Aloha! Hey everyone! i have an exciting update! i am going to bangladesh!! yea yea! i'm pumped! before i tell you the deets, i let you know how these last ferw days have been:) i have had a crazy weekend! so filled with lots and lots of activities!
On Saturday, I was so active! i got up early, ate breakfast and then got a hitch into paia to surf! it was a pretty windy day but we didnt know what the waves would be like! so me and my friend Hannah from australia to share between us for 20 bucks with all the straps and wax that we needed:)we headed out with the boys to Paia bay which was beautiful! Unfortunetly after an hour of trying to get some waves, we couldnt catch any becasue the waves didnt break good and it was a little bit tooo windy. The guy that rented the boards to us told us that we could bring them back if we couldnt get any waves:) and he was a christian, from cali, named justin... anyways hahah besides that point we returned them and we have a credit that justin gave us for the next time we go out. we hitched back to paia then got ready for the weekely socccer game at 4! it was so fun! i think there was like 40 of us that played! i still got my kick! i played defense against some sbfm guys from sweden and all over and it was cool! i dont think i''ll play barefoot again though.. i broke a nail! just kidding i'm not THAT much of a wuss. and then after we got home, btdubb, our team killed, we had a game of vball! a tounramant actually:0 our weekends are pretty cool we have all saturday off every week and then other than church on sundays we have time to chill on sunday too! but lots of that time soon will be full of work projects and Jesus time and homework!
Sunday I went to my church that I was assigned to for the first time and it was so cool! i got put in the children's church which was a separate building then the church:0 there was like 15 kids all under eight, and i really bonded with this kid named Owen:0 he was so cute, and i hope we can stay buddies. he is four :) we played games, had snacked, sang songs with actions of course and had a lesson he is so cute, he put up his hand to pray and then when it was his turn he turned to me all embarrased and said "i dont know how to pray!" and i was like say thanks God for my family. and he did in the most quiet voice ever but it was super cute:)
After we said our goodbyes to the kids, we wenty to Costco, and let me tell you friends in saskatoon, our samples dont even compare. there samples are like servings and there was actually a different one everywhere. I was so full off those but i still split one of those 2$ pizza slices because they looked so good:)
The rest of the day we hung out at the base finished our journals that we had to do, and spent some time with God.
Yesterday we had our first session and this week it is on the basics of christianity:) it was awesome because i feel feel like i am getting so much knowledge to back up my faith and to prove that christianity is real. Matt is a sweet teacher. i love learning and i think i have a real passion for learning new things. Random, but i am learning Norweigan just cause haha it's been really fun so far i got the alphabet down as well as some sentences and and numbers:) yea yea it's fun but i love learning new things about God and the bible!
So last night we found out where we were going! the way they told us was really cool , and it shouldnt have surpirsed me how much surpirsies and creativitiy they put into it! they told us to sit aorung the pool. Then they tapped our heads if we were on the team that was being told. we all had to close our eyes and keep them shut. when we were tapped we put our feet in the water carefully while keeping our eyes closed. then, after everyone from one team was picked they said the people whose feet are in the water can open their eyes. We didnt know where we were going yet, just who we were with.
I was the last group that they did this too, and i had to covver my eyes because i was so excited! i looked around and saw a few people but becasue it was dark out, i couldnt tell everyone.
Right after they told us to sit in the groups that we were called in and then the leaders sat with us and annouced we were going to bangladesh! there are 9 of us students and two leaders and it looks like it is going to be a great group! it was hard to realize that i wouldnt be with all of these people that i had made such great friends with and only these 11 for three months. but i still have lots of time here to build great other friendships also really get to know my team! i am so excited and please pray for our team to stay positive and that team unity would be awesome and for God to use us in amazing ways here and there! anyways other people have to use this computer so i will tell you more about this country antoher time! love ya'll! thanks for your prayers and God bless you!
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Decisions decisions!
I forgot to mention! today we were told about the locations we could go for our outreach and the options are Bangladesh, China, or Nepal. i have to make the decision by tomorrow night (Thursday) so i you could please join in praying for me that would be the best! i really want to make my decision based on where God wants me, so i am open to whatever, they all have so much to offer! anyways, thanks in advance everyone! love you! -jacs!
So many adventures! So many surprises!
Hey ya'll! so i just got back a few days ago from my adventure which happened to be three days long! really cool experiences filled with lots of surprises. the first thing we did was get up at 6 in the morning and they checked all of our bags to see if we brought something we weren't supposed to; this meaning only the necessities! we had some lovely breakfast and off we went to begin our first team challenge! of course, once we got split up into groups the creativity inside me burst out and we won the group cheer/ name challenge.
we were the mighty moses's.. moseses? not too sure how to spell that, but our routine consisted of some killer roundoffs by miss austraila, parting of the red sea, a renditon of we are the titans (moses) AND we whip our hair back and forth. let me tell you, we blew them right our of their seats!
Soon after that, we got prepared for a scavenger hunt around the island, full of hitch hiking, and random photos around the various big cities, man was that adventureous! the more hitches we got, the more points we got! we got four hitches and the last one we had, we had to cram our team of four into the back of a car, with a baby in the car seat in one seat and the four of us squished into two seats! we ended up gtting second out of the eight teams which was pretty good still!
after that, we found ourselves on Mount I'ao where Auntie mamal told us about the island's history and how she has found it difficult to grow up with here cutlure being lost. that place was super pretty with chinese and phillipin inspired countries:)
finally they piled us into the two 15 passenger vans which held 45 of us crammed in total and.. k wait let me tell you about these vans! Apparently a van just retired before the beginning of our DTS, named Gumbi which was the same one as one of the other green ones. The green one that carried us there had on seat row and the rest were taken out to make more room for the students! there are rusted holes right in the middle of the floor! Hello road! dont worry none of us fell out, they arent THAT big! it's actualy quite fun in tight quarters like that! and with no air conditioning you really do begin to really get to know some people. :) the roof is like falling in too and we joke that its a sign that people were trying to escape! hahah it was tons of fun and despite the other van being completely normal, i always ended up being in the "fun" van!
The location we ended up going to was absolutely gorgeous. right by the ocean, we set up our tents, got firewood, and made bathrooms! -It was outdoor school alllllllllll over again:)
God did some amazing stuff in those three days where all 45 of us strangers from around the world became great friends:) we all shared our personal testimonies which really was a great opportunity to get to know people right off the bat to be vulnerable with one another and really challenge each other. we had quiet time every morning, and my favorite spot was up this mountain cliff side that i climbed and overlooked the ocean which was super beautiful. I wrote down my expectations for my DTS and i really want to learn how to hear God's voice, and to be challenged with my knowledge from the lectures to come. Also i want to be able to bring my faith back home and really help my friends with their relationships with Jesus:)
That first night, i didnt have a good sleep at all. i felt like i stayed up all night because i wasn't very comfortable. in the morning we realized we didnt open any of the vents in our tent so it was like a sauna! plus, the ants here are bazurk! but i was feeling good because the next night i could be prepared to change it to make it better now!
Another hard thing about those three days was the food. I mentioned before but this journey was called exodus, and in exodus the Israelite's live off the same food for 40 days, so that's we we did. all we had was the same cup and chopsticks for every meal with hot water and plan oatmeal for breakfast and icheban noddles for supper and lunch. it really was humbling to see and experience how other people live in the world to say, and we are so privileged:) however we were hungry and our stomachs were not always satisfied. but it was fun:)
Every day we had quiet time with God and had campfire worship sessions, and ever since last Saturday night, i have loved the worship here. It is so free and God has really spoken to me:D i can't wait for what's to come ahead.
Some other highlights we had included some "dirty games" with mud, river swims, the view, personal time with god, cave climbing, laughing until we would explode! it is so cool, to think that it was just three days but it felt like a lifetime of fun. there was no one to tell us what time it was, people opened up and we just had so much fun! i got my homies from Washington, and my Aussies, Swiss, Chinese friends, danish and fellow Canadians and Americans now a part of my famjam:) it is so cool to see how God all brought us to Ywam Maui; we all have a story.
On Tuesday i was expecting to stay longer, i didn't think it was going to be done, but after our hike in the mountain, they said they needed to get more water before we hit our next location. So we go to this place, with all of us just so tired and dirty, the doors flew open and people cheered at us as we walked in. I was completely shocked! i love surprises and i actually was like is this a dream!? the other part of the base were all dressed up and here we were dirty with mudd on our faces and just hungry out of our minds! they put garbage bags on the seats we were at with name tags cause they knew we'd be dirty. I felt so special.
it took me a while to snap back into it, but when they announced the meal, OMG. my mouth was like drooling from excitement! we had salmon, coconut rice, chicken Norwegian tomatoes, wild rice and the most amazing dessert. I loved it! i was so hungry but my stomach must have shrunk because i couldn't eat a lot! then after they washed our feet and each individually wrote us cards of encouragement. I had a girl named Ashley wash my feet and it was so awesome, she was one staff that i hadn't really gotten to know yet, but she said she has been praying for me ever since i was looking into the program. In the card she explained how God wanted to show me that he was my protector and she prayed for me. it was so touching, she prayed for me long and deeply that i felt so blessed. we ended the incredible Tuesday night off with amazing worship:)
It's crazy to think that i have yet to be here a whole week yet! so much has happened and i can't wait to see where Go will take me in the upcoming weeks and lectures! please pray for me as i am wanting to grow closer in my relationship with Jesus, and be willing for what he asks of me! love you all! and thanks for being there for me! until next time!
we were the mighty moses's.. moseses? not too sure how to spell that, but our routine consisted of some killer roundoffs by miss austraila, parting of the red sea, a renditon of we are the titans (moses) AND we whip our hair back and forth. let me tell you, we blew them right our of their seats!
Soon after that, we got prepared for a scavenger hunt around the island, full of hitch hiking, and random photos around the various big cities, man was that adventureous! the more hitches we got, the more points we got! we got four hitches and the last one we had, we had to cram our team of four into the back of a car, with a baby in the car seat in one seat and the four of us squished into two seats! we ended up gtting second out of the eight teams which was pretty good still!
after that, we found ourselves on Mount I'ao where Auntie mamal told us about the island's history and how she has found it difficult to grow up with here cutlure being lost. that place was super pretty with chinese and phillipin inspired countries:)
finally they piled us into the two 15 passenger vans which held 45 of us crammed in total and.. k wait let me tell you about these vans! Apparently a van just retired before the beginning of our DTS, named Gumbi which was the same one as one of the other green ones. The green one that carried us there had on seat row and the rest were taken out to make more room for the students! there are rusted holes right in the middle of the floor! Hello road! dont worry none of us fell out, they arent THAT big! it's actualy quite fun in tight quarters like that! and with no air conditioning you really do begin to really get to know some people. :) the roof is like falling in too and we joke that its a sign that people were trying to escape! hahah it was tons of fun and despite the other van being completely normal, i always ended up being in the "fun" van!
The location we ended up going to was absolutely gorgeous. right by the ocean, we set up our tents, got firewood, and made bathrooms! -It was outdoor school alllllllllll over again:)
God did some amazing stuff in those three days where all 45 of us strangers from around the world became great friends:) we all shared our personal testimonies which really was a great opportunity to get to know people right off the bat to be vulnerable with one another and really challenge each other. we had quiet time every morning, and my favorite spot was up this mountain cliff side that i climbed and overlooked the ocean which was super beautiful. I wrote down my expectations for my DTS and i really want to learn how to hear God's voice, and to be challenged with my knowledge from the lectures to come. Also i want to be able to bring my faith back home and really help my friends with their relationships with Jesus:)
That first night, i didnt have a good sleep at all. i felt like i stayed up all night because i wasn't very comfortable. in the morning we realized we didnt open any of the vents in our tent so it was like a sauna! plus, the ants here are bazurk! but i was feeling good because the next night i could be prepared to change it to make it better now!
Another hard thing about those three days was the food. I mentioned before but this journey was called exodus, and in exodus the Israelite's live off the same food for 40 days, so that's we we did. all we had was the same cup and chopsticks for every meal with hot water and plan oatmeal for breakfast and icheban noddles for supper and lunch. it really was humbling to see and experience how other people live in the world to say, and we are so privileged:) however we were hungry and our stomachs were not always satisfied. but it was fun:)
Every day we had quiet time with God and had campfire worship sessions, and ever since last Saturday night, i have loved the worship here. It is so free and God has really spoken to me:D i can't wait for what's to come ahead.
Some other highlights we had included some "dirty games" with mud, river swims, the view, personal time with god, cave climbing, laughing until we would explode! it is so cool, to think that it was just three days but it felt like a lifetime of fun. there was no one to tell us what time it was, people opened up and we just had so much fun! i got my homies from Washington, and my Aussies, Swiss, Chinese friends, danish and fellow Canadians and Americans now a part of my famjam:) it is so cool to see how God all brought us to Ywam Maui; we all have a story.
On Tuesday i was expecting to stay longer, i didn't think it was going to be done, but after our hike in the mountain, they said they needed to get more water before we hit our next location. So we go to this place, with all of us just so tired and dirty, the doors flew open and people cheered at us as we walked in. I was completely shocked! i love surprises and i actually was like is this a dream!? the other part of the base were all dressed up and here we were dirty with mudd on our faces and just hungry out of our minds! they put garbage bags on the seats we were at with name tags cause they knew we'd be dirty. I felt so special.
it took me a while to snap back into it, but when they announced the meal, OMG. my mouth was like drooling from excitement! we had salmon, coconut rice, chicken Norwegian tomatoes, wild rice and the most amazing dessert. I loved it! i was so hungry but my stomach must have shrunk because i couldn't eat a lot! then after they washed our feet and each individually wrote us cards of encouragement. I had a girl named Ashley wash my feet and it was so awesome, she was one staff that i hadn't really gotten to know yet, but she said she has been praying for me ever since i was looking into the program. In the card she explained how God wanted to show me that he was my protector and she prayed for me. it was so touching, she prayed for me long and deeply that i felt so blessed. we ended the incredible Tuesday night off with amazing worship:)
It's crazy to think that i have yet to be here a whole week yet! so much has happened and i can't wait to see where Go will take me in the upcoming weeks and lectures! please pray for me as i am wanting to grow closer in my relationship with Jesus, and be willing for what he asks of me! love you all! and thanks for being there for me! until next time!
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Maui wowie!
i am loving every minute of this place! it is 10:30 hawaii time at the moment and my first day here has been an absolute blast! yesterday i had quite the adventure with flying all by myself. I will admit i shed a few tears but it was all good, just a new experiance. .. side note, every seen the Lizzie Mcguire Movie? well there is this one scene where Lzzie is saying goodbye to her parents and is just about to go in line to go on her plane to Italy, and then turns back and gives her mom a hug. a very emotional hug, yeah well that was me with my fam and friends:) hahah who knew i would cry! (shocker) By the way, thanks to everyone that came out to say goodbye:) that was really special!
Flying was actually a lot of fun! it was really cool, but i ended up being on the same plane as Matt Metan! we chatted it up, had some cool walks outside and yeah it was good to do the whole visas thing together. speaking of the visas, man the room where they take you in the customs in Vancouver, man do they ever make it look like a serious/stern place in there. they got the sound proof walls, crying babies, hard chairs to sit in and loonnnnnnnnngggggg waits. plus all the lights are dimmed and everyone looks like they want to cry. me and matt being positive petunias made the best of it and talked and laughed at the atmosphere going on. when i released from the detention center, i had a descion to make. either i go make the phone call my mom wanted me to maker as soon as i landed (which by the way was already an hour and a half overdue) or wait for matt and risk splitting up. i didnt have a phone or any way to get contact! it was right out a movie -haha not really. but it ended up working out. the pay phone was really far away so i literally sprinted away to it so i wouldnt miss him. i did tell the security lady what he looked like but i couldnt trust here and her yellow jacket. matt was another 30 minutes after me which of course ya know made me nervous, i was like hey did you know if he left?" but no one knew so it was kinda frustrating. finally he walks out, sweat is dripping form my face wondering what had they done to this poor lad. but he was totally cool, a lil frantic becawsue his plane was about to take off in ten minutes. sowe said our goodbyes and parted ways! i think he will have a killer time in cali! it was cool to get to know him a bit! ps, in case you ever have to apply for a visa, you don't get anything physical-like document wise hahah i came out after my like hour of me being there after they shut the security door on me i was like wait, wasnt i supposed to get something? well i don't know where it went but it must be on your records or something who knows.
anyways that seemed like a really long story.. sorry if i took too long to explain something so simple, but if you know me, i LOVE detail!! the only thing that could have been better was my 4 1/2 hour layover in vancouver, i ddint know a ton of what i could do, but i do love the duty free. my dad taught me to never trust a store they are only trying to make you buy something, like when you go in a store he thinks if they showed people something like poodle skin or something, that becasue it's in fashion that people would buy it! but i think when there is no taxes, well thats another story so i bought myself some lipgloss:) really though with a dead ipod, no cell or laptop who find yourself with a lot more time to pray:)
when i got on my flight to Maui, it was hilarious. Literally, a hawaiian version of sam germain. SO RANDOM! like actually he was really funny, like glasses and sweepy hair and such man you had to see it. the way he talked too! hahah man oh man, i was upset i didn't pull out my camera but i should've. he was on his honeymoon and he was 46, (sam things are looking good for you if your like him- he had no gray hairs!)
I had lots of time to myself on the plane, other than talking to my new pal, i had time to doodle. i'm an artist, it what i do. jk but i really enjoyed the wordsearch! of course when you have so much time to yourself, you think about what you forgot and hahah i forgot quite a few things like my sunglasses and a watch. but it's been all good so far. i did however with the help of my flight attendant kathryn i got some scrap peices of paper from the airplane and i wrote my thoughts and prayers and excitment. including a pic of what i thought the house would look like! so i had envisoned this three story white house on a secluded hill with the birds flying over my head and a "notebook porch around it. the hill was kinda like a hills are alive kinda hill.. plus there were volcanos in the back and an ocean in the distance with the boys house on another secluded hill kinda like a castle. it was fun using my various color options in my new case i bought:) loved it!
Finally i had arrived. walking alone, i headed for the baggage claim to see what my life had in store for me! i couldnt help but smile, i mean wow this was a pretty big adult thing to do! it was cool walking toward the light... anywho so i am walking and i am approached by two wondereful people named jen and juice:) they were young and two of the leaders that i would meet! they were so kind and welcoming! two girls were on my same plane that i hadnt realied until that moment. people had been arriving since tuesday so we were some of the last to come in. jen and juice (justin) were both young and hip! looking like they lived in maui and such! we grabbed all of our luggage and hopped into some sweet 15 passenger vans, we were pretty hungry so went headed up for a mcds run:) -yep it's big here too! it hit me, man i'm actually living in maui!!!!
By the time we made it to the base it was pretty late, so we were all pretty tired but there were a few other students that stayed up for us! the night not gunna lie, was pretty challenging. i used my handy dandy headlamp to find my bunk and hopped into bed. but couldnt sleep to well, maybe i was just excited to meet all these people in the morning or what i wasn't too sure! there were a few times were i swear swatted away some huge bugs the size of my big toe off my face, but it was all good, didnt make a scene. my room is the smallest compared to the others,one has 18 girls and the othere has like 6-8 i think? so i actually got lots of storage room but we are all gunna party in the party room so no one will feel left out.
this morning was so awesome, pretty much as soon as i woke up some girls asked if i wanted to go to the baby beach. -it's this beach that you can wear two pieces to because the boys arent allowed to go there. so of course i said fo sho! got all dressed and went out the door.
so they do a little something different here in Maui, they hitchhike everywhere! at first when i was reading the package it sounded like it was optional or at leas something you do not that often. but unless you can either get a ride from the staff, that is a pretty fun and safe option. mom and dad, don't worry it is ACTUALLY safe! haha and we can't go unless there are three girls or at least one guy. we tried it out split up in groups of three or four and the 18 girls that went manged to somehow all find a way there, it was so awesome! lots of canadians representin' and states, there are also new friends i have made with finland people, scotts, phillpines, chinese (theyso cute) and australians! man do i love accents! te beach was so nice t be able to relax and get to know all these girls! surprisingly to myself i have an astonishing memory when it comes to memorizing names here. i am sure i have met 50 people today and have retained at least 70 % it was really warm today too- def won't get unused to that!
It was a pretty chill day untill the evening with gettting to know everyone by the pool and living room, it's such a cooll house!/ area! i'll tell you more later about the house. so we had to get ready by 4:30 tonight for supper which was a real nice chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies and fruit. did i mention we have fresh orange, lemon and lime trees here in the yard? yeah just sayin ;) it was really cute when some people had never seen cantolope or mashed potatoes or even gravy! i mean i'm not a really big gravy fan but i mean this meal was so common in my culture that it was really interesting to see how others reacted! i'm gonna guess that we are going to have lots of mulitcultural food while i'm here. we also all dressed up for supper which was really cool and fun , haha one funny moment before supper this guy is name is daniel and he is from Norway but he's chinese and he has a norweigan accent :) haha it's prrety cute, we girls call him chuckles. out of the 8 boys that are here he is def the most social one. so i was showing him where i lived on the big map int he open space and i was like hey what are you ging to wear tonight!? are you excited to dress up? is response- uhmm i knida already dressed up.. and he walked away.. haha we are cool though it was funny .. you had to be there i guess lol
then they took us to a secret location after and surprised with a party! they opened up the doors and screamed at us haha suzy my scottish friend almost had a heart attack. there we all got introduced to everyone on base and to the leaders and to the people doing sempf. then they called us all up one by one to recieve a lay. it was so special:) i felt special! we all felt special. there was such good dessert! they had those homemade oreos that danos mom make back at home, these ones were so moist. if dano hasn't given you those try, you are truly truly missing out! then we had the most incredible worship session ever. I believe God is going to sdo some amaing things in my life that i can't wait to see happen! We found out after the celebration that we are going on a hiking trip tomorrow! we don't know how long, but there was a very limited supply list of things that we could bring so i am looking forward to it!
please pray for me and my team as we go off into this adventure tomorrow morning at 6! ps we are behind Saskatoon time by 4 hours.so i have to got get some sleep but wow bloggin is actually so much fun! haha more will come when i return i apologize if this is incredibly long! i feel soo soo thankful though, god has blessed me with this incredible experiance with such amazing people! i can't wait for the adventure to continue! like wow.. i'm living in MAUI!!! it's unreal! alright well love all ya'll! hoep that gives you a good update! praise god!
Flying was actually a lot of fun! it was really cool, but i ended up being on the same plane as Matt Metan! we chatted it up, had some cool walks outside and yeah it was good to do the whole visas thing together. speaking of the visas, man the room where they take you in the customs in Vancouver, man do they ever make it look like a serious/stern place in there. they got the sound proof walls, crying babies, hard chairs to sit in and loonnnnnnnnngggggg waits. plus all the lights are dimmed and everyone looks like they want to cry. me and matt being positive petunias made the best of it and talked and laughed at the atmosphere going on. when i released from the detention center, i had a descion to make. either i go make the phone call my mom wanted me to maker as soon as i landed (which by the way was already an hour and a half overdue) or wait for matt and risk splitting up. i didnt have a phone or any way to get contact! it was right out a movie -haha not really. but it ended up working out. the pay phone was really far away so i literally sprinted away to it so i wouldnt miss him. i did tell the security lady what he looked like but i couldnt trust here and her yellow jacket. matt was another 30 minutes after me which of course ya know made me nervous, i was like hey did you know if he left?" but no one knew so it was kinda frustrating. finally he walks out, sweat is dripping form my face wondering what had they done to this poor lad. but he was totally cool, a lil frantic becawsue his plane was about to take off in ten minutes. sowe said our goodbyes and parted ways! i think he will have a killer time in cali! it was cool to get to know him a bit! ps, in case you ever have to apply for a visa, you don't get anything physical-like document wise hahah i came out after my like hour of me being there after they shut the security door on me i was like wait, wasnt i supposed to get something? well i don't know where it went but it must be on your records or something who knows.
anyways that seemed like a really long story.. sorry if i took too long to explain something so simple, but if you know me, i LOVE detail!! the only thing that could have been better was my 4 1/2 hour layover in vancouver, i ddint know a ton of what i could do, but i do love the duty free. my dad taught me to never trust a store they are only trying to make you buy something, like when you go in a store he thinks if they showed people something like poodle skin or something, that becasue it's in fashion that people would buy it! but i think when there is no taxes, well thats another story so i bought myself some lipgloss:) really though with a dead ipod, no cell or laptop who find yourself with a lot more time to pray:)
when i got on my flight to Maui, it was hilarious. Literally, a hawaiian version of sam germain. SO RANDOM! like actually he was really funny, like glasses and sweepy hair and such man you had to see it. the way he talked too! hahah man oh man, i was upset i didn't pull out my camera but i should've. he was on his honeymoon and he was 46, (sam things are looking good for you if your like him- he had no gray hairs!)
I had lots of time to myself on the plane, other than talking to my new pal, i had time to doodle. i'm an artist, it what i do. jk but i really enjoyed the wordsearch! of course when you have so much time to yourself, you think about what you forgot and hahah i forgot quite a few things like my sunglasses and a watch. but it's been all good so far. i did however with the help of my flight attendant kathryn i got some scrap peices of paper from the airplane and i wrote my thoughts and prayers and excitment. including a pic of what i thought the house would look like! so i had envisoned this three story white house on a secluded hill with the birds flying over my head and a "notebook porch around it. the hill was kinda like a hills are alive kinda hill.. plus there were volcanos in the back and an ocean in the distance with the boys house on another secluded hill kinda like a castle. it was fun using my various color options in my new case i bought:) loved it!
Finally i had arrived. walking alone, i headed for the baggage claim to see what my life had in store for me! i couldnt help but smile, i mean wow this was a pretty big adult thing to do! it was cool walking toward the light... anywho so i am walking and i am approached by two wondereful people named jen and juice:) they were young and two of the leaders that i would meet! they were so kind and welcoming! two girls were on my same plane that i hadnt realied until that moment. people had been arriving since tuesday so we were some of the last to come in. jen and juice (justin) were both young and hip! looking like they lived in maui and such! we grabbed all of our luggage and hopped into some sweet 15 passenger vans, we were pretty hungry so went headed up for a mcds run:) -yep it's big here too! it hit me, man i'm actually living in maui!!!!
By the time we made it to the base it was pretty late, so we were all pretty tired but there were a few other students that stayed up for us! the night not gunna lie, was pretty challenging. i used my handy dandy headlamp to find my bunk and hopped into bed. but couldnt sleep to well, maybe i was just excited to meet all these people in the morning or what i wasn't too sure! there were a few times were i swear swatted away some huge bugs the size of my big toe off my face, but it was all good, didnt make a scene. my room is the smallest compared to the others,one has 18 girls and the othere has like 6-8 i think? so i actually got lots of storage room but we are all gunna party in the party room so no one will feel left out.
this morning was so awesome, pretty much as soon as i woke up some girls asked if i wanted to go to the baby beach. -it's this beach that you can wear two pieces to because the boys arent allowed to go there. so of course i said fo sho! got all dressed and went out the door.
so they do a little something different here in Maui, they hitchhike everywhere! at first when i was reading the package it sounded like it was optional or at leas something you do not that often. but unless you can either get a ride from the staff, that is a pretty fun and safe option. mom and dad, don't worry it is ACTUALLY safe! haha and we can't go unless there are three girls or at least one guy. we tried it out split up in groups of three or four and the 18 girls that went manged to somehow all find a way there, it was so awesome! lots of canadians representin' and states, there are also new friends i have made with finland people, scotts, phillpines, chinese (theyso cute) and australians! man do i love accents! te beach was so nice t be able to relax and get to know all these girls! surprisingly to myself i have an astonishing memory when it comes to memorizing names here. i am sure i have met 50 people today and have retained at least 70 % it was really warm today too- def won't get unused to that!
It was a pretty chill day untill the evening with gettting to know everyone by the pool and living room, it's such a cooll house!/ area! i'll tell you more later about the house. so we had to get ready by 4:30 tonight for supper which was a real nice chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies and fruit. did i mention we have fresh orange, lemon and lime trees here in the yard? yeah just sayin ;) it was really cute when some people had never seen cantolope or mashed potatoes or even gravy! i mean i'm not a really big gravy fan but i mean this meal was so common in my culture that it was really interesting to see how others reacted! i'm gonna guess that we are going to have lots of mulitcultural food while i'm here. we also all dressed up for supper which was really cool and fun , haha one funny moment before supper this guy is name is daniel and he is from Norway but he's chinese and he has a norweigan accent :) haha it's prrety cute, we girls call him chuckles. out of the 8 boys that are here he is def the most social one. so i was showing him where i lived on the big map int he open space and i was like hey what are you ging to wear tonight!? are you excited to dress up? is response- uhmm i knida already dressed up.. and he walked away.. haha we are cool though it was funny .. you had to be there i guess lol
then they took us to a secret location after and surprised with a party! they opened up the doors and screamed at us haha suzy my scottish friend almost had a heart attack. there we all got introduced to everyone on base and to the leaders and to the people doing sempf. then they called us all up one by one to recieve a lay. it was so special:) i felt special! we all felt special. there was such good dessert! they had those homemade oreos that danos mom make back at home, these ones were so moist. if dano hasn't given you those try, you are truly truly missing out! then we had the most incredible worship session ever. I believe God is going to sdo some amaing things in my life that i can't wait to see happen! We found out after the celebration that we are going on a hiking trip tomorrow! we don't know how long, but there was a very limited supply list of things that we could bring so i am looking forward to it!
please pray for me and my team as we go off into this adventure tomorrow morning at 6! ps we are behind Saskatoon time by 4 hours.so i have to got get some sleep but wow bloggin is actually so much fun! haha more will come when i return i apologize if this is incredibly long! i feel soo soo thankful though, god has blessed me with this incredible experiance with such amazing people! i can't wait for the adventure to continue! like wow.. i'm living in MAUI!!! it's unreal! alright well love all ya'll! hoep that gives you a good update! praise god!
Friday, 9 September 2011
I'm off to Maui! Be Still and Know...
Sept 9th- the day my YWAM adventure began. I think this whole passion to go on a DTS (Discipleship Training School) has been in the works for years. Going solo, I am up for the challenge and pumped to meet new friends, explore Maui, grow deeper in my faith and serve others on the Island, but also on the missions part of the DTS. Not sure which country God's Spirit will put on my heart. India? China? Bangladesh? Phillipines? I met a former Maui Ywammer: Ehjae Chan for lunch and she inspired me with her stories. yeah, she didn't spoil all the fun by telling me EVERYTHING, but what she did share... wow- I am even more pumped. One of the things she shared with me was her journal that they made the first week of DTS. She decorated it with the words "Be Still and Know"... so cool. So awesome to have so many friends join me at the airport for a big send off. This last week was a week filled with fun and goodbyes. I know the next 6 months are going to be hard missing my fam and friends from Saskatoon, but I know that through this blog- we can stay connected! Even better is the way prayer connects us- no matter where we are at in the world. Packed up- Check. Said goodbyes- Check. Open for God to do a new thing in my life? Check!!!
“Be still, and know that I am God!I will be honored by every nation.I will be honored throughout the world.” Psalm 46:10
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)