Christmas in Turkey!

Everyone was sad about being away at Christmas. But it all ended up fine. Let's see, Friday night (the 23rd) a few of us went to an English Club/internet café that's run by Christians. Originally we thought they wanted us to do some kind of Hawaiian Christmas thing. So, Chaz and I were trying to figure out a song to make a hgula to. Well, we finally found out that they wanted us to perform some kind of Christmas manger scene reinactment. So I was Mary, Nate was Joseph, Casey was the angel, and Chaz and Breanna were shepherds. It was a little weird, but it worked out, I think. And the power went out so we did it by candlelight. But that gave it a good effect.
So, the next day (Christmas Eve), a few of us went to a Russian church. They wanted two people to be clowns, two to watch kids, and two to help with hospitality (Me and Jessie). So we got there, not really knowing what was going on, as usual. Jessie and I had no clue what we were doing. Pretty much all she did was cut out some papers, and I cut up three loaves of bread. Yes, we felt useful. Apparently it was some kind of passing out presents from Santa for the kids. And in Russian tradition Santa has a granddaughter called the Snow Girl, who helps Santa. So, that was interesting. But it was a fun experience.
So after that we went home and cooked a yummy Christmas dinner. A turkey, that the store coked with rice instead of stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, bread, cranberry sauce, and Coke. It was great!!! We had drawn names earlier and so we had our gift exchange that night. Chaz had my name and gave me the coolest tea set ever! (Here they drink tea after every meal). Then Chaz made a yummy chocolate dessert. It was a great Christmas Eve.
We woke up Christmas morning with Chaz and Casey having filled our stockings and presents uder our Christmas tree from our families back home. It was such a great surprise! Chaz and Casey made us chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Then we opened our presents. Later, we went to Kipa, a mall close by, and ate McDonald's for lunch. Then we went bowling and had pizza and Coke for dinner.
It was sad being away for Christmas, but it was a great way to spent it. Chaz and Casey did a great job at making us feel like we were home!!!

Go to my flickr account to see a few Christmas pictures. I'll post more next month.

Smyrna

OK, this will be quick because İ didnt prepare what İ was going to write.
The book of Revelation is a letter from Paul written to the seven churches of Asia. OK, so did you know that these places are all in Turkey? Crazy!! And the church in Smyrna, ok well thats İzmir now. OH my gosh! We are living in a place in the Bible! Yesterday we went to the ruins of Smyrna. İll put up pictures as soon as possible. İts insane! İ cant believe it. İve always wanted to be in places that the Bible was, and now İ am. CRAZY!!!! And at the end of January we are going to Ephesus! İ cant wait! This is amazing, just chillin on the Medıterrarean Sea!!!!!! Eating the most amazing olives and feta cheese!! My dad is so jealous right now!!!
İ love you all. Thats it for now.

Ayasofia

Ayasofia
Originally uploaded by rebekahlynn5.

There`s some pictures from Turkey!!! If you click on my friend Breanna`s websıte, she`ll have dıfferent pictures and maybe more stories!! She`s on the side bar.

To My Family

Yesterday Chaz had some questions he felt God wanted us to pray about. One of the questions was if we were holding on to anything. Were we holding onto our freedom, or comforts that wouldn`t allow us to experıence what God has for us, or to be used by God?
Before I left I knew it was goıng to be a struggle for me to be gone from my family and fiance for so long. Eventhough I`ve been away from my Washington family for so long, I still talk to them at least every week. Not only would I not get to talk to them as much, but I`d also be mısıng Chrıstmas for the fırst tıme! I didn`t want these struggles to be a hındrance while I was here. So, I prepared myself mentally. Where does it say that we can do things on our own? I didn`t take ıt to God.
Since I`ve been here all I could think about was how excited I was to come back home to my fiance. Then, shortly after, I get to go to Washıngton. And all the weddıng plans! I was anxious to get online and then find a phone card.
When Chaz asked this question, and as I prayed about it, I realized that I was letting everything from home consume my thoughts each moment.
I`m here to be used by God and to serve the people here. I cannot effectively do that when my mind is constantly on other things. I feel like God is wanting me to cut myself off. Even though I had told myself that I was going to do that, I hadn`t taken it to God or actually "let go" of home.
So, I`ve decided not to buy a phone card. Not even for Christmas. Aahh, scary! Yes, I know. But for now I think it`s what I need to do. I`ll still check emaıl, but not that often. The most I`ll do is update my blog. But I don`t know how often I`ll even be doing that.
I also feel taht for a couple people, I`ve been your strength. I can`t do that. I`m only human. I don`t mind listening to you or praying for you. But, this is your time to fully rely on God. You won`t feel whole untıl you cry out to God and have HIM be your strenth.
I love you all very much! Please pray for me to have a heart for the people here and to serve them beyond my fullest. It`s so hard when the culture sees you as a piece of man`s property and of having no worth. Please also pray that the people realize that they can have a relationship with God who loves them. That`s so opposite from Islam.
Anyways, I love you all very very much!!!!!

Hello, How can I take your money today?

So, I`m here ın Turkey! It`s been two and a half days sınce we`ve arrıved. (Thıs keyboard ıs really weırd so bare wıth me.) The fırst nıght we arrıved a few of us decıded to go out to the restaurant across the street from our hotel. The guy told us ıt was on the house, we dıdn`t have to pay. Rıght on! So, we decıded to let hım gıve us food because we had no ıdea what to order. It turned out as we left that we dıd have to pay and ıt was 50 Amerıcan dollars on top of the 40 Lıras that we had for dınner. Basıcally, that`s an expensıve meal. He had told us the soup was free, and we had a lıttle mıscommunıcatıon. Oh well, ıt was stıll fun. So the next day we went out and walked around and at thıs one place there are these men who have juıce on theır backs and they gıve you drınks. After you take the drınk they want money. Some ın our group fell to thıs and agaın added to our lesson that ın Turkey nothıng ıs free! As we contınued down the street men kept wantıng to sell us stuff. But the best pıtch lıne of all was, Hello how can I take your money today? We started laughıng, at least he was blunt.
I`m already a lıttle sıck of beıng the Amerıcan show ın town. Immedıatly they thınk you have money and want you to eat ın theır restaurants and buy theır food. It`s kınd of obnoxıous.
Today we went to the Ayasofya. Thıs place was amazıng! So, back ın the day ıt was buılt by 10,000 people (for 5 years) for Chrıstıan worshıp. But, Mohammed saıd that whoever took over Constantınople (whıch was thıs place) wıll take over the world. So, when ıt dıd get taken over they took over the ayasofya and made ıt ınto a mosque. You could see the places that had crosses and they eıther scraped off the top or trıed to plaster over them. It was so amazıng! It would be so excıtıng to one day hold a huge worshıp servıce ın there agaın! Then we went ınto thıs mosque. All these kıds were on a fıeld trıp and started takıng our pıctures and wantıng our autographs. It was so funny!!!
Anyway, I better go because I don`t want to be on here for too long! Please keep rememberıng to pray for us and our safety. The men here are ınsane. One guy trıed to buy one of our gırls for 200 camels. They thınk gırls are property. So, ıt`s pretty crazy.
I love you all!!!!

Ka'ena Point

Ka'ena Point
Originally uploaded by rebekahlynn5.

I've added a few more pictures!! There's some really pretty scenery. I've been so blessed to live in the two most beautiful states in our country. At least I think so.

The ring

The ring
Originally uploaded by rebekahlynn5.

Yes, the rumors are true! Donald and I are engaged! It happened on October 21st, Friday night. The tentative date is July 15th of next year. We will be having the ceremony here on Oahu with a reception. Then we plan on flying to Washington for another reception for those who can't come here. (So, if you plan on coming to Oahu, leave a comment :) ).
Can you believe it? I'm growing up so fast. Who would've guessed that I'd move to Hawaii and find my husband. I definantly didn't. But, I'm very excited and glad that it did.

I am Unique!

At our very first team meeting at the beginning of the school our leaders told us to go off by ourselves and pray about what we were going to do in Turkey (which we still don't know what that is yet). So, I didn't really get much about Turkey. But what I did get was the word unique. I felt as though he was reassuring me that my relationship with Him is unique. I'm the only one that has a relationship with him like mine. (Does that make sense?) I worship the way I do because I love him. Not because someone told me or has shown me that I'm supposed to worship this way or that. I don't have to worry about if people are thinking that I'm doing something because I'm trying to look a certain way or get glory. I worship, serve, or whatever, out of my relationship with him and I don't have to answer to anyone but him. So, let them think what they may, no one knows my heart but God!
So, last week we had a speaker named Kevin Darro. He also did prophecies on Wednesday night. I was a little bit hesitant and scared. Growing up in Assemblies of God I sometimes felt overwhelmed with all the "charismatic" type things. These were more of a hindrance in my life rather than letting me grow in my relationship with God. I'm also very hesitant about "fake" people or things. Anyways, I decided to go and get a prophecy over my life for the first time.
When he got to me he asked my name and right away he said to me, "Rebekah I have a word for you. You are very unique." Hello, did that not confirm my "talk with God" earlier in the school? This guy knew nothing about me other than I was wearing basketball shorts, a sweatshirt and a beanie. I felt like God was telling me, "yeah, I talk to you, and I do love you, and your relationship with me is real."
Growing up the way I did, I felt so conflicted about my relationship with God. I didn't speak in tongues, I never got slain in the spirit, I didn't cry at every single worship service, I never had this ginormous testimony to share at every evening service. Was there something wrong with me? I even had people tell me that I needed to be more like someone else, or I had unconfessed sin in my life. How can I confess more, I'm apologizing for things that maybe I'm doing but don't even know it! I needed to do this or that, so I could be good enough. I felt like a hypocrite because I didn't really want to become a missionary or a pastor or wife of a pastor, God forbid! I never wanted to do something because everyone else did. I would tell God that if he wanted these things for my life he'd have to make it very apparent. Because I didn't want to do these things for the sake of looking spiritual. And I felt bad for feeling this way. Weird huh?
So back to the present prophecy. Kevin verifying this uniqueness in me made me feel validated in how I've felt my entire life. He continued to tell me that my uniqueness brings freshness to the body of Christ. Then he told me that I was a rebel. Not outwardly with piercings or whatever, but that I resisted the "cookie-cutter" Christianity. Does that not confirm my above feelings? That I'm not wrong in not wanting everyone else tell me what my relationship with God is?
He also told me that it was like God had a chisel and there has been and still is chiselling in my life. God was taking away all the things that were not Rebekah, and were not in God's image. To Him, I am perfectly, wonderfully, and beautifully made. He'll get rid of anything that is not reflecting that in my life.
This was so reassuring because I have grown so much in my relationship with Him. I may not be as christanese as I was when I was younger, but I'm so much more comfortable with who I am as a person and with my relationship with Him. He is still showing me how much He loves me, and who he's created me to be. And it's amazing! People may look down on me because I don't do everything right, or fit into their world. I may talk or laugh too loud, but that's how God made me and He loves that about me. So instead of always looking at how horrible I am because I screw up every once in awhile I'm going to rejoice that God is with me, loves me, and created me in my own unique way!

Me

Me
Originally uploaded by rebekahlynn5.

More pictures of YWAM!! I'm trying to update as much as I can. Please be patient with me. I have lots to tell already!!!

Look below for a post that I finally finished about being a disciple.

We are Disciples!

Our second week of school our speaker was Danny Lehmann. He's in charge of all the YWAM bases in Hawaii. He spoke about Spiritual Disciplines such as solitude, bible readings, prayer, and things like that. It was a great week! I wanted to share something that he brought to light on Monday.
We watched a video and it was talking about what a disciple is. Disciple means learner in Greek. And we all know that Rabbi is teacher. So they gave a little insight into what it meant to become a Rabbi. Back in the day the boys would go to school till they were about 10 or 11 and had to memorize the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy), then they would go on to learn the family trade and start working. But, if they wanted to further themselves and become the best of the best they would go on until they were about 14 and finish the memorization to Malachi. Then they would go off and learn the family trade and start working. But, if they wanted to further themselves and become the best of the best of the best, they would then go up to their most revered Rabbi and ask if they could follow after them to learn their ways and become their disciple. The Rabbi would then ask them a bunch of biblical questions to see if this kid had what it took to be a Rabbi. To see if they really loved God. To see if the kid knew all the answers to the Rabbi's questions. The Rabbi might say "Ok, he knows his stuff, he loves God, but, I just don't see that he has what it takes follow me. Go home and learn your family trade." Or the Rabbi might say, "He knows his stuff, he loves God, he might have what it takes. You can follow after me, be my discisple, and learn what it means to be a Rabbi."
This boy would then leave his home, family, friends, and life immediatly go and follow after his Rabbi. When the family and friends would send off the young boy they would say to him, "May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi." Which basically meant that they were always following after the Rabbi, learning all there is to learn from him, so they could become like him.
When Jesus came he was called Rabbi. He was God's Son, the greatest Rabbi ever! He came to regular, poor men, who had no education and were doing the family trade, and called out to them to be his disciples! Could you imagine growing up in this culture, knowing what it took to be a disciple of the Rabbi's, and here is the greatest Rabbi ever to come and he's calling out to you to be his disciple? They were no longer studying, probably illiterate, and in the family trade, and Jesus comes to them and says, "I choose you, I believe in you, and I think you're good enough to follow me and learn from me, and be my disciple." Heck ya I'd drop my nets immediatly and follow Him!
The speaker later talked about Peter walking on water. Yeah, we all know this story, especially if you've grown up in the church. We say, "Peter, so little faith, doubting that Jesus is with him and he'll be ok." But, I had never looked at it in this way. Jesus called out to Peter, and chose him to come . Jesus believed in Peter. Peter knew Jesus would protect him, that's why he jumped out right away. But then, Peter doubted himself. I can just imagine him saying, "Wait a minute, what in the world am I doing? I'm Peter, I can't do this. Yeah, I know Jesus can help me, but I'm just Peter."
What's so amazing to me is that God chose us! He believes in us! He is the creator of the universe and he believes in us just as we are. We don't have to be educated and know all there is to know. He believes in us! He's called out to us! He trusts us! So many times I say, yeah I know God can do anything through everyone, I don't have faith that He can't pull through. But, I always lose faith in myself. I could never do this or that, I could never do a DTS, I could never finish college, I could never walk up to a stranger and ask them if they need prayer. But God believes in me in the big things and the little. And that blows me away!

May we all be covered in the dust of our Rabbi, Jesus Christ!

I'm going to Turkey!

Well, a lot has happened since the last post. I'm so excited that we've finally started! On Friday we were given the three choices for our outreach: China, India, and Turkey. When they said Turkey I thought that it was kind of different and out of the ordinary. So, they gave us about 25 minutes to go and pray about it and find out where God wanted us to go. As I prayed I couldn't get Turkey out of my mind. I thought, India would be awesome and anyone who had a choice would pick India. But, the only thing I could think about was Turkey while I prayed. I've always loved the Mediterrarean area and it's always been my dream to go to Greece. So, I made the decision and wrote down Turkey.
After we got together and found out our teams I continued to be encouraged. I'm so excited! We have an awesome team, and it's going to be such a great experience! We still don't know what we're going to be doing there, but we're totally pumped! Turkey is one of the most unreached countries, weird huh? They have freedom of religion but it's mostly Muslim. We also can't tell them that we're missionaries because they'll think we're part of the CIA or something. But, we can openly tell them that we're Chrisitians! It's also going to be cold there. So, I'll get some cold weather for awhile to remind me of home.

Every Wednesday we do a community outreach and I was asked to be part of the North Shore team. We'll be hanging out with kids from the North Shore at this couple's house. The couple (I can't remember their names) were part of YWAM Honolulu for 10 years and felt that they needed to start a ministry on the North Shore. So they built a house and have made it to be a place for these high school kids to hang out in a safe environment where they know they're loved. I'm so excited! We'll hang out, play games, eat dinner with them and maybe tutor them. We start next week, but tonight we'll be going up there to pray, see the place, and get to know the curriculum. I'm totally pumped for this. High school kids are one of my passions, so I'm excited that I'll be able to hang out with them.

Oh, we also have work crews. We work around the campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm part of the dinner prep. It's so much fun! I love being in the kitchen! The meal we served was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. I made the meatloaf and I thouroghly enjoyed it!

Anyways, that's some of the things that are going on. So, please pray for all our teams as we prepare to reach people in China, India, and Turkey. Also for all our outreach teams.
I appreciate you all and your words of encouragement and prayers. They mean so much to me! Oh, and another answer to prayer, I found out that my tuition is $5200 instead of $6200! Very exciting! That's $1000 less then I thought!
I will continue to try and keep things updated as much as possible! I love you all, and please remember to keep us in your prayers!
Mahalo, Aloha!

First Day

Well, last night was my first night at YWAM. I am in a room with Erica, Leah, and Emily. I have met a lot of girls with my cousin's names, Breanna (Brianna), Brittney, and Naomi. In our whole house there are 22 girls. And 3 bathrooms. And they are scary bathrooms! Everything is rotting out. It's kind of gross. And our ceiling is being held together with duct tape. It's pretty exciting.
So, last night as I unpacked, I was also re-packing for things to send back home with Donald. OK, I had too much stuff. He also took back my suitcases so that we had more room. What a guy! But, I'm bringing back more things from my house, like a c.d. player, fan, rugs, anything that I can bring and get away with it.
All the girls there are between 17 and 21. Yes, I feel very old. One of the girls was like, "Oh, you can be the mom of the bunch." Thanks, just what I want to hear! There was another girl that was 23, and another that's 27. So, that made me feel a little better. We haven't really met the guys. We think they're scared of us. Apparently there's only 13 or 14 guys, and like 27 girls. It's pretty insane!
Since the DTS hasn't officially started we didn't really do anything today. We just sat around as it rained and then rode the bus down to Ala Moana beach. Tonight I'm going to 'ohana and trying to avoid the base showers by taking one at Donald's before we head over to the Tatofi's. I'm taking advantage of living here before officially starting DTS.
Tomorrow we begin DTS with Aloha Day. We will meet everyone and have a BBQ at Ala Moana. Pretty tough. On Friday we find out the three choices we have for outreach. Then, we have 30 minutes to go pray about it and come back with our decision. So, please pray for me as I try to figure out where God wants me to go. I have no idea what the choices are yet, but please keep me in your prayers.
Mahalo! I love you all!

Leaving for YWAM

OK, here goes! I leave for YWAM in probably 30 minutes or so. I can't believe it. I'm so nervous right now, but excited at the same time. I can't believe I'm finally doing this! I have a lot of luggage! Hopefully they won't turn me away! Heather said, "Well, you can just send home whatever can't fit with Donald." (Isn't he lucky?) He's such a great guy, helping me out with my craziness. I tend to get carried away when I pack. But, hello, I am also moving out of my house, so what am I supposed to do?
Anyways, please pray for me. This is an intense adjustment for me. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do. I'm also getting nervous because I'm starting to worry about my finances again. Please pray for me to focus on God and not my worries.
Anyways, I love you all! I will try to update as much as possible, but I can not make any promises!
Aloha

Glacier Park

Glacier Park
Originally uploaded by rebekahlynn5.

I've added some new pictures! Yeah! There are some more of Pinehaven and other random things.
By the way, the teaching thing is going ok. I only have two days left with them. Fifth graders are a handful but they're fun too. I sent a kid to the office today. I was proud of myself. It's a lot tougher than you think to send a kid to the office. I can't believe I'm going to YWAM in 5 days! Ahhh, it's crazy!

I'm working again!

I'm going to start working again! I'm excited to start doing something and earning some money. But, I'm very scared to go back into the classroom. Especially as a substitute! On Monday I'll be subbing for a 5th Grade classroom at Ewa Elementary School until September 13th (when I move to the YWAM base in Honolulu). I've always been in primary, so this will be very different for me. I'll probably have to have some of the students teach, especially math. Fifth Grade! I'm a little freaked out. But, I'll be glad to get some experience in the upper grades.
So, please pray for me to not pee my pants or anything. Because, that's what I feel like doing. Wow, YWAM starts in like, 3 1/2 weeks. AAHH, that's crazy!!!
Anyways, I added some people's blogs to my links. Jesse, who just got married (yay), Andrew and Andrea, my cousins with cute kids, and Ona-Lysa, cute girl in Australia going to school with Hillsongs! (Is she not one of the luckiest girls ever, or what?)
I love you all, please say a prayer for me as I prepare to teach 5th graders (SCARY) and prepare my heart for YWAM.
Mahalo!

God is so cool!

Don't you just love it when God reminds you how cool he is? I was driving home tonight and was thinking about people in my life and how they handle relationships. Particularly about the people that seem to always be having a relationship with someone, and not really being single. You know who I'm talking about, those people who seem to always have a boyfriend or girlfriend, or some type of prospective.
Then I started thinking about myself. (You all know how into dating I was) I remember when I was younger and how I couldn't wait to have a husband. Then, I remember catching myself. I knew that I needed to have a strong relationship with God. So, I would pray that my desire was for a relationship with God and not with a man. But, that's natural. That's what we were created for. First to serve God. God designed women to be a companion to man. Isn't that what Adam asked for? I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud, or typing what I'm thinking.
Well, as I was driving I started to remember about when I was younger and how I had a hard time accepting that I was loved. I would think that when I met this perfect man that God had for me, I would finally feel loved and everything would run smoothly.
I will never forget the time I felt God's love for me, Rebekah Lynn Brooks, for the first time at 16. (That's another story). And it's been a long process, but I know that the Creator of the world loves me. How huge is that? I started to remember about all the times that God provides for me. He's so awesome! And I didn't even realize it till tonight about this whole love thing, I've been able to feel loved by my God, and because of that accept it when other people tell me they love me. I've been able to live my life contendedly and without regret. I'm finally comfortable with who I am and how God created me. Of course I still wanted a husband, but I was ok with how my life was going and didn't long for it to be different. I didn't feel as if I had this huge void in my life and couldn't continue the same. (Ok, I'm a little dramatic)
And now, God brings this man into my life. I realized that God is the provider for my life and he is the center of my life. So now, he brings me the man of my dreams.
Why am I typing this on my blog for the whole world to see? I don't know. If you happen to stumble across my blog and you're one of those people who for some reason are always in some type of dating relationship, this is my advice to you (because I am the oh wise one of dating:)). Take a year or two off. Find out who you really are. And if a year freaks you out or you find it hard, try to figure out why. Fill your life with God's love first!
Does this mean my life is perfect and I never have doubts or fears. Of course not, I'm human. But, I do know that I'm thankful to God for how he has always been with me and that I've had the awesome pleasure of knowing Him my whole life. I'm thankful that his timing is perfect and that He's in control of my life and not me! Yay God! He knows me better than myself. He knows when and what I'm ready for. I'm thankful that I've had the pleasure of being single for 23 years. Because I would not be who I am today if it were not for that. I would probably still be trying to figure out what kind of a person I am.

Sweet, Sweet Sound

Sweet, Sweet Sound
Originally uploaded by rebekahlynn5.

While at Pinehaven I got to dance a hula for their church. I danced to "I Love You Lord." I actually learned it in Washington when I was in COP. I was very excited to dance for them, but also very nervous because I have never danced by myself before. It was such a blessing to dance for them. I felt very honored. I was able to represent hula and Hawaii to these people, many for the first time. It was such a great experience, probably one of my most memorable moments of Pinhaven. So many people came up to me and commented on how they have never seen anything like that before. One boy said that he knew nothing about Hawaii and had never seen anything about Hawaii, he said "that thing you did was cool." Their first representation of hula was with worship to God and in a respectable manner. I am so thankful to God for allowing me this opportunity. At the end of our stay we put on a "service" for the students and they wanted me to dance again. So, I danced to "Shout To The Lord," while the other church that was there sang it accapela. That was really special! This little girl from Washington (of all places) was deemed Miss Aloha (Miss Congeniality) by our coordinator when we returned home. She said that I represented the Aloha spirit the whole time while at Pinhaven. I felt so honored.

Pinehaven Missions Trip

Aloha mi familia! (Yes, I'm tri-lingual.)
I just got back from a week-long mission's trip with my church. It was to a little town called St. Ignatiaus, Montana. Actually, it was to a ranch called Pinehaven in this town. This ranch is ginormous! I don't remember how many acres it was, but it was large and in charge. Anyways, it's a ranch for mostly Jr. High-Highschool ages. Although, there were some that were younger than that too. It was set up by a Christian missionary and his wife that came to Montana to preach to the Native Americans. They then set up this ranch for kids who are not doing so hot in their home situations. It's now run by this couple and their son and his wife. So, the kids come from all over the country and stay here, work on the ranch, live on the ranch, and go to school on the ranch until the people in charge feel that they're ready to return home. Some stay till they graduate, others leave earlier. There are about 6 houses right now with about 12 students in each. These become their families while at the ranch. Each house has house parents (who usually have their own biological children). They get up early, do chores, go to school, at 12:00 everyone stops and comes home for lunch, then go back to either work or school, then come home at 6:00 for dinner. It's really great! It gives these students a routine, and family life. They were held responsible for their actions, which is what a lot of kids need.
You could tell that God was working in this place. The staff and parents there had such a caring and loving attitude. And it was all for the kids. It was so awesome! Even the way the ranch is run is totally blessed by God. People donate things all the time, tractors, heavy machinery, even fire trucks! They milk their own cows, (yes, I got to milk a cow and even hand feed a baby cow!!) and someone was going to donate the milking machine, but Bob Larson (the head hancho) wanted the kids to continue doing it themselves because it was good discipline. It was amazing to see God's work in this place.
This was a different kind of missions trip for me. The other missions trips I've been on have been to third world countries where they're so excited for the missionaries to come and put on their show! But, it wasn't like that at all here. We were just another church coming to work. To work hard! In the summer they have all different churches come to help out on the ranch. So some of us picked berries (with the bears), built drawers, built fences, put up siding on the new barn, and chopped and stacked firewood. I was on the firewood committee. I was a logger for a week. Yep, I'm tough!! We would go up into the woods and chop down the trees. Ok, I didn't chop any trees, but I watched them fall! Then we ran it through a wood chomper! So, I didn't chop wood either. But, I got to run the machine a couple times. Rick, the head of our team, told me I was turning into a real wilderness woman. (What can I say, ladies is p.... too, go'on brush ya shoulda's off!) So, we threw wood to each other (or at each other as I often was being thrown at), and stacked it, unloaded it, stacked it. We stocked them up through the winter and into 2007. (I think) I got the dirtiest, I've ever been in my entire life! My face was so gross! At lunch (or supper) we would come in and wash our face and arms and hands, and still be so dirty. Then at dinner we would be even dirtier! My toes would be black through my socks and shoes. My arms were constantly scratched and had pitch on them. I am so HARDCORE! :)
It was great fun! I also got to drive a tractor, I'm a born natural! And run the wood chomper and was given the nickname Chomper Chick! (Why do I always get nicknames on mission trips?) We also got to go on a horse ride! I was very, very nervous. I did not want to go down hill, and it freaked me out! But, I had a really good horse that went nice and slow. Everyone tried to get me to make her go faster, but hello! I didn't want her to go faster, are they crazy! But, at the end of the trip I did trot her and now I'm a professional horse rider as well. (Just jokin' :)
It was an awesome trip and I would love to go back someday. Montana is a beautiful state. God, is so cool! We live in an awesome country that has so much diversity! Every state I've been in (I'm so diverse) is so different and amazing in it's own ways. I'm so thankful for where I live and that God cares about us and made this awesome creation!
E Hui Hou!

It's all fun and games till someone gets hurt.

OK, seriously, I'm not as conceited as my email says I am. Quite a lot has happened in my little life since the last time I put a post on this little blogger thing. Let's see, where do I start? Well, I went home for my little sister's graduation. It's so weird that she's graduated and is going to start college soon. She's one of the cutest girls in the whole world! Then I brought home a bunch of the family to see our home. It was very intense! Grandma came, I'm so glad she was able to come. Then there was my sister, my mom, Aunt Sandee, Aunt Jacki, Aunt Judi, Brianna, and Brittany all living in our house (which is pretty big) with me Aunt Boni, Tamara, and our roommate Sarah. Yes it was very, very, intense! A houseful of women, you can only guess what happened next...Our Uncle Fester came to visit us as well. Then the house got really small, really fast. He always takes up more room then he is welcomed! Everyone was amazed with the size of our family, but we kept telling them, this is a very small portion of the fam. I just want to let you all know that I'm glad you came and saw our home. I love sharing it with my family. Things didn't always go as planned, but I still enjoyed having you all here and in my home!
Shortly after the fam left I had my last week of school. Whoa, has that been hard to deal with. I'm waiting for substitute papers to go through, so as of right now I'm jobless. It is so scary! I've never really been without a job since I was sixteen. I got my last paycheck on the 5th, so it hasn't really been that long, but it's so scary not knowing what's going to happen next. I started to get in a funk and really freak out about a lot of things. I started to worry about the job situation and other things going on in my life and it was making me a little depressed. Then I talked to Auntie Omi! She's the bomb! She reassured me that everything always works out and God takes care of us. I already knew this of course because there's been many other times in my life that I had to rely on God and his plans for me. I'm so glad he's in control and not me. I didn't instantly feel better when I got off the phone with her, but it was nice to talk to her and have that reassurance from someone else other than myself. Later on in the day I realized that I hadn't been spending time with God and that's why I was feeling all jacked up! I was letting all these other issues cloud my mind, and letting fear and my worries take over. After that realization I was instantly feeling better. God is so cool, I've never had that quick of an attitude adjustment in my life! I was able to smile and laugh again. It was like this huge burden had been lifted from my shoulders!!! (Oh, I'm so cliche!) It's been so nice to enjoy my life again! I hate it when we get so wrapped up in our lives that we forget our focus.
Recently I sent out letters to everyone about my upcoming YWAM thing. So a lot of you will be getting letters. (If I don't have your address you need to email it to me) I can't believe it's coming so quickly! I begin school in September. Wow! That's in like less than 2 months. I'm very excited to see what God's going to do! Also, at the end of this month I'm going on a short term mission trip with my church to Pinehaven. That's a children's ranch in Montana. That's in like a couple weeks! Crazy! I'll write more about that after we go.
Oh let's see...what else...Oh yes, as some of you know, I do have a boyfriend! I know, I'm growing up so fast! I met him at my church. He works with the Kingdom Kids (elementary age) at church. And no Nicole, I'm not giving out Social Security Numbers. We've been "dating" for like 3 months, I think. I don't know, we're not really good with dates and that stuff. So, when the family came they all got to meet him. He was a little nervous because he knows how important my families' opinions are to me. But, I told him not to worry. And there was no need. Everyone approved of him. Even my sister told him he was good enough for me. Hello, that's ginormous coming from my sister! That's all the information I'm giving out for now. Just a little bit at a time!
OK, this is getting way too long. I shall write more later. Maybe another month or two?
You stay classy Washington. I'm Rebekah Lynn?

Leah's so big!

Leah's so big!
Originally uploaded by rebekahlynn5.

Whoa!!! Hey-O!!! I've got pictures!!! And they're sexy!!!! Don't act like you're not impressed! Just walk it off!.

Links

Well, I've changed my whole world so that I can have links on my blog. And now I do. I'm so big. I'm slowly getting the hang of this. Maybe one day I'll be able to start putting pictures on. I wanted to add links so that you all could see my church and the YWAM base that I'll be at. And of course my lovely cousins who got me started on this whole thing. But, for now you have to visit Tamara's blog for pictures.

I only have 8 more days of school left with my students! It's so scary and very exciting at the same time! I just gave them their writing assessment today and I'm a little scared to grade them. I'm afraid they didn't do well. Then everyone will know what a horrible teacher I really am!!! Oh, well, almost all of them are reading above grade level! I don't really know how that happened. They were all good readers before starting second grade.

Anyways, I'll write more later! I was just really excited about the whole links thing!
Aloha Nui Loa!

HIM Conference

HIM Conference


I am so proud of myself! I figured out how to add a link to my post. Isn't that exciting? I'm so big! I did it during our computer lab time in school. Yep, I use my time wisely!
Anyhoo, I went to the HIM (Hawaiian Island Ministries) Conference on the weekend of April 7th. It was awesome! We took the youth and all spent the night together. That was a little crazy, but it was totally awesome.
I went to this one session about transitions. It was so what I needed! I even cried during the session. Hello! I'm not a cryer! (Well, sometimes I am) I also realized that sometimes I put situations before God. For instance, I get so involved with what I'm going through, like moving. I got so involved in myself that I lose focus on God. Or other kinds of transitions like, quitting teaching. Then I get all stressed out and emotional, when I realize that I'm putting my worries before God. INTENSE!
At one of the General sessions one of the speakers talked about Africa and the missions work that went on there. I don't know, listening to that confirmed my decision to join YWAM. I would get worried that I was doing it for my own reasons. But, as I was listening I felt so excited about what was going on. I knew that my decision to go into the mission field was what I wanted to do. I just got a peace in my heart that it was what God wanted me to do too.
Let's see, there was more awesomeness that happened, but I can't remember it all because I'm typing this 2000 years after it happened. Luckily, I got c.d.'s of the ones that really spoke to me.
Oh, the last one I went to was about Mentoring and Rites of Passage. It was so cool! It's perfect for parents and people that are involved in the Youth Ministry. The speaker talked about how in our culture we don't really have definiate ritual rites of passage. Things like getting your license aren't enough. So, he gave examples of how him and his wife do procedures with their kids when they're going through a rite of passage. Does that make sense? Ok, I'm not good with the words. But, it was so cool. I think every parent or wannabe parent needs to hear it. So, you can just go to the link above and buy the cd! :)
Anyways, it was a great weekend! I had a lot of fun! And had a lot of growing experiences.

I've decided to add a little something else to my little blog thing. I'm sitting on our back porch in the hammock watching Tamara paint. It's really romantic! Especially with the lovely mosquitoes nestling me with their noses and the romantic noises of our roommate screaming at her yipping dog. Ah, the romances of the tropical island's of Hawai'i.

I just got back from the hospital after getting a Tetanus shot. I was really scared because I'm not too fond of needles. But, I think the whole body piercing experiences have helped me overcome that fear. I didn't even feel it. It was nothing like the nostril cavity or the bella! The reason for the Tetanus shot? I have lock-jaw. Just jokin'. For those of you who don't know yet I am in the process of applying for a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). ( www.ywamhonolulu.com )If accepted, this will take place in September. I will have three months of lecture here in Honolulu, and then three months of outreach somewhere in Asia. This is something I've wanted to do for a very long time. I'm really excited. But very, very, very nervous. Today I filled out my resignation form for school. I wasn't too sad at all. My job will end in June. Right now I'm thinking of being a sub for a little while. The only thing is that I have to take a two-week course and pay $100. How dumb is that? Hello, I'm already a teacher and have taught my own class!

Anyways, today was my first day back with the kids. Going back to school was not fun! I had such an awesome break. It made it very difficult to come back. The day went ok. However, last night I was about to cry at every second. I had about 5 million things to do right after school, so I didn't have any time to set up my classroom. I was so stressed out!!! My classroom was not set up and I had no idea what I was going to teach. Then I would start to think about the other 5 million things I have to do to prepare my students and myself in finishing the school year; and all the other things I need to do to prepare myself for the DTS thing in September and this other mission trip I want to do with my church in July. And to top it all off I'm getting observed this week for my PEP-T!. AAHHH!!! I'm hyperventilating just thinking about it all!
Anyways, I talked to a couple friends before I went to bed and they made me feel a lot better. I was in a good mood when I went to bed, so that made it all better. Then, I got up at about 4:15 this morning and went into school. Despite all my stresses last night, I was able to survive the day. My kids are "rascals" but they're cute. And they're lucky they are!

Well, I should go know so that I can plan for the next day. I really like to wait till the last minute so that I have a nervous breakdown every day before school. It is really exciting and gets the adrenaline pumping.

I love you all and don't really know how to sign off on one of these things since I'm not really writing a letter. Weird!
A Hui Hou

My Own Blog!

Aloha! Well, I am not as organized as Tamara, nor do write as exciting things as she, but I will do my best. I haven't figured out how to do the picture thing yet. So, there are no pictures. But, there will be soon! I will try to keep things updated.
Right now we are listening to this great album called Equator by this new artist, Carlos Torres. I don't know, maybe some of you have heard of him. He's all right. But, it's making me miss home very much! Auntie just made some awesome soup! It's so great having her here. We eat actual meals now. It's really fun!
I have to go to bed now because Tamara and I have to be at church at 6:30! Our church is now meeting in the nearby elementary school (sound familiar?) and we help set it up in the mornings. Basically we are really dedicated Christians that are going to have lots of jewels on our crowns in heaven.
I just wanted to get this thing set up and let you all know that I have a blog now! So, you can check up on me every once in awhile. However, I start school again on Monday and my life will resume it's usual business (I don't know if I'm spelling that right).
Anyhoo,
Aloha nui loa!
Oyasuminasi