jenni goes to YWAM

Would you like a 16 or 20 ounce?

2008-08-04T13:05:00.001-10:00

This question is probably the most common phrase to escape from my lips these days. But working at the Aloha Cafe on the U of N campus in Kona has been quite a good fit for me. I really do love my job! Not only do I work in a place on campus where people like to go, but I also I get to work with two great Swiss girls, Diana and Sarah. We have a lot of fun together, and listen to good music at the same time!

Working in the cafe is an opportunity for me to serve the people here. I also love the opportunity to connect with many people I've never met before. Many staff and students, as well as visitors, come into our little cafe for meetings, use it as a spot for a quiet time, or just a place to hang out with friends. It's really special. Plus, I get to use an espresso machine and an incredible blender *and* I smell like Kona coffee constantly.

Well, just thought I'd update you with how I feel about the Aloha Cafe!

Goodnight.
-j

Engagement Party of the Century

2008-07-23T11:38:00.000-10:00

This was such a special night for John and me! Thank you to all of you who were a part of this great celebration. We love you!
Jeff and Beth, you are SO good to us!

It's been a while...

2008-07-23T08:53:00.000-10:00

Hi! I'm back!

It really has been a while since I've added anything here. Sorry!

Well, I'm in Kona, Hawaii now. But before getting out here to work with YWAM again, a few fun things happened. John and I got engaged! I was in England for a couple weeks in May, and John was there for a month to visit his family. We had a great time together, and then I came home with an engagement ring. That was pretty incredible.

While I was home, from April through June, I also started substitute teaching again. That was really, really fun. I know that teaching is something the Lord has given me a passion for- it is a blessing when I get to be in the classroom. Although I'm not currently teaching out here, I'm going to look into the possibility of subbing in Kona.

Well, just a mini-update will have to do for now. I'll be better, though, about keeping this Blog updated!

Love you all!
-j

I love my staff!

2007-11-17T07:00:00.000-10:00

This is the staff I've been working with in Kona!

(A break-down of all the staff in the top photo)
Samuel-from Finland, and one of my good friends from DTS last year
Kelsey-one of my beloved roomies, from Oregon
John (whom I like to call "Juan")-personally, my favorite staff member (but don't tell anyone)
Jenni- straight from San Jose, California
Clint-from Texas (but born in Indonesia!), who often goes on 6 mile runs with Juan
Jo-our other "Brit" and another dearly-loved roommate
Mo-born in Mali, Africa now from Seattle, Washington (and another good buddy from my DTS last fall)
Cliff-Kelsey's big brother and an aspiring entrepreneur
Cynthia-our Native-American-blooded sister from the Western side of the USA (various states including Arizona and California)

Last weekend, the YWAM base had a staff "Love Feast", which was a special dinner held in honor of all the people that work on campus...I think over 300 people were there! It was incredible. Of course, we like to take advantage of any opportunity to get dressed up, gussied up, done up, or decked out...and this night was no exception. For this particular occasion, John and I went for a retro theme, while others chose more modern attire for the evening. We ate delicious food, had thoughtful attention from students (who had volunteered their time to make the evening happen), and also got to do some dancing. Honestly, we could not have asked for a better way to be blessed as a staff. Have fun looking at the pictures!

Love you all so so so very much...

Send me

2007-11-01T22:20:00.000-10:00

Tonight was so significant to me. God is definitely calling me to step beyond what I think is possible, and actually mean it when I say "Here am I! Send me," (Isaiah 6:8). We had our Thursday Night gathering tonight, a weekly time when everyone from campus gets together for worship and also to listen to a speaker.

Tonight we had the privilege of hearing from a woman named Susi Childers. Her message to us was so profound, yet so simple, and it really made me think. She challenged us with a story about a group of people being changed by the influence of one person, and reminded us that God is using ordinary people to change the world. There is so much hurt and destruction in the world; am I willing to be sent to those places? Will God be able to use me?

Susi and her husband, Paul, are part of a ministry called Voice for the Voiceless. She has a tremendous gift for photography, and travels around the world to take photos of people. She's got an amazing ability to capture the deepest emotions in her subjects, and she uses the photos to give a voice to those who are voiceless. This is a little blurb from her bio:

"I love people, not just taking their pictures, but spending time with them. I'm not an evangelist but I use my camera to approach people. I'd spend two or three hours with one person and I'd hear their stories and that was the part that changed my life. There are so many people out there who are suffering and nobody knows about it. That's why we call this whole ministry a Voice for the Voiceless. I believe that's what God called me to be, to use my photography to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves."

If you have a minute, you can explore this website a little bit. I'm trying to track down a more recent site for the Voice for the Voiceless, but haven't found it yet. But go here for now:

http://www.ywamconnect.com/sites/childers/a%20voice%20for%20the%20voiceless

I love you all. Blessings to you!
-j

Waipio Valley on a Quad

2007-10-30T10:02:00.000-10:00

Just a couple pictures from an ATV adventure in Waipio Valley. I know you might not believe it, but I went 4-wheeling, along with Johnny, my Aunt Jeanie, Uncle Mike, cousin Scott, and his girlfriend Allie. I pretty much think that if 4-wheeling was an olympic event, I'd be getting the gold medal at the next Olympic Games. Johnny would probably get gold for the men's division, but Uncle Mike would give him some fierce competition. We also swam in a frigidly cold waterfall. Seriously, don't mess with us.

Swing

2007-10-24T21:30:00.000-10:00

So, tonight, John and I just took our first dance class together. There is a married couple on base, Rebecca and Gabriel, who are teaching a six-week Swing class. I'll admit, I am a little uncoordinated, but I had such a great time it didn't even matter. Something that was so unusual to me about the class: there were more guys there than girls! That's right...the ladies were totally outnumbered. I guess the class they teach on Monday night has the opposite problem...too many girls and not enough guys. For me, it's fun to have fewer girls because then there's more opporunities for me to dance and get good practice. Instead of Johnny and I dancing together the whole night, everyone in the class rotates so we develop as versatile dancers. Our teachers, Rebecca and Gabriel, are so great and very patient with us. I'll keep you posted on how our Swing-dancing-skills progress.
Goodnight everyone!
Love,
-j

back-to-school

2007-10-23T23:08:00.000-10:00

Even though it's my second time around, I'm getting so much out of what's being taught...I feel like I'm a DTS student again. I'm learning so much from our speaker (who was actually a speaker during my DTS last year). David Bryan, who is teaching us about spiritual warfare, has been sharing radical testimonies with the class this week, and backing up what he says with truth from the Bible as well. It has been increasing my faith, but also challenging me to really take a second look at what I believe. Do I really believe that, with God, all things are possible? Really? ALL things? Can people with physical sickness, like cancer or diabetes, be healed in the name of Jesus? Can people be raised from the dead? Are unexplainable miracles happening today? Yep, with God all things are possible. It is so incredible. For so long, I have put my own limitations on God, without realizing it. My concept of God has been so small, and so minimizing. He is capable of all things. He is also loving. I want to keep me eyes open to see His miracles, but I also want to be a part of them. Think about that: God wants to give us a part in His miracles. That blows my mind! I hope those of you that actually read this little Blog are also presently being blown away by the unexplainable power and love that God has. Be blessed as you ponder these back-to-school thoughts I'm having!
Goodnight!

Mile 88

2007-10-18T16:05:00.000-10:00

These are some photos from a beach day we had a couple weekends ago. It was such fun day, and one of our first opportunities to start getting to know our students. We discovered that a couple boys, Brad and Jake, have a hidden talent of spear-fishing for eels. Don't worry, we didn't eat Mr. Eel for dinner, though.

IronMan

2007-10-16T07:02:00.000-10:00

These are just a few photos from IronMan!
We were on the Security team for the World Championship event in Kona, Hawaii. Our shift started at 4 in the morning, so we left campus at 3:30 am and walked to downtown Kona where the event would start at 6:45 am. Talk about early! There were hundreds of volunteers from YWAM, over 2,000 athletes competing, and thousands more spectators watching. It was unbelievable! I got to sit in the VIP area later in the day, so I was right at the finish line when the first place athlete, Chris McCormack from Australia, came through. Maybe someday I'll be an IronMan too!

Try NOT to have fun in Kona

2007-10-08T23:10:00.000-10:00

It was one of those try-to-fit-in-as-much-fun-as-possible type of weekends.

1) We took our class of 42 students, plus 13 staff, and a few extra friends, to see the movie The Seeker on Friday night. The movie was directed by David Cunningham, who also directed the movie The Path to 9/11, (which stirred up a bit of controversy last year). His mom and dad, Loren and Darlene, are actually the founders of YWAM. David came to Kona and shared with us a little bit about his experience making this film. It seemed a little bit more special to go see the movie for its opening night after listening to the director speak about it firsthand. And I've never gone to the theaters with a group of 50 friends.

2) Our class took a trip on Saturday to one of my favorite Kona beaches. We like to call it Mile 88, but the locals refer to it as Kua Bay. It was a beautiful beach day. The boys played football in the soft sand, everyone swam in the ocean, we were constantly reapplying sunscreen, some people decided to snorkel in the salty sea, and some guys even speared an eel. After a full day of sun, we were ready to head home in our merry fleet of 15-passenger-vans. Of course, the day wasn't entirely flawless. As we were on our way back to campus, we realized we'd left two students behind. Uh, woops. But instead of making thm hitchhike home, we turned around and picked them up.

3) After the beach day, there was a Nations Party that night back at campus. We had so much fun learning dances from cultures all over the world. Johnny and I did some salsa dancing, we tried some crazy Brazilian steps, there was some hillarious break- dancing and hip hop (which was a riot because it was mostly white people, pretending like we had rhythm), I learned a traditional Finnish dance, and gave Greek dancing a try as well. Oh the fun you can have on a YWAM base in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

4) My lovely roommate, Joanna Mutch, from England, celebrated her birthday on Sunday. We went out for a yummy Thai food lunch, and then later in the evening we celebrated with an AMAZING dessert called Hualalai Pie. It has been a busy weekend! I am most definitely thankful, though, for the way God is teaching me things even in the midst of all the constant activity. I am learning about people from different countries and cultures, there are people pouring into my life and encouraging me in areas that I want to grow, and I am starting to get better at seeing the world with God's perspective.

Hope all of you out there are great, wherever you may be...
And may your coming week be blessed!

Arrival in Kona

2007-10-08T22:53:00.000-10:00

The students are here!
On September 27, 2007 (a little less than two weeks ago), our students arrived in Kona, Hawaii. The U of N will be their home away from home for the next few months. It is an exciting time, but also really hectic. I have been go-go-go, but all of it is stuff I love doing. We are having class time, worship nights, aloha welcomes, etc... and we do all this because of the Lord's heart to celebrate the people of the world and live together as a community.
The school I am staffing is called the Community Transformations DTS. Our Outreach teams will leave for New York City, and Capetown, South Africa in mid December. It is such an amazing class to be a part of! I'll have to explain it more in depth later. But basically, all the staff time I put in here is like a full time job (and then some). Pray that I learn how to balance my time, and also pray that I will make connections with our students. I just want to love on them.
Miss you all!
Send me an email if you can!
*The top picture is of our classroom, We're a little bit packed, but that's a good thing. We have 42 students and 13 staff members, so it's real cozy in our classroom.
*The other picture I took at the Aloha Welcome in the Ohana Court. It was a night of hula dances, and a special display of all the nations represented in Kona this quarter.

Just a glimpse

2007-10-01T23:31:00.000-10:00

Hey loyal readers of the jenni blog...
It is still kind of a secret that I've been updating this, so I'm really not sure who is looking. But I felt like writing a little something tonight, just to give you a tiny glimpse of what is going on at the YWAM Kona base. It is so exciting to be here as the quarter unfolds. The students all arrived last Thursday. They are from all over the world! Right now I am on staff with a DTS called "Community Transformations." There are 4 other DTS focuses going on at the same time, with their own groups of staff and students...but I'll admit that I am totally biased in thinking that ours is particularly special. Join me in praying that this group of staff and students will be marked by unity and humility. I am really looking forward to the things God wants to do in us and through us, and I am already seeing Him at work in my own heart.
Just so you know, my life in Hawaii isn't quite as glamorous as some of you may think (although there are spectacular benefits to living here!). Let it be known that I share a small room on campus with five other girls. Yes, that makes six of us in a room that I'd guess is about 12 ft. X 20 ft. Yikes-a-wee-wa. That sure is snug. But we are one happy ohana (that's the Hawaiian word for family). Their names are Jo (short for Joanna, she's from England), HaeJin, Anna (both from Korea), Myssi and Kelsey (both from the US). I definitely miss Lora Drive right about now, but this place is also really special...just in different ways.
Well, I could really keep writing for hours but I need to get to bed.
Blessings to you all!
Love,
j

Back in Kona!

2007-09-22T22:00:00.000-10:00

Last fall, I did a DTS (Discipleship Training School) here in Kona. My school was called the Impact Pacific focus and there were about 50 students in my class. Now, one year after that school began (and about 7 months after it ended), there are quite a few of us who have returned to Kona (or other areas of YWAM). So, those of us in Hawaii decided to get together the other night for a very tiny reunion. It was so much fun! It kind of felt like no time had passed since we had last been together here. God truly blesses us with the gift of being relational creatures, and it's so wonderful to be reunited with friends. I most likely would have never met any of these people under any other circumstances. Isn't that amazing? YWAM is such a cool missions organization; I will forever have friends around the world.

No Bad Days (as they say in Hawaii)

2007-09-22T21:37:00.000-10:00

This place is full of opportunities to connect with awesome people. These are just a few photos of fun things I've gotten to do during staff training. The first one I took of Johnny and our friend Samuel from Finland. I had just painted one toe nail on each of them, and they just couldn't resist striking a model pose for the camera. The other photos are from some crazy times together in the kitchen. Even though we worked hard, we also made sure to have as much fun as we could. Things are going great over here, but I miss you all so much.
Lots of love,
jenni

Hawaiian Birthday

2007-09-22T21:13:00.000-10:00

Johnny just had a birthday last weekend so I took him out on a date. We went out to dinner at a little place called the Aloha Angel Cafe (totally lame name for a restaurant, I know). It was such a typical Hawaiian-style place. Everything was very laid back...there were shirtless customers in flip flops and other patrons decked out in funky Hawaiian prints. You just never know what to expect in Hawaii. After some coffee (for Johnny, not me) and a walk on the beach, we went out to a movie. It was a really fun date night. Thanks to Jeff and Beth who let us borrow their car. We had such a great night together!

Mom, you will probably appreciate this the most

2007-09-22T20:25:00.000-10:00

Aloha again!
Well, I am back in Kona, Hawaii to staff at YWAM. I know, some people didn't even know I was coming back out here. In August, I made the decision to join DTS Staff, and then headed out here on August 28th...so it all happened pretty fast! I just wanted to get my Blog up and running again, so I wanted to start with a couple pictures and a short little blurb. Actually, though, the pictures are not loading very easily for some reason. I'll have to try to get more pictures up later. This is a picture of most of the staff interns who came to Kona for training at the same time I did. We had a couple weeks of classes all together and became close friends. Especially from working weekend kitchen shifts together! That's right...I spent my first THREE weekends in Kona as a member of the kitchen crew. We'd have to get there at 6 am on Saturday and Sunday! It was always fun to work with these friends, though.
I hope everyone out there is doing great. I will do my best to keep my Blog updated, because some of you may be curious about what I'm up to these days.
Love you all!
jenni

Back from PNG!

2007-02-25T12:34:00.000-10:00

Hey, I am back from Papua New Guinea. These are just a couple pictures of things I saw while I was there. I will have to give you a more detailed slide show and descriptions later...but this country is amazing. I can't wait to tell stories!
More to come...
-jenni

Off to PNG!

2006-12-22T22:52:00.000-10:00

HEY EVERYBODY!
I leave Kona tomorrow. I wish I could have called all of you or emailed you personally but I ran out of time. I am definitely excited for the adventures ahead of me and I hope you keep praying for my PNG team.
I love you all a lot...
Mahalo, Aloha, Makapala,
*j

finally, an update

2006-12-13T17:15:00.000-10:00

Hey Everybody!
Looks like I got some pictures to load...finally! So, over the weekend I went with my friends Amy (as usual!) and Stephen up to the northern coast of Hawaii. These are a couple pictures from our adventure.
Everything is going really well here. I am getting ready to leave for Papua New Guinea...only ten days until we go! Can you believe it? Thanks, everybody, for your prayers and encouragement. It means so much to me!
*j

2006-12-12T20:18:00.000-10:00

I don't know why, but i haven't been able to upload new photos to my blog in the longest time. Sorry you guys! I will keep trying!

Earthquakes, Turkey, and the Beach!

2006-11-26T15:31:00.000-10:00

Aloha! Well, this Thanksgiving was far from typical. My dad, brother, and sister were able to come out to Kona to celebrate Thanksgiving with me, and it was an eventful day to say the least. In the morning, as we were getting ready to head over to campus (from the hotel where they were staying), we felt a couple small earthquakes. So crazy! It was a small reminder of what happened a little over a month ago, when Kona felt a huge earthquake here. This was not nearly as bad. But I can't help but wonder if I should expect more quakes during my time here...
After getting over to the U of N for brunch, we headed to Children's beach for a little bit. Man, we had such awesome weather! It was in the 80's and very sunny. Anyhow, later in the day we all had Thanksgiving dinner with everyone from my school. Josh, Angie, and Dad joined us. It was such a fun day! And we even had a big dessert with the entire campus later that evening. It was a really fantastic day. Although, it didn't quite feel like Thanksgiving. I wish I could have shared this special Holiday with all of you...

It's almost Turkey Day!

2006-11-22T20:16:00.000-10:00

Happy nearly-Thanksgiving everybody! So, I just wanted to post a couple pics...I got to go to another really cool beach last weekend. (These are just a couple pictures from that day. The beach we went to is in front of a residential area so it's well kept and super beautiful. One picture is of Amy, Margit, and Kristine eating pixie sticks. The other one is me and Amy.) We had such a relaxing time there, and we had perfect beach weather.
So, is everyone excited for Thanksgiving? I wish I could be with all of you! But the cool thing is that my dad, brother, and sister are coming to Kona for Thanksgiving! Their flight just landed and they'll be on their way over to the campus soon. I am so excited! Well, I hope you are all doing well. May your Thanksgiving be blessed and may you be surrounded by those you love! I love all of you...so much.
*j

A Day in the Life of a YWAMer

2006-11-20T19:52:00.000-10:00

Hello everybody! No pictures to post right now, but I thought it would be fun to walk you through a typical day/week for me at U of N Kona. So, in the mornings I get up around 5:30 to pray and read my Bible, then go for a run by about 6:00. Sometimes I run with my friend Amy, and sometimes I go alone. The thing about Kona, is that even when it's still dark out in the morning, it's probably not less then 65 degrees. So, it's never really cold when I run in the mornings. After a run, we have until 7:15 to grab breakfast. Then I shower and get ready for the day.
So, Monday through Friday, class starts at 8 am. A couple mornings a week we begin with worship. Other mornings are for intercession (praying together, but asking God what He wants us to pray about, and praying on behalf of others), and then one morning a week we have a pretty intense Bible Study with teachers from the School of Biblical Studies here (it is a really intense school that studies and reads through the entire Bible 5 times in 9 months). We usually start our class lecture time by 9, and our speaker for the week talks for a while. These times can be pretty intense. I have learned a lot from the speakers so far. Last week we learned about spiritual warfare and I was blown away. So, lecture goes until 12:30 pm and then we grab lunch. After lunch I have free time on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. But on Wednesday and Friday, our class meets up again at 1:30 for additional class time. Wednesdays are for small group meetings, which are so cool because now we are meeting with our Outreach Teams for small groups and really getting to know each other. Then, Fridays at 1:30 is our school's process time. So, we talk about the week and have time to share what we've learned. Sometimes we do this in discussion groups, other times we make play-dough sculptures or do creative activities to demonstrate what we've learned.
Later in the afternoons(during the week) is work duty, from 3 to 5 pm. Pretty much everyone on campus has a work duty. I personally think mine is the best: hospitality. But anyhow, some people have work duty from 3 to 5 every week day, other people have it early in the morning and help out with breakfast, and then some people have it on the weekends. My work duty schedule is pretty flexible, and I can usually get the work done whenever I have time. But my team is so fun, so we usually work all together at the normal time. We pretty much lucked out with our Hospitality work duty. I make birthday cards and thank you cards, we clean the classroom, and plan the menu for our school's snack and then we go shopping at Costco every Friday. Other people spend their work duty in the kitchen, or out mowing lawns. I got hooked up with hospitality!
Once work duty is done in the afternoons, people go to dinner. This is usually a pretty mellow time. Everyone eats kind of slow and just relaxes. One thing that does make me sad, though, is that we hardly ever have dessert. But what a silly thing to complain about! I don't know why I even wrote about it! After dinner, our evenings are totally free to do whatever we want. Except for Thursdays, when we have our weekly corporate meeting in Ohana Court. It's kind of like a church service. We sing worship and then usually hear a message. Sometimes it is REALLY boring. And sometimes it's really good.
On the weekends, we are totally free. Sometimes people rent cars and take day trips to the beach or to the volcano. Other people hitchhike or walk to get around. And if you're really lucky, you make a friend who has a car here and then get a ride with them whenever they go somewhere. One of my staff leaders, Jessica, has a car here, so that's been a blessing. She is super generous with giving people rides and stuff. That's the great thing about this place. Everyone is so willing to give! That is what the church is supposed to look like...everyone working and living together and making sure that people's needs are met. I could tell so many stories of how people provide for one another here, whether it's finances for Outreach or random things like cameras. God really speaks to people, and the people here are listening and obeying!
Well, this was kind of a long entry. I hope those of you who actually read the whole thing find it somewhat interesting. If not, I'm sorry for taking up your time :) But thanks to everyone out there...you have been so encouraging and I'm really loving it out here in Kona. God bless you all today!
*j

Hapuna Beach

2006-11-19T07:23:00.000-10:00

So, last weekend I went to Hapuna beach with a bunch of people. It was really great! I tried all week to get these pictures up and it just wouldn't work. So, finally...here they are.
I have had so many opportunities to go to cool beaches on the island. I can't believe I am going to the beach in the middle of November. The weather has been really warm still...in the 80's. And it hasn't been raining much at all. I seriously love Hawaii so much.
Hope everyone out there is doing really well. I miss you all and love you lots!
*j

Team PNG

2006-11-10T18:26:00.000-10:00

Here is the Outreach Team you've been waiting to see! Team PNG!
Back row: Amy, Bella, Ryan, Zack, Karen, and Vern
Front row: me, Jeenie, Susanna
So, we all ate dinner together tonight and found out some cool things about our upcoming trip. We will be flying out of Kona on December 23rd, and arriving in Sydney, Australia on Christmas Eve. Then, we're going to spend the night in the airport and fly out to Papua New Guinea the next morning, Christmas Day. What an adventure, huh!? So, if you are looking for ways to pray for us, I've got some ideas:
1. That we would decide on a place to stay in PNG (right now we have a couple options, and both are in the area of Mt. Hagen)
2. That everyone on our team would get all our Outreach fees (the due date is Thanksgiving Day)
3. Pray also for health, and safety...we need God's protection!
Thanks everyone for all your prayers. I know it has made such a difference in my time here already.
I love you all!
*j

It's already November? Where did October go?

2006-11-05T22:18:00.000-10:00

Well, sometimes I forget to update this page. So, here are a couple fun pictures... the bottom one is from the Harvest Festival (on Halloween), which was an event in the community that we volunteered to help out with. Basically, kids dressed up in costumes and played games and got prizes. Amy and I were in charge of a bowling game, and at the end of the night it felt like we had done a million squats, because we had to bend down every 2 seconds and set up all 10 bowling pins, over and over and over. It was fun, though, and we laughed a lot.
The other photo is of Charlie, Amy, and Matt as we were hitch-hiking to Hapuna this weekend. It was a very pretty beach, but unfortunately it rained on us not long after we arrived. We were all a bit gloomy after that. The main adventure was actually getting there. Life in Kona is always an adventure!
I love you guys and miss you lots.
*j

Queen's Bath

2006-10-28T15:24:00.000-10:00

This is the beach I went to today. It's called Queen's Bath. The end.

Weeks 3 & 4 in Kona

2006-10-27T18:34:00.000-10:00

Well, it's been a while since my last little post, ay? Sorry about that. These are just a couple little pictures of things I've been up to. Since my grandparents came to visit, I got to see some cool things around the island, like the Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm. And I threw in a random picture of me pushing my friend, Jill, in a baby stroller. Sometimes we have to be inventive when finding fun things to do around campus. Well, goodnight for now!
*j

Sheraton Cheer Squad

2006-10-21T22:25:00.000-10:00

Hey everyone! My grandparents are actually visiting Kona this weekend; I had such a fun day today! After helping out at the Iron Man triathlon event (my shift started at 4 a.m. and went until 10 a.m.) some friends came with me to swim at the pool at the Sheraton Hotel, where my grandparents are staying. This was by far the greatest pool I've ever swam in. There was a waterfall and even slides to go down. We had such a relaxing afternoon! I just wanted to share this picture of Amy, Nick, Stephanie (up in the cheer stunt) and I doing some cheerleading in the shallow end. We were laughing so hard all day!

Silly faces

2006-10-21T19:17:00.000-10:00

This is a picture from a couple weeks ago of the day we painted our faces (in one of my emails, I called it "war paint"). Even though everyone looks silly, it was a really cool experience in unity. I really love the things that are happening here, even though they are REALLY weird and unfamiliar at times.

Back to the beach!

2006-10-18T19:38:00.000-10:00

So, I got to go back to Children's Beach today (aka Kahaluu beach) and, as you can see, I got up close to one of the sea turtles. We didn't even notice it as we walked by! Then we glanced back and saw that we had walked on the sand right next to it. Anyhow, we had a little time to snorkel, so that was fantastic. The water at this place is really calm and has a lot of shallow water, so it's a great spot to see fish and other sea creatures. It is such a cool beach! Hope everyone out there is great, and I love you all!
*j

Earthquake and Waipio Valley

2006-10-16T22:12:00.000-10:00

Things in Kona were mostly back to normal today. We had our regular class schedule for the day and work duty after that. Tonight we were hearing thunder and there has been lightning too. I can hear the rain coming down outside...I hope we get sunshine tomorrow, though.
Yesterday, a couple hours after the earthquake, I got to go on an amazing adventure with some friends. We drove to Waipio Valley and the beauty we saw was unreal. We hiked down into the valley, across the black sand beach, through the jungle, and then up some waterfalls. It was my favorite day so far, even though it started out with an earthquake. We even saw wild horses. That's right. WILD horses. I got really close, and then the boys got closer and were feeding rice crispies to one horse. Just a couple seconds after that picture, Andy (with the white bandanna) almost got kicked by that horse. I think it got nervous when Andy was right by it's back-side and was so close. Anyhow, we were all safe. It was an amazing day and I'll have to write more about it later. I love you all and I miss you so much!
*j

more adventures in Kona

2006-10-10T18:30:00.000-10:00

Hey everybody...it's been a little while since my last update. Don't worry; I'm doing great! This weekend was absolutely wonderful. I went to the beach with a few girls from U of N and we had such a blast. We went to a beach called Kahaluu Beach (also known as Children's Beach) where there is some fantastic snorkeling. A couple of the girls said it was the BEST snorkeling place they'd ever been to, because there were so many fish all over the place. I didn't snorkel, but I did get very close to some Sea Turtles. It was amazing! They came right up to the shore and were not afraid of people at all. No touching allowed, though. It's a $1000 fine! So we got as close as we could, as you can see from the picture of my friend Paulina and the friendly turtle next to her. The other picture I posted is actually me with my roomies! From left to right, HyeSeung, Traci, YoouSun and then me. Aren't we a good looking (and multi-cultural!) bunch? So, now you have some faces to go with the names. I hope you are enjoying the updates and I will keep adding more when I can. Love and hugs to all!
*j

Downtown Kona

2006-10-06T22:07:00.000-10:00

Aloha everyone! It's Friday night in Kona, so a few of us went downtown and walked around. There really isn't a WHOLE lot to do in Kona, but it's so nice to go out for a walk and get off campus for a bit. We just took random photos at any opportunity we had, so these are some of them. If you'll notice my dark friend, Mo, he wasn't too excited to be in front of the camera. He is such a funny guy, and we joke around a lot because he is really sarcastic. He actually grew up in West Africa and then was adopted and now lives in Washington. Everyone here has a cool story to tell about God's goodness. I love it.

Geckos!

2006-10-04T17:15:00.000-10:00

Hey, this is a picture of one of our unofficial roommates. Cute, huh? These bright green Geckos are not shy...they are ALL over the place here in Kona. ***** We've been getting rained on these past couple of days, but it's a great week so far; there have been lots of meetings. We heard from Darlene Cunningham, co-founder of YWAM (and wife of Loren Cunningham, the man with the vision to start YWAM). She is so encouraging, funny, and enthusiastic. It was fun to hear her story. I think Loren is supposed to speak to us later this week. ***** We've been covering a lot of the "business" aspects so far, making sure everyone is on the same page. One of the things everyone does here is a specific "work duty." For most people, work duty time is Monday through Friday from 3 to 5 in the afternoon. Some people work in the kitchen, some people do gardening, others are on housekeeping, etc... So today I got trained for my work duty. My duty is hospitality, which I am REALLY excited about. I'll have to write about it more next time. It's going to be so great though. And from what they've said about it, I think it's a good fit for me. ***** So, I just got back from a sushi place where I ventured with a few new friends. I am not a sushi fan, but I gave it another try and it was pretty good. It had chicken in it, instead of fish, so that was more my style. Also, I dug in and used my hands, since I'm no good with chop sticks. We had a great time, and I am getting to know new people everyday so that makes everything more enjoyable. Love you guys, and feel free to give me a call sometime. I don't always have my phone on, but I love hearing from all of you!
*j

Sunday in Kona

2006-10-01T15:45:00.000-10:00

It's Sunday in Kona, and everyone is very relaxed. There is definitely a different pace of life here on the island. The first picture is the view from the church we went to this morning. Carla, my new Costa Rican friend, is in the other picture with me. The church is called Living Stones and was really tiny. The building is over 100 years old! It was really neat. I liked the service, but I think I will try a couple other churches before I decide where I want to go. Oh, one cool thing about this church was afterwards they had an "Aloha Table" where people from the church brought fresh fruit and we could take whatever we wanted. There were bananas on the table today, but they were bright green so I wasn't sure if I'd like them. Does that mean they aren't ripe yet? Hmmm... Anyhow, the church is only a couple miles away from the school but we were able to get a ride in a Shuttle, which made things a lot easier. I hope everyone is doing well, and I will do my best to keep you all updated. Love you! *j

2006-09-30T12:05:00.000-10:00

These are a few of my new friends here in Kona. Starting on the far left is Andrea from Mexico, Josie from North Carolina, Sara from Georgia, and Martina from Switzerland.

Aloha from Kona!

2006-09-29T13:32:00.000-10:00

Aloha! I am in Hawaii, safe and sound. It has been non-stop since I arrived last night but I am having the time of my life already. There are people from all over the world, and it creates quite an interesting dynamic. I have three roommates...two of them are from Korea, and their names are Hyeseung and Yooseung. The third rommate is Traci from Colorado. We've all been so busy with our programs that we haven't had much time to spend together, but we are getting along quite well so far. The weather is really warm and the air is humid, but I am loving it. Tonight we have an Aloha Welcome, so that should be fun. Well, gotta go....love you all! -j

Thanks!

2006-09-25T19:16:00.000-10:00

Thanks!

2006-09-25T19:01:00.000-10:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to my going-away-party (and also to those of you who were there in spirit) over the weekend. I enjoyed myself so much, and I feel blessed for having an opportunity to see so many of you before I leave. Your love and support encourages me so much! Here are some pictures from the evening. Love and hugs, jenni

Less than 10 days!

2006-09-19T18:47:00.000-10:00

(This picture is me and Emily after picking strawberries. She did a YWAM DTS last year.) So, my YWAM departure is rapidly approaching. I am pretty sure that it's not going to hit me until I actually get there, but I'm getting excited. Here are some things I'm wondering about right now: What will my roommates be like? Will I be able to find enough wheat-free food to keep my tummy full? And how often will they be serving chocolate in the dining facilities? Also, how close is the beach to the school's campus? Will anyone try to teach me to surf while I'm in Hawaii? Well, these are just a few of the questions rolling through my mind. I guess I'll find out sooner or later.
-j

Back To School

2006-09-10T16:24:00.000-10:00

These are some other fun pictures of things I've done this past year. I'm just getting some practice with the "Blog" realm. Hope you enjoy!

I am leaving soon!

2006-09-10T10:35:00.000-10:00

Hey, this is a trial run of my new Blog account. I'm hoping to use this site to keep everyone updated about what is going on with me during my time with YWAM.
-jenni