Wednesday, September 21, 2005

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!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

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!

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

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

Thursday, September 08, 2005

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!