Happy Easter! I'm going to Cambodia!

Happy Easter! He has risen! Today has been a lazy but amazing Easter Sunday. I got to hang out in my room with my roommates all day. After being so exhausted from a long week of lecture and various other things it's so nice to have a day of rest. But today I kinda was feeling like "blah" and I didn't really know why I was feeling that way. We met up tonight at 6:30pm for a reflection night with our team and I went into it really tired and wanting to fall asleep. Not anticipating that anything awesome could come out of this night. I was just thinking about myself and how I just wanted the whole day off so I didn't have to think. And God totally rocked my world and revealed so much to me tonight. One of the guys from our team "Jose" went up and talked about how he wasn't really feeling like going tonight as well and how when we aren't expecting much God reveals so much. This is what happened to a lot of people on our team tonight including me. I'm so overjoyed! And it happened on the holiest of holy days, the day that Jesus rose from the dead. He revealed to me some things that haven't come to light in my life in a while and that I haven't been able to deal with fully. I was able to pray with one of my wonderful leaders Christine who is so selfless and amazing. That just really spurred the fire for me tonight, and God couldn't stop talking to me. It was awesome! He revealed that I'm spending a lot of time 1. Talking with friends back home. 2. On facebook 3. Filling me free time with all those things when I should be spending it with the Lord. I keep complaining that I don't have any one on one time with the Lord and that is because I'm not sacrificing something in order to do so. So this week I'm taking a little retreat for myself. No facebook or talking to people from back home. God told me that I need a rejuvenation week where I can completely focus on him. I'm so stoked!

Okay so now I'll talk about my whole last week! Gosh, there's so much. Our topic last week was "Marriage/Sexuality." So in class we talked about those things. The speaker was a guy name Kenny Jackson and he was great. He was a very good speaker and always kept our attention. He talked about the "8 steps" in a relationship and talked about marriage a lot. He told us many things that will help us set up for a healthy marriage that won't end in divorce. Cause right now, even among Christians, there is a 50% divorce rate, which makes me so sad. Kenny also hit on the topic of pornography and shared with us a story where him and another DTS group went to LA to a pornography business building and started talking with all the people who were walking in and out. Almost all the people who walked out felt guilty about their job, and they hadn't even mentioned that they were Christians yet. That industry is a sad world because a lot of the people don't find it fulfilling in any way to work for it. Yet, it pays well and it's a job. Many people use that as the excuse because jobs are hard to come by these days. So in all, Kenny's talk was great and it made me really rethink what I'm looking for in a husband, which is a great thing to think about now when I'm single and don't have any distractions between me and God.

We also had our first photography class! It was so great. The amazing Susi Childers taught us some basics on how to use our cameras. I know a lot already, but it was a nice refresher and I'm excited to teach others in the classroom how to use their cameras. I'm just so excited to learn more about photography and how I can use it on the missions field! It's going to be awesome using it to be a voice for the voiceless.

So last week I got involved in two ministries to get more involved with the community here in Kona. The first one was on Tuesday night and it is a ministry called "Skate Night." Basically our main building here at the base is turned into a crazy skate park within minutes. Ramps and rails are set up and 30-60 kids come each week to skate around. I am super excited about this ministry because I'll be able to talk with kids that may not know Jesus! I get to share the Gospel with them and build relationships, and I'm so excited. Just this first night at skate night I met a 12 year old girl who completely opened up to me right away. She gave me a huge hug and we talked for a really long time. We eventually went to a place where we could talk in private and she shared with me all about her life. She was a very open book for such a young girl. She shared with me that she really enjoys to sing and she sang me a song. Her voice was amazing. We talked and learned to juggle (yes juggle) for the rest of the night. I'm so excited to build this relationship with this girl. Another ministry that I was able to get involved in is called "Fire Starters." It's a ministry for kids while their parents are at the Thursday night service in the Ohana court. Most of the kids parents are on staff at the base so we just get to have a "mini" service with them. Last week it was just about getting to know the kids. Me and one of my leaders Lindsay took the 9-11 year olds and we played the name game. Then we all came together (ages ranging from 5-11) and taught them a song and spent some time on a verse. It was so nice to get more involved with the kids on the base because I see them running around all the time, and now that I know some of them I can actually go up and chat with them instead of having them run right past me. They are all so adorable, and I couldn't believe how fast they opened up.

Finally.... last but not least. If you all didn't already hear, I'm going to CAMBODIA for my outreach!!!!! I'm so excited. So this is how it all went down. Last Monday they gave us a list of locations and gave us 45 minutes to spend with the Lord praying/researching about our location. We weren't allowed to talk to any of our other team members or any of the staff. After the 45 minutes we put our first 2 choices on a piece of paper and turned it in. During my 45 minutes I spent the first half in prayer and the second half looking up the locations and what the orphanages and kids were like there. The locations were: Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand/Japan, South Africa, and Mozambique. After a lot of prayer I felt like God was really calling me to go to Cambodia. Which was so awesome, and was a complete surprise cause I thought for sure I was going to South/Central America before I even saw the options. But God has greater plans for this time and I'm so excited to see what He does. So Wednesday night we found out where we were going. We were told to get all dressed up and meet at the flag poles. We had some fun taking pictures and then the scavenger hunt started. We all got a piece of paper and it told us to go to a certain location. We would go to that location and there would be more peoples names on the cards and we would have to wait for everyone to get there. When everyone eventually did and we got to our final place we realized that all our first options were Cambodia. We kind of had the hint that that's why we were doing the scavenger hunt, but you never know for sure. Our great staff then decorated an area for us full with desserts, sparkling cider, and music. It was such a lovely night. After everyone got there the lovely Sharee Fox officially announced the outreach teams. Then after that they announced which staff is going where. I have the privilege of going with Laura and Zach Fry to Cambodia for my outreach. They are such an amazing married couple who is a great example for everyone on this team. And I get to spend 3 months with them in Cambodia, riding BIKES! They are really excited about the fact that we are buying bikes when we get there. We have such an amazing team and I couldn't have asked for better. TEAM CAMBODIA! Also, there was such a God thing that happened. My roommate Campbell is going to Cambodia too and my friend Grace. They are two girls that I get along with really well here and we are all going to Cambodia together. I feel so incredibly blessed that God has given us each other and that I get to spend the next 6 months with these beautiful ladies. We had no communication when picking where we wanted to go, but God set us up to be in the same location. How awesome is He!

Okay, I'm done. Here are some pictures of this last week! Love and miss you guys!

I love these girls so much. :) From left: Erika, me, Meagan, Grace, and in the front my roomie Campbell!

TEAM CAMBODIA!!!

Mama and Papa Fry, my amazing team leaders. Can't wait to spend 3 months in Cambodia with them.

Jumping off South Point on a fun Saturday excursion.

Green sands beach!

"Is That Really You, God?" by Loren Cunningham

So for the first two weeks of our DTS we had to read a book by the person who started YWAM. The book is called "Is That Really You, God?" by Loren Cunningham and it was very inspiring.

The book started out with Loren Cunningham at a very young age, and preceded to go through his entire life throughout the book. When Cunningham was a young boy he always dreamed big. God gave him many visions of many things that would happen in his lifetime. He met his wife Darlene and in the book it expressed how he pursued her. Then it shared his college experience and other things about growing up.

One day in the Bahamas he had a vision about YWAM. He was staring at the wall and God gave him the vision of waves of young people crashing over all the nations. That thought never left his mind. He constantly pursued that and had many volunteers of young people who wanted to go on missions trips with him. He was starting a "Christian Youth Revolution" and he didn't even know it yet. It's so awesome to read how he listens to God. When God tells him to do something he doesn't let it leave him and he acts upon it. That's something that I can really apply to my life. I often times brush away things when I "think" that I am hearing God, whether than seeing if I actually am, I choose not to respond. It's so encouraging to hear Cunninghams story and really take to heart what he has to say.

The book proceeds to talk about many stories of the ways God uses Loren. He's been everywhere around the world. In one story in particular him and hundreds of other young people went to the olympics in Munich to share the Gospel. They were going to march down the streets, but found out that they were unable to. So they hung out around and shared the Gospel in other ways. They got very involved and when there were a couple athletes that got assassinated. Munich really appreciated YWAM being there because they seemed to be the only hope during this rough time.

Cunningham also dreamed big with the ideas of YWAM. He talks about stories of failure, and stories of success. All of this because he listened to God, yes even in the areas of failure he was still listening to God. The instance of failure was when he thought God was telling him to purchase a ship for the YWAM organization. He got a lot of donations from people in order to purchase the boat, but in the midst of all that realized that he did not seek Jesus throughout this. When he realized this the funds started coming in less and less and eventually not at all. He decided to call off the purchase of the ship. Instead, the planting of the University of the Nations started taking place. Cunningham never stops, he is constantly thinking big and constantly listening to the Lord.

Eventually everything came together, in a vision he saw the University of the Nations base in Kona. So did other students during a time of fasting. When there was 100% confirmation that the Lord wanted him to do this he went for it. He bought a great location of land in Kona, Hawaii and started cleaning up the place. There were so many volunteers who helped with this, God truly provided. He was able to purchase his ship by the end. A beautiful white ship, just like in his original vision. The first time must have not been the right time, but God worked it out and blessed them with a beautiful ship in Venice. They had it fixed up in Greece and it's first voyage was from Greece to Los Angeles. When it came in it was a great, powerful message that God is so almighty and that "...hearing God is all about... getting to know Him better."

My new address!

Hey one more thing! My new address is:

Josie Farrior

PhotogenX DTS

75-5851 Kuakini Highway Box #430

Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-2199

....just incase any of you were wanting to send me a card or care package. ;)

Also! Our PhotogenX DTS has its own website! Full of pictures, our schedule, and other random fun stuff, check it out! http://photogenx.net/blogs/dts/

Love you guys!

Aloha!

Hey everyone! I apologize for not writing on this earlier, we've been so busy I haven't had time to write on my blog yet.

Well... if you haven't seen from the pictures I made it to Kona, Hawaii safe and sound! This first week of being here has already been so amazing, I can't believe it has only been a week. First things first, I have the most amazing team. There are 51 of us (really big!) along with 9 leaders. Of those 51 on our team, about 7 of them are men, so they are a little out numbered. It makes it fun though, I can already tell that those men are going to be great leaders for our team. We have done a lot of team bonding stuff this week and have already gotten to know each other at such a deep level. We spent a few nights sharing "what we left behind" and "what we are walking into" with YWAM. Everyone on our team took their turn, so it took a few nights to complete this, but it was so cool to see how everyone opened up. I can already tell that our team is unique and I'm so excited to have all these people be friends for life. After each person shared we prayed for them and got a lei. Mine is right above my bed dangling from the shades. I occasionally smell the sweet smell of the flowers and it makes me so happy.

I will probably be all over the place with this blog, so bare with me.

I have such a multi cultural room! I live with 7 other roommates in a "cabin" style room. There are 4 bunks and I am on the top bunk right next to the window. Every morning I wake up I have an ocean view and the birds are churping. It's a great way to start out the day. Back to my roommates, I have one from England, one from Paraguay, one from Brazil, Canada, two from South Korea, and one from Georgia! The girl from Georgia is named Campbell and we both have the top bunks opposite from each other. We usually enjoy a good laugh by staring at each other on the computer. Our light between us currently "flickers" so we have a constant strobe light going on, and I'm just waiting for the time that everyone in our room breaks out in dance.

So a little bit about what we are learning right now. As far as an average day goes (well non have been average, they've been very different) but we wake up at 6:15am and go to breakfast. Class starts at 8am sharp and we have class till lunch time. I feel like my life here revolves around meals. We are constantly eating! Which is great, and we've got a laugh at how much we go to the cafeteria. After lunch we usually have free time until 3, (which has consisted of going to the beach) but on Thursdays we go to the prayer room where they play worship music for a good 2 hours. It's really awesome. Then we have our work duty! From 3-5 in the afternoon me and a girl named Natalie (who is on my team) clean the downstairs of a building. Fun stuff! It's actually been awesome to get to know Natalie and bond with her while we've been cleaning. She's from Wisconsin and is a really spunky and fun girl. Then it's back to the cafeteria for dinner and night time is either free or we have team stuff.

Gosh I'm almost out of time before we have our Ohana meeting, which is a weekly meeting where we sing worship and come all together as DTS students. There are 300 of us, so it's really awesome. Okay so a little bit about what I've learned so far, again, sorry that this is so scattered. This week we are focusing on "hearing God," and all of our classes have been revolved around that. We've had some great speakers, Christian Fox and Susi Childers. They have really got to me at such an intimate level with God and it's been super sweet. I can already feel that I'm going to be stretched in a lot of ways. At first I was a little nervous, but now I'm really pumped about the new ways that God is going to stretch me everyday. We have practiced hearing God by spending some alone time with Him and have just spent a lot of time with the Lord. Today Susi Childers (who is the founder of the PhotogenX DTS) talked to us today about her whole life, and she really got to me when she was talking about working with prostitutes in India. She had such amazing stories and it made me so excited for our outreach. Speaking of our outreach, we find out within the next couple of days where we are going. There are going to be 6 different locations that we can choose from, which means our group is going to be split in 6 different groups. They are going to tell us the locations and then we will have a half hour to pray about it and practice "hearing" God. We will write down where God told us to go on a piece of paper without talking to any of the leaders and without talking to any of our fellow classmates. Then that's it! So I'll definitely keep you guys posted where I'll be going, I can't wait to see what our options are. Oh! How could i forget, our leaders are AWESOME! Seriously, I couldn't have asked for better leaders. They are so loving, and just want to get to know you. I can't wait to get to know them more.

Okay got to go to Ohana Court! Love and miss you guys!

(below) Some amazing ladies that I already feel like I know so well!

Adios San Luis Obispo!

Hey everyone! Wanted to start off my blog posts before I leave so I can make a good habit to do this weekly. I'm currently in my living room right now deciding if I should go to bed or not, while getting carried away doing everything but sleeping cause my mind is going so many different directions. My mom and I are leaving for LAX tomorrow morning at 3:45am! So early!

Today was an emotional day, and yesterday too. Saying bye to people isn't easy. Just a couple hours ago I had to say goodbye to some dear friends (all three of them are in the pictures below), and I feel silly that my eyes are still watering whenever I think about them. It's only 6 months and I keep trying to say that to myself. But knowing that you aren't going to see them for that whole time is hard. I'm looking on the bright side though, there's so many ways to keep in contact, and skype is seriously the best form of technology.

Right now I'm feeling excited, anxious, happy, and I'm so surprised "nervous" isn't in that category. I'm not nervous at all, I've never felt so led by God to do something before. So I know without a doubt that I'm doing this for Him and it's going to be an awesome experience. I've been able to chat with some people that will be on my team via Facebook, and I can't wait to meet them tomorrow.

For those of you who don't know, I'm flying into Kona, HI tomorrow. I will be at the YWAM base in Kona for 3 months doing photography missions training and then we go on an outreach for 3 months afterwards to a country that I don't know yet! So crazy that when I come back to San Luis I will have been in a country for 3 months that I don't even know where it is yet. This is going to be such an adventure.

Anyways, I'm not a very long writer. So I'm going to keep it at this. But I miss everyone already so much and I can't wait to see everyone when I come back. Please call me anytime, and encouraging messages/texts are always greatly welcomed. :) Bye SLO!

Love these ladies :)