Lakeside Community

A few months ago, I began going to a home fellowship group.  And out of the time that I have spent there, there have been many things that have come from it.  Just to give a bit of background, this fellowship is part of a church here in Lakeside.  Something that the church is trying to do, is become more intentional about becoming the “Acts 2 church” basically reaching into the community and doing whatever it can to bring transformation. 

Because I have been teaching about community development and what that means for the past few years, I have been so excited to be a part of something here in Lakeside, that is actually allowing me to apply or “practice what I’ve teaching.”

Some things that have come as a result of this is now there is a new thrift store that is opening up to the public who need things for cheap, and I have also been able to talk with some leaders in the church to do a “community assessment” here in Lakeside. I teach a lot about community assessment in the FCD school.  So to be able to actually do one in a community which needs Jesus and transformation, is so exciting for me.

An Exciting Change!!

On a more personal note, a few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend of mine; and explaining how I was thinking about moving off base.  He had the same idea, so we looked at a few options.  As we were walking through one of the houses we really felt like this was to be the place for us, but we wanted more housemates, so in short I asked one of my friends if he would be willing to move in, and he said he would be only if there was a fourth, and during the time, my other friend said the same thing.  So we ended up with four housemates.

I think it is a wonderful thing to live off base and actually live in the community I am wanting to work in. 

Rwandese Traditional dancing

Devis Fall - Nepal

Composting

Tsunami in Kona- 2011

Container Gardening

God Cares about Electricity Seed Project

Summer In Montana

Well Summer is here, and I am super busy.

Housekeeping-  As all of you know, I am overseeing the housekeeping department on the base here in Montana.  Things have been going well, we have had many teams here over the last month or so, and so I have been keeping very busy trying to make sure that things are being kept clean and organized.  And, by the grace of God, I have been managing. :)

Something that God has been showing me over the last couple of months, is the importance of spending time in his word and making sure that I am growing, and changing.  He has been showing me, that it is super important for me to continually being mentored by His word, and that by me being mentored I will be able to better mentor those whom he has put in my life. 

Another thing God has been showing me is how all things work together for His good and His glory, even if things seem to be and are really hard for us to understand.  There are some things that happen in our lives that are super hard to move past and move on, but God's grace is there and He cares about those things in our lives.

Now, on a more lighter note, and a more personal note; I have decided to try and take up fishing!! and so far it seems to be going well, I have caught a few fish, but my most memorable one thus far was the 16 inch Lake Trout that I caught!!  I was super excited and tried to cook it, and let me just say this..... I need to learn how to cook fish.  :)  Something else that I have been spending my spare time with is gardening.  I have 16 onions, 4 tomato plants, 2 strawberry plants, 2 potato plants, and 1 spearmint plant.  I had a sunflower plant, but the little black mice discovered it, and devoured it the day I planted it.  NOT OKAY!!

Anyways, this is just a brief basic update, but none-the-less its an update!!

I hope all of you are doing well, and I would love to hear how things are with you.

Now and Then

After spending about 3 1/2 months working with the Community Development school and helping run IT, I am back in Colorado.

I am planning on being here for about a month, re-connecting with people and raising more monthly financial support. My plan is to meet with people, and speak in my church. I also plan to visit friends and family in Wyoming.

I will arrive in Montana around the 3rd week of May and resume my department leader- ship position in housekeeping.

Several opportunities have been presented to me that I am seeking God about. I have been asked to work with the tech. department in Kona, and staff the CD schools in Nepal and England.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and financial support over the years. You are truly a blessing to me.

A Very Long Night!

On March 11 and 12 we were hit by the tsunami from the Japan earthquake. I remember sitting in a movie theater on our campus watching a film, when a staff member came in and interrupted the movie saying; “Just to let all of you know the tsunami sirens have just gone off, and they are expecting the tsunami to hit us in about 5 hours”. This was around 10 pm. Shortly after that announcement, I received a text from one of the IT leaders on the campus asking me to hurry and bring what we needed to run live- stream. So I quickly left the theater and began setting things up for our campus live-streaming. 

The Kona campus is just above the tsunami evacuation line, and because we have such a huge facility we are one of the main evacuation points for Kailua- Kona. That night, I stayed up all night monitoring what was being broadcast- ed by the news stations and playing it for our people that were gathered in the court yard area.

There was some damage done to shops along the ocean front but that’s about it. I don’t believe anyone died.

The Ohana Gathering

Every Thursday evening we have what we call The Ohana Gathering. This is a time where the entire campus comes together for a time of worship, and then there is usually a message that follows.
Every Thursday is also open to the public, so anyone who would like to come and listen may do so.
Because I was running the technology aspect of things during the community development school, I was also asked to help run the live-streaming for our Thursday night meetings. During my time as an IT person on the campus, I discovered that I am interested and am ok at working with technology. The IT people there are trying to recruit me to work with them.

Community Development (Online)

The time for this school has come to an end. During the last 3 1/2 months, I have had the privilege to staff the masters-level Community Development school in Kona. this  particular school was done completely online, which made for some very interesting dynamics.

We had about 30 students total,10 face to face and about 20 online. Our students came from Samoa, Canada, Amsterdam, the US and several Asian and African countries.

Running this type of school, presented its challenges. This school was the first one that we ran completely online. 

What was my role?  When I first arrived in Kona, the school leaders came up to me and said basically that this school is all online and we need some one to run the technology part. and we want you to do it. when I first heard this I about fell out of my seat! I knew nothing about the kind of technology that was required, but with a smile on my face and butterflies in my stomach I said... "Uuuhhhh Okaaayy?!?!?!?"

I was seriously thrown into this job without any experience.  But with God's grace I ran the livestream, sound system, microphone set and two online-learning programs.  Plus I carried many other responsibilities relating to the school.

Because this was a pilot project, we did not know what the outcome of the school would be, and how the students were going to be changed. God miraculously came through and we saw transformation take place in the lives of our students through the internet.

God can work through any form of medium!