FUN IN THE SUN

A few weeks ago a bunch of us helped out at a Maui marathon called Xtera. We were on the road at 5:30am heading to the south side. After the race Amy, Christin & I went to hang out (or maybe it was sneak in) at any amazing hotel called the Grand Wailea with gorgeous pools & hot tubs. Then on Sunday we went to twin falls where there are waterfalls & rope swings to jump into a natural spring water pond. 2 weekends ago we had a base wide "marathon" where we ran from our place in Haiku to another base in Paia which is 11.4km away. & I ran it & as most of you know this is a big thing for non-athletic me! Last week we went to Big Beach which is on the South side of the island. It’s of course beautiful but really touristy.

PICTURES -- http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2379515&l=9a774&id=48904047 -- http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2379478&l=64439&id=48904047

Lecture update :)

Oct 13-17 we did a week on relationships which was surprising enlightening for both the guys & girls. We had an amazing speaker named Abbie who’s gone through a ton of stuff in her life included loosing her husband after two years of marriage; she has so much wisdom & discernment.

Then we did a week (Oct 20-24) called New Hearts which was taught by an amazing couple - Vince & Lesa. Vince & Lesa were the Maui base directors for 7 years & have recently moved back to Alabama. They came over to Maui with their family – 3 girls, 1 boy & Grandma who all helped out. The week really brought to light issue from our past. Vince & Lesa taught us about surrendering people, events & issues from our past & present over to God & how to accept his healing. I’d never really contemplated how much we hold on to small things from our past & how they shape the person we are now. We often think we have it all under control ourselves. Vince, Lesa & family also helped out with our outreach prep teaching us dramas that we can use on our outreaches & filling us with advice from their 30 years of Missions work. They are such an amazing family who took the entire week to pour completely in to us.

Oct 27-31, which was also media fast week, was a Bible overview. The base director Tom Osterhuss was our lecturer. He concentrated on the Old Testament, discussing the covenants & prophecies of Jesus. He really enlightened me about how the Old Testament was recorded 1000’s of years before Jesus came to earth & there are 332 prophecies that were written down about the birth, life & death of the Messiah & Jesus fulfills each & everyone one. Plus these prophecies were very specific for example the prophet Zechariah predicted that the Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver & when Judas gave info to the soldiers about Jesus’ whereabouts they paid Judas 30 pieces of silver. This just blew my mind that people were writing down predictions & claiming they were from God & then they actually ALL happened by someone who claimed to be God. It’s just amazing how big this world is & how little I know.

Last week (Nov 3-7) was on leadership & what it means to be a servant leader. Last week was also the US election & it was really neat to be in the US for it. Our base did a 24hr fast & pray from Mon to Tues. I loved that I was able to be apart of such a historic moment.

This week we have a couple from Texas speaking on Identity in Christ.

media fast!

Sorry it’s been a few weeks since I last wrote. Things have been pretty hectic around here, busy schedules with some heavy stuff. PLUS 2 weeks ago (last week of Oct) we went on week long corporate media fast. Meaning no computers, music, tv, movies & cell phones. Not the must fun but we did hang out together a lot more & learned how we turn to them for comfort instead of God or each other. I’ve leaned it’s a good thing to check in with ourselves & see if we can go without things in our lives. More to come but my internet is being cut of ...

LOVE 146

This morning in intercession we prayed for the trafficking and rape of children for profit. This is one of the most horrific offenses that is taking place in our world right now. My heart broke for these children who are sold & made into prostitutes at the age of 4 or even younger. This morning we watch an eye opening video made by the organization Love 146 who work towards the abolition of child sex trafficking and exploitation. Here is the video link: http://www.love146.org/media_player.asp?type=large&messageID=9691 ... you will not be the same after you see this video.

I really felt compelled to share this with all of you as it moved me so much this morning. So if you can pray for these young innocent children you'll be making a difference in their lives. thanks. www.love146.org

UPDATE!

We just found out that we get to go to THAILAND for 6 days before we head off to our separate locations. All 3 groups are flying to Thailand for 6 days to do prep in Bangkok & then we will split up. woo hoo! & for everyone who's been to Bangkok let me know how it is!

SEEK TRUTH

This past week was on Worldviews which discussed how we view the world around us and TRUTH. I wanted to share something I learned from the week because it really sums up my world view for my entire life up until last year. Wil the lecturer (who looks like a Harley Davidson biker) had an interesting point. I use to be a person who said “everyone can believe what they want to believe as long as it’s not hurting anyone. Why should you tell someone how to live their life?” Basically what I was saying is that all truth is relative or that there are no absolute truths. But could I be absolutely sure that there are no absolute truths? I just cancelled out what I said earlier that there are no absolute truths. & if everyone can believe what they want, can someone believe that they can shoot you? Before I would have responded “no, you can believe what you want as long as you’re not hurting anyone.” HOLD UP where did that rule come in? & where did that rule come from? I had never even though about this statement I constantly made for 22 years. I put my western worldviews onto my previous believes without even thinking about what I was saying or that the foundations of most of these believes are Christian. Two people cannot always be right with what they believe (ex Jesus said he is the only way to Heaven & a Hindu person says the world is just an illusion); someone has to be wrong with what they believe. After thinking about this I just feel so ignorant to the fact that I never even really questioned my worldview or if what I was saying made any logical sense. I feel in the west we’re so open to accepting what others believe that we feel bad for questioning them & we don’t even question what our worldviews are based on (ex why is it bad to shoot someone, why should you be nice to people?) but TRUTH is important and knowing the TRUTH of your life and why you believe what you believe is essential if you don’t want to live in ignorance to the rest of the world and allow others to tell you what you believe, like I did for so many years. SEEK TRUTH

80's what what

This week was really different b/c we had lecturers on inductive bible study. Last week was more self reflective where this week was a lot more like school. We had an awesome speaker named Paul who is a former YWAM Maui student & he gave us lots of amazing ways to get more our of our bibles. It was also neat b/c we were with the School of Biblical Studies & Missions, another YWAM school that is taking place at a base just down the road from us. We all met at a church in Haiku called Hope Chapel for the lectures.

It was also a great week because we went to Lahaina & Kaanapali beach on the West side of the island which is the more touristy section. First we rented surfboards in Lahaina & we actually all got up! Then we headed to Kaanapali beach where you can cliff jump off of black rock & snorkel in the most amazing water! There are fish & sea turtles swimming all around you, so beautiful! After the group went back to Paia & met up with more people for some yummy crepes :) We hitched home & it was the craziest one so far! The guy was driving all over the road, a bit freaky. Don’t worry he was just having fun & usually the hitches are really nice locals with neat stories.

We also had a bonfire on base this week, went body surfing at P-bay in Paia, went shopping @ Queen K mall and had a crazy 80’s party that everyone got super dressed up for. Plus every Sunday night we head into walmart/starbucks/borders (chapters) for a town run so the students can pick up things they need. We are kept super busy at this base!

Tomorrow we start a week on worldviews.

More pics @ http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=43227773&l=e68b2&id=48904047 & http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2362955&l=cf654&id=48904047