Halloween Treats!

Happy Halloween!!

Got to have some fun with the school today and make some yummy legit treats! 

Thought I'd share 'em with ya cause they were fun :)

Treat #1: Caramel apple bites!

As opposed to a huge 'ol messy caramel apple, I simply cut up the apples, stabbed 'em with toothpicks and dipped 'em in caramel and sprinkled with cinnamon! Way good and simple!

We then had pretzels to dip in the caramel too, why not? :)

Also, made a dip with caramel and chocolate chips and then crushed Oreo's on top, to look like dirt :)

Treat #2: Epic war scene

We purchased Mario gummy's (Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong and Yoshi)

Donkey Kong defeated them all in this war.

So, he decapitated them, placed their heads on swords.

(Yes, we cut off all the heads of the gummy's, placed them on tooth picks, drizzled strawberry jello (blood) over the top, and placed them on Oreo's!)

The bodies were thrown into the sea.

(Yup, ginger ale/sherbert fruit punch with gummy bodies)

It was a pretty fun way to celebrate smoko on Halloween.

(Smoko is "snack time" in New Zealand)

Hospitality at it's finest!! 

JusticeWater.. and then some.

This past week we were blessed to be able to visit JusticeWater as a school and sit thru a fabulous presentation! 

JusticeWater is a ministry that seeks to empower developing communities with multipliable and sustainable water technologies using resources that are available, affordable and acceptable to their culture and religion!

Did you know:

- Humans can only survive 3 days without water

- More than half the hospital beds in the world are taken up by water born illnesses

- In Africa, 40 billion hours are wasted a year just walking to get water

- Thousands of people are using dirty water to clean wounds

- The average distance people (mainly women and children) have to walk for water is 3.7 miles; generally carrying a 5 gallon bucket, which filled with water = 44 pounds

- 45% of deaths can be prevented in villages by basic hand washing

- More people in the world have cell phones than proper toilets

These facts are insane. It's crazy that there are so many injustices in the world, and how basic some of these injustices are. Water. How many times a day do you think "Man, I wish I had access to water?" Prolly never! We are so ridiculously blessed.

I've always been aware that there is starvation and malnutrition in the world, but being involved with YWAM and living in this environment you start learning the core of these issues and it's insane they're still going on today. I have felt very convicted this past week for ever complaining about having a cold shower or a not-so-great tasting glass of room temperature water. So many men, women and children in the world are drinking water that looks like this:

I don't point out these issues because "only other countries need help" or to "show the pictures of people to feel sorry for" but this is a legitimate issue. 

If anything, just be ridiculously thankful today, and everyday, for absolutely everything you have.

There are so many things we have that we think we need. To survive, we don't need half of what we are blessed with. 

We have clean water.

We have electricity.

We have rooms that we can control the temperature of.

We have a variety of food to choose from.

We have clean bathrooms.

We have comfortable beds to sleep in.

We have computers and technology.

We have washers and dryers and can simply throw our laundry in, push a button and go.

We have options for pretty much any aspect of life - which toothpaste to choose, what clothes to buy, what jewelry to wear, what make-up to buy, what car to drive, what sport to enroll your child in. 

The list goes on and on. What is normal to us, sadly is an unattainable thought for another. 

I am not saying this to make you feel bad. 

But seriously, be thankful for what you have. 

If you are reading this, you are blessed.

[JusticeWater doesn't necessarily pertain to everything I just ranted about, it wasn't anything they discussed in their presentation, it was just on my heart.]

However, back to JusticeWater, we learned about Moringa trees! "Miracle Trees" 

Ever heard of them?

They are an amazing source of nutrition and definitely an answer to prayer! 

Basically, these Moringa trees have enormous health benefits, as you can notice below!

In so many parts of the world, clean water is not accessible! Thus, people are living with illnesses, time is being consumed to retrieve water and deaths are occurring rapidly that can be prevented.

The red map shows countries with 5-35% of malnourished population!

The Moringa tree grows in subtropical areas, where malnutrition is prevalent.

The green map above shows the countries where Moringa trees grow....

HALLELUJAH.

(Where people need it most! Amen, amen!) 

"It was as if people had a goldmine in their backyard and simply didn't know it."

*Every part of the tree is said to have beneficial properties*

I think this is absolutely beautiful. So raw, pure and beautiful, when I learned of this fact I literally was just in awe of God. 

It was refreshing to just have the revelation that God provides.

Jehovah-jireh.

This wasn't something man created.

Wasn't a "quick fix".

God had it all along. 

Created it long before we knew what we were searching for.

I think it's epic.

Now, this information must be taught to villages!

Such a blessing!!

If you would like more information on the Moringa Trees, or just be as fascinated as I am, check out:

http://www.treesforlife.org/our-work/our-initiatives/moringa

I love this information.

A few other ways JusticeWater is making an impact:

-Building rain catchment tanks in villages.

These tanks are simple to construct and a fraction of the cost of drilling a well.

$300 to build, serves 150 people with clean water a day (obviously dependent on rain) ;)

-Also, simple hand pumps.

Made of PVC pipe.

Children can do it!

$15 to construct

-Bio sand filters

Good bacteria eats bad bacteria and gives clean water!

-Latrines

-ORS

Oral Rehydration Solution

-Drilling wells

There is more detail on these projects on their website!

They also have an 8 week course called The Ripple Effect - it reminds me a lot of the movie "Pay it Forward". Definitely worth reading about, my friend.

If you would like to learn more about JusticeWater check out:

http://www.justicewater.net

Mahalo!

Brandon Heath

This song has been on my heart all day. 

I remember hearing this song when I first became a Christ follower and it has always moved me.

Pretty impacting, truthful and great to meditate on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mhpLjPslbM

Be blessed. 

3 Good Arguments About Jesus.

There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black:

1. He called everyone brother
2. He liked Gospel
3. He didn't get a fair trial

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:

1. He went into His Father's business
2. He lived at home until he was 33
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian:

1. He talked with His hands
2. He had wine with His meals
3. He used olive oil

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian:

1. He never cut His hair
2. He walked around barefoot all the time
3. He started a new religion

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was an American Indian:

1. He was at peace with nature
2. He ate a lot of fish
3. He talked about the Great Spirit

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish:

1. He never got married.
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.

But the most compelling evidence of all that Jesus was a woman:

1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was virtually no food
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it
3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was still work to do

-Baha... SMILE TODAY!!! :) 

Randomness

I have nothing specific to say today, but I have photo's I wanted to put up to share with you!

Browse thru and enjoy the random comments :) 

No real order - Just fun :)

(Some photo's may be re-posts but I couldn't remember)

Me, Solveig, Sarah

First weekend trip with the school!

YWAM Tent taking up back corner of the beach

(YWAM'ers invade.. always come in groups!)

This was a photo I took while we were driving to the beach.

It was the farthest I'd been away from base and everything went from beautiful, to bare.

I soon found out that the land in this photo is bare due to volcanic eruption!

A huge 'ol chunk of land too, pretty sweet.

This was just a beautiful picture from our first school outing :)

This is Kyle, he is staffing the school with me!

Pretty rad friend :)

This would be Stevie, Steph & I takin' classy tourist photo's!

HITCH HIKING IS LEGAL IN HAWAII - Pretty fun fact to learn!

So this was my first legal hitch hiking experience :)

We happened to go the Sunday after Ironman and we got picked up by a man from Germany who just comes over to support/help the racers. He made sure all their bicycles got to and from the airport, pretty important job!

This is what my average Sunday looks like.. Books, books and more books!

*Currently reading Captivating with my small group girls, definitely recommend this to any woman.. or a man wanting to understand women ;)

So, in my previous post I said I've started running again.

This is a picture of YWAM style ice packs - frozen water bottle and two frozen corn dogs

Just to make sure I don't injure the knees :)

This is what happens when you have a braid in your hair and go running!

It literally compressed in to one huge dread!

Lots of conditioner and about 45 minutes of brushing.. Un-legit

This is a picture of our campus

This is from the top of the "Go Center"

The people are walking along what's sometimes referred to as "the stairs of death"

And this is the view up the stairs.

Our classroom is at the bottom of the stairs, so on a usual day I go up and down this at least three times.

But I'm the weird one and actually love the stairs! Great work out :)

This is a slight view of the "Go Center"

This is where we have rooms for our guest speakers

There is also a courtyard for heaps of different meetings!

Behind me is the lunch line, and then this photo is a view of where we go to find a place to eat!

To the right is where the peanut butter and jelly station is located - Every meal there is guaranteed to be a PB&J station, so if you don't like the grub, perfect alternative :)

Definite blog-worthy.

And at the far end of this picture is the kitchen - and this is the seating for meals

More seating for meals!

This is generally where the food line extends to, kitchen is behind the main building in this picture! :) Lots and lots of people to feed!

This is just another little area on campus

And my dear friend Madison just arrived!!! 

The three of us did our DTS together last October in Australia! 

Madison, Myself, Stephanie

This photo is just a part of walking to the classroom 

This is the "Go Center" - Before the stairs of death 

And everyone rides scooter's here.. So awesome

This is my dear roommate Cassie.

Last weekend while doing laundry we managed to lock ourselves out of our room and it was too early to wake anyone else up!

SO.. Good thing for windows everywhere

Simply pulled out the slats and crawled on thru :)

Beautiful picture from Ironman.

Favorite picture I've ever taken.

This was the beach we hitch hiked to on our day off :)

And these are the Ironmen playing in the sand!

---All and all I'd say I'm loving life right now! Living in a huge community, get to Worship the Lord quite often, working with students to send them out in to all nations to spread love and help, all while doing a million billion other little side duties. Love it :)

I'm absolutely blessed, love my non-income job and love what I do!

Thanks for following, hope you enjoyed the various photo's! 

XO

Father - Daughter Letter

A beautiful friend of mine from my DTS sent a few girlfriends and I this e-mail today.. It's a lovely letter from our Heavenly Father, had to share. Be encouraged, enjoy :) 

To My Daughter - A letter from The King

"My darling, My daughter…

How are you, My beautiful child? I have missed you, I’ve been wondering where you have been. I feel as though I have spent so long watching you, being there for you, just waiting for you to notice Me.

You often feel that in a crowded room; you’re alone.. Don’t you notice me at the back of the room, as you dance about in your world? I’m watching you from a distance, from where you left Me when you pushed Me to the side, hid My word in your backpack, closed the pages of your journal when someone asked what you were writing; for fear of what others might think of Me, your Father.

I’m still here, sometimes I see you looking for Me, at the end of the day - when everyone else has gone home, and you’re laying in your bed, staring out the window. When you go into the bathroom, wipe off your make-up, and remember who you naturally are… I hear your heart looking for Me. I’m there My beautiful girl; when you stare at your reflection, and you cringe at the way your nose turns slightly out at the bottom, or the way your freckles aline perfectly across your cheeks. When you purse your lips at the color of your skin, the shape of your hairline, and the way your lips don’t always rest perfectly together. You never seem to like what you see, and I try to reach out to you, and explain why I painted your face that way, why I intricately sketched your lips to fall together the way they do - but you’re too busy for me, it seems you always are these days… Splashing inks of red, creams, browns and blacks across your face; hiding the masterpiece that I created you to be; sometimes I worry you have forgotten who you truly are, My child.

I see you each week, stepping through your routines, meeting your friends, and making time to talk. I know you probably wish I wasn’t My dear, but I find Myself falling jealous to the time you have for everyone but Me. I wonder; do you remember last Sunday, when you promised we would have coffee together, when you said you were sorry for all the times you left me waiting, sitting and hoping you would arrive; I waited with my arms filled to overflowing. I prepared gifts for you each time you said we would meet… I wrapped grace in a parcel, perfectly and sweetly; for all the times you did Me wrong. I folded compassion and love into a neat bundle, with a ribbon of acceptance around it, gently tied with care and concern for you - for all the times you felt unwanted, unloved and alone, the times you felt no one cared… I waited for you, but you did not come; lately dear, you rarely come…

I fell to My knees for you today, I begged for your company in some kind of way.

I fell to My knees and I called out your name, hoping maybe, you’d do the same. 

But I waited again, I sat waiting for you; in a crowded room, where no body knew; that you had promised Me your time, for a short moment or two. I waited patiently for you, because you are worthy of My time, I consider you much more important than any other creation of Mine. It was then and there, I stood to my feet, and found you somewhere new… From across the room, I noticed you… You had forgotten about Me, My princess - but I hadn’t forgotten about you.

I’ve played hide and seek with you; I promised I would find you, and surely I did. When it came to your turn to come to Me, My dear, I waited for so long - only to find, you lost interest in our time together. I’ve played tag with you; I chased you, and chased you, and chased you again, I’ll never give up chasing you… Not until the very end. But when you chased Me back; that’s what gave Me great joy, to have you reach out your arms to Me; calling My name, telling Me you want Me, you need Me… It was beautiful, but short lived. - I wonder where you have gone My child; don’t you know I miss you?

I know you love encouragement, inspiration and conferences with great speakers; you love the hype of My word, and the gift of My life - but when it comes to the crunch, and you’re the star of the show - I long to be front row and center, proudly cheering you on. But instead you buy me no ticket, and there I am; waiting for you again, at the back of a crowded room.

My daughter, do you remember when you told me you couldn’t go on? When tears stained your cheeks, and you found it hard to breathe - you sat weeping from a distance, but all of a sudden, you found support? That caring friends hand on your shoulder; the text message from your sister, the facebook message you received; it was not merely a coincidence, it was a small reminder of how lovingly I care for you.

I miss you My daughter, I miss the way you would take time for Me; and keep it

I miss the way you would proudly tell your friends about My faithfulness, and believe it.

I miss you desiring Me, wanting Me, and Hungering for Me; desperately and longingly, wanting more of Me. You have forgotten Me, My Child… 

My heart is breaking for you; please come back to Me?

I’ll be waiting where you left Me, at the back of the crowded room.

Lovingly and longingly, prayerfully and passionately signed;

Your Father, Your Lord, Your King, Your Best Friend, Your Comforter, Your Counselor"

Food Machine

So in the second week of our school we got to take a class field trip :)

On this base they have what is called "The Food Machine" - Natural Farming
If you are like me, you will find this very interesting, smart and beautiful!
If you're not into "green" issues you might not be as enthused, but give it a whirl and read how amazing God's creation is!

Here is a slight summary:
(quoted from the UofN Website)

"With over 800 million lives affected by malnourishment, our goal for sustainable agriculture projects at  UofN Kona is to be part of the effort to tackle the increasing food shortage crisis and to help give hope to the hungry people of the world. We are developing prototypes of natural farming approaches that can be used to train students who are willing to go and help people meet their needs for food.

"The Natural Farming Team is implementing several expressions of sustainable agriculture on the campus... Building healthy soils with natural processes and using natural ways of addressing pest issues; no tilling, no chemical pesticides or chemical fertilizers... One method is called Korean Natural Farming - advocates for the use of local nutrient resources, such as making calcium from eggshells or pork or beef bones, to enhance the vitality and quality of agricultural projects. This is a system that uses naturally occurring enzymes, microorganisms, and fermented-plant materials to create a culture where plants can thrive.

"Another natural farming method is Keyhole gardening; these organic methods demonstrate expensive fertilizers of herbicides (which many people around the world cannot afford) do not need to be used to grow excellent food products.

 These pictures are of the yummy yummy lettuce we get to consume!

"Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture (growing fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in water). In aquaponics, the nutrient rich water that results from raising fish provides a natural, organic fertilizer for the growing plants. As the plants use the nutrients in the water, they help to clean the water that the fish live in. It's a natural microbial process that keeps both the fish and plants healthy. This creates an ecosystem where both plants and fish can thrive.

"Our commercial-sized aquaponics system at UofN, Kona is part of the Food Machine Foundation Network, who YWAM partners with at various locations around the world. We are also experimenting with different, typically smaller units that might be applicable in some places where the larger, power driven units would not be feasible. Aquaponics can produce relatively large amounts of vegetables and fish in a small area, and this technology has the potential to provide both food and small business opportunities for people in many parts of the world."

-Aquaponic's uses 90% less water a day than an average farm

-Another fun resource we have on campus are pigs and sheep, they serve as reserve food if anything should happen on the island (i.e. natural disaster.. we are very very far away from anybody)
-Our campus is the biggest purchaser of food on the entire island; takes 3 weeks for any ship to get here
-$100,000 a year on food waste; we now cut down costs by giving our waste to pigs! Which fattens 'em up too :)

How awesome is that? I love it. So resourceful.

If you would like to help or get more information e-mail naturalfarmingkona@gmail.com

To help or learn more about aquaponics you can e-mail uofnaquaponics@gmail.com

If you'd like to keep up with weekly projects, visions and prayer requests check out sciencetechkona.blog.com


**Upon our fun-filled-field-trip it was brought to our attention how much makeup Miss Tashina actually wears.. Apparently when she gave her dear friend Reggie a hug, heaps of makeup rubbed off onto Reggie's white-t. This was a pretty funny moment :)

Ironman 2012

We had the ABSOLUTE pleasure of getting to serve for the 2012 Ironman World Championships!

If you have never heard of Ironman, then you are missing out on some incredibly, amazing athletes!

Ironman is the most well-known endurance event in the world.

It's pretty much an insane triathlon.

There were athletes from 60 different countries, varying from ages 18-80.

866 Athletes were from the U.S.

It kicked off at 6:00 a.m. with a 2.4 mile swim

The picture below is where the athletes had to swim out to

 

Below are the "amateur" athletes, patiently waiting for their turn after the pro's began their swim

There were 54 Pro Men

31 Pro Women

1,089 First Timers

There were heaps of paddle boarders, kayaks, canoes, boats, jet ski's and helicopters making sure all the swimmers were safe

These videos give you an idea of what the atmosphere was like!

Definitely worth being up at 5:00 am for!

After the athletes completed the swim, they then transitioned into the bike phase!

112 Mile bike ride

Just the beginning...

One thing that was pretty legit, was as night fell the runners were projected up on the hotel!

Such a blessing to be right at the finish line -

Watching these amazing athletes finish their last leg-

26.2 Mile Run

Below is winner Pete Jacobs from Australia! With a time of 8:18:37!

Leanda Cave from Great Britain won for the women with a time of 9:15:54!

Fun fact: There was $607,000 in total prize money!

$800,000 got given to Kona!

Such a blessing.

My dear friend Steph & I after our volunteer shift!

We had the best job out of anyone, hands down.

We were not at the "finish line", but back stage welcoming and congratulating every single athlete as they went from the finish line to the security area.

The security area consisted of medical assistance, massage tent, medals, chip returns and their happy happy families waiting for them!

We were so privileged to be able to welcome them, I was in awe.

It was pretty awesome shaking their hands, being able to congratulate them after such an enduring day.

One of them stopped, kissed our hands and thanked us for serving him - it was pretty rad in my book.

If I could meet anyone famous, any athlete, musician, or royalty in the world I don't think it'd top this day. These were athletes to the core, and I was so encouraged and inspired!

It was ironic that a couple weeks before I started running again, oblivious to the Ironman coming up, and then after seeing the endurance their bodies could handle, I definitely would love to do a triathlon or simply continue running! 

This amazing athlete completed the running portion (26.2 miles!) in his Firefighter Gear!

There are many more incredible stories of athlete's competing for a cause, do some research and read their amazing stories!

The 2012 Ironman World Championship telecast on NBC Sports will air on Saturday, October 27th from 4pm ET to 6pm ET (Check your local listings)!

So, that's pretty much my epic update from Ironman. Love it! :)