Johnny and Jenni

A Day Documented: South Africa

Johnny and Jenni — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:59:59 +0000

Sorry I haven’t posted anything in, uh, forever. We have been full speed ahead for quite some time while leading this DTS, and I slacked on the blogging. We are in South Africa now, and I’ve had some more down time lately. Hence, I am able to post something new here!

We are staying with our family here and having a fantastic time. Johnny’s sister, Bethany, opened her home to us. She and her husband Jeff and their three sons live in a great house along with three of their friends, Jake, Hannah, and Kirsten. I wanted to document one of my days here in this community, to give people a glimpse of what it’s like, so I brought my camera around with me all day. On this particular morning I woke up just before the sun…

Morning lights. Best time of the day.

Quiet moments in the early morning

On the way to Elijah's school- Carter and Riah in their pj's

carpooling, a wild ride

The drive to Elijah's school in Kammetjie is really nice

Tobago Way

back at home, baking bread

Johnny with Steve, Di, and baby Margot in our friend Jake's car, in Masi to visit the team

Masi! This is where our team is living.

Our FAVORITE market. Stopped by after we visited the team.

we love fresh, local produce

back at the house, time for lunch

a lunch worthy of documentation

My sandwich=really, really good

out and about running errands and me meeting girls for one on ones...love those cheeks

We love Carter boy!

later that afternoon, Johnny skyping Jason in the middle east

A very documentable dinner...chicken, sweet potatoes, salad

gathering to eat

brothers!

Family dinner

Well, that pretty much wraps up our day. I hope you enjoyed getting a little peek into what it has been like for us here so far.
We send you our love from South Africa! J+j

Kona Moped Rentals! I just launched a site!

johnnygillespie — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:57:00 +0000

Kona Moped Rentals

Just thought you’d like to know….

After the last couple years of renting mopeds out on the side, I just launched a website to draw some business from the Ironman even that will happen out here next month! Thought you guys might like to check it out at www.konamopedrentals.com!

So far it’s been fun for me to work on this mini-business – it’s a change of pace from my day-to-day stuff and I love working to maintain the bikes and tinkering! This is a turn toward a bit more of a serious business model, so we’ll se how it goes! In the meantime, let me know what you think of the site, follow it on twitter, and tell your buddies!

(PS. I rent to anyone at the UofN at a much reduced rate – the posted rates on the website are for the public, which I haven’t rented to much before! So, if you’re from the UofN, call me and we can work something else out!)

Here’s Hailey! and the September Staff family

jennigillespie — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:40:40 +0000

As we get ready for the DTS in Kona this September, we find ourselves surrounded by amazing friends who will be staffing with us. It’s a rich blessing from the Lord. Kinda like the way you’d feel back in the days of high school when you showed up to your biology class on the first day of school and found out that all your favorite friends were in the same class with you. Also, fun to mention that we have a staff team with representatives from 6 nations: Australia, Jamaica, United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, and the USA. That’s really cool.
Our friend Hailey Bland, from Texas, is a part of this team. We’ve known her since 2007 when she was fresh out of high school and came to Kona for her DTS. Johnny and I were on staff, and her school was the first generation of Community Transformations. It’s really fun to have that history together. Earlier this year, Hailey and I took the School of Photography (SOP) together, here in Kona, and we began talking about her coming on staff for the Comm Trans DTS. We were thrilled when she decided to come on board (that’s an understatement- we felt like we had just been given first pick in the NFL draft). We’re beyond excited with the opportunity to run alongside friends like her. To go visit Hailey’s website, click here.

And if you want to get to know more of our staff, go watch the “Meet the Staff” videos we’ve been posting (Hailey has been the one working on these- filming, directing, and editing!).

More news from Huntington

jennigillespie — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:16:42 +0000

As I type this we are flying over miles of the Pacific Ocean, headed for home. We’ll be back in Kona in just a couple hours. Our time in Orange County was so amazing. Life-changing. Formative. Exciting. Challenging. We spent just one week there, it flew by, but so much happened in the span of 7 days.
In Huntington we were accompanied by over 100 Circuit Riders from Kona, and then another 120 staff and students from a YWAM base in Denver, Colorado. We slept on the floors of churches, or in motor homes, and a few families took some of us into their homes for this short outreach. We also have nearly 40 friends who have committed to staying in Orange County for 6 months or more, to continue more of what we’ve been doing there.
Every morning we’d get up and have breakfast, then everyone would come together at a Calvary Chapel church called the Refuge. We’d have a time of hanging out, some worship, and then share stories about what we’d seen God do in people’s hearts. In the afternoons we all went to areas throughout Orange County (one of the main spots was Huntington Beach) and meet people, hear their stories, share about Jesus, pray for them, etc… Then each evening we gathered in a large tent across the street from the beach and invited people to come worship with us and hear the good news.
One of our first days there, Johnny and a couple friends form Denver met a group of young guys who were currently homeless. When he started sharing with them about Jesus they got really angry and refuted everything Johnny and his friends said. Two of them walked away but one of them stayed and even let Johnny pray for him. We didn’t see them make a decision to follow Christ, but Johnny continued to pray for them throughout the day. Apparently, a lot of other YWAMers talked to them tat different points in the day, and they got invited to the tent by a few different people. They recognized that God was trying to tell them something, so they actually came to the tent and that night all three of them gave their lives to Jesus! One of them really wanted to continue learning and going deeper with God so he met up with Johnny everyday, and even went around with him and told others about Jesus. This young guy came to the tent every night and let the Lord do so much in his heart. It was really a gift to us that we got to be part of it.
Well, even though we’re headed back to Kona there are still a bunch of people in Orange County continuing with the outreach, so please be praying!
So much love, J+j

Loving Huntington Beach

jennigillespie — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 18:25:47 +0000

Johnny and I are sitting here with a young guy we met on the bus last night, just hearing his story. In our short time here we’ve had countless opportunities to interact with people. Some people want to be prayed for, some of them have never heard about Jesus, some of them just want to share their story and have someone listen, others are already followers of Jesus but need some encouragement. We’ve met homeless people, vacationers, and locals. All of them are loved by God. All of them are being pursued by their Creator, the one who loves them in a way that transforms lives.
Johnny preached on the street yesterday, and shared his heart with the people walking by. Things didn’t go as he expected, but God did something that none of us could have fabricated, it was plainly Jesus at work. Right after Johnny spoke, a young lady from a local Bible study group was hanging out and listening. She had never shared her testimony publicly, she didn’t have public speaking experience, but she was compelled by the love of Christ for the people on the streets and she shared the gospel with everyone right there.

Let me paint the scene for you: She’s 24 years old, almost 9 months pregnant, just standing in the middle of the busiest patch of concrete in all of Huntington, right by the pier and next to the Main street of downtown. She shared the gospel in such a raw, real way and people’s hearts were impacted. A lady wanted to talk to her right after she finished preaching, and they prayed together. It was just a simple act of love, and it was so amazing to be a part of it.
Well, I want to write more but I need to run. Lots of love! jenni + Johnny

Circuit Riders wrapping up- we are OC bound!

jennigillespie — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:38:24 +0000

The past five weeks have gone by so fast, I think my head is spinning. Between my attempts to process everything I’ve been learning, letting things really sink deeply into my heart, as well as shifting my actions to reflect what God has done in me, and all the while thinking about the DTS we’ll be running with this September, and simultaneously packing and getting ready to travel for a short outreach to Orange County, it’s enough to make a girl dizzy. But it’s all very exciting and so beautifully orchestrated by the Lord. I love it. This is such a special season.
We’ve just wrapped up five weeks of lecture as a Circuit Riders school. Johnny and I were part of the staff team and it was a tremendous privilege. A group of 300 men and women, hearing from so many gifted speakers every day, and of course our hearts have been transformed in so many ways. Andy Byrd and Brian and Christy Brennt were often sharing their hearts with us (my voice has never been so hoarse, as we always instantly applied what was taught which usually involved praying aloud, and in a room of hundreds of people you have to talk kinda loud in order to hear yourself pray). And our guest speakers included Ray Hughes, Jackie Pullinger, and Lou Engle. By the way, if you want to hear the amazing podcasts from our lecture times, go Here. Totally free to download. Totally worth listening to, as well.
So, Johnny and I have a couple days in Kona and then we fly to the West coast. We’ll be in Orange County, California for a week before we head back here. If you’re in the OC area, let us know! We aren’t sure of all the details of our schedule yet, but we’d love to see some friends while we’re on the mainland.
Also, just a fun update, in the past couple weeks Johnny has had the opportunity to play with the worship team here. It’s something God has been directing him to do more of, so it was great that he was invited to do so on a few occasions!
See photos below.

Comm Trans DTS – we’re getting ready for the fall!!!

johnnygillespie — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 06:51:26 +0000

Little video that we posted the other day!

Circuit Riders-wanna listen?

jennigillespie — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:24:05 +0000

We just welcomed hundreds of people to our Kona campus this past week. Literally, hundreds. Men and women that are hungry. They’re hungry for God, and for His Kingdom to come. It’s going to be a life-changing summer, and movements will be catalyzed by the students involved here this summer, who are so in love with God that all they want to do is share His transformational love with others.

So, if you want to listen to the podcasts from our lecture times, you can go here.
I’m hoping to write more soon! Check back here for more updates!

Summer in Kona

jennigillespie — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:03:54 +0000

Hello! Just another quick post about what’s going on here in Kona. We are now in the middle of a full week of Staff Training, getting ready to staff the School of the Circuit Riders which begins here next Thursday. So far there are 275 students accepted. It’s a five-week seminar focused on training leaders to first have personal breakthrough, then go to the nations with the message of the gospel, and the transformational love of Jesus. On the Circuit Riders website it says, “A generation is responding like perhaps never before in history. Confident in who Christ has called them to be and what He has given them, they go forth proclaiming freedom to the captives. Knowing the living God through deep friendship and trust in His Word, they gladly lay down their lives…” It’s such an exciting thing to be a part of! We have friends from all over coming to take this course. We know God is going to move so powerfully!

We are so privileged to get to be part of all that’s going on here this summer. Pray with us that God will even now be preparing our hearts and the hearts of those who will be joining us here. Also, running at the same time as the Circuit Riders school is a two-week camp for high-school age youth, called Infusion here in Kona. Our good friend Jake Mason is leading this camp, and we are so excited about what God is going to do through him and through this ministry. The Awaken DTS will also be going on here all summer and we are so thrilled with the way things are coming together for this school. They have an incredible staff team and will lead their students so effectively. In the past, the summer quarter here in Kona has been a lot more mellow, and has had a lot less people around, but not the case this year! We are expecting a major movement of God, and it’s exciting to be part of it.

94 days, and counting

jennigillespie — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:33:24 +0000

It’s hard to believe that it’s only 94 days until the Community Transformations DTS begins here in Kona. I never understand how it happens but time seems to go by faster and faster. Regardless of how awe-inspiring I find this phenomenon, I can’t stop to ponder it for too long because the fall quarter is rapidly approaching.
So, where are we at in our preparation for September 29, 2011 (also known as Arrival Day for the Fall quarter in Kona)? We have accepted over 20 DTS students already, and anticipate accepting at least another 50. Whoa. Our Comm Trans staff team is growing, and at this point there’s about 14 of us ready to welcome these students in September. On July 7th we begin a 5-week seminar in Kona called ‘Circuit Riders’ and we have nearly every member of our Comm Trans 2011 staff enrolled to take this course with us. We have recently gotten to spend some time connecting with ‘Comm Trans-ers’ from back in the day, including Aria Arthur who met up with us for a speedy lunch in Corona del Mar while Johnny and I were in Orange County for a wedding. It was a great opportunity to hear about what God’s doing in people’s lives years after their 6-month DTS.

We consider it a tremendous privilege to be preparing to lead this DTS in the fall. It’s a dream for us to walk so closely with people and watch what God does as we surrender our lives fully to Him. What a thrill. Thank you for continuing to pray for us; we graciously ask that you would continue to pray over the next 94 days (and beyond, if you feel led).
Thank you, and be so blessed!

If you are looking for specific ways to pray, here are a few ideas:
〮pray that we would continue to have the right staff team come together
〮pray that we steward our time well; with other simultaneous responsibilities it has been
challenging to spend time preparing for the DTS this Fall
〮pray for God’s continued provision for us, our staff team, and our students preparing to come
〮pray that we will trust God in the midst of our housing transition (we may be moving by the Fall)
〮pray that we’ll have even deeper understanding of God’s love for us and others