Own Your City

#352
I was sitting at a bakery today having some pastries with my friends Bob and Allison, talking about life and how their spiritual lives in the big city have been like, and I was just so happy, feeling so blessed to have such awesome friends around the world with whom I can have chats like this that are so encouraging and refreshing to my soul. I really hope I can develop a community like that in Honolulu. These guys really own their city in their hearts, as do Parker, Kristi, Jensen, and other friends I've seen out here. I wanna get on it. Lord, thank You for putting me in Honolulu.

Full But Restful?

#351
Today I took the day completely off of anything work-ish. But in the last day and a half, I have been able to hang out with my USC Cru friend Allison, another USC Cru friend Parker, two AGO brothers Rob and Jensen, and my sister's boyfriend David. It's been a very full but enriching, restful, and relaxing time out here. And it was FREEZING today. Loved it. Definitely have been experiencing joy in the Lord today as I took a day of rest. Looking forward to a day of productivity and intimacy with Jesus in the Park tomorrow, Lord willing!

Soak in His Goodness

#350
Wow. Another much-needed 11-hour night of sleep! Man, I must be TIRED. Got to start a bit of processing today. Sat down at a Max Brenner (favorite restaurant in Melbourne- apparently there's one here! Totally randomly stumbled upon it. YUM!) and journaled for a while. God is really just so good. He knows exactly what I need, when I need it, and wants me to enjoy Him and enjoy the blessings He's given me. Why do I so often choose things other than His glorious love?? I don't get it. So yeah, the processing process (??) has begun- this past semester affected me probably more than I think. Looking forward to going through it with the Lord.

Gotta Get AWAY To Relax

#349
Got to sleep a long, full night's sleep for the first time in soooo long! And this after a great time catching up with my buddy Parker from SC whom I hadn't seen in like two years! Really encouraging convo with him about what the Lord has been doing in each of our lives. So glad I get to sleep on his floor for a few days! :) Chill day in the city today- getting a lot of my admin work done. Woot.

Keep Cutting It Close

#348
I had a fantastic time having dinner and hanging out with my family last night. This morning, yet again, I got to the airport a tad too late (literally 20 or 30 seconds) to check in my bag, and so they bumped me to standby on the next flight. Reaaaaaally frustrating, but I got a seat on the next flight out, thank God! Plus, at the gate, I became friends with two SC students flying home for Christmas, and got to encourage one of them to pursue his faith for himself (told him to check out Cru hehe), after he shared that he had distanced himself from Christianity after he left for college since it was just something his parents did.

Not Quite Paradise

#347
It's been rainstorming a lot lately, with torrential downpours and crazy winds. So I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when the traffic this morning was absolutely atrocious due to a mudslide. No, seriously, the freeway wasn't moving. I was so late that they had given my seat away (they ended up giving me another one), but I just barely made it. But like 15 people ran up to the gate after me, and apparently even the flight attendants were all late because of the flooding traffic issues. Crazy. At least I got on the plane! And it was a pleasant flight :) Got to talk to the couple next to me about God and such, and let them know that He loves them.

No Talking About Work At Dinner!

#346
Another full day of planning meetings. Day 4 means tired and less filtered. We definitely had to deal with a little bit of healthy conflict. God very much led us through it, and I believe we're better off for it!

Tonight, we just went out to dinner and had a sweet time enjoying Japanese food and hanging out in a relaxed, non-work environment. I love my team and feel very blessed to be doing this work with them!

Now off to pack!

Strategery

#345
Day 3 of staff planning is always hard... But today wasn't too bad! See, our staff team is kind of being totally restructured, so half of our day was spent in two different groups, planning out two different parts of ministry. Jamie and I were very tired but the Lord definitely gave us great direction for our part!

And for dinner, I experimented a bit and made us all a shepherd's pie. I'm not gonna lie, y'all- it was delish!

Heart Change

#344
LOOOOOOOONG day of discussions. But so productive. God is totally doing stuff in our hearts to understand this culture better so that we can better reach it with the gospel!

Gotta Start With Jesus Time

#343
Aaaaand staff planning starts today! But today we started with a few hours of spending some time in solitude with the Lord. MAN there was so much I had to process through with Him, and I'm super excited for what He's showing me and leading me in.

Wherever

#342
I woke up sick today! Not fun. But we ended with a fun Cru Christmas party where we got to fellowship, eat, worship, exchange gifts, and pray over people who are no longer going to be here next semester. I love that we always send people out to live missionally wherever they go!

Every Nation

#341
Spent some of the day as a staff team learning about the different island cultures of the Pacific. It was FASCINATING stuff. Powerful, when you think about the diversity of peoples that God created, and even more powerful when you think about how every single one of these distinct people groups will be represented in heaven!

No Rush

#340
We didn't have to rush off to anything after our meeting at LCC today, so we actually got to hang around for a bit and just talk story with some of the students there. It was so fun to do that! One of the tough parts of coaching a movement, as opposed to leading one, is that we get very little face time with students who aren't leaders. So just getting to hang out was fantastic! And God is definitely doing things on that campus- it's really an exciting thing to be a part of (sorry I ended that sentence with a preposition).

Seek First

#339
Seeking God's face. He promises to draw near to those who seek Him. Waiting, as David calls his own heart to do in the Psalms.

Needing strength and motivation from Him as we enter these last four days on campus before 4 days of staff planning, and then back to the mainland!

CHOOSE, Gen!

#338
Church this morning was exactly what I needed. Conviction in the form of Joshua's challenge to the people of Israel to CHOOSE. Will I go all-in for the Lord and walk in obedience and faith all my days? Man, that's actually hard. Counting the cost is a healthy but rather scary exercise.

Tonight's core team meeting was super powerful. Vulnerability, confession, grace, in mighty ways was shown and experienced tonight. Praise God!

Saturday Rest... FINALLY Becoming Consistent :)

#337
Woke up with a headache, so I rested a lot today. Jesus time, college football (GREAT stuff today), and a nice hang out with Jamie and a couple of Cru guys. God knew we needed a day to rest each week! Praise Him for that. Seriously :)

FINALLY DONE!

#336
I finished my New Testament Survey class today! I was supposed to be doing it throughout my support raising process last year, as the deadline to take the final exam was Dec 1 (2010!). But somehow I let it pass (not proud of it) and took a really long time with it. So did my buddy Matt, and so did my friend Arijaan who joined staff in 2009. She JUST finished like 3 weeks ago. In fact, the region just changed the rules because of us and now new staff can't report to campus until they've finished NTS. I feel bad, but I think it's a good rule that should've been there for me too!

The class was absolutely fantastic. It really helped bring the New Testament to life for me, and made me fall more deeply in love with God.

SO glad to have passed and be done!

Family Fighting for Jesus

#335
Our final weekly gathering had a tight, intimate, Ohana feel to it. And we followed it up by going out to dinner all together. We're really realizing how much community, trust, friendship is important here in ministry, and are really trying to take steps forward in cultivating deep relationships all over the place.

God Loves WCC

#334
I got to visit Windward Community College, where Ryan and Jamie have been doing ministry on Wednesdays. They've got some really young, eager, immature kids. I kinda love it. I think they really wanna grow and be used by the Lord- or they wanna know Him (a lot of them seem to not know Jesus yet). Plus, it's a GORGEOUS campus. I can definitely sense some oppression though- I think that the enemy has a pretty strong presence there in the form of spiritual laziness, sloth, and idolatry in worshiping the beauty of the creation rather than the Creator. But God has claimed that campus and it's exciting that we all get to take part in reconciling the campus to the Lord!

Next Semester?

#333
Jamie and I got to do a lot of planning and prep for next semester today. Our roles are gonna look drastically different next semester (I'll explain some other time, when it's a bit more set), so it was good to get a head-start on preparing for it. And our final coaching time with the LCC Core girls was really encouraging! They really engaged in our conversation about what steps we need to take next semester to more effectively reach their campus with the gospel.

Christian Brotherhood

#332
Really, REALLY good and powerful discipleship group time with Dylan and Mitch at KCC. Truth, love, grace, it's all such powerful stuff.

Being Gone on Sundays Sucks

#331
Made it to church for the first time in a while! Very encouraging to be in community with local believers.

USC Blowouts vs UCLA = NEVER Boring

#330
Tonight, I got together with Justin (AGO bro from SC) and his wife Sarah, Brandon (Trojan alum, young adults pastor at a local church), Matt (Trojan who transferred to UH but is still very much a Trojan at heart) and Brad (Texas A&M Aggie, but a guy who appreciates football) at a restaurant to watch the USC-UCLA game. In case you missed it, we won 50-0. Some might say that sounds like a boring game. We would all fervently, adamantly, passionately beg to differ. :)

FIGHT ON!

On an entirely unrelated note, I've really been trying to figure out what it looks like to receive grace (so hard) and then walk forward, toward God, in righteousness and confidence (maybe even harder?).

Best Travel Day Ever

#329
I love, just LOVE, traveling alone. And today was a loooong but AWESOMEly restful and refreshing travel day.

Started by getting on a train at Union Station at like 930, then heading down to San Juan Capistrano where I got off the train for a lunch layover with Steve (one of my pledges from AGO. really good friend too) and his girlfriend Karter. We had a fantastic time.

Then back on the train down to San Diego. Man, the views along the coast were just breath-taking. I forget sometimes how beautiful a state California is. Then took a taxi from the train station to the airport in SD and my cabbie was an Ethiopian believer who ran an underground church in Yemen for more than 20 years! He told me all about the persecution he and his fellow believers faced over there. So encouraging/convicting to talk to someone like that!

Quick, super comfortable flight from SD-LAX (exit row all to myself!) with beaaautiful views of the sunset.

Then a really nice flight back to Hawaii in my usual 9D seat. Great flight attendants (took really, really good care of me) and I got to have spiritual convos with the guy sitting next to me.

See, that's what I love about travel days alone- I get to relax, spend time in prayer and the Word (train, plane, airport, etc), meet people, have spiritual conversations... It really doesn't get much better! Thank You, Lord, for the opportunities I have to travel, and that You make even something like layovers and long flights purposeful in Your Kingdom!

Merci, Dieu

#328
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I am so thankful for each of you- for your friendship, your prayers, your words of encouragement, your financial/spiritual/emotional support, etc.

God is GOOD and deserves infinite gratitude. Looking forward to literally spending eternity with Him in thanksgiving :)

Side note- my yams turned out good this year, but my aunt's lasagna (weird Licon tradition) was SPECTACULAR.

A Disney Birthday (Nothing Beats It!)

#327
Umi's birthday is next Tuesday (turning 16!!) but I'll be back in Hawaii, and I'm actually even missing her birthday party this Saturday cuz I'm flying back on Friday. So I took her out for an afternoon/evening at Disneyland, complete with a delicious meal at her favorite Disney restaurant- Cafe Orleans. We had an AWESOME time. I'm so proud of her for how she's growing in the Lord, and it was a sweet, sweet way to celebrate my sister's birthday. I love her.

Restfully Productive... or Productively Restful?

#326
Chill day. Much needed. Had lunch with Dad, and then did a lot of homework for my New Staff Development.

Fight On for Jesus

#325
Steven stuck around to hang out in socal for a bit, so we took him to USC and showed him around campus and got to meet up with Cherise and Ryan from our Tokyo team. Oh man oh man oh man I'd forgotten how much I love my school. The campus is gorgeous, everyone looks happy, the weather was perfect, and there was so much spirit, as it was Conquest week!

Lord, help me remember that no culture is without flaw, and help me remember that You have me here in Hawaii for a reason- a glorious, God-honoring reason. Thank You for leading me, and thank You for the wonderful years of wonderful blessing and growth that I had at that wonderful place. May I always "FIGHT ON" for You, Lord :)

Co-Worker Love

#324
Conference ended, I had lunch with Matt and a couple other staff pees, and then we took our Hawaii kids to Disneyland (where we got soaked).

I'm SO tired. But really, this last week at the Doubletree in Orange was really life-giving. And it wasn't just because of the Sweet Dreams beds and the spectacular cookies. It was because of the people that I spent that time with. I really love these people with whom I work- especially since a lot of them (the ones that went to SC) I've now know for like 6 years! I wish you all could experience hanging out with the CCC staff from the Pacific Southwest region. It really makes me wanna never leave staff haha.

Thank You, Lord, for much-needed, refreshing community!

"Which group should we put ____ in?"

#323
I'm in charge of discussion groups here, and I'm super excited that, so far, they seem to be going really well! I never knew how much work goes into putting those groups together, assigning them leaders, and giving them questions haha. But praise God, it's going well and people are developing community. And tonight, we the staff from Hawaii took our three students from Hawaii who came to Crossroads out to dinner at Downtown Disney. It was really fun!

Side note- USC BEAT OREGON! I know it's kinda bad, but I'm pretty sure that for the first half hour/hour of tonight's meeting, all the Trojans and SC staff were very, very distracted, as many were checking their phones for the last few nail-biting minutes of that gorgeous football game. First time winning in the state of Oregon since like 2005. FIGHT ON!

GOOD Morning

#322
Yeah, definitely didn't sleep more than like 4 hours last night cuz Matt and I stayed up late talking. But this morning, my buddy Kyle (staff at SLO- JUST reported last week!) and I got coffee and hung out for hours, praying for each other, talking about life and ministry and Jesus, and doing prep work for Crossroads Conference together. It was really, really good and therapeutic. And then Crossroads started tonight with all the juniors and seniors showing up to explore over the weekend what it means to seek God as they make decisions about post-college life. SO FUN.

Yeah, it's been a crazy busy few days but I absolutely love it all. Being on campus in Hawaii is great, but as you all know, it's been a rather hard period of time, and it's nice to have a change of scenery for a bit, being surrounded by a community that really gives me life.

I Wanna Sleep Tonight

#321
Had a crunch time finish-planning-conference-in-two-hours meeting this morning, and it was AWESOME. I'm really, really feeling excited about what the Lord has given us so far!

This afternoon was the start of fall regional staff conference. SO GREAT seeing everyone! For dinner, the Hawaii staff got together (including Kent who's on staff at Hilo) and talked about how we were doing. It was a really good time of connection.

Excited but a bit nervous about rooming with Matt tonight- we're always conference roomies, and it's good for our souls but terrible for our sleep haha.

Planning Ain't Easy

#320
Definitely struggled through planning a couple of the meetings today. But it made us realize how much we need to continue to rely on the Lord to give us direction, because this is HIS Conference we're planning. Things are slowly but surely coming together, and I'm excited for January 1 when we get to look back and see how He showed up :)

Gen's Fall Conference Week Begins... NOW!

#319
Day 1 of Winter Conference planning done! We only went from 10am to 930pm haha. Man... long day. But exciting stuff! Lord, continue to guide us in Your will for the students and staff that attend this conference!

L'Espoir Pour Haiti

#318
My cab driver this morning was from Haiti. He shared a lot about how tough a place it is, and what the devastation was like post-earthquake, and what the recovery process (there hasn't been much of one) has been like. It was a quick cab-ride so we didn't get to talk much, but I did get to share with him that God loves the Haitian people and wants them to find HOPE in Him. He agreed and was encouraged, and gave me a very warm handshake as he dropped me off. Please be praying for my Haitian friend, and hey- why not restart (let's be honest, for most of us, it's "restart", as opposed to "continue") praying for Haiti (and for that matter, Japan, the middle east, and other places where natural/political disasters have happened that have begun to fade from our memory)?

To Give or Not to Give

#317
Phil (my cousin's boyfriend) and I were walking to dinner when we were approached by a couple that needed some help with cash to get on a bus. Pretty typical story, but we gave helped them out anyway for two reasons. 1) They actually seemed really legit. Everything about their stories matched up with each other and made sense. And they didn't look homeless or drunk or anything. 2) More importantly, it gave me a chance to have some conversation with them. It wasn't much but I got to bless their unborn baby (due in a few months) and talk a bit about what I do for a career with them. Plus, we're called to generosity, right? I dunno... it's a tricky thing, this whole what-is-generosity-and-what-is-enabling question. But I'm starting to think I wanna err on the side of generosity.

Speak Through Me (please)

#316
Even more travel today. Got to have a conversation with a guy at an airport restaurant as we were having breakfast, then talked to a flight attendant a lot while on a near-empty flight. Both Catholic. It seems like everyone I'm coming in contact with is Catholic, but just about every one of them is only culturally so. How do I bring up the true, full gospel into these conversations naturally, effectively, and powerfully? You'd think that I would know, doing what I do as a career, right? Lord, please use me. Thank You for Your promises to speak through me by Your Holy Spirit!

Everyday Life

#315
Today, on Veteran's Day. I got to sit next to a guy serving in the army on my flight. A Mexican guy from Rosemead. Small world. We got to chat some and talked a bit about faith and Catholicism and such. Well, tonight, I was grabbing dinner before catching a train and I sat next to another young Mexican guy who's Catholic. We got to talk a bit and he asked me what the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism was and so I got to briefly share about that. Yeah, maybe it's cuz I'm tired but I was quite rusty in both those convos, when it comes to explaining/being direct about spiritual truths. But the point is, I love having opportunities throughout my everyday life to bring Truth, love, peace, in the Holy Spirit, to a fellow human :)

Spirit-Led Adventure

#314
Holly, our regional director in town to coach our team, spoke at our weekly gathering on what it looks like to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's really exciting getting to talk about the Holy Spirit, because it's something God's been teaching me a lot about lately, and it really does radically change how your life plays out! I'm still in the beginning stages of figuring it out, but I already love how understanding who the Holy Spirit is and yielding to Him makes for such an adventurous, exciting life. And it's so fun that our students are getting challenged in that area too!

Packing Pro

#313
Tomorrow is a crazy busy day of ministry. I have to leave my house at like 850am and I probably won't get back til around 11pm. And then on Friday, I fly out at 8am. So I had to get everything I needed to get done before leaving done. So I cleaned, I did laundry, I caught up on some emails, did admin work, wrote my prayer letter (about how the Lord has been providing for me in crazy ways lately! Such a fun letter to write!), prepped for staff development homework I'll be doing while I'm off-island, and packed. Ah, packing. It's ridiculous how good I've gotten at it. My mom (who's always been the packer of the family) unpacked my suitcase when I went on vacation with my family this past summer, and chose not to pack at the end of the trip (even though she always loves to pack for everyone. No, seriously) because she was so impressed by the system of my packing. Haha. That's a strange part of my job- because I'm on staff in Hawaii, I have to fly if I need to get anywhere more than like 40mi away. So without even knowing it, I've gotten packing down to a science and an art haha.

Having said that, I may very well go through a humbling process as I get to the airport and have my liquids in the wrong suitcase, or I go over the weight-limit, or I forget something super important, etc. Haha...

Love Visitors

#312
Jamie and I had a sweet day at LCC today. We got to train the student leaders on how to use Soularium to do evangelism on campus, and then we all went out in pairs and did it! It sounds like just about everyone got to have a spiritual convo too :)

Holly and Dave, two of our regional leaders, are in town to help give direction to our staff team, and Jamie and I got to take them to LCC and have them meet some of our students and our faculty advisor. It's really encouraging having them around, helping us process through how to best use our time to bring God's kingdom here to Hawaii!

E Pule Kakou (Together We Pray)

#311
Fantastic day at KCC today! Got to prayer walk the campus during coaching time with our student leaders, and then I had a solid dischipleship time with Shaun, and then I got to go out sharing with a Japanese woman named Kazue (got to teach her how to do Soularium and we had a SWEET convo with two girls from the Philippines), and then I had great discipeship times with both Dylan and Mitch.

TONIGHT, we have a campus-wide prayer event, when all the campus ministries are getting together to worship and go out onto campus and pray for it! Prayer and unity among believers is a fantastic foundation to lay for revival to happen, and we're so excited to do battle on campus and bring God's kingdom. Be praying for UH tonight!

Be Anxious for Nothing

#310
Went to bed late again, missed church again. Not cool. Really a tired, lethargic day, but it ended with a great core team meeting with our student leaders. A lot of stuff going on with ministry though. And I'm feeling rather overwhelmed going into these last four days before my two weeks on the mainland. Realized I'm not too stoked on ministry because I'm being overwhelmed. Needing to look at the big picture, trust in the Lord, and rejoice in taking things one step at a time! I need Your strength, Jesus.

Side note: Man, I sure fell behind on my post-a-days. It's been so busy and I've actually not been in the best place personally/emotionally/spiritually. But that's not excuse. All the more reason to write and remind myself of what God is doing, as well as let people know what's going on so they can be praying for me! Thanks y'all for reading.

Lazy Saturday

#309
Bummed around for most of the day. Hung out with John from BCM one last time before I leave for a couple of week on Friday. Always refreshing and encouraging. Then went to Duke's for Hula Pie with Chad and friends since it was their last night here. Exhausted...

Tired at the End of a LOOONG Week

#308
Long day of meetings, ended with a fun bday dinner for Jack (with his mom and stepdad- their treat!) at Duke's. And in-between was a LOVELY, MUCH needed quiet time with Jesus at the Moana Surfrider.

Appropriate Topic to be Spirit-Led In

#307
Spoke tonight. The talk just was NOT coming together at all, and then like an hour before I had to go to campus, it suddenly came to me. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for giving me the words to speak about Yourself.

Cars Need Healing Too

#306
Snorkeled Hanauma Bay with Chad and friends, and had a few ministry phone calls/appointments today. All-around encouraging day.

PLUS, God totally healed my car of the main problem it had! The mechanic called me and told me it was beyond repair, and then I had everyone pray, and then he called me back a couple of hours later saying "actually..." and now it still has a lot of minor problems but he says the main issues just aren't there and the car is totally driveable! Oh man... such a needed encouragement. God knows! Such a loving Father... Thank you, everyone who prayed! Thank You, Lord.

Clinging

#305
LCC was hard today. Really, really hard. Just feeling like we don't even know what to do from here. But God does. Gotta hold on to that.

Jesus Loves to Use My Mom

#304
Mechanic said my car is really beyond anything they can work on. Second opinion mechanic said he'd be able to look at it on Wednesday but that it doesn't sound good. I got so discouraged I just went to Sbux in Waiks and had Jesus time. Cancelled my afternoon appointments and everything. But then God really spoke some encouragement into my heart, a lot of people joined in to pray with me (yay for mass text prayer requests!), and then a stunning sunset reminder of God's sovereignty as the backdrop for a VERY encouraging phone chat with my mom was exactly the end I needed to that day.

I Love My Side of the Island

#303
My car struggled today. Praying for provision. So frustrating dealing with so many car problems.

But got to take my other best friend Chad (visiting for a week and a half or so) and his friends on the drive by Hanauma, Sandys, Makapu'u, etc, and spent a while at Makapu'u beach. So beautiful... and then a DELICIOUS dinner at Uncle Bo's! MMMMMM.

In This Together

#302
Got to talk to my best friend Beau on the phone today. Had a lot to process through with him in terms of where the Lord is leading me in my personal growth. Not the easiest stuff to talk about, but very refreshing to talk through it with Beau. God is good.

Planned Month!

#301
We planned out the rest of our weekly gatherings for the year today. The Lord totally led us in His Spirit, and we landed on the theme of, appropriately enough, the Holy Spirit, as what we'll be speaking on in the meetings. After last month's planning meeting, which was some of the most tiring/laborious three hours of discussion, I'm really praising God for totally giving us very clear direction today :)

Not the Most Refreshing Day

#300
300th day of the year. Crazy. A busy, rather heavy Thursday of ministry. Seeking joy in Jesus.

Best Cru Staff Requirement

#299
Monthly half day with the Lord. NEEDED.

SO Much Going On!!!

#298
Lord, help us figure out how to continue with ministry at LCC. We trust in Your guidance. In Jesus's name.

Full

#297
FULL, exhausting, but super fun, encouraging, Spirit-led day at KCC, full of coaching, conversations with non-believers, and discipleship (both being discipled and discipling). Then another hang out with John Allison. Blessed day.

Known

#296
Well that was a quick trip. Said bye to Gin last night. Mom today. My dad took Umi and me to get Mexican for lunch- Oh man, SO good. Then Heather (one of my closest friends, fellow Trojan, now Cru staff raising support to serve at UCI) and I grabbed coffee and then she drove me to LAX. As we talked about the challenges we're each facing in our walks with the Lord, she ended by telling me that she was really glad that God is working in my life the way He is. That was monumentally encouraging... Here is someone who knows me better than (or at least as well as) pretty much anyone else in the world, hearing about the hardships I'm experiencing in living in Hawaii and being in this ministry team/context, and she's ENCOURAGED, precisely because she knows my heart and knows that God is using this time to mold me in all the ways that I've been resisting up until now. I've been immensely thankful lately for the work He's doing in my life, but up until this point, no one was able to rejoice in it with me because they either see me in my life in Hawaii but don't really know me deeply, or they know me deeply but haven't entered into my life in Hawaii. Thank You, Lord, for the encouragement of close friends who truly know me.

Missing Mowgli

#295
Matt (friend from SC, fellow AGO, student I took on Project to Tokyo in 09, and now Cru staff at Pomona) came over to San Marino this afternoon to grab coffee. Man... such a refreshing hang out. God's working in our lives and hearing about it was convicting, challenging and comforting for the both of us! Ending the day with a sushi dinner with a bunch of my immediate and extended family wasn't so bad either. :-D

Little Bro Love

#294
Day 2 left us better prepared for WC than we've ever been at this point in the planning process! Praise God! And I got to grab sushi with my little bro from AGO and his mom (who was visiting from South Carolina for the first time in a year and a half) after the meetings. Such a blessing to see him.

What's the Plan, Stan?

#293
Day 1 of planning meetings was a huge success. And I got to end the night grabbing dessert at Denny's with Andrew, whom I used to disciple back at SC. It was such an encouraging night of catching up and challenging each other in the process of figuring out the Lord's will for our lives. It was perfect timing too, cuz earlier today, I got to talk about my process of questioning where I should be, career-wise, with Deb Goodson (team leader up at Cal, also on the WC planning team). So I was extra ready to talk through the same things with Andrew, as he's at a crossroads in his life too.

How Many Red-Eyes Have I Flown?

#292
I got in to LAX at 5:45 this morning. I am tired. Haha. But it's been so good seeing my family and I'm super excited for tomorrow when we start round 1 of Winter Conference 2011 planning meetings!

Nearly Overwhelmed

#291
And today, Shaun and Karisa came out to LCC to meet with Jamie and me about stuff out here. It was a really intense conversation, cuz we have SO much to figure out for LCC. But it was also exciting cuz SO much is going on at LCC! Honestly, though, I have been feeling rather overwhelmed with the magnitude of the work the Lord has allowed us to take part in, so it was good to talk through it with our leaders, get my head back on right, and trust in God all over again to do HIS work THROUGH us.

Where to Go...

#290
Shaun and Karisa came to meet with Natalie and me at KCC today to talk us through what ministry there's looking like and where to go from here. It was actually a really exciting, vision-filled conversation. Our coaching time with Dylan and Mitch right before-hand was blessed but in it we realized how much of a wall we were coming against, so to be able to immediately process it with our team leaders was just great. So excited to see what kind of movement the Lord will build at this gorgeous campus!

Needing Strength

#289
I'm really, REALLY tired. Halfway through the semester and I'm really feeling it... God, sustain me!

I Have Friends!!

#288
Dim Sum with a bunch of friends, Jesus time on the veranda at the Moana Surfrider with a few of them, and then La Vita E Bella/Italian dinner night at a friend's apartment. Praise You, Lord, I have friends! :D

I'd Missed Pho

#287
Really productive, but full day of meetings from 9:30-5. Wow. But then a nice chill Pho dinner with the staff team, followed by my getting to check out the young adults group for a church in Hawaii Kai for the first time, all made for a relaxing ending to a packed day!

Smart Guy

#286
Ryan and I got to go out sharing today and had a great conversation with a really, really, really smart post-bac guy from SoCal named Sai. Such a cool guy. And he's really, really explored and thought through his spirituality and we were able to have an awesome, intelligent conversation about what he's wrestling with when it comes to traditional faiths. Lord, use my words and Ryan's, and even more than that, use the power of your Holy Spirit's pursuit to begin to open Sai's eyes to You!

Community Happening??

#285
Brad's become a good friend. A 26 year-old post-bac student from Texas... meaning we have a lot in common- being from the mainland, being mid-20s, having a bachelor's degree already... Tonight after a great day of ministry, I got to hang out with Brad for a few hours, just getting to encourage each other in the Lord. This plus a sweeeet hangout with John, a guy on staff with the Baptist campus ministry here, on Monday night, has been really nice. God is really starting to open the doors of friendship and community and I'm ecstatic! But Lord, help me to continue relying on no one but You.

Church Partnership...eek?

#284
Churches wanting to partner with Cru campus movements is always a bit scary, cuz you never know what they mean by that. But at LCC today, Jamie and I got to meet with two pastors from local churches that are basically wanting to provide manpower- that's it! The college pastors from local churches are wanting to come and help reach LCC, and they just want to come under our umbrella, and provide manpower to train student leaders and follow-up new believers! WE WILL TAKE IT! How beautiful that it's not about Cru, it's not about specific churches, it's alll about God's people passionately coming together to work as one to bring His Kingdom!

Drenching KCC in Prayer

#283
At KCC coaching, Mitch and Dylan asked us if they could change their weekly mtgs to just be prayer meetings, to really seek the Lord for the rest of the semester before really running with anything else, because not much is happening so far at KCC. I could not have been more excited for an idea! PRAYER. It works. And no spiritual movement can succeed if it's not drenched in it, right??

CORE Love

#282
Jamie, Nat and I got to lead Core team meeting tonight. We had a blast cooking curry for everyone, and then leading them in a time of celebration, refreshing of vision and seeking the Lord for direction. We love our student leaders!

ONE YEAR?!

#281
Ending the day by going out to the beach with Dylan to meet up with a bunch of college/young adults kids from Leeward Community Church was actually really nice and refreshing. I got to meet some new people, and even got to lead a little discussion group for the guys. Plus the beach was beautiful. Definitely a pensive Gen today though, as I'm still processing through a lot of stuff that happened this past week with staff team interaction, AND today marks one year since moving to Hawaii! Wow, Lord. Time flies. Thank You for how powerfully present You've been in my time here, as difficult as it's been!

Prayer Has Power

#280
I'm wrestling through a lot of stuff with God. In fact, when Shaun asked each person on the team to check in and share how they're doing, my response was "Honestly, I'm in a pretty crappy place." I was having a hard time dealing with some interpersonal and cultural issues, and it was revealing some deep sin in my heart. So I was just not in a good place. But then we went into a time of prayer with two Cru staff from Hilo and a pastor in Hilo who is a former Cru staff guy, and my whole attitude changed. I'm still having to work through stuff in my heart, but to be able to give it all up to God and be reminded that the Lord is with us and for us and wants to use us to expand His Kingdom was exactly the refresher I needed.

Oh, CTA...

#279
Probably the single hardest day (for me) to date when it comes to staff team dynamics. We had a major "clearing the air" time, and boy did we ever have air to clear! There were tears, moments of frustration, temptations to give up and just leave, but we all stayed engaged and worked and talked through it, and it ended up being such a good thing. I love that our job teaches us (tremendously well) how to navigate through interpersonal conflict, and I love that our staff are committed to the mission and to help each other grow as individuals, through thick and thin.

Trust In His Goodness

#278
Our staff team started our day off with a spiritual listening exercise where we each processed through Luke 11:1-13, asking the Lord to open our hearts to trust in His love. Oh man... God revealed some major things in terms of what can hinder me from fully trusting in Him. It's intense stuff, but I'm excited to see how the Lord walks me through the healing process. Even just in that realization, I feel like He has already begun to turn my heart to trust in His goodness more. He is GOOD.

Prone to Focus on Weakness

#277
Strengths are scary for me. I'm always afraid that I will use my strengths for selfish gain or to increase my ego, and so I often shy away from them. But I realized, as we did a StrengthsFinder discussion today as a staff team, that God has made me the way I am for a reason, and I really just have to give my entire self- everything about me- over to Him, place it on the altar, and have Him use those things for His good!

Higher Failure Rate

#276
Sometimes coaching meetings are super exciting, where we get to talk about all the crazy things that God is doing, and we just get to discuss what to do about all that and where to go from there. And then there are times when coaching meetings involve talking about how nothing's working. Today's coaching meeting with Dylan and Mitch at KCC was like that. After some weeks of trying, almost absolutely nothing is happening at KCC- no one is coming to the meetings, no students (other than our leaders) are excited about the idea of Cru, evangelism isn't really happening. But honestly, it was an AWESOME coaching time, because we got to talk through what it means to be on a campus with a pioneering-stage movement. The reality is that the rate of failure is much higher on a pioneering campus, and that's not a bad thing. The "failures" are just a part of the "figuring out" process. Dylan and Mitch have been tremendously faithful student leaders, and Nat and I got to encourage them in that, and then we just talked through what we could try. And then in the end, we realized that we should probably be praying more... and so we spent the last chunk of our time praying that God would give us His heart for the campus, and would bring us into what He is doing. It was a GREAT coaching session!

The Search for Community Continues...

#275
Just checked out South Shore Christian Fellowship for the first time! I really liked it. It's a Calvary Chapel church so the teaching was solid, expository-style, which is right up my alley, and it was small enough that it had a family/community feel. I even got to go out to lunch with a bunch of the young adults! Lord, if this is where you want me to fully plug in, lead me to do so!

Chill... And I Mean CHILL

#274
3-hour breakfast hang out with 26 year-old Brad (one of our Cru students) to start the day. So fun to hang out with someone my age-ish! Then a spontaneous Skype catch up with a really good friend from my 2007 Tokyo Project- super encouraging in the Lord. Then a planned, awesome Skype chat catching up with Nick (guy I discipled at USC) who's on the World Race. Laundry, F*R*I*E*N*D*S, a Trojan victory (with Barkley having a school-record breaking performance... FIGHT ON!) and an early night of sleep made for a fanTAStic Sabbath.

Feeling Crummy Happens

#273
First, quick note- thanks for your prayers! It seems like God totally spoke through me last night and students were talking about the topic way after the meeting ended! :)

I kinda hit another low point today- lots of little frustrating things happened this morning, and then felt really bummed and lonely and spiritually crippled after a full day of staff meetings. But God really carried me through both meetings today (including a 3-hour long meeting to plan our weekly gatherings... which I led!) and even the student social at night! I was not in a position to be in ministry today, with how my heart and my mind were doing, but God is good and He gave me the strength I needed!

Speaking Tonight

#272
Please be praying for me as I prepare my talk for this evening! I will be speaking at our weekly meeting at 4:30 local time (7:30 pacific, 10:30 eastern) and I'm very excited about it, but am asking the Lord to move me out of the way and just speak through me. Please join me in that prayer!

Manoa D-Pod Love

#271
Steven and Josh are just great. They both love the Lord a lot, and yet they're so different, and God is working in them in such different ways, that doing discipleship with them is never boring! Today we couldn't meet all together but I enjoyed my time with Steven immediately followed by my time with Josh, a LOT.

Purposeful

#270
SUCH a fun day at LCC. Jessica (faculty advisor), Cameron (student leader) and I met over lunch and talked vision for the campus, and then spent some time hardcore praying for God's will to be done. It was so great! And then the three of us got to pray over a lady we randomly met and God spoke words of knowledge to Cameron to bless her and God gave Jessica words of encouragement to speak to her. Meanwhile, we also got to talk to a Catholic Tahitian girl who was with this lady, and I got to speak French with her. It was just a really cool day of God using our different talents and spiritual gifts to bless people.

Productive... Kinda

#269
Wow... I really didn't have a very productive day today, ministry-wise. But maybe that's the point of a day off haha. My car overheated last night so I had to have my radiator replaced today- I suppose that was productive. And now I'm off to the gym!

I Heart Early Morning Chats

#268
Woke up early to have quiet time and then chat with Jedidiah (freshman I hung out with on Monday night). It was GREAT. He's a fantastic kid and God's really doing things in his heart. I had a blast getting to hear how God was speaking to him through the weekend, and getting to talk with him through the idea that we don't have to be afraid of our own hearts in our relationship with God, because we can have the Holy Spirit living in us and living through us.

God Rocked the House

#267
GREAT day! Slept from like 11-8 last night (wow!), had a sweet men's time this morning, spent free time relaxing a bit and hanging out on the beach, ran night meeting (which was AWESOME- God totally moved!), participated in the super fun Battle of the Sexes Minute to Win It group activity, chatted with Tony and Steph (our speakers, who were on staff at SC my senior year), then went to bed. But really, tonight's meeting rocked people- and one guy even accepted Christ tonight!

Tired Before It Starts

#266
Day 1 of Fall Getaway... Everyone got up to Camp Homelani according to schedule, the first meeting went well, and it seems everyone's excited to be here. It's gorgeous up here. But I'm EXHAUSTED. I went through most of this afternoon/evening with a headache and next to zero energy. Going to bed early!

Eek So Much to Do!

#265
Honestly, today was mostly a tie-up-loose-ends-before-fall-getaway-starts-tomorrow kind of a day. Still had a great weekly gathering and all, but the rest of the day was a lot of logistics. Not always easy finding joy in doing stuff like that, but it still totally has a purpose!

"Remember me- Billy with the gay kids?"

#264
Shaun and I were talking with these two students on campus today, asking them questions about their beliefs, and then sharing the gospel with them. It was really fun. But apparently, partway through the conversation, a kid stopped behind me and just stood there for like 10 minutes waiting for me- I didn't notice but Shaun did. At the end of the conversation, I turned around and the guy was like "Gen, right?" Well, he wasn't wearing his sunglasses (which he had on when I met him) so I didn't recognize him but he was a guy from the Gay-Straight Alliance on campus whom I'd met a couple of weeks ago because their table was next to ours at the involvement fair. Well, he wanted to ask me if Cru wanted to partner with their org to do a winter formal. He said that their leadership was talking about how it might be cool to do an event with a Christian group, and they thought of us as a group that they thought would be loving! I have no idea what to do about this event thing, but how cool is it that this gay guy from a gay student organization waited for me for 10 minutes while I was sharing the gospel with someone to talk to me?? We ended up having a few minute chat just about life as we walked to our next appointments. Praise God that He is allowing us to be bold about who we are in being people who wanna share Christ with others, and yet at the same time allowing people to see us as loving people!

MOVEment

#263
At the beginning of our staff development time this morning, we spend a few minutes catching each other up on some of the interactions we've each been having with students recently. What we're really seeing is that we have more non-believers involved in our movement than like, ever before. And people seem to be coming to Christ here more than we've seen before. It's really, REALLY exciting! Keep praying for the harvest- God is moving!

Sleepy... But SO WORTH IT!

#262
I just got home a few minutes ago (it's 1:25am) because I had a FOUR HOUR convo about God with a freshman who's just trying to figure it out for himself after years of just hearing things in church sporadically and in YoungLife stuff. It's SO evident how God has been pursuing him for years, and I can't wait to see him embrace that and let God reveal the glorious identity and purpose He has in store for him.

Knows Better Than I Do

#261
An encouraging text from my mom, an encouraging text from a kid at USC randomly asking me how he could be praying for me, an encouraging time at the small group I go to whenever I'm in town and don't have Cru stuff (rare, really rare), an encouraging phone conversation with a UH student wrestling through what God is leading him to do, an encouraging text convo with a college buddy who's living missionally in his career in the pro sports world. Much encouragement, when it's much needed. Thank You, Lord, for knowing my heart.

Time in the Word

#260
Isaiah 55. Good stuff.

Planning But Trusting

#259
We are now just one week away from our annual Fall Getaway! Planning's been going well, and especially as of today, Natalie and I really feel like the programming aspect of the retreat (which the two of us are in charge of) is really coming together. Praying that the Lord does mighty things in people's hearts during our time up at Camp Homelani!

First Person Account

#258
On Thursdays, after we do some tabling and campus evangelism, a bunch of us staff and students get together to have lunch and chill in the campus center cafeteria. Today, I got to sit next to Kelsey. She's the freshman who just accepted Christ a week and a half ago. It was SO COOL hearing her talk about how she can really see how God's been pursuing her for the last four years or so, and how perfectly everything worked out to lead up to the point of her finally saying "yes" to Him last Sunday! I was beaming :)

Date With God

#257
I love that I get to work for an organization that REQUIRES its employees to take a half day off a month to spend with the Lord. I took my half day today, and it was just a really refreshing time of spending extended time with Jesus, just enjoying His presence, and seeking His will for my life. As an added bonus, being on staff in Hawaii, I get to have my half days with the Lord in settings like this (taken a few minutes apart today as I watched the sun set behind Diamond Head from Spitting Caves in Hawaii Kai where I live):







God's creation is just breath-taking, isn't it? And this is NOTHING compared to the glories we'll see in heaven! Lord, bring people into a relationship with You that they may get to enjoy Your glory for all eternity!

LCC RepreSENT

#256
Another exciting day at LCC today. I love Tuesdays because the Lord is really moving in crazy ways at LCC and Jamie and I get to witness it firsthand. The latest is that 7 students from LCC have already signed up for our fall getaway, which is a week from Friday! Last year, zero students from LCC were there. This year, we already have seven and are praying for twenty!

FINALLY Tabling at KCC

#255
KCC's administration is a bit more strict about religious student organizations than other schools. So before we could do any tabling, we had to show them the material we'd be handing out, to have it pre-approved before we could even request a table. So even though we were supposed to table two weeks ago, we actually didn't get clearance til the end of last week, meaning that today was our first day tabling. So there was a huge hurdle to get over even just to get to tabling. And then when we showed up, there wasn't a table there for us... and then we saw the Christian cult group that's very active in Hawaii out in full force- they were allll over campus. So we definitely could feel the battle raging for KCC. But we finally got the table and stuff all figured out and had a REALLY fun and exciting time of tabling where we got 50 students to do spiritual interest surveys! We're gonna be spending some of the next few weeks following up with those people, but we definitely had some great spiritual conversations with some students who are really questioning their faith, and also met some students who are really excited about the existence of a Christian organization at KCC. We can't wait to see what all the Lord is going to do at KCC this year!

He Walks With Me

#254
I won't lie- this season of life has not been the easiest... and especially in these last few weeks, I've sure experienced my share of ups and downs. That's why it was so nice that tonight, on my way home from work, God just led me to drive to my favorite spot on the island- a beautiful cliff area where the waves crash against rocks in a breath-taking way. Just sitting out there for like an hour, watching the waves and the big, bright moon shining brilliantly and reflecting on the water, I just got to talk some things through with the Lord. I'm nowhere near done processing, and I'm nowhere near out of the difficult season, but I feel like a lot of trust was restored tonight. Thank You, Lord, for being patient with me, and carrying me through tough times.

Blessed by Community

#253
Justin, who grew up here in Hawaii, is one of my AGO bros from USC. After graduation, he moved back here so he helped me get settled in when I moved here. And then two months later, he moved back to the mainland! It was so sad! But now he and his brand new wife (as of last 6 days ago) are back living in Hawaii. So glad they're back (as is his wife's sister, who is also a friend of mine). We all watched USC beat Utah together today, and it was just so nice being with old friends here in Hawaii again! Looking forward to hanging out with Justin and continuing to encourage each other in the Lord :)

He Knows

#252
Definitely had a tougher day today. Just feeling overall discouraged about my personal ministry on campus, my personal growth, my personal relationship with God... But God knows, and He sent a few little reminders throughout this evening that my identity is secure in Him and that He's using me plenty. Praise Him for His grace and kindness.

Scary But Fun Part of My Job

#251
Natalie and I got to walk around campus for a while today, trying to have conversations about Jesus with people. We actually didn't see too many people out sitting, and so we only got to meet two different people, and one was busy and the other was a self-proclaimed "very strong Buddhist" who had no interest in exploring any other religion. But it's still nice to get out there and try talking to people, and hearing where they're coming from so that we can be praying for them!

So Cool!

#250
I just heard today that Kainoa, the guy I mentioned in last night's post, did accept Christ last night!

God, the Pursuer of Hearts

#249
God is just going crazy at LCC! This guy Cameron is telling everyone about Jesus and keeps coming back to Jessica, our faculty advisor, about such and such a group of 6, 8, 10, etc coming to Christ! AND we just found out tonight that this girl Kelsey who's been coming to Cru for the last couple of weeks and even bringing friends but hadn't ever accepted Christ just entered into a relationship with Him on Sunday! AND this guy at UH who has been going to church and such but never knew how to have a personal relationship with God is in his RA's room as we speak (I think...), talking and praying through the decision of to accept Christ!

I Heart Air Travel

#248
SEA-PDX: Got to talk with the Japanese man sitting next to me (talked the entire flight in Japanese! so fun1, and got to tell him that I would be praying for his wife's mother who is in stage 5 of kidney cancer.
PDX-SFO: Switched seats with a guy so he could sit with his gf. Sat next to a woman who then switched seats with a younger guy so that she could sit with her hubby. So the young guy and I sat next to the only original member of the row- Michelle, who happens to be a friend of Ron Sasaki's from working at Aera in Bakersfield (weird, right?). Got to talk about life and talked about my relationship with God with them and what that means to me. Made two new friends :)
SFO-HNL: Had a row to myself and had a wonderful flight with gorgeous sunset views, great entertainment (finally got to see "Midnight in Paris"), time in the Word and in worship with my iPod, and rest!

O Canada

#247
GRUBBS IS MARRIED!

What a beautiful wedding in Lynden, WA, where I got to emcee the reception. Huge blessing to be a part of that celebration :)

But before the wedding, I got to have lunch in Canada with Trevor (just so we could say we did haha) then I got to see the Wiricks who were in town visiting family friends (random, RIGHT?), and then after the wedding, a good 12 or so AGOs all hung out at Trevor's, sitting around a fire just talking about life.

I Heart Seattle

#246
Landed at SFO at like 440am, then went SFO-PDX at 755am, then went PDX-SEA at 1010am. Got picked up by Trevor and got to spend an AWESOME, relaxing day in beaaaaaautiful Seattle. Oh my... not a cloud in sight, clear blue skies, warm sun, stunning views of the Cascades, the Olympics, the Sound, the lakes... a quick drive over to the breathtaking Snoqualmie falls, delicious lunch and dinner with the Smiths, a Trojan victory, SUPER encouraging talks about what the Lord is doing in each of our lives with Trevor, and then a few episodes of FRIENDS to end the night. What a blessing of a relaxing Sabbath!

Packed Friday to End a Packed Week

#245
I'm in charge of weekly meeting this year, and how we plan those is that we have an extra 3-hour long meeting one Friday per month to pray over and plan the next four weekly meetings. Today was the first time I led one of those meetings. God really showed up, and we're excited about the next month as we explore the story of Gideon!

Staff meeting all afternoon was really productive too! Meeting-filled day followed by two really encouraging phone chats- one with my mommy and one with a guy I disciple here at UH. And then red-eye to SFO!

Glad I Took It Easy Yesterday

#244
10-11 at UH for "Talk Story" (campus evangelism) time. 11-2 at LCC (15 miles each way). 2-7 at UH setting up for, executing, tearing down weekly gathering. 7-11 at Waikiki doing a Post-Project Reunion/Encouragement Time for our students who went on SP this summer, to help them process through transition back.

But you know what? Even though I'm physically pretty dead (fought a really bad headache allll day too), today was such an exciting and encouraging day as we got to see God do so much! It was especially such a blessing to finish off the night hearing about how God rocked our students this summer in places like Japan, Dominican Republic, and Santa Monica.

Threshold Nearing

#243
I have almost nothing left... I know that sounds super dramatic but I am just SO tired. Yesterday was a 16 hour day (though "only" 12 of those were for work), the day before was a 12 hour day (12 of which were for work), and so today I'm keeping it short. A quick d-time with Shaun, a Jamba meeting with a kid from Japan who wanted to talk about Jesus, and now just admin...

And It Comes With a View of Pearl Harbor!

#242
Kicking off at Leeward Community College was so exciting! Jessica, the professor there who is the advisor for Cru, was such an encouragement to spend time with; Jamie and I got to spend a good amount of time with a solid student named Joe; we got more than 50 contacts by doing surveys at a table, and many of them told us they were very interested in being a part of Cru; we heard about many students from Cru last year who are now doing a lot of evangelism on campus and have been seeing a lot of students come to Christ. It was just a really encouraging day!

Frosh Love

#241
After coaching a student leader at KCC, and then doing a prayer walk around the campus, Natalie and I spent a couple of hours making calls to freshmen to invite them to our first small group (which happened tonight) and to students who did a survey last week who wanted to talk about Jesus. It was a really productive time- I got to set up an appointment with a guy who lived in Japan and wants to talk about Jesus, and I got to invite a bunch of guys out to small group. In the end, our small group had about 13 students show up- it was really fun! We'll see where things go from here, but we felt pretty blessed that kids came out, had fun AND we had a room to meet in, which was up in the air til just before.

Community Search

#240
Had a super fun time picking up a transfer student from Texas and taking him to church this morning. I love early services so it was nice to have an excuse to go to 8am at One Love (Jack had to be at work after 1st service). And then finished the day with small group- hadn't been able to attend since end of April, so it was great seeing all those guys again! I'm really hoping I can get plugged in to both church and small group soon...

Hula Pie- Doesn't Get Old

#239
It's a good Saturday evening when you get to have a really good, convicting, encouraging Jesus talk with your best friend, have a yummy dinner at a great local diner (Wailana's), and finish with your favorite dessert at your favorite spot in Waikiki (Hula Pie at Duke's in Waiks).

Stuckish

#238
It's just not an easy task, working as a team of six staff, trying to reach an entire island. Of course, it's a one-step-at-a-time thing and we have to be fully reliant on the Holy Spirit, as this is God's work that we're getting to participate in... but sometimes we just hit these walls of not knowing what to do. We all came into staff meeting feeling a bit like that today, so it was good that our directors had us start by spending a good chunk of time coming before the Lord and laying down our anxieties before Him and re-trusting in Him as a team. May His will be done, and praise Him for letting us be a part of this work that He's doing!

Thursday Nights Rock

#237
Got to meet a ton of new students at our first weekly gathering tonight! So fun! And then afterward at Yogurtland (it's a post-meeting tradition for the whole group), Matt Darby and I got to catch up on some deep things God is doing in each of our hearts. Quite refreshing and exciting.

Mid-Week Struggs

#236
Met some more great students today and had a fun time having some sit-down one-on-one with a couple of guys who just started at UH, but MAN... they do not call Wednesdays "hump day" for no reason. It was haaaaard to get through. Something about that middle of the week, last-weekend-was-a-few-days-ago-and-this-weekend-is-a-few-days-away thing.

Again, it's a great thing that I love my job! Otherwise Wednesdays would just suck.

Why We Do What We Do

#235
Day 2 was another fun and exciting (though very tiring) day, but the highlight definitely had to be Karisa and Josh coming back to the table from going out to talk to people about Jesus and telling us that we had a new brother in Christ! Brandon, who had never had any sort of spiritual background and had never heard the gospel, put his faith in Christ AS Karisa and Josh were sharing the Good News with him. Praise God for letting us see our first bit of tangible fruit this school year, and praise Him for bringing another soul into the Kingdom! Pray for Brandon :)

First Days Are So Fun!

#234
SUCH a fun first day on campus today. I was exhausted and totally hit a wall in the afternoon, but I got to meet so many students today, most of whom don't know Jesus yet, and our team got a good hundred+ surveys filled out, so we're off to a great start, by the grace of God. Really looking forward to meeting up with these students and getting to know them/hear their stories/hopefully share the hope of Christ with them.

AND I got a good few hours hanging out with Jamie for the first time in a while. I'd missed my Project co-director! :)

Moved In!

#233
Yaaaay! As of this afternoon, I'm moved into my own place. I loved getting to spend time with my AGO bro Justin while I spent the last 11 days on his floor/couch, but it feels good to have a place to come home to that's meant for me. Thank You, Lord, for providing!

However, right now I'm feeling DRAINED. Compleeeeetely exhausted after last week. NOT feeling physically ready to start on campus tomorrow. Guess I'm gonna have to go entirely on God's strength! Haha. Here we go!

Ready For Tomorrow

#232
Our Core overnighter is done. Lots of excitement as the students left feeling much more prepared to start another year of bringing God's Kingdom to their campuses.

Right now, I'm just ready to enjoy a full day off before we start on Monday. Although I don't know how "off" it'll feel since I'll be moving into my new place haha

Mission: Oahu

#231
Tonight we started our student leadership overnighter. Man... I didn't think I'd get this excited to see everyone. It's so sweet to be in a room with 12 students committed to, and excited about, reaching this island for Christ. God has brought this movement quite along way since a year ago, and I'm so pumped to see how God's gonna use these young servants of His to make an impact on the campuses of O'ahu!

Done

#230
STAFF PLANNING IS DONE! Woot! And God has totally led us the entire time. I'm so excited to see what He does in and through us this coming year. :)

God Loves Community Colleges

#229
Oh man... today's meetings were hard to get through. We're all pretty tired by now, and it was a FULL day of figuring out some really tricky stuff. But it was also an exciting day, as we figured out who is going to which community college campuses, and what ministry at CCs is going to look like. I LOVE my times at CCs, so it was fun to find out that I'll be back at KCC and LCC this coming year.

Spirit-Ledness

#228
Our first full day of hardcore planning for this upcoming semester was exhausting. We had to make some huge changes and the discussions around those changes were pretty intense. It's a good thing we started the day off with a devotional about being led by the Holy Spirit, and how the things of God are only understood by the Spirit. The discussion came from an excerpt from the book "Life in the Spirit" by AW Tozer, which I'm currently reading. It's REALLY good so far- I highly recommend it! Such a clear, concise, biblical overview of who the Holy Spirit is and how we are to relate to Him.

Provider

#227
Praise God! Today, Natalie saw her last $165 in monthly support that she needed to reach 100% come in! And then an hour or two later, I confirmed with a place that I'll be moving in! So the Lord sweetly provided for Natalie with ministry support, and He richly provided for me with housing!!

"When two or more..."

#226
Four of us on the staff team got together this evening to pray together to prepare for the new year of ministry at UH, since we begin with staff planning tomorrow. What a sweet way to spend time together- coming before the Lord in surrender and in acknowledgment of our total dependence on Him. I'm SO excited for what He has in store for me, our staff team, our Cru students, UH/KCC/LCC/WCC as a whole, Hawaii, the world...!! May it all be by His strength, for His glory.

Mother Knows Best

#225
My mom and I had a good phone chat today. She had some concerns about my walk with the Lord, and was kinda calling me out on things/asking about things. A lot of it was just misunderstanding, but there was definitely truth in stuff she brought up. I feel so blessed to have a mom who cares about, and is proactively involved in, my spiritual life. Thank You, Lord, for that blessing! :)

Heroes

#224
Ron Netsu is so encouraging... He's a professor in Japan who invited our Project team into his classroom to help the Japanese students with their English, and to have spiritual conversations with them. As a result, a good dozen or so students got to hear the gospel and a handful came to Christ! But Ron lives missionally wherever he goes! He shares Jesus with the men at the onsen he relaxes at, he has taught at many Japanese universities and tells many of his students about God, and here in Hawaii, where he spends his summers, he spends a solid month at a nursing home, just living with the elderly folks and holding prayer and healing meetings and sharing the gospel with the residents! So it was such an encouragement to spend some time with him at the home today, seeing him in action, loving the men and women he meets there.

Welcome, Ryan!

#223
Ryan Ellis, the new Hawaii Cru intern, got in today so I got to pick him up. And we've spent pretty much the ENTIRE day at the Sbux at Kahala mall, apt hunting on craiglist. It's all becoming so real. I'm back in Hawaii and the school year starts again soon!

Side note- got to have dinner with some of our Project kids from Hawaii, and even Debbie who's visiting right now! Ryan's visiting in Hawaii too but I haven't seen him yet.

I Missed Nemo

#222
Staying on Grubbs' floor, which is great cuz I get to spend a few days with him before he goes off and gets married!! Today was a chill day of apartment hunting. Nothing so far... But it's good to slowly be settling back into being in Hawaii. And it's GREAT having a car again! :) Thank You, Lord, for provision- current and future!

Hasta Luego, California

#221
Gin woke me up early to say bye since she was headed to work. Sad that I won't see her til Novemberish probably. And sad that Umi went off to church camp on Sunday so I won't see her for a while either (but I am happy that she's at church camp!). Got breakfast with Pfaff who spent the night, then grabbed lunch with my dad and then he dropped me off at the airport. I probably would've been mopier about not being in CA once I landed had it not been for Matt Darby coming to pick me up! So good to see him!

People I Miss

#220
My last full day in CA... I spent it well! Packing wasn't the most fun, but I had a DELICIOUS lunch with my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin at Fleming's, then got to see Heather, hung out with my friend Mitch, and got to spend an hour in the roof-top jacuzzi of Mosaic apartments with my little bro Jonathan and two other AGOs. Then Matt Pfaff came over and kept me company while I packed. I love my friends so much- Lord, You've truly blessed me with amazing community.

You Can't Stop the Beat!

#219
More getting ready for HI, and then finished the day with an evening at the Hollywood Bowl (one of my favorite places in the world) watching Hairspray (my favorite musical haha) with a friend. It was super fun!

Mr. and Mrs. Nerfie

#218
The first Mu is now married! Almost 5 years after I started as pledgemaster, Mark Harrison, of the class to which I was pledgemaster, has gotten married! Man, if that doesn't make me feel old...

So happy for Nicole and him. And it was such a fun wedding of seeing tons of good friends- and the best part was the live mariachi band! I'm SO having that at mine, if I get married.

The one thing though- I left the wedding kinda sad because I had such a sweet time with all my friends that I hadn't connected with in a while, and it made me realize how much I miss living in California and having those people around me. Choosing joy and gratitude, as there's much be joyful and grateful about.

Aaaand BACK

#217
It took me a while to get going with anything since I got back at 4:30am. But right back to admin work I went! The return to Hawaii is on Tuesday so there's much to do!

Ridiculously Long Day

#216
Twas a long day of travel back to LA, but a very pleasant time too, spent as family. And then in CA, we got to rescue a friend of my dad's who got stranded on a freeway interchange. Scary stuff. But I didn't get home til 4:30am. TIIIIIRED.

Moms and Sisters Need Friends Too

#215
Last full day here- again spent relaxing. And was the nicest day, weather-wise, too. Spectacular colors in the water, gorgeous blue skies, ugh... Umi made a good friend too, and my mom became friends with the parents. I love that, cuz my mom, in all her busy-ness, rarely gets to have much of a social life. And it was extra cool cuz it turns out the dad is a believer and got really excited when my mom told him about what I do for a job. :)

"Voulez-vous connaitre Dieu personellement?"

#214
I decided to go on my own to Chichen Itza today. My mom was tired and Gin and Umi weren't interested. But oh my! It was AMAZING. The history is FASCINATING, the sights are spectacular, I had the best time. I had to be in the lobby at 7am to get on the bus and didn't get dropped off til 730pm so it was a LOOOOONG and tiring, sweltering day, but it was so worth it. And the best part was that, because I was alone, I got to meet a lot of people, including a Nigerian family from Paris who totally adopted me for the afternoon- we became good friends, speaking French together the whole time. Boy did it make me miss France! I've been feeling for a while that the Lord has plans for me to use French in ministry at some point (I've had opportunities to use my other 3 languages in ministry already), and the hours spent with this family made me really hope it's soon!

Mom Needs Rest

#213
My mom and I were thinking about going on an excursion to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, but, again, we decided against it. But it's been sweet because my mom has just been having the time of her life, relaxing all day at the hotel.

Finding Nemo

#212
Umi, Gin and I went on a snorkeling excursion today. It was INCREDIBLE. God's creation is just mind-blowing. I've been snorkeling many times but every time, the detail and creativity of everything I see is just astounding. What an artist He is...

Mexican Food... in MEXICO?! (Oh wait... that's not weird)

#211
We were gonna go on a snorkeling excursion or something today, but opted for another day of relaxation. WIN. Ended with some of the best Mexican food I've ever had- the restaurant was suggested by an American family we met in the pool :)

Japanese Food... in MEXICO?!

#210
Day 1 Cancun- lots of catching up on rest! Haha. Seriously- we chilled ALL day. And ended the day with a surprisingly delicious Japanese dinner. MMMM.

Vaca!!!!

#209
Aaaaaand back on a plane. Well, two planes, actually. But this time, it's for vacation. SO excited to have a week of relaxation with my mom and sisters. I really do miss them and I think they miss me a lot too, so it'll be nice to have some good, quality time without cell phones and laptops distracting us :) Lord, bless our time together as family.

Here to There and Back and There Again

#208
I have to say- all this changing of scenery going from place to place is actually pretty draining. Each trip/conference/assignment is so concentrated and intense that the transition from one place to another is never smooth- it's rather jarring. A packed school year of ministry in Hawaii and BAM right into a week in CA to wrap up planning and BAM right into briefing and BAM right into a super intense Summer Project in Tokyo. From that, straight back into life in CA with my family was quite the shock and from that to a packed 4 days in Seattle going directly into the most physically and mentally tiring conference I've ever been to and now directly back into some time with the family. I know the Lord has a purpose for each of these times, and He's been meeting with me in powerful ways... but I'm just hoping and praying that what He's been teaching me and doing in me in each wouldn't get lost in transition, but would all blend together to bring me to a deeper knowledge of/intimacy with Christ. So as I have come back to LA today from a beautiful time at Staff Conference, that is my prayer.

Glory

#207
I just got back to my room after our final day of Conference. Tonight, David Platt taught from Isaiah and gave us some simple yet mind-blowingly powerful truths about God and ourselves. After the year that I've had, hearing from the Word about His incomprehensible greatness, our utter depravity, His scandalous mercy, and our urgent mission, just ROCKED me. How easily we turn God into something so much smaller than what He really is... Thank You, Lord, for a reminder of how far beyond our understanding Your character stretches. "Holy, Holy, Holy!" the seraphim cry out. "DIFFERENT! SEPARATE! ABOVE!"... even in their own sinlessness and "holiness", they see Yahweh and are so overwhelmed by His splendor and His superiority that all they can say is that He is ABOVE them, SET APART, and OTHER.

Great Kid

#206
Jesse Mentz was a freshman at USC my first year interning there. He's a great kid- we've always gotten along great. He also happens to be a staff kid, and so he came out to visit his parents at Conference. So we got to hang out tonight for a good couple of hours. We had a BLAST sharing with each other the joys of triumphant seasons as well as the glorious growth that sprouts from desert seasons that each of us has been experiencing. And, of course, ending by praying for each other is always a win :)

Wonderfully Uneventful

#205
Today might've been one of the most chill Sundays I've had in years... and it was soooo needed after an exhausting week of Conference. It was so nice to sleep in, grab lunch at the cafeteria, spend time with Jesus listening to a podcast sermon on Ruth at a coffee shop, then grabbing dinner at an AWESOME pizza place in Fort Collins with some good friends!

Om Nom Nom... PRAYER!

#204
Man, prayer is such food to the soul! This afternoon, I got to together with my buddy Rafal to pray. He had some things on his heart so we decided to meet up, and we both just shared what was going on in life and got to pray with and for each other. It was sweet. Then tonight, I randomly ran into two other friends from New Staff Training, Tim and Mike, whom I hadn't gotten to know too well before, but the Spirit totally took over and we had a powerful chat about how God was pursuing each of us- we got to encourage and exhort each other in mighty ways- and at the end of it Tim said, "Well I gotta get going now but let's pray" so we prayed for a good while before parting ways. Well, because of that conversation, I was like half an hour late to my other NST friend Ian's bachelor dinner, but there we also had another sweet time of encouraging Ian and then all gathering around him to lay hands on him and pray for him. Seriously, this is how fellowship is supposed to look, right? I love it. I just love it.

Name Change Drama

#203
CCC has been getting a lot of harshly negative reaction from the public about our name change these last couple of days. Some people are being really encouraging too, but a loooot of people are almost attacking our leadership. So tonight, our national leaders took some time to explain the situation to us and let us know how they're responding to it. Honestly, I am so thankful right now to be working for an organization whose leaders are so godly. They are humble people who are completely open about their weaknesses and imperfections, and they are being so gracious and wise in how they're handling the whole situation. And above all, their attitude is one of wanting nothing more than for Christ's Name to be lifted high. In fact, Steve Sellers, the director of CCC in the US, said tonight, "If we get hammered/crushed (by the media/public) in the process, but Jesus is lifted up and the cause of Christ is advanced, I can deal with that!"

We Are All Called

#202
Tonight, in our meeting in the big arena, we were challenged to remember again how God called us into the lifestyle we're currently living. SO nice, because when you're going-going-going in ministry, it can be easy to forget why you do what you do... Thank You, Lord, for calling us all as Your believers to live a life that means something, because we all, as Your redeemed children, get to be part of Your story!

Another Full Day

#201
This morning's session with Francis Chan was another powerful time of surrendering ourselves as an organization to the power of the Holy Spirit! Tonight was a night of casting vision for how to truly trust God to do impossible things through us as we seek to unite and mobilize believers all over the place- not just within Cru. And then we ended the night with 10th Avenue North playing a concert for us! It was awesome cuz, not only was their music great and totally Christ-centered, but the lead singer basically preached to us in-between songs and it was so encouraging to hear him challenging us to keep our focus on Christ as we serve in ministry, and to remember who He is and what He has done, because "when you're serving out of gratitude, it's hard to burn out!"

What's in a Name?

#200
God used Francis Chan to rock me this morning, I had a sweet time catching up with two of my dearest staff friends who went to SC with me, and ended the night listening to a guy's powerful testimony... but probably the biggest news from today is that Campus Crusade for Christ, Intl's US ministry unveiled its new name: Cru. SO, this means that in the US, Campus Crusade for Christ will no longer be known as Campus Crusade for Christ, but will be called Cru (Cru Global, legally).

Wanna know more about the name change?
Check out
http://www.ccci.org/cru

Madness Begins

#199
First day of Staff Conference is actually not officially until tomorrow, when meetings start in the morning. But today was the beginning of crazy as 5000+ staff from around the country stormed CSU Fort Collins to register, socialize like crazy, and enjoy an evening at the county fair. It's SOOOOO good to see my friends from New Staff Training last year, as well as all my staff friends from our region. I love these times together because we just get to enjoy each other's company, encourage each other in ministry, exhort each other in the Lord, hear from the Lord together through legit speakers (Francis Chan tomorrow tomorrow morning), and worship the Lord together in Moby Arena.

Famtime

#198
Got back from Seattle at 11AM, and then got to spend the day with my mom, little sister, and one of my mom's best friends who was visiting from Canada. I love spending time with my family, and I'm really glad I got to squeeze this time in before getting on the plane to fly out to Colorado for Staff Conference tonight.

QUICK

#197
And just like that, it's over. My mini-vacation here in Seattle has been amazing. Each of the two and a half days that I've been here has been jam-packed with activity, fellowship, food... oh man. Such a needed time away. But it flew by. I'm sad to leave in the morning. It was really, really good getting to see and hang out with Ben for a few days.

Old Friends

#196
I've been hanging out with my old friend Ben Malcolmson for the last two days, and it's been great. We were in AGO together, and because of the fact that I live in Hawaii and he lives on the west coast, it's been hard over the last few years to get any face time. But I'm taking full advantage of the two weeks I have between Project ending and Staff Conference starting!

It's beautiful here- so much nature, beautiful architecture, and his friends up here are great too! It's been a blessing having some relaxing, fun-filled times with brothers in Christ... some brand new to my life, some veterans!

Bumming Rides

#195
I needed a ride down to Orange County this morning, and Andrew (another guy I used to disciple at USC) works just past where I needed to go, so I stayed over at AGO last night and he drove me down this morning. It was a pretty quick drive but it was nice to have some time to catch up with him!

Made to Worship

#194
I really haven't been participating in worship through music much lately. I'm usually listening to worship music throughout the day, but over the last few weeks, I really haven't had many chances to listen to worship music or sing out in praise. Part of that was because I forgot to take my iPod to Japan. And part of it is that I haven't been playing much guitar lately. And part of it I think is just that I haven't been making the time for it. So it was really nice today when, as I was doing some chores around the house, I got to blast some of my favorite songs of praise on my laptop. It's just refreshing to the soul to listen to, and to participate in by singing!

Want some recommendations??
"You're Beautiful" by Phil Wickham
"Glory" by Jeff Deyo
"I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin
"Until the Whole World Hears" by Casting Crowns
"Filled With Your Glory" by Starfield

Pray for Nick

#193
Nick Rice, whom I had the pleasure of discipling while at SC, just left the country today to begin his tour with World Race. He'll be spending 11 months going through 11 countries doing various forms of missions work- whether that's manual labor stuff, social justice stuff, evangelism stuff... he and his team just get to be Christ's hands and feet and mouthpiece to people all over the world! Please pray for him, and if you wanna read updates from him, you can check out his World Race blog at:
nickrice.theworldrace.org

Can't Wait

#192
One week from today, CCC's national staff conference starts in Ft Collins, Colorado! SO EXCITED.

Wanted: A Processing Buddy

#191
I got to spend the day at Disneyland today. I went with my two sisters, the boyfriend of the older one, and a friend from USC. But other friends joined later in the day, and today turned out to be a day full of really encouraging Jesus talks with a few of them. Things haven't been too easy in my relationship with God, but as I processed through it with them, I really got to see how much the Lord is doing right now to draw me nearer to Him in humble worship, and it made me really thankful for who He is! Praise God that He didn't create us to live alone... thank God that He gave us brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we can better walk this life with Jesus!

Not Much to Report

#190
Got to see some old church friends today! And other than going out to dinner with my mom, it was a rather uneventful day. Not complaining- I need some uneventful haha.

Return to "Paradise"

#189
"And just like that, it was over."
That's what Steven's twitter said today. After a redeye flight into CA, 3.5 days of briefing in Orange County, an 11 hour flight to Japan, 5 weeks of Project, a 9 hour flight back to LA, 3 days of debrief back in Orange County, and a week of fun exploring Socal, the Hawaii kids are back on O'ahu. Praise God for all that He did in and through them this summer, all that they were able to see and experience, and all that He will continue to do in and through them as they continue to follow Him and live for Him wherever they go.

Healthier Means...

#188
I woke up feeling a lot better today... which meant that I was doing well enough to start doing admin work again! WOO! haha. No, but really, it was a productive day of catching up on paperwork and finances for work :) It's all part of ministry life, and I love it!

Sicker

#187
Unfortunately, I woke up feeling worse today. But I got to have another relaxing, restful day, and had a couple of really sweet times in the Word. So even though I'm physically blegh, I'm feeling more and more spiritually refreshed. I won't lie though- I am bummed that I had to miss out on Disneyland with the Project kids... It's ok- I really feel like the Lord was blessing me by not letting me go today. Sometimes you just have to rest!

Sick

#186
My first day with a cold in a while. Not fun. Had to skip out on an evening in Santa Monica with the Project kids, but I got to enjoy a nice lunch with them at Olive Garden, and then I spent the rest of the day resting as much as I could, hoping to feel better! I really think that, often, my catching a cold is a blessing in disguise as God always uses it slow me down when I need to slow down.

Feliz Cumpleanos, USA!

#185
It was so fun celebrating Independence Day with our whole Tokyo team less Bethany, Kimiyo who just got back from her 1st stint year in Tokyo, and a few other friends and some family! We had a classic Mexican bbq (very new for the Hawaii kids) complete with a pool, and then went to the local park for the huge fireworks extravaganza, which is always a highlight :) great times of fellowship and fun!

Church Love

#184
It was so refreshing to get to go to Reality LA again for the first time in MONTHS. Plus I got to take Matt Darby from Hawaii, and he loved it too. The message on surprising kindness as seen in Ruth and perfected in Christ was so convicting and challenging... Great way to kick off a new week!

Need Sleep

#183
Got to hang out with the Hawaii kids tonight at Souplantation. Seems like they've been having a great time hangin around Socal. In other news, I'm still exhausted.

Underslept

#182
Wow... I'd forgotten how much I sleep right after Project ends. Haha. Definitely a slow/late start to the day, but then it was a nice day of catching up with a guy I discipled at USC, doing last bits of admin work for Project, having dinner with my little sister, and then chatting with my mom. Looking forward to more sleep!

The Fun Continues

#181
Said goodbye to the team this morning. Definitely sad. But then again, all the ones who came out from Hawaii are stickin around socal for a few days before heading back to the island, as is the one from washington, and the rest are from socal so it'll be easy to see them again soon. In fact, most of them are going to Knott's tomorrow, then we're all hanging out in LA/Hollywood on Sat night, then we're headed to an Angel's game on Sunday after church, and then they're all coming over to my mom's place on Monday for 4(h of July! Yaaaay

Joyful Night

#180
Seriously, I love my job. At our very last meeting of debrief, the speaker talked about how to stay involved in the mission. It was such an encouraging, visionary time, and we even got to cap it off by hearing that, through our teams (Tokyo, DR, East Asia) this summer, the Lord brought 141 people into a relationship with Himself! And this is what I get to do as a job- be a part of that by sharing Christ with people and training/equipping students to do so on their campuses and everywhere they go. It's really, REALLY fun.

NO Idea How I Stayed Awake

#179
Considering the fact that I woke up at 4am today, I did ok! By God's strength, and I'm guessing God's strength alone, I got through a full day of debriefing meetings (which included a good chunk of time working on closing out finances) without really ever feeling too tired. Right now though, I'm ready for some goooood sleep!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

#178
I tell ya... that trip from Hakone to Narita and then to LAX and Vanguard is a pain! I remember it from 2009 when Heather and I led together, and it was just as awful this time around. But again, our team impressed me with how swiftly and joyfully and peacefully they loaded and unloaded our bus, two trains, plane, and shuttle (which was much needed since we had really short connection times between a lot of the legs). The day one flies from Tokyo to LA turns into a 40 hour day, which means that we are EXHAUSTED, but I'm really praising God for how smooth our trip back here to the US was!

Soaking in Coffee

#177
What a relaxing day... Our whole day was spent at Yunessun, which is basically like a Disneyland of baths. You walk around in your swimsuits all day and enjoy a coffee bath, a green tea bath, a charcoal bath, etc, and have a nice big buffet lunch. It really was a great way to spend our last full day in Japan together- just relaxing together and enjoying each other's company. Leaving Japan tomorrow...

Gotta Start the Day Off Right!

#176
Before we went on our adventures around Hakone today (buses, cable cars, ropeway gondolas, pirate ship tours, water shrines and more!), we started off the day with a nice long team time. It was a powerful time of clearing the air (resolving team conflict), praising God together through song, and listening to the Lord in the Word. Good stuff!

Proud Parents?

#175
I was so proud of our team today. It was move-out day, which is always a hassle, and we had given them very strict, specific instructions on how to move out, when to be ready, etc. When JCCC staff showed up at 11am to check each apartment out, every single person in every single room was completely ready! They were so impressed and Jamie and I were so proud :) It was a great way to start off a long day of moving out and heading to Hakone for end-of-project retreat.

Scorching

#174

I wish I could let you feel how hot it was today...

ALMOST DONE?!

#173

Time flies...

Best and Worst

#172
One of the best parts of Project is becoming good friends with Japanese people. One of the worst parts of Project is also becoming good friends with Japanese people, and then having to say goodbye. Hideo, my new friend from Tokyo Disneyland, and I got to hang out tonight with a few friends, and he and I had some AWESOME conversations. It was SO good and God is so pursuing his heart it's not even funny. But then it was goodbye and it's just super sad!

Will You Go Out With Me?

#171
Seriously, Date Night with Jesus is one of the best things ever. It's a staple of most summer project experiences- once a week, there is a two-hour block set aside for every one on the team to go off alone and have some solid time with Jesus. For the third project in a row (of 3 project that's I've done) my Date Night spot has been Mr Donut. Man, tonight's Date Night was so needed. Every single year, it just reminds me how much we need some specially set aside chunks of time to get romantic with the greatest love of our life. Now if only I could get myself to do it back in the US...

I Heart Student Leaders

#170
Today kicked off our last full week in-country, and our last week on campus, which is CRAZY. But we got to start it off in a super encouraging way as Jamie and I got to meet with Ryan and Abi, who are our campus evangelism leaders, to have our weekly time to see how they're doing and explain to them what the upcoming week is going to look like. We're pretty excited about these last four days on campus that start tomorrow. Praying that we would keep our hearts focused on loving the Lord and loving each other as we reach out to the students with whom we get to interact.

I Love Disney Parks

#169
Man, Tokyo Disneyland was so refreshing... I mean, I love going to Disney parks no matter what, but today was special. 9 of us from our team went but we were also joined by three Japanese friends that we'd met in different places. One of them was Hideo- a guy Abi randomly met at Waikiki a while back when he was on vacation with some friends. He and I got to talk a good amount, and I loved it! He's a great guy, we were able to have some great life/spiritual chats, and it was great to speak in Japanese for a while. Being a director for Project is really different from being a student- you really don't get as much hardcore interaction with Japanese people, so it was super refreshing to get to know a new friend. Praying for him!

Stats Rock

#168
I know it's not about the numbers... I know it's about individual relationships, and the glorious work that the Lord does through them. But every so often, taking a look at the stats really helps us celebrate as we put things in perspective. Today, at the end of our Slaying the Giants week, we realized that JUST THIS WEEK, our students were able to meet 107 new people, have spiritual conversations with 62 students for the first time, shared the Gospel with 28 students who were given an opportunity to respond for the first time, and saw 5 Japanese students accept Christ into their lives!

Praise God for the awesome work He is doing and is allowing us to participate in!

Refocus

#167
Today was a pretty cool day! We decided halfway through our day to pull our team off of campus early, because we felt the need as a team to refocus ourselves and put our relationship with God as priority over ministry. We each got to then spend some one-on-one time with Jesus, which was pretty awesome.

At night, we had a SWEET men's time which involved all-you-can-eat meat and poop stories. CLASSIC.

Fellowship

#166
Jamie and I got to take a nice long lunch break during our admin day today to meet up with our friend Tomomi for lunch. I first met her back in 2008, when I visited the USC kids who were on the Tokyo project that year and went to Disney Sea with them. Tomomi recognized one of the students from having seen him the previous Sunday at church! Turns out that she goes to New Hope Tokyo (church that most PSW Tokyo SPs attend) and works in management at the Disney offices at the park, and has to do walkthroughs of the parks every so often. We've been friends ever since, and we finally got to sit down and spend some time encouraging each other. It was such a refreshing, wonderful time that the three of us got to enjoy today.

AND, another guy came to Christ today on campus at Waseda!

Jamie, Tomomi, Me

No Such Thing As Too Much Dessert

#165
Got to have a great dinner in Shibuya with two students Jamie and I met at Waseda. They took us to an all-you-can-eat dessert place, and then helped us experience Purikura haha (google it to find out). Junko is a super fun, sweet girl from Kamakura (two hours from Tokyo) who loved showing us around. Danbee is a Korean international student who is a believer. Hanging out with them and talking about life, travel, and God has been a blast :)

BEAT!

#163
Got to go to Kesennuma Bible Baptist Church today before we drove back 8.5 hours to Tokyo. Encouraging to worship with Japanese believers in the Tohoku area. But the drive was draining... Super fun times of bonding in the car though!

Man...

#162
Today was intense. The physical aspect of the labor got a lot harder, as we hauled literally hundreds of bags of mud and sludge that we dug and scraped off of a couple's driveway. And this house was more in the heart of the damaged area, so driving through the area was a wiiild experience. I mean, we were a couple of kilometers inland from the most inland part of the bay, as in quite a few kms away from the actual coastline, and yet almost everything was destroyed and there were huge ships and barges strewn about the residential areas. It was kind of an emotionally wrecking day between seeing the devastation, getting physically exhausted, and really developing a heart for the people there as we got to interact with more victims.

Sludge

Going back to fill in the days where we didn't have computers...

#161
Today was our first day of relief work. The area we went to doesn't look that bad, but as soon as you go into a house you see that it was completely flooded- muck on the floor, walls gutted because of mold, all around yuckiness. We spent the day shoveling out sludge. Got to hear some crazy survival stories from people who lived there, including a man who survived by hanging on to a tree overnight!

Relying on God's Strength

#164
One day into Slaying the Giants week... Setting faith goals, spending extra time on campus every day, waking up early, pushing ourselves. Already tired, but already excited!