dtstraveljournal

Happy H-day! Hopefully you had some fun eating candy, or just celebrating something for the sake of celebrating...

Today we had lecuture most of the day--the speakers had heart, a bit fanatical, but they had heart. Lots of good information and they had good perspective. However in their examples they were a bit ... sketchy. No worries though we work past that. ;o)

Then we -- wow hold on I am talking to Paul he is asking us to speak with him he is taking ESL classes so we are doing homework with him --...he is confronting my other room mates about the messy room. This is funny. Our room is a disaster area. It's freakin' amazing. I love Koreans. He is laying down the law... about the room rules. It's freakin' amazing. So basically Paul has conveyed that it is the rooms responsibility to keep the kitchen and the bathroom clean. He did it in the most Korean way possible (which I've learned is the lest confrontational because getting angry is looseing face and that is something that is not looked favorably upon). He is definatly amazing and he's very thoughtful. I am amazed.

So about the rest of today--seminar then work duty--then after that Chris and I and the Compassion DTS went and volunteered at Solid Rock's Candy Land party. It was really cool they had Candy Land decorations and everything and some really cool things for the kids to do. Chris ran a basketball shoot game where the kids get two shots; and I ran a mini obstacle course. The course consisted of a punching bag and some tires to run through... it was cool.

I came back to my room and I watched '28 days later...' with Isaac, Nina, and Andy. It was a really good movie, it fit for the whole H-day thing. Scary and intense and it was a british film that had a lot of good footage and camera angle shots. I was happy. So... bed time is here... and there I go.
: : : justy : : :

Today definatly was a chill day. I went to church @ Solid Rock and I checked out the childrens ministry. I think I'm going to start up a company that goes around to churches and envisions them on what Children's Ministry should be... that it shouldn't be daycare or a time to talk at kids... that will be my job. It'll be great. ;o)

After Solid Rock I did some Laundry and talked to family on the phone, it was awesome. And then I got all of my homework done early, and then Chris and I played guitar for a long time. MY fingers are raw--I'm getting better--I'm no Janice Joplin (well I don't think she plays guitar but that was the only singer that i could think of) ... alright I'm no J-May. But I'm getting better.

Then we got some food in town and hung out with Andrew. ... OH! Andrew gave us this really interesting idea. He told us that a few quarters ago when he was taking SBS that a friend of his and he had a race. They both started on base and went opposite directions around the island to see who could get around the island first... it took him 9 hours... oh and they had to hitchhike the whole way. ... I think Chris and I are going to race some other people and go... it should be way fun. Muahaha, but more of that to come later... :o)

Many hearts to you... sleep awaits me...
: : : justy : : :

Today was definatly really really cool... So we went to Waipio Valley. This place is freakin' gorgeous...

> the reason this is just a scenary shot is beacause we had to walk down from the height that we are at on this photo to sea level. And then on the way back we had to walk up--it was the hardest walk I've ever walked in my entire life.

So we walked for 2 1/2 hours into the valley, with the hopes of getting to a waterfall. Little did we know that it was a trek that was going to be very difficiult. We had to wade in water up to our necks, with out backpacks above our heads, we had to deal with misquitoes, we had to walk in water as well as trek over slippery rocks. We covered quite a distance and we saw many beautiful things. Chris and I learned how to pick good Guava plants to cut open and eat, and we also found coffee beans as they grow on trees. It was really cool eating things right off the vine ... persay. Check out these pictures real fast before I describe anymore...


> ninja wait for no man...


> thugs for life


> see ninja wait for no man...


> quick rebound... haha estie is amazing


> oh no andrew is falling!!!


> there he is...

Oh we had a model shoot as well... here as some of the top poses...


> angry


> seductive


> scared

So we walked all day. And even in the water... that we waded through all day with sneakers on (the squish squish sound was definatly made a lot...) ... it was amazing. I loved every second of it... you'd think that I'd hate to be wet and stuff but... i loved being wet and cold and hiking through this valley. OH we even met up with a very important Mongoose Hunter [or was it the crocodile hunter...]...

We also found vines... oh ... we definatly found vines...

So after walking for a freakin' long time we finally go to the waterfall. And it was beautiful. ... dont' just take my word for it... look...


> we're checkign it out... it's amazing


> i'm hardcore


> so is chris...

Look how freakin' big it is...

> freakin' big!

We swam at the base of the waterfall, we didn't get too close because I was afraid that if we got under the falls that it might push us down and we would die. And we can't be having that... so we swam close to it... and it was so amazing. This HUGE thing of water and ... wow. It was unbelievable.

After we were done swimming we walked back. When we walked back we went a different way and we stumbled across a Hawaiian Grave

> very interesting...

So yeah... today.. ROCKED. I'm going to go shower now and sleep... cause I'm am REALLY tired. Love ya'll...
: : : justy : : :

How do you spell lay? Leigh? Lagh? Leight? ... I have no idea.

Well anyway, today in Compassion DTS we had more of a celebratory day. We hung out and had fun, while making and celelbrating what God did during Plumb Line as well as anticipating the arrival of Mary. Mary will be coming back home tomorrow, in a wheel chair, but in ok condition. She has walked a few hundred feet unassisted at the hospital but they are wanting her to take it easy as she comes back.

The reason I wanted to know how to spell lay? (Leigh? Lagh? Leight?) is because Chris and I picked flowers to make lays (Leighs? Laghs? Leights?) and we started to learn how to actually make them with needle and string. This may sound like iffeminate work, but what would you do if you were stuck out on an island and all you had to trade for food and water were flowers and string... you'd want to make lays (Leighs? Laghs? Leights?) too huh... that's right.

So yeah... that was most of the day. We played game night with CDTS as well where we hung out and played a few games and I got to play with some kids. It was sweet, I bit one of the kids, it was on accident... hmm... oops. :o) That sounds so bad... but I am sure that it isn't as bad as it sounds.

Tomorrow were are going to a rainforest, so be waiting for some cool pictures. It should be freakin' sweet. Love ya...
: : : justy : : :

Today was the day of Plumb Line ministry.

Our facilitator was named Carolyn, and she was amazing. Her method of 'counseling' persay has a really cool name... and I can't remember what it is right now. But basically it is shining God's light and perspective on our lives and on the situations that we struggle with; while we process through and replace the lies that we have accepted as truth, with God's truth.

Sounds compicated,eh? Well it is really quite simple, she let us talk and we took one issue at a time and we talked them through. We found God's perspective and then we corrected out perspectives to fit that one.

They had a really neat chart that labeled out the healing process.

1) Expose the wound - confess it
2) Cleanse the wound - repent of it
3) Remove foreign bodies - forgive those involved
4) Apply Anti-biotic - taking perspective with the cross
5) Dress the wound - patience with growing on
6) The Scar - Remembering what was healed and to be greatful of it.

It was very neat to see the other guys my age being vulnerable and transperant, not that I enjoy them being vulnerable, but it was neat to grow with them to a point where they trusted me as they shared. We all made HUGE progress through the Plumb Line thing and we've all walked away with a new perspective on how we should live life.

Mine was, as cliche as it sounds, that Jesus had and always will be in the situations of my life. When I thought back to my past hurts I saw Jesus in the corners of them grieving as I grieved. I was never really alone... even if I felt as if I was. It was really powerful for me. And that I can't live my life with the idea that people are always going to leave me--becuase, as stated before, God will never leave me. ... and he hasn't yet. Oh, and one day, I will have a freakin' kick butt wife...and it's going to be awesome.

SOOO. Now that we've come so far... I am going to bed. Much love to you.
: : : justy : : :

I am trying to become un-groggy so that I can remember what happened today. I just finished with the coolest worship set in the world. There was thisband that was just playing music in the Prayer room and they were singing whatever they felt and it was neat. (It kind of reminds me, now that i think of it..., of a hippee drum circle...) IT was definatly an amazing time. I passed out at one point and now I am 'awake' and I am trying to recall the day.

Got up, like any other day, at a bagel and cream cheese from the Aloha Café... went to lecture. After lecture Chris, Jenna, and I went with Duane and Leanne Rawlins to Thai Food. The were treating us, they have become liek Grandparents too us in the short time that we have known them. They are really great people. They are leaving to Singapore tomorrow and we are not going to see them again until we get back from outreach so we spent some time together with them today. Duane and Leanne both gave us, the entire DTS, an individualized Bible verse that they felt God had for us. They gave me Galations 4:7. It's an interesting one, I'm not really sure what it means... if you have any thoughts let me know. Chris got something else... but I can't remember what it is.

Aperantly I am going to be doing Ohana Court worship, which means that when the DTS schools meet (the six of them) that our Compassion DTS team will do worship for them. This is a afew hundred people of my own age. IT's kind of a big thing in my head, but it's not a big thing at the same time. I will be singin... it definatly will be a stretching experience. :o)

Uhm. It's funny, I am in the DTS Lounge area and I type faster than the computer can comprehend. So I type, and it takes about a 4 second delay and I'm two lines down. So the typos are those thing that I am not going to fix because it takes too nmuch time. WOW. A HUGE cockroach just ran me on teh ground -- Kona Cruisers...a common name around here. Just thought you'd like to know. I heart you.

ONE last thing, the Plumb Line ministry day is tomorrow. Pray that God speaks in ways that we understand so that we can get the most out of it. Mary is doing better--the bleeding has stopped internally, keep praying. :o)Much love.
: : : justy : : :

Food. Ack. So I've come to the conclusion that there are only so many ways that one can make a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich appealing. I've had a PB&J with every meal so far. It's freakin' amazing. ... I'm tired of them. What do I do now? I need to eat... but I want to eat something that's not the food here... I'm screwed... :-p NOT REALLY... I think I will be able to live on Protein Bars for the rest of my life... ok so not the REST of my life... or even a PART of my life. But ... they help for now.

Plumb Line is going interestingly. We talked about the different types of Christians today. The kind that fit into a box, which of course those of us with type A personalities don't like to fit into boxes, ... I fit into a few. I am the Critical Christian (the one that thinks that he can do anything better than anyone else, and he's not afraid to tell you that.) and also a mix between the Competative Christian -- when i figure out what that actually means I'll let you know... ;op.

A huge HIGHLIGHT! Chris and I worked out today for an hour and a half. It was freakin' amazing...

Also I went into town and we played pretend Volleyball. We didn't have a ball... but we had a net and sand. So I played a few people... and I let them win. It was awesome.

AND I talked with Yuri--a girl from South Korea--she is in my DTS and she has a 17 year old brother that is also Korean, but he was born in Tempe AZ. So we chatted for a good while. She is also going to Cambodia... it'd be cool if we were on the same ministry team. Oh about that, pray that the teams are put together in a God-centered way. Because the teams need to be just right...

My last bit of random info: In Cambodia spiders are a freakin' delicacy. What is with that? SPIDERS?!? What am I going to do if I get handed a Spider Burger at McDonalds... I have to eat it. That's freakin' unbearable... I'm not ok with that. ... ... ack. So. Sleep well.

: : : justy : : :

*EDIT*
We just found out that the Doctors have found taht Mary has 5 brocken ribs as well as internal bleeding relating to her bladder/kidneys, we are praying that God miraculously heals her--and that she won't need surgery. Thank you for your prayers. Pray also for her family, her 20 year old handicapped son that doesn't understand really what is going on, and his caretaker (a daughter).
THANKS.

-----
Mary is doing better, she is still in a bit of pain, but she will not need surgery to restore her back/neck. Once the swelling goes down she will be released, they are anticipating about 4-5 days more in the hospital. Once they release her she will stay in a wheel chair for a bit, but the damage should not last. God is good. Her and her family are still planning on going on outreach in December. Pray that she will be completly restored, plus more, before Outreach and that she will be able to train and learn more and more as we near that date; and that her body will be fine. SO... thanks for your prayers... if I get any more information i'll update you guys. Thanks for your prayers!!! I heart you all.
: : : justy : : :

Today was a pretty good day. (From what I know Mary is in the same condition as this morning, I'll let you know if it changes.) We are going to be entering a week called Plumb Line week (Amos 7:7-8 talks about a Plumb Line). Basically a Plumb Line is used in construction stuff, it is a string with a weighted object on the bottom, and it creates a straight line. A REAL straight line because of gravity...well straight unless outside forces act on it. So basically we are going to be taking our lives and comparing them to God's standard--and we are also going to be looking and evaluating old hurts and scars to see if we've actually dealt with them. So this is going to be a ministry week, people who have gone through Plumb Line week before have said that it is a very encouraging and growth filled time. It should be interesting.

There is this guy here named Duane--and he is like 67--he is amazing. At his age he is still relevant to the younger people around him. He laughs, and rolls around on the ground wrestling, and he is definatly a man full of integrity. I am a fan of him, he is going to be teaching some of the Plumb Line stuff so it should be good I'm fairly excited.

I think I am coming down with something... I slept from 5:30-12:45 tonight and then I got up. Hopefully I'm not going to get too sick, cause that would definatly suck. When I got up I found Chris and we talked until like 1:30. It was definatly good times and now.. I'm here. Oh, the reason I found Chris was because his bed was the closest bed to where I was at and I slept in his bed. I was trying to find him to thank him, which could have been funny, because I was half asleep and tired and sick and stuff. Ha. (That was a forced laugh...;o)) SOOO I'm going to bed now cause it's late. Many hearts to you!
: : : justy : : :

Mary has made it through the night. God is freakin' amazing. This morning in the trauma unit they took a CAT Scan and they found that the bleeding in her brain had stopped. She is now in stable condition. Which is amazing. I'll keep you guys updated, keep praying for a quick recovery and for her to return back to us quickly. Thanks guys.
: : : justy : : :

If you are a type that prayers make sure that you read this and pray:

Mary is definatly a woman who is full of compassion. She is definatly an amazing person and she needs our prayer. She was at Mile 88 today and the waves there are quite rough. She was tossed into the shore today, head first, and she fractured her 6-8 vertebrae. She has some trauma to her neck area which is causing blood to fill in her brain--this is very bad--this could cause her to die. She was imobalized and she is in quite a lot of pain. She just became stable enough to air-evac her to Honolulu. Her husband was struggling to find a flight out but he is now on one and he is one his way to the hospital with her now. We have been praying for her for a long while, and we are all doing shifts to make sure that there is someone praying for her during the night. Chris and I are taking the 12:30-1:00 shift.

There were many complications today with her but as we were praying God was opening doors. At one point she wasn't stable enought to move, we prayed, she was movable. Glen, her husband, was told that there were absoultly no flights off of the Big Island, and he couldn't fly with her in the helicopter. We prayed, and flights popped up. God has been helping her out all night--so any prayers for her health would be appreciated. Pray for a miraculous healing, her family (she is mom to an adopted 22 year old, handicapped, boy named Tommy.) and her husband Glen...and wherever God leads you with that one! :o)

----

Today was a busy day, went to church, went swimming, ate food, spent time alone with God, ate dinner, and then got the news about Mary--and we've been praying ever since. I have to go and finish my DTS journal for class then I'm headed down for my shift. I'll talk to you soon, Love ya!
: : : justy : : :

SO. I'm here now to give you an update on what has happened for the past couple of days.

On Friday... we went camping.


[Justin, Steven, Johnathon -- in the car getting ready to go... Chris is in the back... yup... he's there...:o)]

When we got to the beach that we were supposed to camp on ... we ... well... were unable to camp there. Because now that the beach is open to the public you can only stay there from 9am to 7 pm. So, we improvised. We hiked about 1/4 a mile south over this random lava rock stuff to the place where we camped. It was a bit rough, we have a few cuts, broken sandals, but... it was good times.

This is the sunset that we were blessed with...

[chris]


[justy]

We broke out the food and we started making burgers and beans, ... but there was one small problem. ... We didn't have ANY untensils to flip the burgers... well... we figured out how too... :o)

[this is our spatula - yes... it IS the bean lid]

We also got our stuff ready for when we had to go to bed...

[if you look to the right of Chris you can see white rocks, we slept on those... no sand... white rocks. I loved every second of it.]

All of us guys stayed up late around the fire that we made and we had... a ROCK FIGHT! That's right, a freakin' rock fight, we tossed rocks at each other and we laughed when it hurt someone else. We are boys. It was awesome. We definatly did it for like an hour and a half. After our rock fight I went to bed... well sort of went to bed. This... was the bed that Chris and I shared (a tarp, well actually it was a bed cover, but we thought it was a tarp when we grabbed it from the boutique)...

[it looks a bit small, but it worked for the two of us... hmm... weird. ^-^]

We played on the beach for a couple of hours in the morning and then we went back to base, we crashed, and then Scott, Chris and I went out for another adventure.

We went spear fishing, which basically includes us swimming around with this giant spear and slingshotting the spear at tiny defenseless fish. It was amazing. We didn't catching anything persay, Scott stuck a tiny fish--but after it got stuck it expanded greatly. ... it was a blow fish... which you're not supposed to fish for... after playing with it Chris and Scott promptly get rid of it... ;o) Chris stabbed a tiny fish but it wriggled off of the spear. It was definatly good times.

Later this night we played, and watched, a dodgeball tournament. The Compassion DTS team definatly won the entire tournament, too bad Chris and I weren't on the team, haha.

[winners ...]

Well Chris and I weren't planning on playing but each dodgeball team needs 8 people. On the way down to watch Iceman [the guy from Iceland--asked Chris to join his team] and he did. Check out the depends...


I was recruited by a younger kids team that needed one more, check me out--I'm walking with a ball...


Fun stuff. Today and yesterday were freakishly busy. I'm definatly going to bed now, I should have been sleeping like 5 hours ago. I'm freakin' beat. I love you guys. Talk to you soon! :o)
: : : justy : : :

What to say? ... ?

Worship this morning went well, I led Marvelous Light again. It was definatly fun, from what I've heard it didn't sound bad--that's always a plus... ;o)

Cambodia is where I think I am headed for outreach. I'll be thinking and praying about it some more, hopefully with confirmations to follow, but I am thinking that's where I belong. Chris is in between Cambodia and Thailand, pray that God speaks. It should be neat whereever we end up going, either together--or seperatly.

Chris and I got to work out tonight, and that was freakin' amazing. I've had this itch for like a week, but we've been swamped with stuff that we've had to do. Interesting eh?

Andrew, he is a guy that has been on base on and off now for 3 years. He's taken a DTS (3 months + 3 months of outreach), SBS-School of Biblical Studies [this is where you read the bible a total of 6 times, and you chart out everything in every book] (a 9 month course) and now he is taking New Testament Greek, he is freakin' learning to write greek. He is in Chris' room and he is definatly a really neat guy. Very funny... kind of ... well funny. We like him--he's definatly an enjoyable person to be around. I am a fan. We talked to him for like an hour... about SBS, DTS, and life. He is definatly pretty cool. SOOO. Night time it is.

: : : justy : : :

OH! I almost forgot, actually I didn't, but I thought that it would be a cooler after thought to put it here. Tomorrow (friday) we, the compassion DTS men, are going on a campout. It's definatly going to be lots of fun, we are going to camp on the beach and we are going to go swim and eat and laugh. So that means that I won't be able to update for friday ... until Saturday night--so it'll be a bit different. I know that there are some of you that are addicted to this thing, as if your life depended on it, you know... to know about what is happening with Justin and Chris (hopefully you're laughing and not... ... identifying with this.. ;o)) . SO.. that's the scoop. Night all.

WOW. Today was the day... that longness was made long. Yeah. That bad. Well, not baaad, but ... long.

Yesterday was the same today except for a variation, Chris and I went to Dominoes tonight for food. It was freakin' amazing. And then we watched Sea Lab ... the GOOD one. It was pretty much amazing.

Oh, we did Praise and Worship again today and it went well. People liked Marvelous Light, I helped introduce it today. Tomorrow though we are going to be praying about which outreach location we are are going too... We could be going to any number of places...

Places like:
-Cambodia
-Thailand
-Indonesia
-Pakistan
-Turkey
-Phillipines
... and the list go's on and on. Basically we have the whole world at our fingertips. It's pretty much amazing. So ... direction on that would be freakishly neat.

Hmm, is there anything else that anyone needs to know? Smashmouth is a crazy weird band. And penguins have webbed feet. I think that covers it for today. Night.
: : : justy : : :

Today was one busy day! After the morning ritual of getting up and and showering ... and eating food I partook (yes I took part) in Praise and Worship where I sang. Tomorrow I will be playing guitar with it... maybe... perhaps. It should be fun.

After the worship experience we were lectured, wow that sounded so mean, but we talked about street kids. My heart broke for them, for how they are treated, and for what street kids go through. I would love to... love on them.

Lunch was average--as a new zealander would say--and we progressed back to TEASL(Teaching English As a Second Language) where we learned techniques on how to ... well teach English to people as their second language.

OH! I talked with Carina, a cuban-american girl, tonight about our expierience thus far with YWAM. We are very much the same and we are desiring to experience God in a new way. It's pretty neat, someone else that is getting the same impression that I am; we are hoping (and praying) that we will have an intimate relationship with God. ... wow I just realized how that sounded. I mean we are seperatly looking to find a relationship with God--moreso than we already do. We just identified with each other... wow. I'm tired... so that was my day. Night!
: : : justy : : :

I've learned that Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches are an American delicasy... weird huh? People from other countries don't mix their peanut butter and jelly... ... they're so weird... ;o)

Today was fun, I have experienced some new things today. First off... well... ok so I haven't experienced anything really new... but I've been reaffirmed that Koreans are amazing...

:Evidence for my case:

Exhibit A:

On the way down to the Iron Man dinner...

Exhibit B:

At dinner... we laughed way too much... we should be locked up.

Exhibit C:

In front of the chocolate place... it was great chocolate--see the video...

Exhibit D:

Scott being freakishly hardcore... he likes birds.

And also... my experiences with a kiane pepper chocolate balls...:

We went to an appreciation dinner for working at Iron Man... we had really good food and amazing conversations with the Koreans. I absolutly loved my time with them. After we got back onto campus we, Chris-Me-Youngil-Jinyoung-Scott all played Praise and Worship music. We started doing it in English... and then we started to sing in both Korean and English (respectivly of course because ... Chris and I don't know Korean ... hehe) So it was a great night!

: : : justy : : :

I am beat! So I got up this morning and made some food for Chris and I -- and I tried to wake him up to go to church -- and he slept (but later he got up and he went to a different church). I tryed out Calvary ... it was a nice church, it is targeted towards an older audience. ... Yes.

I missed the shuttle back to U of N and I got a ride home with someone that has a car in my DTS. But before we went to U of N we stopped off at Wal-mart! And I picked up stuff for Chris' B-day (which was today...) and then we headed back to U of N. Oh... by the way U of N is short for University of the Nations (which is YWAM). Anyway. I set up Chris' B-day presents and then he found them... and he loved them... and then I went and worked on my journal.

There are these journals that we have to keep each week that include main notes from the speakers this week, notes from my quiet times with God, Community life [which is my roomates and what not], and then a whatever page. (if we have a book to read then we have to include a book report ont eh particular week that the book is due...) I worked on it but I didn't quite finish.

Afterwards I went to Praise and Worship practice, I am going to be singing and playing, not very well yet, the guitar. It should be fun. I'm excited. (tehre will be another guitarist so I am just a backup on that.

Then dinner, I ate with two peopel that I don't know a girl named Elizabeth (age: 22) from Iceland, and Stephanie [i think] (age: 27) from England. It was really funny we talked about all sorts of random stuff and bout culture differences and what not. It was really cool.

AFTER THAT... yeah I know today was a long freakin' day, can you see why this is titled "I'm so tired..." yeah I know...

We went down to the Iron Man closing cerimonies and we were there to hold flags for the different nations taht were represented there. I was able to hold the flag from Spain and Chris snagged the US flag. There's a funny side story that Chris will have to post... :o) And now I'm here... I just finished my journal and now I am going to bed. IT was a LONG day--I heart you--night! :o)
: : : justy : : :

---------------------
When we presented the flags I noticed I was standing right behind the winner of the Iron Man. His girlfriend gave me a thumbs up and said "ya, Go America!" and the Ironman winner (who is from Germany) says "no, *points to German flag* Germany" I gave a thumbs down and said something to the effect of "no way..." It was a special moment we had...uhm....yes.

Today was a very very long day. We, all of YWAM, helped staff some of the Iron Man Triathlon. The Triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a marathon run. These people are freakin' amazing. There were people, men and woman alike, as young as 19 to as old as 80 that completed this thing. It was amazing.

Chris and I were stationed at an Aide Station, along with our Korean friend Youngil. We had so much fun today. We were there at 9:00 setting up the aide station, getting the supplies ready, and what not and we got our first runner (they had already swam and biked and our job was to give them the stuff that they needed) at like 2:00. My job was to hold up this stuff called Power Gel, basically it was pure Carbohydrates (80% complex carbs, and 20% simple carbs -- hey... it was an educational day too) but it was goopy. Like sticky slime that you try and drink ... it was safe to say that many atheletes didn't take the gel. Chris' job was varied--he floated around because we seemed to have not enough people but too many people at the same time... think about that one... it hurts... but it makes sense. ;o) He did everything from giving sponges to the athletes, to giving water/cola (which i didn't understand why they'd want cola)/gatorade/ice and powerbars to them. It was very long. Chris and I got done at like 4:30 and we came back to campus...and slept, and as it so happens that we actually fell asleep in the same bed (which for some of the people here was a big deal... we just laughed... and went back to sleep). After which we went into town to see some of the final athletes in. We also did the role of catchers, which basically means that when someone crosses the finish line that you go beside them, put a towel around them, and walk them to the med station. I guess that in the past Iron Man has had people cross the finish line and collapse. ... so we did that as well. We ate some Dominoes Pizza--and played guitar--and now I'm here... ready for bed. Check out the pics and movie... they're good. Love ya,
: : : jusy : : :
-------------
Here's Chris, lovin' the ocean...



Here's Justin, lovin' the ... mountain... and his job.



Here's Youngil--bein' amazing!!!



... Now... Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, people of all ages please welcome to the stage Youngil and Chris as they re-inact all of what we did during the Triathlon... here we goo....

And also, Chris playing the director, and Justin... doing his job...

Oh and you can't forget Chris getting excited...

That's it! :o)

I had to most amazing day with my Korean room mates. During my work duty I work with one of my room mates named, Jin Young, he speaks a bit of english and he is very very cool. We talked during the entire 2 hour block that we had to work together. He was teaching me different things in Korean and I was talking to him about things in English. It was awesome.

When I got back to my room later this night Youngil asked if he could play my guitar. I let him and he was really excited, and he played some Korean worship songs on my guitar, and when he was done we talked some more. We talked about many different things about Korean vs American culture. The social norms, we showed me a picture of a girl that he wants to date when he gets back--God willing of course--and we just talked. It was so much fun. I really enjoyed the fact that we were able to talk for an extended amount of time. It was really amazing.

Jin Young and Youngil and and I talked together for like 2 hours... and now we are going to sleep. I don't think we would have had the opportunity to connect if I wouldn't have had the disagreement with my other roommate. It was pretty much as I entered the room thay my other roommate left and when he came back we all stopped talking--so it was very opportune that he wasn't around when we had the chance to connect. It was amazing. Stuff is looking up and I am very happy that I've connected with them. Anyways I'll be talking to you guys later... www.cyworld.com --I found out tonight, is like the Korean Myspace. It's very cool. Anyway I'll be talking to you soon. Night.
: : : justy : : :

So today was a very ... learning... kind of day. Yes.. today was a verb...

I've learned to not take second hand information as truth. If you do... things get you ... in trouble. So I posted how my fan in my room has been coming and going as it wants too... like it'd be here one day and not another. One of my roommates was playing a joke on me--and I was annoyed today. So at lunch I asked one of them... "Hey do you know who is taking my fan?" and he said that he didn't know... so that went back and forth for a while and this girl here, her name, Nina said ,"Isaac took it." Well apperantly she said "It wasn't Isaac". Well I didn't hear that... so I went to Isaac and asked him, alright so I was angry, and "Dude do you know who is taking my fan?" (at this point I don' t think it was about the fan, it's more about the principal of people taking my stuff...) and he told me no. And then I said, this is where I made the mistake--because I didn't hear right--"Nina told me you did..." Soo a long story short the argument escalated and we got into a sparring match, that was non-physical, so really it was a word war. And there is tension in the room now... it turns out that another room mate was taking my stuff... so prayer in that area would be appreciated... because I would like things resolved... in any case I've learned life lesson #532 - "Don't take second hand information as fact... unless verified". So, today was a cool learning experience...

On a less dark note--my fingers hurt real bad! Well.. it sounds bad... but it's freakin' amazing my fingers are hurting because of my guitar playing skills. It's freakin' awesome. SOO I love ya'll and I'm going to bed. Adios.
: : : justy : : :

That's right, the tips of my fingers hurt with glee. So I've successfully bought a guitar (and Ibanez) from the internet and a case, capo, strings, tuner and I'm full of glee. My fingers arn't al that happy with me because I've been playing a bunch since I've gotten it. But... it's amazingly cool.

Today was a day filled with anticipation for the new guitar I went to the post office 5 times... no joke... I was ready. The UPS tracking number told me that the package was in transit... for far too long I might add... but I got it and my wait is now over.

We had lectures today that were good--kind of--this guy Joe Ferrante is talking about the Father heart of God. Which is intersting, because being from WOG I know most of this stuff already. WOG--whether or not any of us notice it--prepares a person for life. Because I've been being reaffirmed in these classes because I knowt he information and what not because of my experience at WOG. IT's amazing... some concepts that people haven't heard before (the Jesus+Nothing, the character of God, etc.) it's amazing. I am having a blast here still... hopefully all goes well tomorrow... It should be a fun day. I love you and if you get bored feel free to text me, or leave me as message @ (480) 474-7257. Adios! :o)
: : : justy : : :

-------

I never knew that a picture could produce this much joy! But it can...

I have officially decreed that this night shall be forever known as Game Night.

...

Myself, Andrew (the non-New Zealander), Jessica (girl we just met), Nina (a canadian), Angela #1 (number 1 cause we met her first, she is canadian as well) all played spoons. This was the very first time that I've played and it was vicious. Freaking scary actually. The hands and the grabbing and the blood--oh man it was bad. ;o)

Before that Chris, myself, Andrew and this other girl named like Cyceraiefnaf played Settlers of Catan--It's a game that I really can't explain... but trust me... it was awesome.

So yeah--we played games and hung out. The rest of this day was filled with much of the same stuff that yesterday held... lectures and DIFFICULT KAMP FOOD. ... Yup. I'm lovin' in here.

Interesting story:

So I bought a $7 fan from Wal-mart. I am on the top bunk in my room, so I've previously positioned this fan so that it was in a place where it was hard to plug in and it was hard to move. It was my fan that was stuck in this certain spot. Well two days ago it went missing. Yeah, that's right, missing. Someone stole my fan. ... It didn't disappear or hide behind a closet... it was gone. Well tonight, which we've established furthermore as Game Night, it was back in it's spot--plugged in and ready to go. So the culprit left it... they were probably trying to get a rise out of me... they didn't...and it was awesome. Anyway--I've now drawn all over it with a permanent black marker and wrote my name ALL over it... so now the theif--if they decide to be a repeat offender--will no longer be able to take AND use my fan without drawing attention to themselves. I rock huh?

Well... that's all for now. I'll talk to you some more later. Love ya.
: : : justy : : :

Alwight! So, today was the day that will live in imfamy--alright--so that was yesterday. Today though, if I could give it one word, was lecture. Food was from 6:30-7:15, lecture from 8:00-10:00 then another lecture from 10:00-12:00. Then lunch. Then another lecture from 1:00-3:00. Then work duty from 3:00-5:00... the dinner. Then a lecture, alright so it was a movie, from 6:30-8:00. It was a jam packed day. JAM packed... like jelly on rye. I just made that up... they were good lectures on God. How there is no condemnation in Christ--and how Jesus is amazing... and stuff like that. (Wow... I re-read that and it doesn't sound exciting but it is! I promise.. hehe) I am so freakin' tired... it's kind of funny. So I am going to go to sleep. Hopefully I can take some pictures of the campus and let you guys see what I am inhabiting... much love.
: : : justy : : :

Today was a day that will live in infamy--well yes it will... because it's on this blog!

Today we ventured off to Solid Rock Church, the church that Pastor Tex, preaches at. It was amazing. He was very very good. Talking about how we need to be Intentional Christians... that we need to complete rather than compete. It was a pretty catchy Christain-ese phrase. But it was cool. Working in close contact with people is bound to create friction if we are unable to do the jobs that we were created for.

After our Solid [rock adventure] adventure we went back to the base and then walked to town to get food. It was neat... I'm trying to remember what happened... maybe I'll make it more exciting than it was... let's try...

OH and we made our Journals--the ones that we are to turn in, we had to decorate and make a title page and a time line and write notes that we have from our speakers, and write a book report--that is due tomorrow. I didn't actually read the whole book. ... Wait before you jump to any conclusions... I read enough of it to get the point of the whole thing. After 4 chapters it seemed to repeat and what happened kept repeating. SOO I did it.

Now I'm in my room--ready for bed--adios for now.

: : : justy : : :

Today was a freakishly eventful day... it all started with waking up... then it progressed towards the goal of getting to ... as Sam our Swiss friend would say...

Weird title, I know, but I just got finished with Salsa lessons. Yup you read it right--I have learned how to do basic Salsa... it was amazingly fun. I think I've picked up rythm from my Dad--cause as everyone knows--he's hardcore at dancing. :o) It was fun.

Before that I had traveled to Wal-mart to buy supplies for the next week or two...

Before that... dinner was consumed--I think I've figured them out here. They serve almost the same assortment of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner respectivly. I think they are trying to start some sort of brainwashing techniques on us. I don't think it'll work because I own Pop Tarts--that's right... Pop Tarts. They are feeding me now as I type.

Before that... I had workduty and I am thinking that I really really understand this Coldfusion stuff--it isn't that hard--but for some it seems to give them the run around...

Before that... there was a random meeting with Compassion--and it was long. ... Hmm.

Before that... was lunch--don't get me started on brainwashing by mal-nutrition thing again. ;o) (kidding of course...)

Before that... we had lecture in the Ohana court from Darlene Cunningham... she is a brilliant speaker because she leaves word cues like, "This is really important..." so the audience knows that if they weren't listening that they should do it from that point on.

Before that... I woke up late for breakfast.

That was my day, Momento style. Well it's time for bed. Love ya.

: : : justy : : :

I sit here to reflect upon my day, but I can't remember... what I did.

I remember getting up, as I do everyday, and getting food. I remember going to my Compassion group Praise and Worship--and I remember that I think that it has to change... it's targeted to a bit of a larger age group. I remember going to lecuture and hearing Loren Cunningham, he is the founder of YWAM. He reminds me of a Grandpa who likes to tell stories... and BOY did he tell stories. LONG stories... that had great depth and relevance to everything we talk about... ha. :o)

I think I've figured him out, if that were possible, and his philosophy--which I am reading in his book right now--is to spend time with God in quiet time. (Reading the Bible, thinking on his word) Then discerning God's voice, and then after that--obey God. It seems so simple, and yet it feels rather difficult. In any case that's what we talked about all day until lunch--then after lunch we had work duties.

Work duties today was amazingly slow, Todd--the boss--likes to maticulosuly go over EVER little detail about everything... after we spent a LONG time going over computer stuff that I already know we jumped into coding. Well Jin Young and me did--Jin (pronounced Chin) has programmed before. He is also one of my roommates, and he's made games with Visual C++ while I've just done web design stuff. He seems to know what he is talking about and we worked together... it was fun. He doesn't know English very well yet--but he is gettting better. I ate dinner with him as well and that was neat--we talked about random stuff here and there. It was definatly a cool experience. He is from South Korea... Wanna hear something funny? I've asked a few Koreans where they are from... and then I asked if they were from North Korea... I'm a bit thick. LOL They respond in the funniest ways. Anyways...

After dinner I went to Thursday night chapel--we do Praise and Worship and Loren talked again. He ... talked ... FOREVER. He actually said something significant about every book in the Bible... there are 66 books in the Bible... he was rather long winded tonight. (I'm tired while writing this... can you tell?)

After we went down to town and bought a Pizza and ate it, and we chatted, then we went our seperate ways and now... I'm here. I've placed an order on the internet for an Acoustic-Electric guitar, I have just enough of my own spending money from when I was working in AZ to buy it and a hard case. It was going to be really nice--I'm excited. I should be getting it on either Monday or Tuesday. WELL... I'm going to go to sleep. Night ya'll.

: : : justy : : :

Sooo today. What was happening today with the life of Chris and Justin on this Y.W.A.M base in Kona HI? ...

Justy arose and ate food--while doing a quiet time--then he met up with Chris (yup Justy is talking in the 3rd person). After that Justy and Chris went to a lecture seminar from 8-12. It was... amazing. Wait... that was a lie. It was alright, but I'm not sure that these lecture people got the memo that the people in the audience have an attention span of about 18-20 minutes (about 1 minute per age of their life...). It was funny. The way that the communicators communicated today was they threw out random information that seemingly has no connection for 25-50 mintues and then in 5 minutes after that they tie them together with the only thing that is really needed to understand what they are talking about. So they successfully waste our time and they STILL don't get their point accross. That's all... I'm quite done.

After the seminar thing there was lunch--SAME FOOD--and then we had work duties. This was freakin' sweet. I spent time with Todd, who is one of those theoretical thinkers, he is the guy that plans everything out to the letter, but doesn't make any moves to move his theory to completion. He exlained to me in grueling detail how the internet works and it was interesting. But my work duty is to learn Coldfusion, which is a backend web server scripting langauge. It should be really fun, I get to program interactive websites... I'm excited to learn.

Afterwards I met Chris @ Dinner and he told me about his duty... I'm not going to do it justice but... it's good. Tomorrow he gets to chase and catch pigs--it's pretty insane. He'll have to post about his stuff... cause I don't get it... and he... well.. he knows.

Went swimming, worked out, then watched Bali-wood movies (low budget films that are made in india ... all of which evoke a sense of indian pride by the end showing that the most beautiful woman is not americanized and she is the one wearing traditional garb and not talking...) it was funny. Rhonda, a really neat leader here, showed us how to watch movies the right way. You have to watch with a reem of paper nearby--and if you don't like what is going on ... on tv you throw paper at the TV. It was SOO fun. It's safe to say that we didn't like a lot of things. Then we walked around--and now I'm here.

I'm pretty much the most detailed person on the planet--not really--but I'd forget everything if I didn't write it down on here. Well.. until tomorrow.

: : : justy : : :

Alrighty, so I've recovered from my drug overdose--well not really an overdose--but a small case of the not taking the recommended amount of anti-hystamine. (I officially cannot spell...) My computer is finally working so things are looking up...

Today... today... today. What the heck happened today? OH! Pastor Tex--this guy that is from Solid Rock Church here in Kona--came and spoke. He was amazing (when you say Tex ... you have to realize that he is half Japanese and Half--something else--not a guy from Texas... his name is too hard to say... hence--Pastor Tex.) In any case Pastor Tex came and spoke on general things but he was a very very excellent communicator. He was very engaging and funny, it was almost like a standup routine. It was freakin' awesome. He talked to us about reaching out to those around us in this Post-Modern culture. That if we are to reach this generation that it doesn't matter how much head knowledge we have but its more about how much we care.

(I'll have to fix the image size later.. roomate is wanting to sleep... the light is keeping him up)

Day 4, eh? It feels so weird being here. The people are so amazing, I've been confused all day because it feels like I know these people... like I REALLY know them. It's weird that there are communities out there that really care and that are dedicated to growing (sounds like a cult huh... meh... probably is). I figured that I can post about the day with pictures...

---RANDOM SIDE NOTE---

This is Andy--he is amazingly cool, the New Zealand kid. We really really really like him.
---RANDOM SIDE NOTE---

Earlier today we were going to go to church for the first time, so we ate breakfast and then we were supposed to go to the shuttles. SOOO we left and we waited... and waited... and WAITED. It was so funny because we just sat around adn waitted while everyone kept getting into the vans ... well... we never ended up going to church. Chris was so sad that our Cuban-American friend Corena (spelling?) was consoling him...




He felt much better--in fact--he was praying to God... [video clip to come, after it's been verified by Google...]

Chris and I worked out and then we got a few people together to go snorkeling. We hitch hiked over to this place, well we walked really far and we got lost, but once we got there... it was worth it!




See...


(you can see the turtle that we touched in this pic)


He's hardcore... just look at that man sweat.


hehe Chris forced me.


Now we're just cute...

We stayed a while, Taylor and Chris both stepped on a sea Urchin which was no good. But overall it was fun getting off the base--we'll go to Chilrens Beach later to actually go snorkeling in a better spot... we'll probably see more on our own again anyway. Well we traveled back, and this time, we got a ride all the way back to town...




[Video pending, while Google decides if it is decent or not...;o)]

We went to see Wedding Crashers today and it was funny, for the third time, and then we just hung out. It was a long day, can't you tell..., but a fun one.

Tomorrow we start class. I am really excited, I hope to be challenged and ... well.. stupid. How fun would it be to come here and be dumber than everyone else. If that were the case then I would get to grow intellectually ... hopefully that happens. New paradigms would be a sweet thing. Anyway I need some sleep, I am very tired. Love ya'll talk to you soon!
---
-justy

Soooo. Saturday (which was yesterday) was very interesting. But to be honest, right now I'm drawing a blank. ... ... OH! Compassion DTS went on a BBQ, which was nice, by a 'beach'. Hehe there was water, there was sand, but there were also HUGE rocks all over the place. It was quite amusing... a few of us got hurt. Bloody feet, scrapped knees, and what not--the coral there was a bit sharp. We fellowshiped and got to know everyone. The kids from the families going on DTS were there. They are amazing.

There was this one kid name Jonathon, his birthday is tomorrow, and he's from New Zealand. I had climbed a tree and was just chillin while the second group of teams were doing a relay race (I was in the first group of teams and we had just won the relay race... you know... cause it was a team game!). While I was chillin' in the tree he ran up and tickled my danglin' feet. It was quite amusing for him--so I made it a big deal ... of course!--and we played a game for a bit. Then I got down and chased him around the tree, and THEN, we hung out a bit. He's a cool kid, turning ten tomorrow, and we just chillled.

After that wonderous event we made our way back to the base and we met up with Chris, we went to Wal-mart. ... and bought things. One of these things was definatly a harpoon. Yup a HARPOON, we are going to go snorkeling and then spearfishing at the same time. It's really exciting. We'll try to be safe. :o)

After that we had dinner, then Andi and I went to the movies with a bunch of people, (Chris had a Japan focus meeting and he caught up with us later.), and then to Bubba Gumps Shrimp. It sits right off of the ocean and it's gorgeous. After that Chris and people came down, aperantly it's a code that YWAM'ers travel in groups of 8 or more. We had 12 people in our group and it was fun...we walked and talked down to a beach and hung there... until some random pot-heads came and started smoking.. then we left. It was entertaining.

Today should be a good day, we are looking to find churches and what not to attend. OH!!! Chris might be able to get into Compassion, there may be a slot, this is AMAZINGLY EXCITING. So... keep prayin' that he is supposed to be where he is supposed to be. Alright I've hogged Issac, the Canadian's, computer enough--I'll chat with you guys again soon. Much Love,
-justy

It is so beautiful here. Green... and humid... its really really nice. I am a fan.

Yesterday was pretty sweet, I’m not gonna lie, it was the first day of Kona stuff. We got up nice and early (6:30-7:15 was breakfast) and then we met with our focus groups. I met a bunch of people from Compassion DTS and it was really really neat. I’m not really sure what to expect though, but that’s why I’m here … right?!? After we met with our focus groups we then went to orientation where they basically told us that it’s ok to have relationships here at Y.W.A.M. Which is really funny because most of the couples here on the base met on a DTS or on an outreach—so … this is like a dating service. HA. After the orientation of much information, right, we went to lunch. The food here is very very interesting at times. It’s good for the most part… but if you don’t like something then you can just eat Peanut Butter and Jellies—hehe which saves you if you’re not really sure. Anyways… there was an Aloha service at night for us. They presented flags for all of the nations represented (there are a TON. They mentioned at least 40 nations. OH and the services are twice as long as they should be because they translate everything into Korean… it’s really neat) and they did worship. It was really neat to see how many different countries are actually here on the base with us. A little bit later we saw a fire dancer guy that twirled, and ate, fire from a stick—he was hardcore, authentic Hawaiian culture. He also did that Haku--a crazy Hawaiian dance that is really neat. It was awesome!

I’ve met some amazing people. My roommates, there are six others and me, are neat. It’s going to be fun getting to know them. Andi, is from New Zealand, we’ve been hanging out, he has the same dry, cynical, humor that I do and it makes things quite fun. There’s Isaac from Canadia—yes Canadia—and he seems to be a genuinely nice guy. There are three Asian guys from South Korea I only know one of their names. His name is William and I couldn’t understand the other two. It should be very interesting to see how we progress past the language barrier—I really can’t wait.
It looks as if I am going to update in chunks and in the mornings, so if my thoughts aren’t as clear as they normally are—give me grace. My computer isn’t seeing the internet so I’m having issues. It’s really a sad thing to be honest. But I’m doing my best to get this stuff to work as it should.
I know that I can speak for Chris, we love you guys. And we are so thankful that you are praying for us and that you are thinking about us. It really means a lot.
---
-justy
---
Prayer Requests:
-That Chris and I feel peace about where God is leading him, if God is in fact leading him to the Japan focus to minister in Japan, then we ask that that is what happens. But if God wants him, or would allow him, to go to Compassion then we ask that God would move that way. Obviously whatever it better overall for him and his will that’s what we want.
-That Chris and I would be able to connect with people that we normally wouldn’t be able too. To forge relationships that will last.
-That God would comfort our families/friends as we are away. I am specifically thinking about my seester Julia. So yeah. Love you guys!