Apparently I Can Do Some Crazy Stuff

So it's been my first full week in Hawaii, and I think I made the most of it.

I left off on Thursday night, so I'll pick up on Friday. Started out with breakfast as usual, which is awesome. Then, a guest speaker came in, the pastor of the nearby Mokuaikaua Church, the first church in Hawaii, along with the church secretary, and they shared the history of the island with us. The history and culture of the people here, along with the timing and "coincidences" of the first missionaries, made for an immediate, joyful reception of the Gospel. It's truly interesting, and I would suggest further reading. Christianity is so woven into Hawaiian culture, it's incredible. After this was lunch back at Port, followed by a testimony, then work duty. Then, after a couple more testimonies, was the night we decided on our outreach locations.

Basically, we were told the three official location choices for the first time: the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Panama. We were shown a few pictures of each location (like four per), with a brief description of the place, the people, and the work we'd be doing. Total, that took about five minutes. Then, we were given fifteen minutes to pray about it and come to a decision. Fifteen minutes, people. For whatever reason, the Marshall Islands wasn't even an option for me. Which, I'll admit, was disappointing. So, I was left with Palau and Panama, and just couldn't come to a decision. So, I wrote "Panama or Palau, I don't know which," on my slip of paper, and trusted my leaders to place me where they felt I should go. Once I head inside, the staff had their meeting. After a few minutes, Rodrigo (awesome Columbian guy) calls me out for a moment to ask, "Panama or Palau?" In the four seconds I had to decide, I just didn't have peace about Palau, so I picked Panama. Later on, I learned that Jordan (she's another really cool staff member) was really feeling that's where I needed to be, to be with a specific team member, though we can't say why. So to wrap it up, I'll say that I've definitely got peace about my location, and I'm super psyched to get out and explore the jungles and grow close to my team.

Then came the adventure. Saturday morning I woke up, and Kelby was trying to figure out how to do something with our day. In the end, he, Tyler and I walked up to base to check out the bulletin for a car for rent. We called the guy, and are disappointed when he tells us he's all out of cars...and then he mentions the Bronco. We jump at the chance and wait at the Plaza of Nations (a big flag circle with a fountain in the middle) until a rusty, blue beater rolls up and a big soft-spoken guy gets out. The car is steaming a bit, and he says it's the carburetor. We're pretty excited in spite of this, and drop fifty bucks to take it back to Port. We pile twelve people into the thing, including myself, and we're off to Waimea. The car smoked the whole way, and the steering wheel was off-center because apparently the pin was missing (we figured that out when we got back), but we make it through the country and up a steep road to our destination. A super steep hill called "Buster Brown", or "Hok'uula", I think. We ran around on there for a while, then hop back into the car and head off for Waipio Valley (where they filmed Jurassic Park), and Hilo, on the direct opposite side of the island from Kona. We got within a mile and a half of the park, on a road overlooking a gorge...when the car broke down.

Of course, this was great fun. We pop the hood, and wait for the smoke to clear so we can see that, wonder of wonders, we have no idea what we're looking at. But, it doesn't have oil. So when an elderly woman comes to a stop next to us (as everyone munches on lunch, which I'd completely forgotten...), she says she'll go get some for us. In the meantime, Kelby, who is an avid photographer, wanders off for a bit back down the road. When he comes back, he says he wants to explore some running water he heard, so Kaden, Amanda and I join him. We climb off the side of the road, through a bunch of fallen trees, and come out on the other side to an awesome hidden waterfall, with a clear, blue pool at the bottom, a small cave behind, and a stream flowing from there down the rocks below. It was amazing. We all jumped in, and I had the best time I've had on the island yet. But, we had to get back home.

Getting back to the car, which we were able to start again, we turn back towards Waimea. Unfortunately, we didn't make it very far before the bronco, dubbed Beater Bruce, finally gave up the ghost. Tyler, thankfully, had 200 free towing miles with AAA, so he and Andreas stayed behind. The rest of us, however, had to thumb it back home. That's right, I'm a bonafide hitchhiker, folks. We split into groups of three, spaced ourselves out, and hoped for the best. A mere 10 minutes or so in, a local drove up in a pickup truck and let five of us hop in: Kaden, Amanda, Rochelle, Jason, and myself. We make it to Waimea, and dash off to catch the $2.00 bus back to Kona. And it never shows up. So, we walk for about an hour and a half down the road home, when two army guys in another truck gave us a ride in the bed all the way back home. After such an eventful day, I ate a ton and went to sleep.

Sunday was pretty calm comparatively, so there's not much to share. I went to church, called my family, and read all day. Then there was a "pool party" of sorts. Mrs. Sonja, a German woman on staff, made a big lemon cake and a ton of waffles. She said, "Sunday is meant to go to church and spend time with your friends and family and eat cake," all in a thick German accent that made it way better. Naturally, I've adopted this tradition of my own, because I love lemon cake. After this, I went for coffee with Mikey, Kelby, Euan, and Siranda (she's not in Ships, but she might as well be), and came back to catch the end of a movie. Being sore from the day prior, my bed was pretty comfortable that night.

Monday we woke up early, so we could eat breakfast and head off to Ohana Court for what I shall call the "beginning of the week worship thing." After this was the beginning of our first true lecture week. A local pastor who has done a lot of work with YWAM with the name of Derek Schoenhoff spoke on "The Character and Voice of God", and I really got a lot out of it. Then came lunch, followed by a lecture from a Steps of Justice guy on poverty, what it is and where. It was suggested we fast for a day, and break it by eating a meal with a homeless person the following evening, so I decided to take part, which meant no dinner for me. I fought with picture syncing on my computer instead, and went to sleep.

Today was breakfastless, so I got to sleep in a bit, then head down for Ship Shape, our quick chore stuff. My duty is the trash, oh the nostalgia. Then was a continuation of Monday's lecture by Mr. Schoenhoff, and after that I filled my lunch time with a shower (you've really got to fight for time to get those), and packed a spaghetti dinner for myself and the homeless person I would eat with. The next session was a classroom style lesson in sailing, given by a couple women living here in Kona who have worked with YWAM Ships ever since they came to Hawaii. Learning the terminology and hearing lessons from the mouths of experienced people was very interesting to me. After the lesson, I trudged through work duty, and spent an hour writing, as well as hopping on Facebook to speak with a couple friends back home, which I greatly enjoyed.

Having dinner was an interesting time, and gave me something to think about. I heated up the food, put it in the boxes, and headed out onto Alii Drive. I saw one of the people in the DTS, April, sitting with a group of three people. "Well, she can't have fed all of them," I thought, so I headed over there. One of them had already eaten, the other was covered by April, so I asked the last guy if he was hungry. He only whispered a response I couldn't quite make out, and the girl next to him whispered, "weed", so I decided it was best not to press. I sat down with him though, and participated in the conversation between April and the other two.

I had eaten my bread rolls when spotted a kid sitting on the sidewalk next to a building, set back from everything. I asked if he had a place to eat tonight, and the people there said no, so I headed over. I asked him if he was hungry, and he said he was alright, but I pressed a bit. "Are you sure? You can hang onto it until later, if you want." He gave in and said he'd hang onto it until he could keep something down, and I noticed he'd been crying. I asked what was up, and he told me he has stomach ulcers, and I was taken aback. I wasn't mentally prepared for it, but I decided I needed to pray for him. I'll be the first to say it wasn't a very eloquent prayer, but I sure was genuine about it. He wasn't too keen on conversation, so I wished him well and left. But I just can't get it out of my head. So, I'll make  would really appreciate it if you prayed for him with me (his name is Ben) in the coming days.

After finishing dinner with April and her group, I headed back home, stuffed my face, and jumped on here. Perhaps we'll figure out how to watch The Count of Monte Cristo later. And I'll probably make a sandwich. And then I'll sleep. Sleep is a wonderful thing.

Well, that's it for now. A full few days, I must say. (Insert clever parting here, for I've run out of words.)


Onward, to serendipity.