Home.

I am really excited to be home. It was a quick trip to California but I am definitely glad about being back on a little island in the middle of the Pacific and getting some quality time with my best friend. As I flew last night I thought back to all the things that I got to be part of this past week. I seriously live an abundantly blessed life. My husband and I were able to go to a wedding (congratulations Randy+Hanna!), we spent time with family and friends we love, got to celebrate Father’s day with my dad, then headed to Camp Hammer for a splendid time in the redwoods. Johnny had to fly back to Kona before I did, but I stayed for the entire week up at camp. It was a first for me- I was the speaker at camp for the week, in front of 130 campers each night, sharing with them about God’s love and telling them stories (mostly embarrassing moments from my childhood) to help illustrate what I wanted to communicate. Fun? Absolutely. Challenging? More than I ever expected. But it was a really special time.
(Below: Me & my good friend Shasta. She & her husband are the directors of Camp Hammer, they’ve known me since I was 16)

I can’t express in fulness all that I learned in my time up at camp. Camp Hammer has been a very special place for me ever since I was a slightly awkward 9-year-old camper. I learned and grew so much there as a kid, and then in later years when I joined staff and spent five summers of my life in the majestic redwood forest, growing in God. It was a privilege to be there again. Sharing this part of my life with Johnny was really meaningful too. He still doesn’t share the same appreciation for dessert as I do, but at least we’re on the same page with regards to Camp Hammer. We really loved being there, listening as the sound of children’s laughter filled the chilly evening air during night games. For me, sharing with a group of kids about God’s love really, really, really opened my eyes even more to the simple truth that each of us is so extravagantly loved by God. It was fun to hang out with kids, too! My friend Dakota, a 10-year-old camper, thought of hilarious questions to ask me everyday. One of my favorites being, “How was God created, and what was the date?” Kids are so fun!
   After my week in Hammer-land I got to spend a day in San Jose celebrating my Dad’s birthday, connecting with some good friends (thanks for letting me crash at your place, Katie and Lora), and hanging out with my mom and other family I hadn’t seen in quite some time. Add in a trip to Trader Joe’s on my way to the airport, and you’ve got a recipe for one amazing, ridiculously blessed week. I look forward to my next time with family and friends, and staying connected with Camp Hammer, but for now I’m happy to arrive safely home.

Kona-bound

I’m at SFO right now, waiting at my gate and about to fly home. It has been an amazing week here in California but I am ready to get home and catch up with Johnny! He flew back to Kona earlier this week, but we both flew out to Southern California last weekend and went to the wedding of my cousin Randy (and his lovely bride Hanna), in San Clemente. It was a great time, we got to see family, and even meet up with a couple friends we know through YWAM. After spending an awesome Father’s Day with my dad we headed up to Santa Cruz and I spent the week at Camp Hammer. Johnny could only stay for the start of the week but then needed to get back to Kona. So I’m excited to fly home today and hear all about what he’s been up to and tell him all about my week at camp. I’ll be posting more about my time in the redwoods soon, but just wanted to write a short post because I am excited to be Kona-bound. I will miss the gorgeous redwood forest, but looking forward to the smell of plumerias.

Steve and Diane are back in Kona

Our good friends, Steve and Diane, just returned to Kona after an outreach to South Africa. We are so glad they are back, and stoked to catch up with them. During their time in SA they actually got to spend a few days with Jeff and Beth Reid (which kind of made us a tiny bit jealous, but mostly excited for them to get to hang out). A lot of you already know, but the Reids are planting a long-term Community Transformations ministry in Cape Town, South Africa. So Steve and Diane were able to be there as everything was getting started and be a part of some of the foundational team meetings. Since Steve and Diane will be staffing the Community Transformations DTS with us here in Kona this September, it was a notable opportunity for them to see a new part of Community Transformations in it’s developing stages. Definitely not a coincidence that they were there at that time.
Now that Steve and Diane are back here, we are looking forward to having them around to talk about and prepare for the DTS this fall. It’s an exciting time! Last week we accepted our 11th student for the school we’re leading. We are on a roll, and we look forward to seeing who God directs our way for the DTS in September!

Hope your week is off to a great start, wherever you may be!  

Thank you… whoever you are!

Here is a simple truth for you today: a magazine subscription is a gift that keeps on giving. Every month the recipient is reminded of the gift-giver’s thoughtfulness, and every month the recipient receives a new magazine with page after page of treasures to be uncovered. The gift-giver doesn’t even have to wrap the gift, or figure out how much postage is needed, it just appears, monthly, at the home of the person receiving the gift. What could be more perfect?
  So, a couple years ago, as a very special gift, my mom gave me a subscription to my favorite magazine. I looked forward to a new one every month, and as soon as it arrived I would vigorously search through the pages for interesting recipes, home decoration ideas, even workouts. What a thrill! That subscription ended in January this year and I expected my beloved magazines to cease appearing each month. But somehow, someway… a new issue continues to show up in our mailbox every month. I don’t know if it’s a mistake in the magazine company’s system, or if some generous person has anonymously continued my subscription, but whatever the case, I am so blessed. I just got the May issue today, and was delightfully surprised. Again! Now I just have to restrain myself from flipping through it’s glossy pages until I’m done with work for the day. This might be tough.

Well, I’m sure you’d agree, I feel like I need to thank someone for this special treat! If you are the person who has arranged for this magazine to continue coming to me every month -or- if you work for the magazine and decided to keep my name on the distribution list for some miraculous reason, thank you… whoever you are! I am very grateful!

What we are up to…

Writing to you on a very overcast afternoon here in Kona, sitting in the Ohana Court (our typical campus meeting place), and wondering if we might get a little rain. Just wanted to write a bit about what the two of us have been up to lately.

It has been a great Spring quarter here so far. In addition to serving as one of the three DTS Area Team leaders, Johnny has been leading the Student Services/DTS offices, and he is really making an impact there. He leads a team of about 10 staff who work on reading student applications, processing paperwork, and contacting prospective students to help them complete their applications. He has been helping this group set goals and attain them. It’s fun to see the team take on the challenge and work towards the goals they’ve set. The challenge this month: get 100 more students accepted into DTS and other schools here on our campus for the Summer and Fall quarters. They’re making incredible progress, and Johnny’s really been seeing the Lord’s guidance as he leads this crew. Also, he is the DTS Quarter Point Person, which means he is in a behind-the-scenes role, supporting the current DTS School leaders, making sure that Outreach leaders get trained well, and other similar things. He always does a really good job as Quarter Point. In his “spare time” he’s making preparations for the DTS we’ll be leading in Kona this September. So, yeah, he’s not bored.

Below- a photo of the Student Services crew, out to dinner to celebrate their progress

As for me, I’ve been doing a little bit of this and that. I’m often in the DTS office calling students, or reading student applications for the DTS we’ll be leading this September. I am working on forming our staff team for the Fall as well. God is already leading an amazing group of people to staff with us when we lead the Community Transformations DTS this September. This quarter I’m also meeting with a few young ladies weekly, meeting with each of them one-on-one to talk about their lives and learn together about authentic relationship with God. I’ve been leading a DTS small group too. Six students from the PhotoGenX DTS (a DTS that teaches photography skills along with the normal DTS topics), and I love them so much! I’ve also gotten an opportunity this past week to sub at the pre-school on our campus, so I’m hoping there will be more of that before the school year ends.Throw in a couple weekly group workouts that I lead, and I’d call that enough to keep a girl out of trouble

Thank you for your love and encouragement! Hope you are all well!
Love, j+J   

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Things I am learning right now…

Seems as if we will always be learning, forever discovering, and our journey of development is never ending. As for the two of us, we want to be lifelong learners. Life is definitely more fulfilling this way.

Just wanted to share some (random) things I’ve been learning lately (this is jenni writing, by the way).
Maybe you’re learning some of the same stuff?

❶God’s love is better than life. It’s just simple truth. For further reading, take a look at Psalm 63. ❷If I ever were to be wrongly accused of a crime and put in prison, my husband would always believe in and fight for my innocence. Or, bust me outta there. Ok, I might have watched a movie on the airplane with a similar storyline, but it’s something worth thinking about and I have arrived at the aforementioned conclusion. ❸Time with family is precious. Well, we already knew that, but it’s great to be reminded! ❹ I won’t truly learn how to do something well unless I try it, repeatedly. Cooking, photography, um… freestyle rapping, or even my blogging won’t improve unless I put in the time. True ‘dat. ❺Spending time “just the two of us” can be really fun on the cheap. Like a picnic. But it’s also really fun to be more extravagant, from time to time. Like staying at a Bed and Breakfast. ❻Reading lots of Bible verses in one sitting can sometimes be a challenge for my attention span and I often end up distracted by other things. But reading verses while immediately writing them in my journal has shown to be more effective for me, and I become quite engaged with what God is saying. ❼The things which I desire most in this life are not material things, money, fancy dishes in my kitchen, gourmet chocolate…nope. But it’s authentic relationship with God and with people. I want to know God’s heart, forever deepening my friendship with him, and I want the same for those around me.

Well, that was fun to write! Feel free to leave a message telling us the things that you are learning. We’d love to learn with you.

Family time…in Hawaii and in England

Love & Respect

855. That’s how many days we have been married! We really love marriage, it’s such an adventure. Of course our past two and a half years haven’t been entirely flawless, but they have been the absolute best days of my life! Marriage is both challenging and rewarding, there are trials and there are great joys, mistakes and triumphs. And we have lots of fun together (see below).

Johnny and I have had the privilege of hosting a marriage Bible Study this Spring. We are a little over halfway through the study and we have laughed together more times than we can count. But as we laugh, we are being deeply challenged. There are three other couples that have been joining with us each Wednesday night; the McClouds, the Kays, and a young engaged couple that’s here from Kosovo (they’ll be getting married this June). The teaching we are studying is called Love & Respect, by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. A major emphasis throughout this teaching is that a man thrives when he is respected by his wife, and a woman flourishes when she is loved by her husband. Obviously, we all need both love and respect. But we have been learning about how God designed us; men and women are made differently, and both genders possess differing attributes of His character. Not wrong, just different. Men have been wired one way, women another. And it’s good that we are different! But it does tend to cause some conflict and maybe some miscommunication too. Yeah. So that’s why we are going through this study together. We want to learn how to serve one another, prefer one another, honor God with our marriage and have a fulfilling lifetime together!

To find out more about Love & Respect, click here.
Have a great day!

With Love, and Respect,

j+J

Japan, We Are Praying For You

Just wanted to say that we really have Japan on our hearts, particularly after all the devastating events there. We are praying, we are hoping, and we are taking action in simple ways. Please watch this video below if you are interested in hearing news from just a few days ago there, and also if you want to know how you can be praying.
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Please join us in praying on behalf of the people of Japan. Encourage your friends to pray, get groups of people together to pray, get your whole church praying. We are going to see God do so many incredible things in that nation!

Sometimes when you live in the middle of the Ocean…

…you become familiar with the sound of tsunami warnings!

Yes, hello everyone! We are alive and well on our little volcanic island here in the middle of the Pacific (in case you were wondering)! After the tragic events in Japan this past week, we were warned that a tsunami could be headed our way. Around 10pm Thursday (our time), we started to hear the tsunami warning sirens, a sound we have become familiar with while living here. Once a month these sirens sound, for testing purposes, but it’s rare that we hear them warning us of an actual tsunami. Last year, after the earthquake in Chile, we heard these same sirens warning us in the middle of the night. It all ended up being very anticlimactic that time, because the water only rose about 12 inches here. So as Johnny and I were getting ready to hit the hay this past Thursday night, we weren’t very alarmed by the all-to-familiar sound. We had heard a few details of the disaster in Japan, but as we climbed into bed we thought this would again be a false-alarm tsunami warning for us. We heard the sirens throughout the night, but we weren’t phased, nor did we lose any sleep.

Fast-forward to the next morning when we are both utterly shocked to find out that there had actually been a fairly damaging surge of water here in Kona! So, there actually was a tsunami to speak of this time. The water rose, covering the pier and causing destruction to the road (Ali’i Drive), the hotels and other water-front businesses were also affected. I found pictures online and was in disbelief at first. As far as we know, no lives were lost here in Kona, which is an incredible blessing! People evacuated from that area the night before, and our campus as well as the home Johnny and I live in are both above the evacuation area, so we were quite safe.

There were police blocking the roads so no one could go down to Ali’i for quite a few hours later. Johnny went down later on Friday afternoon, when it was ok to do so, and took a few photos. Take a look below.
  

Thank you everyone for your prayers! We are glad that nothing too tremendously devastating took place here on Friday. Please join us in praying for Japan at this time. We cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through.

Love, j+J