketball I had an amazing time getting to lead devotional times with them everyday. By the end of the week we were exhausted, yet so refreshed by being around the keiki of Kauai and sharing about Jesus with them.

Besides camp I must say my other highlight was going home for two weeks. Spending time camping  with my family and enjoying the adventure of a new relationship. I find myself hesitating to write about something/someone so personal but I have always tried to be honest on here and I want our relationship to be something that people can look on from the outside and see the hand of God in that area of my life also.

With that said, God is faithful and his timing is perfect!
When I went home in March for my two week break after leading outreach Simeon and I began dating. We both had feelings for each other for some time and being home and hanging out together just confirmed this for us. We didn’t fully understand how our relationship would work, what with me still being committed to Ywam until my religious visa expires next summer, and him living in Gibsons. But we knew this was the direction God was leading us in and we were willing to try.
Friends keep asking me how long distance is. My answer is its really really hard! But having the foundation of God in our lives, growing the fruit of patience, working on communication and looking to the future when we will one day be together again definitely helps.

People ( that love me dearly and vice versa!) have expressed concern about me remaining in Ywam whilst making Simeon “wait for me at home”. But I guess I don’t see the harm in it as much as I see the beauty in it. In our short five months of dating I am beginning to understand that we as a western culture have placed love( twu wuv), weddings, marriage on a very high pedestal. And don’t get me wrong, I agree it is something to be celebrated! I am astounded by how supportive people have been of our relationship. Even just the simple click of a like on a facebook picture makes me so thankful for the friends and family we have coming alongside us cheering us on!
But Jesus, he must always come first. He has to be on the throne in my life. And my commitment to him and the commitments I have made before him to serve here on Kauai for the next nine months will continue to trump my desire to be at home, holding the hand of the man I love. I never want the opinions of man or the desires of my heart (as good as they may be) to overtake my desire to please the Lord. My commitment to Him ⬆️ is training ground to make a life long commitment to him ⬇️

So although my heart may be split in a few directions as of late, I am learning to be present where I am. Present here for these kids on Kauai and present in my long distance relationship. It doesnt fully make sense, but when the Lord says “All your times are in my hands” I am choosing to believe him.

As for the here and now, well students are coming! Ten of them! In just over two weeks! This school I am taking on a new role as school leader, meaning I wont be taking the team on outreach (theyre going to Nepal) but rather planning and running the school. Practically this means scheduling the speakers, making the weekly schedule, training the staff in their roles and duties, and overall being over the classroom and making sure everything runs smoothly and our staff dont get burnt out! Its a bit of an overwhelming task, but also is such a privilege to get to be a part of the discipleship of these ten students.

Please pray for me, our staff and students that we will run this race with joy and endurance!
Thank you all for your love and support.