we're halfway there!!!

We are here!!! We have finally setteled into siem reap and have our set schedule and it is great. I feel as though i have a set full time job. It is fun but it is tiring. Me and two of my roomates are are working at a safehouse. I love it and that is the ministry i wanted to get into. It is amazing and i am already loving all the girls so much. We work there 6 days a week and our schedule is so full. We teach two to three english classes a day at different levels, we teach two different life skills lessons a week, we teach arts and crafts three times a week, and they have given me all day on wednesdays to teach any sports I want. Then on Sundays we got to pioneer a Bible study. We found a translator to take with us and we go to the girls' house and do an hour "Youth Group" with them. We play games and sing songs and then teach a lesson then do an activity on the lesson. It is amazing. I love all the girls so much. The hardest part about this is the language berrier because i want so badly to be able to really communicate with the girls but a lot of them do not speak much english at all and if they speak any english it is memorized. THey speak as much english as i speak khmer so it makes it really hard at times but we are finding ways to communicate. We have learned to act things out or point to what we are talking about. Each class is so different so preparing for the different groups is fun.
With our English classes we each are in charge of one but we all help and are there to teach them. It is so different than classes in America. When you go in you take your shoes off at the door. THis is Asian Culture. Most places you go here you take your shoes off. Even when you to nice restraunts you take your shoes off at the door. It is so dusty here that your shoes will track so much dust in. So at class we take our shoes off at the door and go in. When you go in there are sitting pillows on the floor and little tables that are maybe a foot and a half off the floor.THe tables have "Lamb before time" pictures on them which makes me laugh so hard i haven't seen that in forever. The white board is on the floor and I, as the teacher, sit on the floor by the white board and then the girls sit at the mini tables. It is really casual which is really nice. Then one of our classes is a little more advanced and they are learning grammar. It is so much harder than it sounds to teach english. We have grown up speaking it but to people who are 17-20 and have never spoke it before they ask why things are the way they are. Literally i have to just say because they are. You can't say because it doesn't sound right because they don't know what sounds wrong. It has been tough but I love it and i think i am better at it than i ever thought i wold be. It is pretty fun and i feel like a legitimate teacher. The other English class that I have the girls do not speak any english other than maybe "hello." THis makes things a little difficult but they are my favorite girls. They are so happy and they just memorize what i say and pretend like they can read what is on the board, so i have had to start from scratch and now we are going through the alphabet and learning the sounds. I am basically teaching them how to read. It is really an awesome opportunity. Who would have thought that English would so much fun, and extremely tiring at the same time.
Our life skills class is one I never thought i would be teaching but it is stuff they need to know. We cover the basics of how to brush your teeth, hair, why you shower, and all the aspects of personal hygiene. This is stuff that seems like so much common sense but no one has ever taught these girls so we are teaching them. I have learned to make it fun so we implement little skits whith them. It is so cool to see the girls get into it. We teach them about lice and germs and why it is important to stay clean not just for social reasons but also for health reasons. Lice is a big issue here so teaching the girls to keep their hair up is a huge issue. I can tel it is hard for them to stay with us when we are talking about hygiene because it can get boring it is like a health class. Once we started doing skits and bringing prizes they got way more into it so i believe it is going to be really good for the next five weeks.
Arts and Crafts. . . . I am not an artsy person. If you know me that does not shock you, so i kind of sit back and let the other girl take charge of this one. HOwever i am getting more into it. I am googling origami and i am going to teach the girls next week. THey are so artsy so it is hard to come up with somehting that they dont know how to do. So far we have made flowers out of fabric and buttons and paper beads for bracelets. I am probably slower than the girls when it comes to this but they all help me and laugh. When they laugh though it makes me smile so big. They laugh all the time. So much more than i have ever seen anyone laugh at home and with what they have gone through it is so good to see they all still have a sense of humor. Even if it is because of my artwork at times! Their laughs are so contagious even if you dont understand why they are laughing you cant help but laugh to.
Sports is my favorite i am trying to start a volleyball day but i need to get some supplies which are hard to find around here. I love teaching them PE so much though. It is obvious it is somehting that they have not done much of before. I am learnign so much through all of this i am writing lesson plans and doing grown-up stuff. I love it and GOd is showing me so much through my job here. My heart is totally with these girls. I love them so much. When i am at the house i feel like i really would rather be no where else. I love it,
Work is fun but Cambodian life is proving to be a bit of a challenge. BIG SHOCK i know. We went through a period where the water was off for days at a time. Which ment we took water bottle/wet whipe showers. Toilets didnt flush which left a wonderful smell throughout the house. Fortunately i think that problem is fixed for good. Thank GOd. THe dust will get to you after a while. And it has been interesting having a curfue ahhahaha but i love it here. I am excited to come home though. God is definitely teaching me patience. It is really hot here and tons of bugs. I am not complaining just stating truth haha. I do love it here i just miss familiarity. We eat a lot of rice. I got a fish foot mesage which was soo wierd. I have learned how to bargain. I am definitley growing a lot through all of this. I cant wait to share all that God is doing here. Cant believe it is half way over!

WOW. .. .SO MUCH TO SAY

HABUKUK 1:5 -- "LOOK AT THE NATIONS AND WATCH -- AND BE UTTERLY AMAZED. FOR I AM GOING TO DO SOMETHING IN YOUR DAYS THAT YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE, EVEN IF YOU WERE TOLD!"

         Wow so much has happened sense I last updated this. So I appologize in advance for the fact that this is going to be a really long one. You could split it into two parts while reading it haha.
        So on December 26th we went to a much smaller provicne called Kampong Cham. THere we were working with a pioneering organization who teaches english to the public. Before I go on i think it is important to point out that in Kampong Cham 88.8% of the population is Muslim. Therefore the work that we did there and that these ladies are doing is more descrete. They do not preach straight out because they have to be more careful. THerefore it takes longer to see results. I give these ladies so much credit it is so hard to stick with something especially when you dont see results right away but they are discipling descretely and it is paying off. . . slowly but surely! When we got there we were shown that we were staying in a house that is also the classroom. All thirteen of us stayed on the bottom floor and then another team of guys from honolulu were staying on the second floor. We had to keep our luggage in the rooms and then at night we pulled our bamboo mats out and slept on the floor. It was like a giant slumber party! It was fun we found many critters in our house. A couple frogs.. . . more than a couple mosquitos but it was still an experience. In the morning we had to have all the stuff cleaned up before kids got there for class. During our 5 days in Kampong Cham we got the chance to do so many different ministries. The first thing we did was have lunch with the ladies who run the organization and then they took us to one of the killing fields that has been turned into a budhist temple area. THese statues were bigger than you can imagine. I had to look all the way up to see the top. It was huge. I found it peaceful to walk around and just pray. THere is so much wrong idoltry there that is so wrong. After that we went to a mock Angkor Watt that was at a monestary. It was so cool we got the chance to talk to monks!! We asked them what is the factor that most young guys look at when choosing to be a monk and they said Education. How sad they are basing their whole life off of the fact that they are getting an education from this religion (or mindset). They were so nice though and really wanted to know about us and what we were doing. It was such an amazing experience. Sidenote: My fun mission is to become facebook friends with a monk....yes they do have facebook!!! THe next day we went and did something that at first I was really scared about but God totally took my fear and turned it into passion. We got to prayer walk through an authentic muslim village. We couldnt talk to them because they do not like Americans, but we got to walk through and see how they live. IT was crazy. We got some of the nastiest looks but we went in as tourists so they couldn't do anything to us. All the women had their heads covered and the men were having a prayer meeting and just glared as we walked by, but we walked with huge smiles on our faces and just a welcoming spirit, i konw we left an impression on some of them! Especially the kids. It was fast because we didnt want to risk staying to long because of past incidents there but it was still a very influencial time! I will never forget that. After leaving there we got to go to a Blind and Def Orphanage. WOW! These kids were so happy to get visitors. We took them Christmas gifts and just loved them. THey were so excited. We got to play with them for a little while and we just know it blessed them. I think that something like that makes God smile so big. He sees these kids who have every right to be upset, but they were happier than most people I know. It really made me feel blessed. We finished the day by learning how to teach english. I never thought that teaching my native language would be so difficult. THe next day we were taken to a place called the Viatnamese Floating Village. THis is a Viatnamese community built on the water. The Cambodian Government told them that they are not allowed to own land so they turned that around and said, "ok then we will build on the water." It is truly sad. They live on these houses made totally of wood and they dont leave. Children are not born in the hospital but in their houses. THere is a Viatnamese Church on the main road right up the embankment but it gets vandalized all the time becuase the Cambodians do not want them there. Despite the harsh living conditions they would rather live in water shacks than in Vietnam that shocked me the most. THey were so welcoming we got to go in and talk to some of the families. They wanted to hear about God and us. THey were so curious it really made us feel good to shed light on their day! The inside of the houses were litterally wood planks (you could see the water underneath you) and a mattress, a hammock, and a kitchen area. Almsot every one still had a TV and a radio though, haha. THey were the most plesent people and so kind despite their living conditions. I loved it. We went back and got the chance to decorate the classroom and clean up. In Cambodia you burn your trash on the side of the road so we got to do that. It was interesting you just put it in a pile and set it on fire. That is why everywhere you go here there are mini fires, they just set it and walk away. I felt it necessary though to stand over the boys with a water bottle . . . just in case haha! That night we taught more english classes. THe students were so eager to learn. ON our last day there we got the opportunity to go to a Cambodian Prison. IT was really different. You drive about 30 minutes out of town to this remote area where there is randomly a prison. You walk in and there are a couple fences that they are just putting up so they are not done yet, so we were walking alongside the prisoners. THey took us to a small wooden shack with no walls only beems holding it up and we got to worship and pray and talk with the prisoners. It was so amazing, I cant even describe it. THe prison had men and women and as i looked around i saw a lot of kids. I asked the guard why there were so many 5 year olds and younger and he told me they were born in jail. Sense that is where they were born that is where they stay. Prison is truly their life. THe prisoners wanted us to play games with us so we did. it was so much fun. After about twenty minutes we forgot we were in a prison and it felt really comfortable (or as comfortable as you can be in Cambodia) :) . We left there and then we got to do the most fun activity ever. SPORTS with the local kids. I got to play volleyball in the dirt with no shoes with a bunch of local kids. We couldnt understand each other but we still had fun and they were so welcoming it was amazing. IN the middle of the game I looked up and saw a cow walking through the court. I was te only one fascinated by that but apparently it happens all the time i later figured that out after it happened three more times, Welsome to Cambodia haha!! The next day was New Years Eve and we left the house at 7 am to get on the bus to our final destination of the trip, Siem Reap.
                 The bus ride to Siem Reap was definitely intersting. THe bus was jammed pack and the floors were padded because a full bus to them means there is no more room, at all! THis means that there were people sitting on the floor with their luggage. They were playing Khmer (Cambodia) music videos the whole ride and we would randomly stop for people on the side of the road to give them a ride. At one point we pulled over into a bushed area and people just piled out of the bus and scattered into the bushes at that point I realized that this was in fact our potty break hahahaha. I was laughing soo hard. The bus driver apparently didnt know what brakes were because if there was a car/moto/tuk tuk in front of us he would simply honk a million times and drive on the wrong side of the road but that is apparently normal here so what can you do hehe!! Once we got to Siem Reap we were brought to the YWAM base which is also where we are staying. Four people to a room which isnt bad at all, and it is actually a nice place. Still no hot showers but you cant have everything haha. We shortly found out that the water randomly turns off so we pray everytime that we take a shower that the water will stay on. If not you have about three hours of waiting to finish the shower. THere was a New Years Eve party at the base that night where we had pig and just celebrated, but we were all in bed by 10 ish however at midnight I looked out my barred window and saw two firework displays!! It waas a different way to celebrate however it was a good way to end the night. We spent the weekend just cruising around Siem Reap and learning what our chores on the base would be. We learned about the area and then on Monday me and two of my teamates were taken to the house where we will be working. It is amazing I am learning the language (khmer) so I can communicate with them and we will be there full time. It is going to be great. We spent the week just getting to know them and then next week we start teaching. We will be teaching life skills, PE (volleyball), english, and art. The Girls are so sweet and they want to learn. THey are so eager I cant wait to get to know them more!
             Being here has been amazing. I couldnt be doing this without God. I have really grown up but this really has been a lot tougher than it seems. Between the living conditions being different, and the food reacting to your body in different ways, the having to get used to always having bugs in your bed no matter what you do, always having bug bites appear in new places, etc. it can wear at you! I just ask you all to keep me in your prayers. I only have about 7 more weeks and I know I can do this. All things are possible through God, but when you pray if you could just keep a couple things in mind. 1- my team: we are doing so well and everyone gets along great, but we are getting familiar with each other and we are going to be together a lot so just pray that the unity stays that way. 2- Health: The polution, dust, and different foods really have a way of getting to you. Just pray that over the next months my health stays up to par. My body is still adjusting and it has been hard but it is starting to even out, and I know i am getting back to normal. 3- My Spiritual and Mental State- Spiritual I am more in the Bible and having more quiet times now than ever, but you have to be that way here. The stuff we are doing is heavy, and I am just asking God to guard my heart! I am not used to the poverty and distress like I am seeing and in order to help I need to be mentally strong. So I am just asking God to keep me mentally strong. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and thoughts. I love you all so much. I know this one was long so thanks for sticking with it.

SUESDIE BON NOEL!!!!!

WOW how crazy has this last week been!!! Cambodia is crazy cool and there we have been working with tons of ministries!!! My personal favorite was working in a safe house for victims of rape and sex trafficking!!!! THose girls were so sweet, i could work there forever and be happy!! I am starting to get culture shock. It is so wierd to see this is how other people live, and i have it so easy. God is really breaking my sense of fear though!!! I feel so empowered now that my relationship with GOd is stronger!! I am barely afraid of anything. I leave Phnom Penh tomorrow for Kampong CHam which is a predominately muslim province. After four days there we leave and go to Siem Reap for two months!! Gunna Be an adventure.

welcome to CAMBODIA

I KNOW IT HAS BEEN WAY TO LONG.!!!!! The end of hawaii was great!!!. . . We learned so much and i really grew closer to all of my classmates!! I now feel like i have 68 brothers and sisters!! We are all so close and we all grew soo much over the last three months. But last wednesday it was time to say goodbye and i left for the adventure of a lifetime!! I am now sitting in an internet cafe in CAMBODIA!!!!!!

It took two days to get here! we went from kona to honolulu to tokyo to taipe (spent the night) and on Thursday morning we landed in phnom penh cambodia!! In the plane i am not going to lie i did have a minor anxiety attack. I could see the poverty from the plane! THe river that flows through it is obviously brown. I began to pray right away. I asked God just to do some last minute preperations on my heart as we started our descent into phnom penh. We got off the plane got our luggage and visas and headed out. THe cambodian people are so nice! so sweet and caring. The customs agent was so nice and asked me how excited i was to be here and said it was a great country. He was right it is. We got right into a bus and started to the "guest house" which is the cambodian equivalent to a hostile. Our room is pretty nice. THe shower is just a shower head in the bathroom! They dont have toilet paper here so we brought our own but u have to throuw it away and not in the toilet! The first thing you notice is the driving sitruations there are no lanes people drive where they want and you just dont hit each other. THere are some cars but not many, mainly tuk tuks (motorcycles with a carriage on the back), and motos (motorcycles that these people cram 5 people on haha). the buildings look like they could be nice if they were cleaned up but they arent they are run down. THere are a couple nice buildings (car dealerships and a mall) and also some western restraunts and coffee shops. Other than that there are shacks and the streets are covered in dirt. THere are beggers everywhere and it is hard to say no to the children but you have to because of the fact that the money may not actually be going to them!! it is sad but the most you can do is pray. God is doing crazy stuff here. It is so relevant and i believe in the upcoming years cambodia will have alot more christians!! It is so busy it reminds me of a third wold new york city. It is crazy and i actually love it.

Our first ministry time was last night. We got to go to a youth group in a slum on the outskirts of the city. I got to tell my testimony and share who God is to me in front of all the teenagers. It was amazing. THen we woke up early this morning went to the slum again and our team got to lead a church service and an hour of kids activities! IT WAS AMAZING!!!  I would have paid a million dollars just to be able to sit in on that service. My frieind got to preach and he did an amazing job. THey did some worship in Khmer (their language) and we did some in english. Both were amazing because both came from the same heart. THese people are os happy i know the poverty breaks GOds heart but i think it is made up for with how happy the people are. THey are all people who were forced into slums because the government told them to leave so they could build more buildings. IT is sad but htey are still so happy!!

I cant wait to see what adventures are to come. God is already doing amazing things. I want to praise him all day every day. I just ask for prayer. THe culture shock is starting to hit in and weigh me down. THe spiritual warfare is heavy here. I keep interceding not as much for poverty but for sex trafficking because it is a huge underground problem. I miss home but i love it here. Please keep praying for me and my team. THe next few months are going to be amazing and hard. Please pray for good health both mentally and physically.
my team consists of me, miley, soona, lauren, joy, katie, abbie, matt, john, austin, and prisca!! Please also pray for our leaders mama jo and ellerie. THey have a lot of respponsibility. THsnk you for your thoughts and prayers love you all.

RELATIONSHIP WEEK

WHAT AN AMAZING WEEK!! We had such an amazing week this week!! Our speaker was talking about relationships and not all relationships but purely relationships between guys and girls ;)!!! It was soo good. We first talked about sex which i know is a very touchy subject bt she talked to us about how sex is defined not as purely intercourse but the actions leading up to it. How when you engage in anything like this then you are stealing from that person's future wife! At the same time they are steeling from my future husband. It was really eye opening. She then went on to say (to the people who had crossed lines) that GOD FORGIVES YOU!! he doesnt hold it against you and if you pray and start over God will totally help you. SO when you cross those lines you are not huting God you are hurting you and your partner. He doesnt tell us not to do it because he wants to take all our fun away he tells us not to do it because it is only hurting us and our partners. She used an illustration of two peices of paper. If you glue the paper together that is like you engaging in physical relationships before you are ready. When you break up then you are like the paper being torn apart! Even if it is a nice break up the paper being torn apart slowly you will stil be a part of each ohter. She really brought light to the reasoning of why it is important to stay pure until married (not for God's sake but for ours) but she also gave hope and said it is totally forgivable if you have crossed those lines!! This was all in one day and it was super enlightining!
Then she talked about boundaries! There are four types of boundaries; spiritual, emotional, verbal, and physical. These all of equal importance. Here are some of the boundaries for each one!! Some of these i did not even realize make guys stumble there is a fine line between having fun and flirting, When you flirt you are tempting guys and that is not fair. I did not realize that some things that i thought didnt effect me actual end up making me stumble. Some people need different boundaries. Physically some people cant even kiss our they will stumble. Love is not to be used until you are considering marriage. Praying together is good ocasionally but not everyday just the two of you. Words of affirmation are good not in a flirty way. Back messages actually make guys stumble. Being alone in certain places add temptaion. THe little things some people arent even aware of make other people stumble.
THe whole lecture was absolutely amazing! if things are not done GOds way the relationship wont last!! shocker i know

BIG ISSUE IN A SMALL WORLD

JUST A WARNING TO THE READER!! THIS DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHAT I AM DOING IN HAWAII BUT MORE TO DO WITH AN INJUSTICE THAT LIGHTS A FIRE IN ME!!! SOMETHING THAT IS SO DISGUSTING BUT A BIGGER WORLD ISSUE THAN PEOPLE CHOOSE TO BELIEVE. SO PLEASE DONT READ THIS AS IT BEING AN UPDATE BUT MORE TO OBTAIN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT IS AFFECTING CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD. AFTER READING THIS IF YOU FEEL COMPELLED TO PRAY PLEASE DO SO AS THAT IS ALL THAT MOST OF US CAN DO FOR THIS HORRIFIC ISSUE. THANKS!!

SEX TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION AROUND THE WORLD is a huge issue. Cambodia is one of the main places that this happens but it also is majorly present in South Africa, America, Laos, and other huge countries withing Asia but also the world. There are many different ways that these children are captured and it all depends on where you are. Some places the families are promised money, some places the girl are raped and told sense they are no longer virgins that prostitution is all they are good for, some places they are kidnapped, but no matter how the child is obtained the issue is still horrible no matter what he circumstances. It is now completely illegal in ALL countries to sleep with a minor (child under the age of 18) yet in most third world countries government officials, police agents, and even judges can be paid off. This is something i feel needs a raised awareness. It is hard to hear these stories and ignore them but to think that westerners go into these small poor countries preying on small children (most being girls from the ages of 5-16) yes i said FIVE YEAR OLDS, is disgusting. One of the saddest things is, when people go in to rescue these children, they dont want to leave. They have learned to love the hand that feeds them, even if it is the one exploiting them as well. Most will try to resist rescue because they are told that if they leave their families will become poor and sick. They are brainwashed into thinking these lies so that they will not want to leave. The sad thing is it works.

One thing that needs to be made known is that this is not just a problem in poor countries. It happens right here in the US. Normally a girl is loured into a car and told she will get a good paying job. She is then taken across state borders into a city and taught what she will be doing, along with how to do her make up and hair, what clothes she will wear, and how to get the men! That will happen or the kids will be kidnapped. According to SCTNOW.ORG each year 200,000 american children are at risk for sex traficking and in a year one young girl will make around $200,00. THis does not include the children that are brought to America from other countries. The subject matter is horrific.

The point of this is not to feel hopeless. IT is easy to sit back and think that nothing can be done. This is wrong. God is bigger than any pimp or brothel. Prayer is one of the best ways of fighting what is going on. IT is important to pray for the men that prey on small children. Kids can be rescued from these situations but there will always be another kid to take their place, if we run out of pedophiles then the "industry" stops. I am now asking for prayer. These kids need self worth and to know that they are loved. THey need to know that what they are doing is not their fault. They have done nothing wrong. THey need trust in God.

CAMBODIA!!!! the details on the trip

                                        SECTION OF PHNOM PENH

                                                    ANGKOR WAT

                                                   SIEM REAP

KAMPONG CHAM

   So today we got more details on what we will be doing in Cambodia so i thought I would share them with everybody. But first I want to give a brief history of the hardship the country has gone through. In 1975 there was a huge genocide that took place in Cambodia because they decided they wanted it to be a strictly agrictultural society. They started to kill off anyone who had an education, this included doctors, lawyers, and anyone who had gone to school. They killed anyone who wore glasses because that was a sign of  being smarter and they killed people who played tenis because they thought if you were smart enough to learn and play that smart you had an education. The genocide lasted four years killing about 1.7 millioin people which averaged out to be 20% of the population. Now the affects have begun to show in more ways than one. Sense all the educated were killed they have had a hard time getting back on their feet. The healthcare is not well established and there are no real people to lead and take initiative in starting new programs. Even worse, however, is the sense of hopelesness. They have been taught that life has no value. They figure beating children is ok because their life doesnt mean anything. The country is extremely poor so bigger families have resorted to selling their daugthers into sex trafficking in order to support their other children. In most cases the oldest daughter will even offer to be taken in order for her family to survive, because she has been told her life has no value. They just started putting up laws where sex trafficking is banned but a country does not change over night. Sex trafficking is still a huge problem in this small country. This country is in distraught and I will be there but if you all could take just a little bit of time to pray for the cambodian people I believe that can make a difference. In Proverbs it tells us to pray for the needy or those who cant. It is our job to lift up their problems for the Lord. A little prayer from each person can go a long way. :)
  So now what I will be doing. We are going to be spending time in three major cities of cambodia. We will start out in Siem Reap where we will visit Angkor Wat, spend time in orphanages, and teach english to the kids along with leading Bible studies. We will then go to Kampang Cham where we will be visiting different villages. Then we will go to the capital Phnom Penh where we will be working with victims of the sex trafficking, and ministries for street children. I do not know if that is the order of the cities but that is the basic plan.
  The lifestyle there is going to be crazy different. I will be taking bucket showers but we may get to stay on a YWAM base in at least one of the cities. It has not been confirmed yet though. The money is 1 american dollar is 4000 cambodian reils. They speak the language, Khmar, which I am starting to learn little by little. I am soo excited and can't wait. THank you so much for the prayers and I will keep everyone updated on what is going on. Love and Miss you all!!!

would Jesus fail a math test????

This week has been a thought provoking week. Before going any farther I would like to announce, for those of you who dont know, I will be spending three months starting in December in CAMBODIA!!! I could not be more excited. I will be working in orphanages and working with young children. When I get more details I will be sure to let everyone know. There are 11 of us going and the people in my group are absolutely amazing. I can't wait I will be there over Christmas and I wont be back in hawaii until around March 11th. It is going to be so amazing.
So this week one issue that made me think more than anything was the humanity of Christ. Christ lived as man on earth but what was the "balance" of being the all-knowing God and being human. When thinking about this I remember the story of when he was lost from his parents and he was found preaching to the pharisees at age 12. It makes you think he did not lead a very normal human life. However, the Bible is clear on the fact that he did live as a human. He was born to parents that loved him, he had aunts and uncles,he had good friends!! But where did being God fade into being naturally human? Some questions that the speaker brought up were, "In school if he had a math test do you think he would answer all right or get some wrong? He is all knowing so did he know all the answers?" My personal answer to this is i think that he would get them all right BUT NOT BECAUSE he buste out his God powers but beacuse he knew the right thing was to study and gain his knowledge so he did. It does tend to make you think about other things however if he was naturally human then he did have the same temptations so did he ever have a crush on a girl?? i bet he did, he just had to control it! THese are questions i have never even thought of and i am still doing research to see if i can decifer for myself where the divide was!
 GOd is doing great things here, this week has been a little tougher only because the high of being here is gone. It is hard to stay alert and force yourself to wake up. I am missing home a little but i believe it is only because being here is soo drastically different. But i love it. GOd is definitely talking to me about the rest of my life and i can already see tha my plan is changing. That is one of the hardest things, i had an idea of how what i was going to do when i get back, i realized i have to give my life 100 percent to God and trust that his plan is better. YOu know what? It is. The direction he is leading me in now is amazing and i have found a new passion that i cant even describe how excited i am about it. Next week we are talking about the fear of the Lord which is sure to be interesting.
We have been going to this absolutely amazing beach that looks like you are swimming in a computer screen. My roomates are sooo wonderful i love having like 7 sisters here. The weather is super hot and we have spent many nights get bugs out of our room. I never thought that the high light of my week would be wal mart and mccdonalds!! But that is what it has come to hahahhaa. I do love hawaiian life though it is definitely nice. It is still wierd to say that I LIVE IN HAWAII. GOD IS SOOOO GOOD.

long but it is pretty cool stuff that is going on!!!!

I really wish that I had the time and the energy to tell you all what has been going on the last couple of weeks. I also wish I had constant internet in order to update my blog more often. I will start by describing our days and then tell you what we have been learning about over the last couple of weeks. The Lord has come in like a huge tornado in my life and is turning everything around I don’t even know how to take it or what to do!! My head is spinning all sorts of ways but I love it. I have never been so close to Him before and it makes me feel wonderful!!

The days have been jam packed we wake up and breakfast is at 6:30 and only lasts thirty minutes, therefore, I do not normally end up going to breakfast! After breakfast we do one of four things; worship, intercession, diving into God’s word, of a mixture of all of these. From 9-12 we have our lecture. Each week we have a different speaker talking about a different subject. Last week we learned worldviews and about the kingdom of God, and this week we are talking about hearing God’s voice. I know it sounds like constant church but it is actually really interesting. It is teaching me so much without the religious part Christianity shining through. That is awesome. From 12-1 we have lunch then from 1-2:30 we go back for workshop, which normally is application of what we learned in lecture.  We then all go to our rooms and change for work duty, this is basically our daily chores we all are assigned different parts of campus and for two hours we work on our chores. Mine including cleaning classrooms and walkways of all leaves and laundry rooms. It is hard but I love the people I work with so they make It fun. Right when work duty ends we have dinner from 5-6:30. Normally we have something from 6-8 on most days that is worship, then on Wednesdays it is community outreach. During this I do something called a treasure hunt, and this is when you pray for God to show you someone or something who needs help and then in you go into downtown Kona and just start praying for them. It is really fulfilling and rewarding. So my days are jammed packed.

Before I go into what I am going to talk a little about intercession.  I love intercession it is my favorite part of the week. Intercession is when you pick a topic of hardship and you pray for God to intercede in whatever injustice is going on. Yesterday we had an intercession for sex trafficking in America. Today we had an intercession for the injustice toward Muslim women.  Both of these topics are so bad. So many of us try to block out the problems in this world, we focus on ourselves and not the issues at hand. What is going on in Islamic countries is tragic and my heart breaks for these young girls who are forced into marriages with old men and who are stoned because they got raped. If they get raped they are told it is because they seduced the men. Sex trafficking in America is another huge problem. The biggest thing that I remember is THESE ISSUES ARE NOT HOPELESS. As hopeless as these people may feel there is always hope in God. They do not know him though so we need to step in and pray that God helps what is going on. God wants us to pray for these people. Proverbs 31:8-9 says “SPEAK UP FOR THOSE WHO CAN NOT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, FOR THE RIGHTS OF ALL WHO ARE DESTITUTE. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”  God tells us to intercede. Not just to pray for ourselves. It is one of the most powerful times of the week. God does amazing things when you are praying for others.

The first week we learned more about worldviews, God’s glory, and also the Kingdom.  Our speaker really knew what he was talking about and he made some really good points. It was really cool to learn how some of the other people in the world think and how it is contradictory to the way Christianity is. He also talked about the Glory of God.  He talked about how Glory  of God is reflected in everything. From a pretty sunset to music everything reflects the Glory of God. It is really sad how we all get so busy and we never have time to stop and really enjoy the Glory of God.  A good illustration of this is:    

GOD CREATES MAN                                      MANS CREATIVITY REFLECTS GODS GLORY

MAN DISCOVERS GOD’S WORLD                          MAN IMMITATES GOD   

Therefore everything we do reflects the glory of God. This is so good to remember because I most of the time we all do get caught up in work or school and all we have to do in order to bask in God’s glory is slow down and look around us.

                This week we started out by talking about hearing from God. They went around and asked about if and how we have ever heard from God. They got to me and I explained that I have never like clearly heard God talking to me that I could remember. There are people here that hear from him so clearly and that is awesome but I have never really had an experience like that, or at least not that I could remember. The next day we talked about quiet time and how important it is to REST in God. I heard this and did not comprehend the real meaning of resting in God. I have never just sat in God’s glory before and let him hold me. So we each got thirty minutes to have a quiet time with God. I went into with the mentality of “forget resting in God I am going to hear something from him clearly in the next thirty minutes” so I put on worship music and sat with my Bible.  For some reason I felt that God had put the book of Hebrews on my mind…..i was like “ok God I have never looked at this book and I don’t know why you want me to read Hebrews I have never even looked at that book before!! But whatever I will read it…so I opened my Bible and was like ok where am I going to start so I just looked down and decided that I would start at whatever line I first saw. Sure enough I looked down and the line I saw said; “Today when you hear my voice do not harden your heart in rebellion as you have in the past.” I was like no that line IS NOT for me that is dumb so I kept reading sure enough five verses down I ran across it again; “Today when you hear my voice do not harden your heart in rebellion as you have done in the past,” At this point I was so done I was like no this is not for me Lord give me something else, so I decided to turn the page and start over. So I turn the page and start reading and sure enough right there it says; “TODAY WHEN YOU HEAR MY VOICE DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEART IN REBELLION AS YOU HAVE DONE IN THE PAST.” I can’t believe it I HEARD FROM GOD not only that he has wanted to talk to me but I just have been blocking out his voice. THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE WANTS TO TALK TO ME!!!!! How amazing is that the most remarkable creative smartest person wants to talk to ME. The thought of him never ceases to amaze me. So then yesterday we had the most amazing speaker and he talked about how we all need to let go of whatever is holding onto us and just focus on God. He had  us all just stand around the room and worship God and stand in his glory and the staff came around and prayed for us. We all worshiped in our own way and for the first time I dropped to my knees and I RESTED IN GOD.  It was amazing my mind was only on him. I can’t believe how incredibly amazing he is.

                I know this is long and there is so much more I can’t even begin to talk about but otherwise Hawaii is beautiful  and my roomies are great!! I have never before enjoyed cold showers but everyone I take is cold because it is so hot here. I am getting used to the cockroaches that visit us at night who knew they could fly!! We were all super shocked when a lizard lying on one girls belly woke her up this morning but the bugs you get used to. I am not enjoying the food but I will get over that at least I have something to eat!! The chores are fun with the people I work with and I am just so blessed to be where I am in life right now.  I will try to be more regular with this ….. MUAH

soo much to take in!!!!

OK ,.... SO INTERNET DOESNT WORK HERE SO SORRY ITS TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE~~~~

SO WE ARE SOO BUSY HERE WE WAKE UP AT 6 EAT BREAKFAST DO WORSHIP HAVE LECTURE FOREVER THREE HOURS EAT LUNCH DO WORK DUTY THEN DINNER AT FIVE THEN CLASS TILL NINE!!! SO I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND THE LATE UPDATES!!!!!

It is so cool being here but it is super super challenging!! I have never done anything this hard and it is only a week. The speaker is like being in chapel for three hours only a ton better than tri city because they dont only tell us the good in the world but also the bad. They tell us what we need to hear not what Christians want to hear. It is insane. God is still doing amazing things and i wish i had the time and battery life to go into all of it. I miss home but met someone from san diego today so that helps me not be as homesick!!! i love it. MY roomates are amazing and i have decided i want to go to tenesee or alabama hahai want to be from the south hahhaha their accents are amazing. THe people in my group are all here for a reason and to hear some stories show the glory and grace of GOd. They all come from different places and backgrounds.....God is so good. THe theme of our school this season is grace....i feel like that talks to me so much. THe Lord is doing amazing things and i will share it all with you guys next time i get on but yes i am doing well and yes i am having fun and yes i love it here ..... XOXOXOXOXO

diving into GODS word

HAPUNA BEACH



          So today we went to one of the top ten beaches!! Hapuna beach it was beautiful!! THen we went to downtown kona which is so much fun. I know I am going to love this place. However i know that is all we did today so there is so much to write about so i spent my own time in Gods word and here are a few verses that stand out to me!!! I LOVE THESE!!!

                     PSALMS 37:2-4

for like the grass they will soon wither,
       like green plants they will soon die away.

 ³ Trust in the LORD and do good;
       dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
 ⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD
       and he will give you the desires of your heart

it is so amazing that God can tell us straight up .... no joke .... like we trust him and he WILL take care of us!!! IT MAY BE HARD, but just the thought that all we have to do is trust him, that is it, and we will be ok and live forever is crazy. What an amazing awe inspiring God we have!!

PSALMS 40:4-5
      Blessed is the man
       who makes the LORD his trust,
       who does not look to the proud,
       to those who turn aside to false gods. ^[a]
 5 Many, O LORD my God,
       are the wonders you have done.
       The things you planned for us
       no one can recount to you;
       were I to speak and tell of them,
       they would be too many to declare.
LORD JESUS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LAYING IT OUT CLEARLY FOR US!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GRACE AND GIVING US THE CHANCE TO TRUST YOU EVEN IF WE HAVE MESSED UP AND STRAYED, OH GOD, YOUR LOVE IS AMAZING AND OVERWHELMING. JUST TO KNOW THAT THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR US LORD IS SPRED SO DEEP AND THE FACT THAT YOU TRULY WILL LOOK OUT FOR US AND PROTECT US AND COUNTINOUSLY PICK US UP WHEN WE FALL IS SO GREAT! LORD THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME AND EVERYONE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRUST YOU. I KNOW THAT I AM NOT WORTHY AND THAT I HAVE SINNED FATHER BUT THAT IS THE AMAZING THING ABOUT YOUR GRACE. YOU WENT THROUGH TORTURE SO THAT I CAN BE FREED OF MY SIN LORD, THE PAIN YOU WENT THROUGH IS UNIMAGINEABLE AND I LOVE YOU GOD. THANK YOU FOR GIVING US YOUR WORD TO TELL US HOW TO LIVE AND TO LET US KNOW THAT EVEN IF WE STRAY YOU WILL STILL LOVE US. LORD THANK YOU I LOVE YOU GOD. HELP ME OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS TO LAY ALL TRUST IN YOU AND TO LEAN ON YOU AND YOU ALONE. HELP ME BLOCK MY MIND OF ALL DISTRACTIONS AND DO NOT WHAT I WANT GOD BUT WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO. I KNOW THIS IS GOING TO BE HARD I KNOW I AM GOING TO BE TEMPTED TO FALL INTO THE THINGS OF THE WORLD BUT I PRAY THAT YOU KEEP ME FOCUSED ON THE GOAL GOD. LORD HELP ME AND EVERYONE STAY FOCUSED ON YOU AS WE GO THROUGH THIS LIFE IN OUR TEMPORARY SURROUNDINGS LORD KNOWING THAT SOMEDAY WE WILL BE WITH YOU FATHER. THANK YOU -------- AMEN



Getting It ....... FINALLY

PICTURE I TOOK AT SUNSET GOD IS WITH US ALL THE TIME

    Today was super super tough....at first!!! I cant believe how tough it was because we were so busy how could we possibly have had time to think about our families and friends. The day started out super early!! Our whole room was up and moving by 5:30. We all got dressed and walked out to great the beautiful morning to eat breakfast. Still not hungry i ate barely anything next thing we did was walk to the main circle where there is a flag from every counrty represented this quarter and were escorted back to "ohana" circle where we had amazing worship and a traditional hawaiian welcome service. We then had some down time before lunch and that is when it started. I was questioning everything, why i had even come!!! I did not feel like i fit in at all, i missed everyone at home, i was stressing about what i needed to do school wise in order to catch up with college. I panicked!! I was focusing on EVERYTHING other than what i was supposed to be focusing on, this great experience that God put right in front of me. I was thinking about myself and not giving everything up to the Lord.

          After my mini break down with my dad. we went to our first DTS Comapassion lesson where we met the staff, it was really cool and the staff is absolutely the most amazing group of people i have ever met and the other students are great. Before we left the school leader gave this whole talk on how we need to give God all our insecurities and let him lead the way. She talked about how some of us have our plan in our head, we are going to go on outreach then go home, go to school, get our degree, and move on. She then reminded us that we were all called here by God and even though we have a plan she asked us all to stay open minded and not close our eyes to what God may have in store for us. This may be sticking to our own plans, or going on a few more missions trips then finishing school, and some may even become full on missionaries, but any way you want to look at it we all need to stay open to what God wants. It was amazing, I have gone to a christian school for 12 years and have gone to hundreds of church services and chapels and I have never paid as close attention as i did today! God had me tuned in, I EVEN LEFT MY CELL IN MY ROOM!!!! That is when i realized what i had been waiting for. I had been telling everyone i was coming here and when they asked why i would not have a response for them. I would stumble and not be able to have a clear answer, well i get it now! God wants to use me, he wants to bring me closer to him, and that makes me excited just to think about it. He is tired of me doing things on my time line and wants me to think more about him and his plan for me and less about me and my plan for me.  I think God takes what we want and incorporates it into our life plan most of the time, but i had gotten to the point where i was only thinking about what i wante. I WANT to work in hotels, I WANT to move to LA. This is the time in my life where i get to say GOD IS LEADING ME, and that is the most amazing thing i could get out of today!!! I want him to lead me, i want him to take me and show me where i am supposed to be in life. Everything i do will be for him!! He may lead me back to school right away or he might use me to keep helping young children at risk, either way i will rejoice in him and know that he is God!!!

                 I konw this is alot i just really felt the need to share!!! i am so amazed at how people from all over the world come together and share in his love and grace!! It is so great. I love all the people here and am starting to realize what i am doing. It is hard to hand your whole life plan over to God. It is hard to trust him and to lean on him 100 percent but if we dont, how will we know that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing! Life is amazing i know i will get homesick again but today was a good start on me getting more comfertable here. GOD IS SO GOOD and while I miss everyone Getting to spend time focusing on my Lord and Savior is more than i can ask for. I will try to do daily updates even if they are short!! THANK YOU FOR THE PRAYERS!!!! HE IS SOOO GOOD~~~~~

GOODBYE SAN DIEGO HELLO HAWAII!!!!

     SO.,.....i am finally here ..... the day finally came and now i am sleeping in kona hawaii....well i am not sleeping but understandably some of the roomates are becaause it was an EXHAUSTING day!!! over 400 students from all over the world arrived in Kona today to start on the journey of a lifetime...todays journey, however, felt like it could be a story all in itself.
     Starting at six we woke up and by seven their were people at my house ready to make the trek to the airport. The drive down was super long...traffic was absolutely horrible. After an hour drive to get to the airport i got my bags checked and was on my way to security. After the hardest goodbyes of my whole life i was in security only to hear that there were to many flashes coming from my family and they needed to stop taking pictures. HAHAHA they thought there was papparazzi at the airport. Once I got on the plane i could not be happier to see there was a crying baby in front of me, behind me, and to the right of me. I did get to sit next to a mid twenties guy with grey hair....it was odd. He proceeded to tell me what bars i needed to go to.I told him i was here on mission and he didnt get the hint i still got all the updates on what bars i needed to be at. I also learned from him that no matter what age i am it doesnt matter in Hawaii. After his third beer on the plane i tuned him out!! Once we landed in Honolulu the plane doors were not opened for another thirty minutes of just sitting in affect once they opened i had to rush across the airport to catch my connecting flight to Kona. When leaving Honolulu it was POURING rain. So the whole flight was very very bumpy. We finallly landed in kona and let me tel you..... KONA IS THE UGLIEST AIRPORT EVER. It was like landing in a big garden tha only had weeds and dirt. THe minute you get of the plane all u feel is the humidity. It is so hot and humid but raining at the same time. Once i got here melissa and josh (my trip life savers) picked me up at the airport. It was so nice to see people i knew. I got here spent hours getting registered and now i am sitting on the floor of a dark room writing this.
      The dorm room fits eight girls and one bathroom!!! Ya i know it is oging to be difficult. there are four different bunk beds. Luckily i got here early enought to get a bottom one. there are two closet like things and a microwave and mini fridge. there are two bookcases and two desks. three bedstands. definitely tough living conditions for eight young women and all there clothes for sixth months. The room does have an ocean view and i will post pics tomorrow. there is no ac and one fan. it is hot here and very very humid. Breakfasts are early....at like 615 which is ridiculous haha. But that is ok i think this is going to be the worlds best diet for me because i havent eaten all day hahahaha.
         I cant believe that after al this anticipation i am finally here. It almost feels like a more relaxed version of church camp. Prayers are still totally welcome as this is just the beginning of a fun but tough journey. I mis people at home so bad. I miss air conditioning hahahhahahahahaha. i am so thankful for everything everyone has done for me. I have so many lovely people in my life. I really really cant wait to see what God has in store for me. As people read this and feel compelled to shooot up a word to God maybe just ask him that i have a peace of mind. And to remind me that this is where i am supposed to be. Being in a new place is always always difficult!! I Just need God to take control and give me peace. I need to let all the distractions of the world go. SO please remember me in your prayers. I love you all so much and thank you for the encouragement little words go a long way......

the countdown. . . .

OK!!! So as most people I am close to know, I am about to start the journey of a lifetime. In just under three weeks I will be on my way to hawaii to work with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). I will be living in Hawaii until mid December and then I will be doing missions work wherever they send me! This could be anywhere from Africa, Columbia, India, or somewhere else. I could not be more excited to go, however to say i am nervous would be an understatement. I have never lived away from home before so the idea of leaving everything I know to go live in a different state (not to mention a different country) for sixth months is absolutely terriftying to me. I will be leaving at the end of this month and I still have so much to do in order to get ready. It is hitting me how much I am going to miss my friends and family. Although the nervs are there, so is the comfort in knowing that I am going to be sharing the love of God with those who are less fortunate. I am going to be thrown into situations I never thought I would be in. I will not be spending Christmas this year in the comfort of my own home but with the less fortuntate in a different country. I know that this is where God wants me for now, however after these six months i have know idea. I am so excited at the thought of how much i am going to grow as a person and how much i am going to help others and the doors God is going to be opening in my life. I know I am going to meet such amazing people. So even though i am more nervous than i have EVER been these thoughts are helping me push through. Many people are asking how they can help. I am not asking anybody for financial help, the only thing that I ask is for prayer. This is not going to be easy or comfortable for me. I need all the strength i can get. If anybody wants to help, praying for me would be amazing. To know that while I am starting my new life, there are people here at home thinking of me and praying for me would add so much comfort for me. The next three weeks are going to be so hectic with getting ready, but i am more nervous about after that. The first night away from home, the feeling most people experience when they first graduate high school i will be experiencing in three weeks. Prayer would be awesome, not just for me but for everyone who is about to partake on this trip. What a wonderful adventure and opportunity that God has provided for me, i cant wait. . . . .