YWAM HAWAIIAN ADVENTURES

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T09:38:00.001-08:00

Good morning everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving! It is a big day here in the States!
Mission Builders, like myself, work all day in the kitchen so that staff and students can have the day off. My shift is from 9:45 - 3:00. Others were in the kitchen at 5:15!
Yesterday in the kitchen they were roasting 64 big turkeys (the birds, not us, although sometimes in there it feels like we are being roasted too. Uffda....shouldn't complain about the heat when back home it is -28, but.....)

Today I am thankful for an abundance of things, first of all, Jesus, who died for me, and loves me! And who loves all of you too and wants the best for all of us.
I am also thankful for.....
my wonderful family and friends
my church back home
KidFEST families and teachers
doves cooing outside my window
new friends that I have made here
friends that I am seeing again
finding friends that know my friends, (connections all over the place!)
underwater wonders that I can see while snorkelling
the ocean view out the window where I work and live
plumerias and hibiscus everywhere I look
the beautiful sunset and lightning storm we experienced a week ago up the biggest
mountain in the world, Mauna Kea
my Hawaiian friend, Jolee who lent me her convertible so I could get to hula worship
last Monday night at a church aways away
Macdonalds just 2 minutes away, where I will probably get my breakfast this morning
since I chose not to go to the base to eat
singing Christmas carols while we cut up veggies etc. in the kitchen
waving my flags at our Mission Builder worship time on Tues. evenings
group trips to WalMart on Wed. nights
sun and surf
quiet moments to read (rare but much needed)
an invitation from 2 young gals to join them for smoothies yesterday at lunch down
by the water

.....the list is endless!! So off I go to help serve well over a thousand people for Thanksgiving dinner today! I AM blessed to have 2 Thanksgivings! God is so good and so very faithful to his children, whether they be in Canada, Norway, Korea, US (Hawaii, etc.) Germany, Switzerland, etc.

Fifth Day Here!

2010-11-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

It seems like I never left....except all the Mission Builder faces are different, and many staff here too. But I am getting to know people, and again, they are all wonderful.
Today I have.....cut up meat with young German girls, and a young man from Alaska, and some others, while singing "Winter Wonderland".
I have danced with them while they chopped meat!
I have been to the beach and floated on a boogie board while watching all the tourists from the cruise ship line up to get back on for their dining supper.
I have vacuumed termites in the free thrift store (called the Boutique) where I am working in the afternoon.
I have listened, at 6:15 in the morning, to a woman from Ontario give her testimony. Actually she and her husband and daughter were here in Nov. 2008 when I was here so a few faces were familiar when I arrived.
I am watching the sun lower in the sky while I blog....beautiful oranges and pinks.
I listened to rain falling in the night, heavy rain!
I have met people here to help with the 50th Anniv. of YWAM the end of the month.
And now I am meeting some new friends to go out for supper to a place called "Oceans".
God is faithful to me and has helped me to feel his presence here, and in those I meet. I want to grow closer to Him.
Blessings to you all. I am thinking of you, especially those at home at Messiah who are able to go to the Skye Family concert tonight from PEI! Fiddling and dancing and singing.....sounds great....and the gospel shared.
Until next time, Aloha!

On the Countdown!

2010-11-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

Two nights from tonight, I will be settled into my dorm room in Kona, with my 2 new roommates! Seems hard to believe. I got a call from the coordinator on Monday, and when I asked, he told me that I will be working at the GO center again ( a hotel for guests and guest speakers) and that I am also on the YWAM's 50th Anniv. Project crew! Not sure what that means but it sounds exciting!
I have most of my Children's Ministry work at church in order for when I am away, including the Christmas program.
I am also "almost" packed!
Kara will take me to the airport on Friday morning.
Next weekend, Jesse will be in Paris (with a couple of Edmonton friends he has made at the Univ. of Oslo), Len will be visiting Amy and Jeremiah in Toronto, I will be in Hawaii, and Kara will be in charge at home! Quite the travellers!
A couple of weeks ago I found a verse that I have decided to take as my personal verse for my time in Kona, Psalm 138:8 "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever."
Hopefully I will be able to find a few minutes on a free computer on campus to add some more blogs off and on!
I'll miss everyone and will be praying for you, at home, at Messiah, those I hold dear in so many places.
Blessings, Marlys

Gail and Phil's 50th birthday party!

2010-10-19T20:37:00.000-07:00

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To Hawaii Again - On My Own!

2010-10-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

In less than a month I shall fly back to YWAM, Kona, this time on my own. I am doing this with some reservations, but also with a tad of excitement.....which is growing I think! I am excited about the challenge, also aware that when in Kona on my first 3 trips, I had told myself I would never go on my own. But here I am, venturing out by myself.
Originally, this trip wasn't meant to be done by myself, but it has worked out that way. I may have dropped out, but the end of November is YWAM'S 50th Anniversary celebration, with a cultural and spiritual presence from people from around the world, and I have decided that I want to be there for it. The best way to do that is by going again as a Mission Builder (volunteer). So here's to my wings on Nov. 5! Please keep me in your prayers. Thanks!

Sunday Events

2008-12-15T23:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (Sunday) since we had a rented car we were able to attend the local Lutheran Church and get in a traditional advent service. It was very nice and we met a couple and a lady who both lived near Edmonton on golf courses. Jesse knew the same people they did and enjoyed talking with them. After Jeremiah & Amy attended an Orthodox service with friends they met at YWAM. During this time, Marlys and Jesse visited the Mormon temple up the hill out of curiosity and Marlys collected plumeria flowers and made a lei for Kara's arrival. Following church, an afternoon was spent at mile 88. Kara was going to be with us then, however as there were many difficulty with flights due to weather, plane computer problems, and luggage misplacement, Kara didn't arrive until 7:30pm. Here are a few pics from the day.

Us 4 at the Lutheran Church

Leis Given Out By the Lutheran Church to Visitors

The Orthodox Church

Visiting the Mormon Temple

Homemade Leis

Mile 88

Saying Goodbye to Good Finland Friend Henri :(

Season of Advent

2008-12-15T22:42:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that Christmas is next week. We hope all you, our friends and family have enjoyed this advent season, in preparation for the birth of our King. It has been fun taking part in various Christmas festivities, even though it feels a bit surreal in this warm climate. We have enjoyed the Christmas village festival, making our own decorative wreaths, decorating the tree & the boutique :), attending the Children's Pageant at the 1st Church in Hawaii, and the annual Kona Christmas parade to name a few. I (Amy), actually saw a snowman on the side of the road. Kids had brought some snow down from Mauna Kea or Loa, and made it. I don't think it will last very long here though. Poor snowman. God Bless you all in this last week of advent. Keep Christ the Centre. Love you All.

Making Wreaths

Decorating the Tree

Manger Scene In Front of the Boutique

Christmas Display in the Boutique

Blog of Random and Out of Order Pictures

2008-12-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

Feeling the need to share a few pictures. These ones are bit out of order, but you should get the jest of it.

Using the Pink Bathroom at the Pink Hotel on Christmas Festival Night

Having Cotton Candy in 'Winter" at Christmas

Jeremiah's Study Area in Mom's Room

Hawaiian Sky

Creepy Greasy Eel

Cruise Ship in on Wed.

The First Major Rainy Day-Dec 11

The Go Centre Where Amy Works This Year and Marlys Last Year

Marlys and Austin out for Iced Cream

The Boutique Lady

Construction Crew

World Traveller

2008-12-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

Living in Hawaii, we have come to terms with sharing our space with the odd cockroach, ants and geckos. Apparently we have a world traveller amongst us, a gecko who has many ideas and desires as many of our family members... Coincidence... I don't know. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving 08

2008-12-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

A Bit Late... but here are a couple pics of our USA Thanksgiving Day. We all worked hard to provide a thanksgiving feast for over 800 peoples. It was fun. Enjoy.

Harry the YWAM CHEF

Turkey. Mmmmm

Mom with Her Pies

Jeremiah Restocking Making Sure All Are Fed

Jesse & Amy Making Sure All Are Quenched (We got the easy job :) )

Hapuna Beach Fun?

2008-12-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an interesting day. It was a beautiful day actually...and we got to go to the beach...perfect...what could be better. Well nothing really...unless you lose the battle with the beach. Ok, so here's how it went down...

So, we got to the beach and there was high surf warnings so you had to be extra careful when you went swimming...so we were...and we were fine. However, there was no signs saying "be extra careful not to leave the set of van keys in your pocket while you go swimming...go figure. So, after a while I came to the realization that I might have lost the keys in the ocean...actually I knew I did but I tried to imagine that I didn't. Thankfully, I was able to phone back and meet someone who had an extra set of keys so that didn't turn into a huge disaster.

So I got back to the beach with the new set of keys and found that everyone was about to leave. Amy, Jer and I (I guess that gives it away who the moron was who lost the keys in the ocean) were the last ones to clean up our stuff and we noticed mom's things were still there...she was not however. So, we carry her things up and everyone's telling us that we need to go into the girls bathroom. And so, we did...naturally. And there she was...laying down while connected to an oxygen mask, surrounded by a lifeguard and two paramedics...and now amy and I. Oh, and there was an ambulance outside the bathroom. So, to shorten up the story..Mom had a bit of a heat exhaustion/dizziness/not enough to drink or eat spell. So, after a bit of resting and a wheelchair ride (in front of everyone) into the ambulance for some tests, she got back in the van (which luckily there was a spare set of keys for..whew) and we made our way back for supper.

So, beach tips: along with wearing sunscreen, not turning your back to the ocean...blah blah blah...

1) Don't lose the keys in the ocean
2) Eat something and drink lots- otherwise everyone will have to wait while an old lady gets wheelchaired into an ambulance...It's fine to laugh at it now...Sorry about the old part mom...it just adds to sentence.

Here's some pictures -we spent this evening at a christmas festival thing...not quite as exciting as the first part of the day-except for the pink bathroom which from the urinal had a great view of the city.

Cliffjumping/ Beach/ Mauna Kea

2008-12-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

This is Jesse using a blog for the first time ever. These pictures are from last weekend (American Thanksgiving). On Friday everyone went to the beach in the afternoon and then we went up Mauna (mountain) Kea to see the stars. The next day I went cliff jumping with some others. I'm going to have to try to convince dad and Kara to do that when they get here. During the last few days I've been doing drywall on the building we've been working on. So ya, I'm basically a construction expert on everything now with my two weeks experience. I think that's all you need to know for now.

Hilton Resort Sat Nov 22 Day Trip

2008-12-03T17:45:00.000-08:00

Hey! We are back at it! Posting that is. I (amy) have been trying hard to get through my last papers here, and have finally reached completion. This means I won't be hogging the computer so much and we are able to blog more frequently. Yay. So these pictures are a bit older, but they are from our fun day trip to the Hilton Resort. There was a great pool! Mom enjoying swimming, taking pictures and going to the shops. Amy (me) had fun experiencing my first time snorkling. Jeremiah & Jesse had fun taking creative pictures, snorkling and playing human sized checkers! Jeremiah won......hey I think I will actually post a mini video of their game. It is in fast forward! There may be pictures later tonight from Thanksgiving, or tomorrow, so please check soon!!!! We'll try to get back on track!

1st Sunday in Advent update

2008-11-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

We have had a wonderful day! During the sermon we could watch spinner dolphins dancing out in the water! And after we watched eels in the water!
We are off to a farewell party tonight to a few Mission Builders, but promise we will post again very soon, maybe later tonight, and have pictures very soon too.

Our Work Duties at University of the Nations

2008-11-23T15:10:00.001-08:00

Here is a post showing a bit of the work we do here at YWAM, just to prove that we do work. One week of working has already come and gone. Next week we will be preparing for the big American Thanksgiving celebrations that will take place on Thursday and Friday. Everyone will be working in the kitchen on Thursday for the big feast. Friday we are lucky and only work a 4 hour day in lieu of thanksgiving and will go to the beach and have our own celebrations Friday night with the other mission builders here. Yesterday (Sat), we went to the Hilton Hotel and enjoyed swimming, snorkling, shopping etc. Pictures soon to come. Please check again soon.

Amy Jeremiah & Marlys at the University of the Nations Entrance Sign

Showing off Her Massive Amounts of Salad Made During Morning Kitchen Prep Time

Jesse Working Intently on Construction Projects at Hale Ola Where the Mission Builders Live

Construction Man

Making Tons of Grilled Cheese

Amy Washing Outside Dishes

A Cute Kitchen Couple

Amy and Her Hotel Housekeeping Cart

Making Taco Salad Sauce with the Korean Guys!

A Picture of the Boutique Where Marlys Works

Doing Outside After Breakfast Dishes

Sunday

2008-11-17T22:32:00.000-08:00

Message in The Sand :)

We Think Macadamian Nuts?

Mauna Kea Beach (North of Kona)

Jesse Found a Course of Course

The Boogie Boarding Team

Amy cruising to Land While Jer and Jesse Head to Sea

The Church We Attended

Bernice & Per at Church

Well, here are a couple pics of our Sunday. We went to church at Living Stones, a church right off the water. After we went with some of the other Mission Builders on an afternoon trip to Mauna Kea Beach. The afternoon was full of boogie boarding and frisbee and getting a little burnt. Jesse found a golf course on the top of the rocks too.

Today is Monday, and we have actually started working, and working hard, in case you were wondering... :) We had to be up and on the van to campus at 5:55am. Wow, that is early. Jeremiah worked all day scrubbing rice pots in the kitchen! Go Jeremiah. He was actually sweating, Amy witnessed it. Jesse worked with the Canadian Team doing construction, he even got to take orders from Per. He enjoyed knocking down an entire wall Marlys did up her first day starting with doing dishes for an hour in the morning and then in the boutique sorting clothes. She was very popular today as the boutique hasn't been open for a week (it's a mini store where clothes etc. are donated by students and families, and others can come pick up what they like/need). Amy got to make a mass amount of salad for an hour in the morning, then she worked with 2 great Swedish girls, doing lots of laundry, maybe 12+ loads and cleaning hotel rooms.

That is all for now. More in a bit. Hope you are all doing well.

Ist Day in Kona & Coffee Festival

2008-11-15T23:25:00.000-08:00

Today was our first full day in Kona. We went to the yearly coffee festival which Marlys & Cathy went to last year. Crazy to be back in just under a year. We got to make woven fish out of coconut palm, see the beach and go to the farmers market. We had a mission builder orientation meeting at 4pm, and then we went to supper and had a great meal of mahimahi fish. Yum. The guys went down and played beach volleyball with some of the other volunteers and the gals walked down to the stores by the water. Its been a nice first day. Stay tuned for more pictures.

Running Away From the "Tsunami"

Hawaiian Family!

Amy With 4 Sea Urchins!!

Our home away from home "Hale Ola"

Hi Cathy From the Kona Coffee Festival. Wish You Were Here!

Urchin Sea Art

Marlys With the Locals

Canadian Amy and Hawaiian Amy

Jeremiah Loving His Sea Urchin

Marlys and Amy with The Hawaiian Gals

Jesse & Jer Catching Fish

Man Who Helped Us Make Woven Fish

Making Woven Fish

3 Kids at the Coffee Festival

On the Phone With Len: "Miss You"

A Few Pics From San Francisco

2008-11-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

We (Jeremiah, Amy & Marlys) had a layover in San Francisco and were able to go see some of the city. We took the BART city train down to Fisherman's Wharf, and walked around a bit. Here is some of what we saw and did. It was a beautiful day. About 25 degrees with a little breeze.

A Beautiful Catholic Church

CRAB!

Alcatraz

Jeremiah Being Sweet

Us on California Street

Downtown San Francisco

Houses Kind of Like the Ones in Full House

A Picture for Cathy! Remember Outlook?

Eating a Calamari Salad-Eeeeee

At Fisherman's Wharf

Jeremiah Found His Ship "Jeremiah O'Brien's"

Acting Like Sea Lions

At Pier 39

The Sea Lions At Pier 39

Jeremiah Found a Bookstore!

Jeremiah & Amy On California Street

Ready to Take Off

2008-11-15T20:34:00.000-08:00

Here we are, just about to take off! Jesse went off on his own on a flight to Seattle/Honolulu then Kona and Jeremiah Amy & Marlys headed to San Francisco and then to KONA.

Ready to leave for Calgary.

2008-11-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

2008-11-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

One Day to Go!!

2008-11-13T06:18:00.000-08:00

We're off! At least Jesse and I are. We go to Calgary today and tomorrow all 4 of us fly out! I know there will be many blessings along the way. We will keep those who are back home in our prayers and think about you often as you prepare for Advent and Christmas! I already decorated some in our home, the earliest I have ever done that! We look forward to hearing from you!

Two Weeks to Go!

2008-10-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hello from Camrose!
We are getting down to the last bits of planning, and getting more excited!
Soon we will actually have to decide what to leave and what to take!
I am busy planning the Christmas program with my teachers, for Messiah Lutheran, and also making sure they have lessons ready for the time I am gone, since I am the Children's Ministry Coordinator.
We get together for Sorenson Christmas on Nov. 8 which will seem different, but be fun!
So far there are 8 other people I know who will be in Kona when we are. The Smiths from Shaunavon, SK. who were next door to us last year, and who I have seen since at White Valley Church in May, come the same day and flight as us! There are 6 of them. Then Phil's Mom, Berniece, and her husband Per arrive before us. And I have heard of others who are thinking of going sometime in the future and some who already have plans to be there. (Shirley Wig and and granddaughter Courtney Wig in January!).
It's a great place to be a servant and meet others too from around the world!
This summer Len and I spent 3 days with friends I had worked and lived with in Hawaii last year. They live by a beautiful lake in Iowa and it was such a blessing to be with them again.
Who knows what experiences and blessings are in store!
We'll keep you posted.
Love in Jesus,
Marlys

YWAM Adventure Just a Month Away!

2008-10-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

On Nov. 14, Amy, Jeremiah, Jesse and Marlys will be leaving for Kona, Hawaii! Originally Jesse was only going to come for Christmas so he was booked with Kara for Dec. 14 on Alaska Airlines. The rest of us are going United. So when it turned out that he was able to go as a Mission Builder, I had to change his flight to Nov. 14 but of course could not change the airline. So we will all leave Calgary Nov. 14 a.m. (Jesse at 6:30, us at 9:00), and arrive at Kona at about 8:00 p.m., but we will take totally different routes!
In April Jesse came home from Australia via San Francisco and had a long enough lay-over to see a bit of Fisherman's Wharf etc. So we decided that might be kind of fun for us too, so we deliberately booked a flight with a lay-over in San Fran. But Jesse's connections could only be made through Seattle, and into Honolulu, where HE will have a long lay-over! So while we tour San Francisco, the one who could have guided us around will be sight-seeing in Honolulu. How ironic!
But once in Kona we will all be together volunteering at the University of the Nations for 5 weeks!
Then Kara will come by herself on Dec. 14, and Len will join us on Dec. 19, the day we are done work! From there we are booked into a Bed and Breakfast for the next week, over Christmas, our base while we tour around the island. We will also spend a few days on the other side of the island at Hilo, before flying to Honolulu for a few days. We get home on Dec. 31, and will actually all be on the same flight! (if all goes as planned!)