This was our Sunday

The picture with all the stairs is what we have to walk up after everytime we go to get our weekend ritual of shaved ice. Good thing, eh!
The white tent is our class room. The sushi picture is for Michael. You will have lots to choose from here.

At the volcano

Steam vents
More steam
Crater
Lava flow over highway

Around the island in one day

We rented a car this weekend and toured around the entire island in one day!

This is the house the Lord has built

"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain" Psalm 127:1

Our leader invited our entire class of 60 people over to his house tonight for supper. This couple has spent their entire 29 years of married life volunteering/serving with Youth with a Mission. The Lord truly built this house. It's an amazing testimony of God's faithfulness to his children.

Random pictures

An evening service on campus
Stringing a Lei
Solid Rock Church service
Even the Ironman doesn't stop the locals from their fishing!
Best chocolate store
Walking to the Ironman
Our staff
Our little athlete at the Ironman thank you party
for the volunteers.

Training to win the prize

Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life! It started at 7:00 a.m. and ended at midnight. 1,700 people entered and 1,500 finished including a few people in their 70's. The water current coming back in was strong, the humidity was awful and there was a heavy downpour of rain in the evening. They are amazing people. I was huffing and puffing walking up the hill, that they were running up and my goal was only to sit down and eat ice-cream! They train up to six hours a day for one year before coming here. They finish because they discipline themselves. The apostle Paul wrote something very important to the church in Corinth. He knew they would relate because the Greeks had invented the olympic games. He wrote "Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All atheletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athelete, training it to do what it should." Paul is talking to the believer here. Don't be content to just be an observer. Each one of us has been given a destiny to live, a purpose to fulfill. Don't slack off. Discipline your soul. Pursue that destiny now so that when you cross the finish line you can say with to God "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful". A very wise man once said "Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator". A life without God can produce bitterness, loneliness, and hopelessness in old age. A life centered around God is fulfilling and can be richer and more bearable when we are faced with disabilities, sickness, or handicaps. Being young is exciting. But the excitement of youth can become a barrier to closeness with God if it makes young people focus on passing pleasures instead of eternal values. Make your strength available to God when it is still yours- during your youthful years. Don't waste it on evil or meaningless activities that become bad habits and make you callous. Seek God now.

Something that impressed me the most about watching the Ironman, were the people on the sidelines cheering the atheletes on. They brought tears to my eyes the way they would encourage each racer that went by. Comments like "I'm so proud of you number whatever", "you can do it", "you're almost there". Last night at the thank you party for the volunteers, an athelete said he didn't know the volunteers from Adam, but they gave him a piece of themselves, that enabled him to finish the race. Do you have someone on the sidelines cheering you on? Believing in you, that you have what it takes. It doesn't take much to brighten someone's day...a smile, a kind word. In Hawaii they call it the aloha spirit. Words spoken at the right moment could be life or death to a hurting person. Maybe you grew up listening to hurtful remarks like.." you will never amount to anything" or "you were a mistake". I once heard it takes hearing positive comments over and over to displace the few negative ones we've heard. I love the proverb that reads "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Be an encourager! Aloha!

Ironman Triathlon Pictures

Fourth place winner
Third place winner from Germany
Second place winner from Australia collapsed after finish line and whisked away by doctor
First place winner from Germany crossing finish line after just over 8 hours
Street sign
Media frenzy
Starting area for swim


Entrance way into finish line

Reflections after an earthquake

Well, I've had lots of time to ponder my thoughts after the earthquake. An earthquake brings exposure to faultlines and cracks in foundations. Buildings that were supposedly built strong now come tumbling down. Just like in our own lives, we put on outward appearances that we have it all together but when a crisis hits unexpectedly, it exposes and challenges our belief systems. Do what we believe in comfort or let us down? I'd have to say that mine proved to me I was on solid ground. The words that came to me were "Fear not, I am with you. My rod and staff they comfort you." I looked up these words later. They can be found in Psalm 23. This is my mom's favourite scripture passage. It reads ..."Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me." I wondered what the significance of the rod and staff were supposed to mean to me during a quake. I got my answer this week when our teacher commented that a shepherd may sometimes carry his lamb around his neck so the lamb will learn to recognize the shepherd's voice and not wander off because sheep are dumb animals. Anyway, it spoke to me that the rod and staff represent that I have a Shepherd named Jesus, whose voice I recognize, because he carries me close to his heart and he's always interceding on my behalf to my heavenly Father. The earthquake didn't take my Father by surprise. Because I recognize his voice he was able to comfort me while I felt like a dumb sheep. To validate God knew about the quake, allow me to share a story that illustrates this point. You may remember I had mentioned that ninety students along with staff had to move north of here because we are full. Where they moved to was the epicentre of the quake! They had buildings collapse with no one in them! My favourite story is they had no drinking water because the pipes burst so they decided to empty the ice machine and let the ice melt. While they were scooping the ice out they discovered all these big bottles of water buried under the ice. God knew they would need this and had it waiting for them! I know this sounds hokey to some of you reading this but I have heard all kinds of stories like this all week. This particular group of students are going to Africa to work with children who are orphans because of Aids. Their school is named the Compassion Focus. Before they left our campus the leadership felt God was moving them up north to demonstrate God's love to that town. After the quake they have been helping the locals clean up their stores and homes. So, I want to challenge you today, don't let a good shaking expose the cracks in your belief system because if you think you can patch it up, the aftershocks will do you in. Aloha!

Walk with me around campus

Pictures around campus and ocean front