Oh. My. Wow….

…so sorry it has been OVER A MONTH since our last Blog update. That is just plain rude of us. The good news is that things have been exciting and fun and crazy-super-awesome for us, so that’s why we haven’t had lots of time to Blog lately. Johnny is actually traveling at this very moment, on a trip to South Africa and Mozambique with our brother-in-law, Jeff. He is having an incredible time! Our correspondence is somewhat limited, especially while he was in Mozambique, but I have gotten to hear short updates from him- almost like teasers- and I can’t wait to hear even more when he gets back this week. Please pray for him when you feel led.

So what have I been doing without my husband around at the moment? Well, besides missing him, I’ve been immersed in activity (see scattered photos for a glimpse of what my world has been like)! I had a couple friends here from the mainland (it was so great to see you Katie and Sarah! Love you lots!), I’ve been working on photo assignments left and right, my photography class even took a two-day trip around the island (a non-stop extravaganza of snapping photos every which way!), and I’ve had beach trips and a sleepover with Bethany and her boys (since her husband Jeff is away too!). So I’ve been knee-deep in good, clean fun.

In the mean time, please pray with me that Johnny’s trip will continue to be amazing. Pray that he’ll stay healthy, that he’ll be an encouragement to the teams he is visiting, that God will speak lots of things to him in this time, and that he’ll return home safely. Thank you so much!

We love you all very much and thank you for your endless support and encouragement!
 Blessings…

jenni

Hi.

Just saying hi.

We got back to Kona (maybe about a week-and-a-half ago…sorry for not writing sooner!) and we’re feeling delightfully warm once again. Here are some fun things we’ve been a part of lately:

☐ School of Photography~ jenni is fervently writing notes in class each day and snapping photos left and right (long story, but the short of it is that she is taking a 12 week Photography course on our campus, is currently in week 2, and is loving it so much!)
☐ DTS leadership~ Johnny is spending his days really pressing in and making amazing progress in the development of our campus’ DTS department. He really pours so much of his heart into this place on a daily basis.
☐ Lots of time with Beth and our nephews~ right now Beth’s husband Jeff is doing some traveling and visiting some of the DTS Outreach teams that are currently on the field, so we have been stopping by to see her and our nephews every chance we get, enjoying meals together, and looking for opportunities to take the boys on fun outings (last Saturday was a beach trip!).
☐ Baking Wheat-Free Bread~ Johnny found a good recipe online and I’ve been making home-made bread lately. Still perfecting the details, but enjoying the process!

Just a tiny glimpse into our world. We love what we get to do! Write us or call us anytime and let us know what you’re up to so far in this new year!

Blessings…
J+j

Third Stop: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

We’re in Harrisburg!

There are so many amazing people we get to see out here- it’s a little bit overwhelming. But really, really fun.

We were picked up at the airport by our good friend Ryan, who staffed my DTS back in 2006. We’re staying with our friends, Don and Angie, here in H-town. They have four teenage kids (sheesh!), and we are so thankful to get some time with their family during our time in PA.

Tonight we already got to do two amazing things:

one:  met Simeon Rain, the newest addition to the Bardwell family, born 1-1-11

two: saw two of Johnny’s cousins (from his mom’s side), and their families.

Below: Darcey (cousin) and her husband Jason, and their daughter,
and Alisha (another cousin) and her husband Micah, with one of their three daughters

Second Stop: Kansas City

Happy New Year everybody, everywhere!


Today we write to you from our second stop, Kansas City. It has been a wonderful few days here, spending time with family and friends, and also attending the One Thing conference. We arrived on Tuesday and each day has been terrific. We have been staying with Johnny’s cousin, Leslee, and her wonderful family. In our time here we’ve visited with three cousins, their spouses and kids, two aunts, an uncle, and the one-and-only Grandpa Gillespie. Throw in a couple trips to Jack Stack (really famous Kansas City BBQ restaurant) and Chipotle (possibly the most heavenly food this side of eternity) and you’ve got the makings of a very memorable, and delicious, trip.

Here we have Johnny, his Aunt Nell, and Grandpa Gillespie. Below that one is some more family snapshots!

Here are a couple shots from a trip to Jack Stack. Johnny enjoyed the rib sampler platter, a carnivore’s delight, with meat from several different four-legged creatures. He had to loosen his belt part way through the meal. I had soup! Yummy!

Our excitement only grew when we were reunited with some of our students from the call2all DTS, whom we hadn’t seen since September. Kellye, Nate, Vincent, Michelle, Cham, Jackie, Paul, and Vanessa (did I miss anyone?!) all joined us at the conference, as well as other good friends we’ve known from our time with YWAM. It was such a special time. We really loved being there, and it’s such a blessing to reconnect with friends. Check out a few more photos below.
   

Now we are on our way to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Should be a bit colder, but still very *epic* (that’s for you, Leslee!).
 
Love you all! Stay tuned for more travel adventures.

First Stop: Florida

Johnny and I are on a bit of a tour right now, traveling to three destinations on the mainland over the next twelve days. Woo hoo! We flew out from Kona late on Christmas night, and are currently at our first stop: Florida. We’ll have just about a day-and-a-half here, visiting Johnny’s Grandma Hines (his mom’s mom- see really happy photo below). She lives half the year in Ohio, and the other half down here in Florida, just about an hour outside of Tampa.

We arrived late last night, and here is what we have done so far:
⋅ate some delicious home made soup
⋅visited for a while, and then went to bed
⋅ today we’ve spent some more time catching up (Johnny   hadn’t seen this Grandma since 2004!)
⋅ shared photos
⋅ went out to lunch
⋅ called Johnny’s parents on Skype
⋅ drove around Zephyr Hills (the city she lives in)
⋅ went for a nice walk in the very crisp air
⋅ basically just hung out together for the afternoon & evening

Tomorrow morning we fly to Kansas City. Stay tuned for more adventures.

Community Transformations September 2011

Hey everybody!

This past week we got to announce some really fun news…next fall the two of us will be leading the Community Transformations DTS in Kona, Hawaii! This is ridiculously exciting for us to share with all of you.

Community Transformations DTS has now run four times in Kona, and Johnny and I staffed the very first one back in the fall of 2007. We also took an outreach team to South Africa, and a team from Community Transformations (“Comm Trans” as we affectionately like to call it) has been going back to the same community there every year since we went. We are truly seeing transformation there- it’s amazing.

(➣Here is a photo of some of the Gillespie family together in Kona, earlier this month. Jeff and Beth are on the far left holding their newest son, ‘Riah)

Jeff and Beth have been leading this DTS in Kona, but they are making plans to head to Cape Town, South Africa in the spring of 2011 where they will start leading Community Transformations DTS in a new location. They began thinking and praying about someone who could continue leading this unique school in Kona, and (to make a long story short) God put it on our hearts at the same time! We prayed with Jeff and Beth about it, the two of us prayed about it, and as we watched all the details come together it became clear that it was God’s direction.

Even as we will continue to serve in our current roles in Kona, our hearts are filled with expectation at what the Lord will do through this DTS! Over the last few years Jeff and Beth have led this school to be truly transformational, and the fruit of it is all over the world in the form of transformed lives transforming their communities! As we step into this role, our prayer is the that Lord will enable us to build upon their strength, and launch many more fire-filled followers of Jesus into the world, to bring the transformational message of a faithful Savior who loves the least, the last, the lost, to the very end. Join with us in praying for this, and track with us as we continue to plan and prepare for it!

We are seriously beside ourselves with excitement as we look forward to next fall. We would love to have each of you involved in this new endeavor- please, come be students in the DTS, or maybe come staff with us, pray for us as we prepare, pray for us while we lead, encourage us along the way, tell us about ministry opportunities, walk with us as we continue on in our journey and learn to lead people to the nations, etc… There are countless ways you can be involved! We need you! Tell us how you want to be connected to Community Transformations. We can’t wait to hear from you!!

With all our love,
Johnny + jenni

If you’d like to read more about what Community Transformations is all about, go to Jeff and Beth’s website and take a look around. And to find out about this DTS in Kona click here.

50th Anniversary!

Here in Kona, our campus just hosted three thousand friends and family from around the world who gathered to celebrate our 50th Anniversary! No, no, not my and Johnny’s 50th anniversary (we did just celebrate our second anniversary, though). YWAM (Youth With a Mission, the organization we work with) just celebrated 50 years. It was founded in 1960 by Loren and Darlene Cunningham, and God has been indescribably faithful from the very start.

We had an amazing time thanking the Lord together, remembering ways He has provided, and looking ahead to the future. There was a lot of singing, teaching, reconnecting with old friends. The final night together was a notable finale… we gathered for an evening of dance performances (Polynesian dancing, like the hula from Hawaii and the haka from New Zealand) and everything seemed to be going smoothly. But then the rain started. Just a few sprinkles to begin with. But the sprinkles turned into an outright downpour. And…everyone…got…SOAKED. Look at the picture below and you’ll see the venue where we held this event. Our “roof” was definitely not water tight, plainly. Not only did we get wet, but so did three thousand cupcakes we were waiting to enjoy at the end of the night. But those delicious treats did not go to waste. No, not one. As everyone’s excitement grew and the entertainment ended, a full on cupcake fight broke out and resulted in a huge, soggy mess. I mean, we’re YOUTH With A Mission, right? So we were just being who we are!

Overall, it was an incredible week of celebrating, and we are so thankful to be a part of this amazing training organization. Can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen at the 75th anniversary 25 years from now!

Go here to view some photos from across the years
of YWAM. Also take a look on facebook for more photos from our week in Kona!

Cut & Paste

Hi everyone!
Just thought I’d share with you some of the homemade, do-it-yourself activities that I’ve spent some time on recently.
I wanted to send out some fun Thanksgiving mail. So I did exactly that.

I started by cutting out rectangular pieces of fall-colored card stock, measuring somewhere around 1/2″x1″. I glued slightly smaller pieces on top of the slightly larger pieces. Then, in black ink, I used a rubber stamp to imprint the word “Thanks” on the top layer, and wrote the word “giving” somewhere beside or above that. And instead of having it say, “Thanksgiving,” each piece read, “giving Thanks!”

Next I glued these two-layer stamped pieces onto 4×6 pieces of cardstock in more autumn inspired colors.

The next step was to write a note of thankfulness on each card. Then I put them in coordinating envelopes and mailed them to some friends and family around the world. If I had the time I would have made, written, and mailed about 500 of these because I was really happy with how they turned out! Unfortunately, I have lots of other things going on currently so I couldn’t. But maybe next year??

Tell me what you think, if you’d like, and please tell me about your own homespun fall creations.

Hello again.

Hey blog-readers,

Sorry it has been a while since we posted something new! We got back to Kona just about two weeks ago and have had lots of things to get caught up with here, so our blogging slowed down. But only temporarily. I have lots of ideas of things I want to write about, so stay tuned for some new stuff soon.

For now, I’ll tell you a tiny bit about what we’ve done since being home…

• met up with lots of our fellow YWAMers for various appointments • attended a Toy Story 3 party, thrown by Asher Byrd (the 6-year-old son of the family we live with) • attempted to catch up on emails • saw the movie Secretariat • babysat for some friends • spent a morning at the beach • taught fitness class (that’s jenni) • called some of our DTS students who are now home, asked them how they’re doing, and prayed for them • baked delicious fall things and made a fall craft (that’s jenni again) • attended various staff meetings here and there • hung out with our nephews, whom we adore • taught in the Foundations School • had our friend Jeremy West over for dinner • celebrated our second wedding anniversary • ate sushi

  

More Photos…

Hey all! We’ve just had an amazing weekend here in Townsville. Check out our newly posted photos for a glimpse of our past few days here.

Love!