Outreach Week 6

1-23-14
            Hey everybody! Well, its week six. And we didn’t end up going to Kayangle.  I sent out my last blog on Friday, and we thought we were leaving Sunday.  Well, if you hadn’t figured it out by now (and didn’t see my Facebook post) we didn’t go.  The governor abruptly told us we could not go.  We spent Saturday not doing a whole lot, the only thing I distinctly remember doing was an amazing youth group time with the Catholic church.  I gave my testimony (and ended up talking for half an hour, who knew?!?!) and then had worship and watched a bunch of high school kids get filled and overflowed with the Holy Spirit.  The other exciting thing of Saturday was that Jim arrived late that night.
            Sunday (19^th) we went to church, before once again going to play volleyball in the park.  Instead of going to basketball, we tried to go see one of the guys we had met at the high school perform, but we had misunderstood the time and missed them.  We all really enjoyed having Jim with us and the fun, refreshment, and energy he brought to our group.
            Monday (20^th) we spent most of the day at the coffee shop, having our one-on-ones with Jim.  And that’s all we really remember from Monday haha.
            Tuesday (21^st) we had an interesting morning.  We had a lot of good discussion and worship. We talked a lot about surrender.  Not just the “I surrender all” kinda mentality, but actually getting deep and specific about what we were surrendering, like going home, the job I think I have when I go home, certain people in our life, just getting into the deep specifics and getting into stuff we didn’t want to give to God, but that we needed to.  Later that day we took other faith journeys of sorts and Colton and I went and walked around the Community College, trying to see if there was anyone we knew or anything, but since we didn’t we just explored and prayed over the campus as we walked.  On the way back we bumped into our local buddy Kaiser, and got plans for the evening to hang out.  We also stopped quickly at the coffee shop, and at the gift shop of a museum by our house.  The evening we spend with Kaiser, while Jim, Max, and Fuana had a meeting with the Palauan YWAMers.  After they all got back we continued to hang out thinking that we would stay up until Max took Jim to the airport at 3am.  We all had a blast and hung out (with Kaiser) until midnight. 
            Wednesday (22^nd) morning, after having a bit of a slow sleepy morning, we found out Jim’s flight had been cancelled and wasn’t leaving until that night now.  So we met and spent some time with him in his (air conditioned) hotel room and decided to go on another prayer/faith journey.  Colton got wrecked beyond belief about how all the good in him comes from God, and the only reason he is worthy of ANYthing was because of God, and God in him. Brandon did his own thing for the day, Jim and Alicia met a girl named Latifa.  And then Max and I ended up going to, and getting a new connection at the police station. We met back together after our time out and spent some time in the early evening at Jim’s room, enjoying real beds (with some napping of course), TV, air conditioning, and for a few of us, hot showers.  In the evening we had a special going-away dinner for Jim, before sending him off. 
            Thursday (23^rd) we decided to bless Fuana and spend most of the day working on and around her house.  The evening we spent helping out the prison ministry, joining them for their chapel time with worship, a message, and communion before getting to spend a few minutes talking (and sometimes praying) with some of the inmates. 
            Friday (24^th- today) we spend the morning once again at the high school, but Max and I slipped out for a time to go to the graduation for the Police Academy, which we had been invited to when we were at the police station. The afternoon we had a bit of time before our crazy night, where we have the option to go to the once a month cultural festival, the celebration banquet for the graduated officers, and we have plans to again hang with Kaiser.  So we aren’t exactly sure how tonight is going to look. 
            So… for other news… We are currently being told (again) that we will be leaving for Kayangle on Sunday (forfeiting many plans we had for this weekend and beginning of next week…).  After having going to Kayangle cancelled and then back on 4 different times this week (two even just today…) we are not sure how we feel about this whole thing currently.  We have to sit and talk as a team, but we are discussing if we are still gonna go, if none of us are gonna go, or if we are gonna split the team and have only some of us go.  This whole thing has been a very trying process and we are frustrated, and we don’t know what to think, or even feel.  Emotions about it have been back and forth and just getting pushed through the wringer.  So we should be having that discussion tonight, but I figured if we did all end up going I wanted to get this to all of you guys.  If you could just pray for what we should do and what God wants us to do that would be immensely appreciated.  We trust Max, and God as well, and we just want to do what He calls us to do.  So pray that we would hear Him clearly and all have peace about whatever He asks us to do.  (After a bit more discussion, we are all beginning to feel a bit more peace about going.  We feel this is God and we are all working through our thoughts, doubts and frustrations, and this is all seeming to come together)
            The other thing from this week is slight colds.  Alicia, Colton, and I have been fighting sore throats and feeling sick the entire week.  Each day seems to be a gamble and all three of us have had some better days, and some worse days.  So pray for healing for us, especially if we go to Kayangle. 
            Thank you all so much for reading this, and for supporting us, in encouragement and also in prayer.  It means so much more than I can express to you.  Thank you and bless you! I love you all, and I’m counting down the days until I get to see you all, I miss you so much! Love you guys!!!!

 

Outreach Weeks 4 & 5

1-17-14

​Hey everybody!!! How are you all doing? I miss being able to have real conversations with you all… haha. But I am grateful I can send out this to still show you guys what’s going on in my heart and mind.  Since I’m a little behind on getting my update up I ask you to bear with me… as its gonna be a long one, sorry.

​Monday (January 6th) was a day off.  We spend the day talking, going to the coffee shop, and preparing for a special dinner.  Wilson and Ester and their kids came over for dinner (and brought most of it) and we ate with them and played a few rounds of spoons.  When they left the team played Indian Poker before going to bed.  

​Tuesday (7th) we began our time with the Boys High School.  Every day that we were there we lead the morning breakfast devotional and then joined the seniors for their Bible class.  Tuesday we did both of those, and then the guys when to play ball with them in the evening while Alicia and I stayed at Fuana’s.  

​Wednesday (8th) the boys add Chapel to their morning routine and we joined them to hear the other team do some speaking and leading.  After that the school had some concrete work they needed help with, so the guys did that while Alicia and I helped out in the library.  Then we had the Bible class before going and spending the rest of the day at Fuana’s.  

​Thursday (9th) we had a day very similar to Wednesday, devotional, working around the building until lunch and then Bible class.  After that we packed, shopped, and prepped for Anguar (An-gar).

​Friday (10th) we did our last devotional with the guys (hopefully not last for forever), and split them up into groups to have them pray for each other.  I had a bit of a hard time connecting with them in the time we were there, and had only really connected with the seniors who I could talk to on a more personal level through class. Who ever thought I would be intimidated by being one of two white girls surrounded by Palauan teenaged guys? But I enjoyed getting to pray and talk with some of them that Friday.  We then headed to the boat to Anguar.  It’s a 4 hour boat ride, and the island is small enough that you can walk around it in two hours.  We landed (with the other team, we all stayed together), got settled in and spent the evening crabbing and then did some worship.

​Saturday (11th) we did what we set out to do… but what I forgot to tell you was that it was raining the entire week.  The only day we didn’t have a lot of rain was Friday, which was such a blessing to be dry on the boat.  But Saturday we decided to go clean up the beaches, which is part of what our purpose in Anguar was to be.  But it was still pouring rain…. So we put on our swimsuits, grabbed our trash bags, and headed to the beaches.  One of the biggest problems in Palau is the Spirit of Passivity, and we decided to set an example in breaking that by going out in the rain.  So we spend the day drenched in rain, hiking through slippery rainforests, to pick up trash off of beaches… adventure right?

​Sunday (12th) was one of the most intense days I’ve had in a long time.  Max spoke at the little church that morning and God used him to teach me some… much needed lessons.  To begin with, I was struggling with why the spirit of passiveness was affecting me so much; I understood that it was the spirit of the land, but why was it so much worse for me? God showed me that it was worse for me because it is also a bit of a spirit in my family. Once I realized that I begged God to break it out of me, to set me (and my family) free from this spirit. I realized that my passiveness had lead to my feelings of isolation, and disconnect, not only with the other team, but with my own team as well.  I had been passive in trying to get to know the other team while I had the opportunity of living with them to do so.  In choosing to be passive about getting to know the other team I had also been losing my connections with my own team as they actually did get to know the other team.  See what a vicious cycle it was? Thankfully God broke it, and since I have been able to step out in many ways, including even saying this so bluntly to all of you.  The other thing God began to show me Sunday, and the rest of the time in Anguar was who He made me to be.  He and I sat and had a long conversation at the pier and it was so good and so refreshing to hear from Him and to hear even just a piece of who He made me to be.  To help me out, He allowed me to really connect with a leader (Tanya-Rae or just Rae) on the other team, letting her ask and me tell, everything that I had gone through that day.  She also encouraged me and lifted me up, and just told me to keep pressing in. We managed to rope in a few of the other team members to play spoons that night, and I had the best time I had had the entire time of being with them.  Funny how freedom and openness can brighten your mood and lighten your heart, right?

​Monday (13th) we tried to keep as a free day a bit, and so a bunch of us learned how to make local sweet bread from the pastor’s wife Sylvia.  I got to swim at the pier (something that happened more often than not… like every day haha) with Rae, and two others from the other team (Caleb and Anna).  We all got to take the time that evening to watch the sunset before eating dinner and having a family sharing time (where I again stepped out against passivity and apologized for disconnecting from them).  We then had an amazing worship time, where God spoke to me and also allowed me, again, to be blessed by Rae.  After that Alicia, Caleb, and I lead a small worship time for Fuana, our Anguar contact, and another amazing woman of Anguar.  

​Tuesday (14th) was another amazing day.  We spend the morning doing a prayer walk around the island and then visiting an old, fallen lighthouse.  After lunch we again set off to clean some beaches, and Alicia and I took our own.  We worked, talked, explored, and had a blast before heading to the pier to swim before dinner.  She is working on learning to dive (something she has never learned to do before) and each day she gets better and better.  I’m working on learning how to do a running dive, which is going a lot slower than Alicia’s learning haha.  For dinner we had a special Ships dinner, at the only restaurant on the island, owned by an Australian named Bennie.  It was a WONDERFUL evening; I shared what God had been teaching me and we all shared about the things we had been learning, growing in, and overcoming. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the food!!! SO GOOD!!!!!! And then we all just hung out played spoons and Indian poker, and managed to rope Bennie into playing with us at both.  It was a perfect, flawless night.

​Wednesday (15th) we spend doing the deep clean of the community center we were living at… and man-oh-man was it gross!!! Seriously! But we put on our swimsuits, dug into the cleaning, and then dove into the ocean to get off all the chemicals and grossness.  We had a party of sorts in the evening, we invited the whole island, only a few came, but we had some worship, some skits, some testimonies, and some time by the bonfire, it was a perfect ending to our time.

​Thursday (16th) we finished packing, did another clean sweep and then got on the boat to come back to Koror.  The rest of the day we had free, which we spend at the coffee shop before having an amazing pizza dinner with the other team before we rented and watched a movie.  

​Today, Friday (17th) is basically another free day, at least for part.  We leave on Sunday for Kayangle, and it sounds like we will be there for quite a bit… like a month.  Sunday is the January 19th, and they think we will be staying in Kayangle until February 10th, which is basically the rest of our time here.  It will be the five of us Ships people, and we will be joined by only 3 of the guys from the other team, the other two who were gonna join us are going back to Anguar where they already left 10 other members of their team.  So Kayangle is turning out to be nothing like what we had expected, and to be honest… I’m extremely unsure of how I feel about all of it.  I’m afraid of feeling useless like I did in Ngarchelong, and I’m afraid of trying to live with no water, except to drink, and to live with not only the 3 guys from the other team, but most likely in a community center, with countless others.  I’m extremely intimidated by the entire though of everything having to do with Kayangle.  Not that I plan on letting it stop me, but… well, I don’t know… I guess I just have to say pray for me haha.  

​Thank you again for suffering through all of this to read my whole brain barf haha.  I have absolutely no idea when I’ll be able to post once I leave, or if we will come back halfway through the time to write home or anything, but I’ll write to you all as soon as I can.  You are all amazing, and I miss you all so much! Love you all!!!!!

Outreach Week 3

            Alii and Happy New Year to all of you!!! I pray that this New Year brings you joy for every day, blessings to fill the moments, smiles to fill your hearts, and love to fill your life! We spent our New Years Eve hanging out with the other team for quite a bit at Muhnz (the place where they live).  Our team was in a bit of a funk that day, Alicia and I struggling with various things, Colton acting against character and going off by himself and Max having to stay home incredibly sick (And Brandon, our constant, was about the same as normal).  We met for dinner with the other team, and then when to a night service.  After the service we went back home and sat and talked about all of the disconnect and things going on between our team.  Due to talking, we accidentally stayed up till midnight, so we went and lit off some sparklers before going to bed.

            Wednesday we decided to fast, pray and worship, just to stick with the things we had talked about the night before and really reconnect as a team through God.  Amazing things happened and we really revisited the vision and purpose for us being here in Palau.  After our morning we stopped by the café before going to the volleyball park (Long Island) and ended up playing ultimate frisbee for most of the afternoon, meeting quite a few people (Kaser, Mymy, Nikki, Nita, and a few others I don’t remember their names…).  Due to it being a special day (New Years Day), we went out to dinner at an amazing place called the Rose Garden Café, before going home and playing card games with our team for the entire rest of the evening.

            Thursday we traveled up the island to Choll (which is close to Ngarchelong, where we spent our first week) and visiting the YWAM land there.  We walked the land with the other team and prayed over it.  After that we went with both teams and had a beach day.  We spent that evening again playing card games (uno, spoons, golf, hearts, cribbage) (I’m waiting to get more decks so I can teach them all Nertz J).
           Friday we spent the morning at the capital, walking around the place and praying and trying to meet (and pray) for as many people as we could.  In the afternoon we went exploring to find a community where several people we had met playing volleyball lived.  The people who live in this community in E-Ang are not exactly excepted by Palauans, they come from islands just outside of what is considered Palau and so they are looked down upon, which was the exact reason we wanted to go there.  We found Joey (who was the one we were looking for because he was who we had met) and met his cousin Edison, and a girl named Janet.  It was a wonderful time to hang out and talk to them.  We found out about them and started making not only connections, but also finding out other people we should contact.  We went back home that day and spent another evening/night playing cards.

            Saturday Alicia and I had an early morning helping the other team and Fuana’s church host the monthly Women’s Prayer Breakfast. It was an amazing time spent hearing the hearts of several of the women on the other team, amazing worship (lead by Alicia), and the chance to pray over some of these amazing Palauan pray warrior women.  After the breakfast we rejoined the guys and spent the rest of the morning doing another Dean Sherman, Spiritual Warfare, lecture.  The afternoon Brandon, Colton, and I went to a pier with the neighbor kid AJ and swam and tossed around a ball.  The evening we all had dinner together and hung out.

            Sunday (yesterday) we were blessed to have AJ ask us to come to church with us, and he said he liked it and wanted to come back! He also joined us at the park that afternoon to play volleyball.  We did get to play some volleyball, but with a completely different group than from the week before.  That evening we had been invited to play basketball with Kaser and so all of us, except Max, went and hung out there and had lots of fun and got to know several of them more.

            So that was our week this week.  I’m finally doing better with the not missing home as much.  I realized when pondering the New Year that out of 12 months in a year, I will only be spending 2 of those in Palau and so I should enjoy the short time I get to spend here.  I’ve really been enjoying the times we get to interact and reconnect with the people we have already met, and those times this week were my favorite.  At the beginning of the week God really did rejuvenate something in each of our hearts, and especially in my heart. My passion for this place came back, the passion that I haven’t had since being in Kona, it was so refreshing and reassuring that this was where I am supposed to be.  I can’t say I don’t miss home at all, and that I don’t think about you guys, but it’s definitely not as painful anymore.

            This is random, but a little tid-bit on how to pronounce Palauan words …(most of which I’m probably spelling wrong ha).  The “ch”s are silent as are the “g”s.  So words like Ngarchelong, are pronounced more like N-ar-elong.  And Choll is pronounced O-ll.   And yea, I don’t know if that helps at all or anything, but I felt that I should put that in.

            This week we hope to spend a lot of time helping out at a boys boarding high school.  We are to lead devotionals, have worship times, Brandon is going to be doing some ESL tutoring, and we will be doing various other things that they need us to do.

Our next “big” adventure will be our trip to Angar (sp???).  The “monkey island” as I call it in my head, because they have monkeys there obviously! We will be spending the 10^th through the 16^th there and… I don’t know what we will be doing yet.  We are still waiting on God’s timing to on when we will be able to make it to Kayangle (pronounced Kai-an), the island hit by the typhoon, but we are just trusting in faith that God is making us wait for His timing.  So ya… I think that pretty much brings you all up to date! I’ll be a little late posting my next blog due to being in Angar, but I will get it to you guys as soon as I can after we get back.

I love you all and miss you all! And Happy New Year!!!! J