Monday, April 25, 2011

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!

2 comments:

  1. Dear Josie!

    Congratulations - I am so very proud of you and HAPPY for you. Love your blog - you go girl!!!

    Much love,
    Auntie Ann

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  2. Josie, I really enjoyed reading your blog! So stoked you are on our team! Cambodia is going to rock our world!

    ReplyDelete