Mahalo, Hawaii!

I AM IN LOVE… with this whole experience.  I have only been here one week so far, but I just know that this time will change my life forever.  For one, it is the most beautiful place I have ever been in my entire life.  I have always heard that Hawaii is beautiful but it is just so far beyond that! It is heavenly.  The flowers and smells overwhelm the land, the people are wonderful, the school is fantastic, and I have already made some wonderful new friends both in the PhotogenX DTS and in Awaken (another DTS that runs this quarter), as well as some other people on campus.

There are 26 students in my DTS (called PhotogenX), 21 women and 5 men, with the youngest being 18 and the oldest being 33.  I fall right in the middle, age-wise, which was surprising because I thought this was something most people do after high school and before college, but it turns out that’s not the case!  We have students in our DTS from the U.S.A., Japan, Colombia, South Korea, Brazil, Germany, Holland, and Singapore.  It’s a blast getting to know everyone.

One of my favorite things that happened here so far was reuniting with an old friend from my Millersville University orientation group freshman year, named Carl.  I didn’t know him that well then, but I have been overjoyed to reconnect and hear how he was led to Jesus in recent years and how God is using him in INCREDIBLE ways since becoming a Christian.  Carl did a DTS through this base before and now runs the coffee shop on campus.  Perhaps it was the jet lag and emotional state I was in, having gone through a bit of culture shock upon arriving, but it was simply wonderful to see a face that I knew amongst a crowd of unfamiliar faces.  To me, Carl’s face represented home, and I am just so glad to have another Lancastrian among us!

This is just one example of how I have felt God’s blessings every step of the way here.  I have not doubted his guidance here for one second yet.  I know that this is where I am supposed to be.  I am tremendously aware of his presence and I am prepared (as much as I can be) to be broken by the Lord and to reshape my life around Jesus.  We have only had three days of classes so far, but I am overjoyed to get to focus and learn on something with eternal value!

Some things I’m excited to learn/areas I’d like to grow in:

• I’d like to grow closer to God.  I want to fall in love with Jesus here!
• Being a bucket filler.  (I’m a teacher, what can I say?)  It’s funny how even though I live in a beautiful place, every once in a while I catch myself complaining about the humidity or something and then I want to kick myself in the teeth.  I want to encourage others and build them up, avoiding gossip, unkind words, or judgment when it comes to relating people that are different than myself.
• Boldness in ministry.  As I look back on my life I’m sad to say that I realize that I have missed too many opportunities to share Jesus with others.  I want to learn more about God and learn specifically about ministry and grow towards being more open to talking about my faith with others.  I want to be completely unafraid to reach out to others and tell them about the One who gives life meaning and sets us free!
• Hearing God’s voice.  I’d like to learn how to better hear and obey the Lord’s calling on my life.  This means I will have to surrender my own plans and open myself up to the possibility that Jesus might completely change my idea of what my life should be like.

I can't wait to find out where I will be going for the second half of our school!  Today we were presented with our three choices and ordered our choices from one to three.  The options were Panama, Thailand and China, and Germany and Turkey.  (The two-country options means that our time in each one is split.)  We should be finding out sometime soon (within the next day or two) where we are going.  I laid down under a banana tree and prayed.  My choices in order were:

1. Thailand and China
2. Panama
3. Germany and Turkey

I would honestly be super excited about any of the options.

I am very busy but I will try to take more pictures and post them soon.  I am having a lot of fun, as well!  My first weekend here was spent riding around on rented mopeds (at a super cheap rate for YWAMers) and going to some further away secluded beaches.  It was a beautiful day spent with three new friends.  This entire island is beautiful and driving the mopeds was such a fun adventure.  I had a blast!

I am absolutely ecstatic to be here and feel ultra blessed to be a part of this ministry!  To those of you that supported me, I cannot say it enough--THANK YOU!!!  It is truly amazing how much I can tell that the Lord is changing my life and teaching me how to serve others.

I will post again soon about the final decision for where I will be going, so stay tuned!