God's Faithfulness to Prayer

Today was one of the most humbling experiences in my life. There's only one and a half weeks left of project. During our time on KCC these past 6 weeks, we've had many spiritual conversations, around two or three a day. I've watched as my teammates stepped out in faith as God led them to talk to students who truly needed to be reached. And God has even brought some of us into relationship with some students who have potential for starting a campus ministry here. I have even witnessed a student pray to accept Christ.
However, despite all the work God has done here this summer, today, as we arrived on campus, I felt worn out. Though all of our time spent here has been good and productive, it weighed on me that we only had one and a half more weeks on campus to meet students and get them involved in God's movement on their campus. Despite all the conversations I've had, I've only met one person who was already a Christian, and the task of meeting someone who is strong enough in their faith and build a close enough relationship with them to get them involved in starting a ministry within such a short time span seemed unlikely to me.
So Daniel, Chris, and I went out to pray and share our faith. I shared with Daniel and Chris how I was feeling, and afterward, we prayed. Daniel prayed for us to get into a conversation with a Christian with a heart to help become part of the movement, and I admit, I was afraid that God would not answer that prayer. Afterall, how many Christians have we met in 6 weeks, let alone one who would join our movement? Then Chris pointed out a guy sitting alone at the tables. Daniel and I started walking over while Chris stayed behind and prayed for us. As we walked, Daniel prayed, and I grew anxious because I was afraid the conversation would not go well.
We sat down, and Daniel asked if he had some time to talk. The guy was one his cell phone in the middle of a call, but he said he would talk to us after he was done. So we took our seats next to him, and I would later find out that Daniel was halfheartedly praying for his call to end. After we sat down, he returned to his phone call to find that it had dropped! So he shrugged, and we started talking. We asked him what his spiritual background was, and he said he was a Christian. As we dove deeper with questions about his faith, it became apparent that he had given his life to Christ two months ago. Daniel and I got so excited we couldn't help but crack a smile. We told him all about what we're doing here in Hawaii, our mission to start a ministry on campus, and he was very open to the idea of it. We pray to continue to be able to meet up with him during our short time here, and hopefully be able to get him involved in helping form a Christian community for the students of KCC. The conversation left me humbled. Throughout the entire day leading up the conversation, I felt defeated with only 2 weeks left, pessimistic of our conversation not turning out well, and doubting that God would answer our prayers. However, God humbled me and put to shame all of my doubts today. He showed me that prayers are indeed powerful, and God does come through, sometimes in subtle ways, other times deliberately and instantly. Instead of walking away defeated today, I walked away full of hope and renewed faith. Faith in God and in prayer, and hope that we can still accomplish much in these last days of project.

Witnessing on KCC

It's been a while since my last entry. A lot has been happening, and it would be difficult to share everything ranging from personal trials God has been putting me through to outreach events we've been doing. But today was one of those days I want to praise God for. Today was the first day of summer project in which the staff left, passing on roles to lead the project onto us. My team and I went out to Kapiolani Community College as normal to discuss plans and to continue to reach out to the students on campus. Daniel and I paired up and started walking around campus as we prayed. As Daniel was finishing up praying, we passed by a kid smoking a cigarette with a wooden cross dangling from his neck. When it was my turn to pray, I couldn't, and instead I felt like we needed to turn around and talk to that guy. So we started conversation. His name was Ralph, and he was raised Catholic, but he did not have an understanding of the Christian faith. Daniel eventually shared with him who God is and the heart of Christianity, and afterward, I felt the urge to present him with the opportunity to accept Christ's sacrifice. He accepted, and we got to pray for him. Afterward, Daniel asked him what he was thinking, and he replied "I feel like I know what I have to do, but I can't put it into words." I'm not sure what was going on in Ralph's heart, but I trust God that He has entered into Ralph's life and will begin to change his life in great ways. I pray that we will be able to be a part of Ralph's journey in having a relationship with God. Afterward, Daniel and I reflected upon what happened. He felt compelled also to talk to Ralph when we first walked by. It's funny to see how God used us both to bring the Gospel directly to Ralph today.

Holding Babies

After yesterday, I can finally say that I've held a baby. Sunday morning after attending the 8:00 AM service at Hope Chapel in Kaneohe, my team and I helped watch over kids at the nursery. As I stood at the gate, waiting to check kids in, a mom came up with a stroller bearing two 15 month old twin sons named Wesley and Everett. After watching my teammates hold a few kids, I semi-confidently reached out to receive Wesley, propping him up on my shoulder which he clung to tightly with one hand and the other hand hanging by the neck of my shirt. With one hand cradling his bottom and the other hand holding his back, I carried him into the play room. He quietly looked around, and I sat him down in my lap and offered him his milk bottle, and without even taking it, he just stared at me with a smile. Just as I was starting to think that this nursery business wasn't so hard, a flood of kids came in. Pretty soon, I found myself sitting on the floor with two kids propped on each leg and two sitting in front of me playing with toys, all while kids ran around playing with everything in the room. Fortunately, my teammate took care of most of the cry-ers while I played with Everett and Wesley who just enjoyed laying there and drinking milk. But by the end, we were all pretty tired. And I was relieved that my first baby holding experience went smoothly, and I came out with only a few scratches and drool spots.

A Faith Sharing Experience

Yesterday, I had a sweet conversation with a local student on the campus of Kapiolani Community College. My teammate, Grace, and I paired up and just before approaching this student, Grace gave a short prayer up to God asking that she would talk to us. Right after that, I asked if she would sit down with us, and to the praise of God she was very open and friendly we started to talk. From there I asked her questions about her background, and she mentioned that she goes to church on Easter with her grandma who's a Christian. As we talked further, she mentioned she doesn't know much about Christianity because of the lack of a community to learn about it, but she expressed a desire to learn more. So I asked her if she would like me to tell her more, and she did. So for the first time, I pulled out a little booklet that summarizes all of what it means to be Christian and accept Christ in just a few pages. I spent the next few minutes sharing with her who God is, what "sin" is, and who Jesus was, and at the same time I watched as she intently listened. When I was done, I asked her if it all made sense to her, and she replied "yes" having clearly understood. She thanked me for sharing with her, and before leaving we exchanged contact information. Grace and I left encouraged and uplifted with the conversation. There is a special kind of joy one gets from being able to bring someone closer to God. We pray that God will give us more time to spend with her.

Different Culture, Same God

So we've been in Oahu for 6 days now, so let me tell you what its been like. Hawaii is extremely multicultural. The "local" culture itself is a culmination of a history of colonization and immigration. The campuses are even more diverse, since there are a number of international students and many from the mainland. Over these last few days, we've been trying to form relationships with the local students here. We met some local Christians who had met some past summer project teams. They welcomed us like family and invited us to their weekly meeting.
When we got there, we entered the main room of the house, filled with couches and chairs, and we were greeted by some of the local believers while they gave us pasta and poke. After introductions and a short meal, everyone gathered up for worship. It's empowering to see, despite cultural differences, people love God with the same spirit as I see at home. After worship, the main speaker, Tim, gave a "goodbye" to one of the brothers who is moving to the mainland. We were then treated with a farewell song sung by one of the girls. Afterward, we all laid hands on him and prayed for his departure. Tim then got back up and gave a short word on what it means to have an attitude of reverence for God, after which we broke up into small groups and discussed. One of the locals, John, shared with us that he was going on a missions project to California to help teach kids, but he was worried because his flight leaves on Monday and he still has not raised enough support. It was such a perfect opportunity to use what God had put us through at briefing to encourage this brother who was in the same situation. After I told him about how we got to Hawaii, John responded with genuine relief, "Well I guess I'm going."
Afterward, I also had a chance to speak with another local named Cory who had met our 2008 Epic Summer Project team. He shared with us that he was not a believer back then, but only recently in November did he receive Christ. It was a huge encouragement to tangibly see the labor of a previous team having come to full fruition.
Even though they have a very different culture here, I still witness the same spirit guiding the believers in Hawaii. It is apparent that God is moving strongly on Oahu.

Hawaii at Last

At 4 AM this morning, we gathered outside of Vanguard and loaded the bus to take us to LAX. Sleep deprived, I immediately knocked out and didn't awaken until we reached our destination. Once we were on the plane, sleep deprived, I knocked out and didn't awaken until we reached our destination. I awoke to the decline of the plane and a view of Oahu creeping underneath us (I was fortunate enough to have the window seat). We broke up into vans to head to University of Hawaii, Manoa. On the way, we stopped to eat, and the first meal I had was a traditional one: Lau Lau and spam musubi. The campus is a beautiful place. As we got dinner in the cafeteria and walked around town, I couldn't help but feel like we stuck out as a group. My prayers are that we will be able to build close relationships with the locals we meet here. We still haven't been briefed on what specifically we will be doing yet. The staff and team are all very exhausted from a long weekend, and today has provided some much needed rest for what we have ahead of us.

Faith Rewarded!

Praise God! He is so good. There is so much good news, I suppose I'll start with our team raising enough support for EVERY student to go. The news came as we all gathered in the hall of our dorm, and joy came out in cheers and applause. I clapped and cheered for my friends and teammates who we all had been praying for, and I savored the moment in which God faithfully answered our prayers. Only by God's grace could a $60,000 deficit be overcome, and I rejoice for others as this burden is lifted off their minds, and their faith is rewarded. I am privileged to serve alongside with every one of my teammates this summer, even if we encounter some snags along the way.

On another note, we were commissioned off this afternoon, and I was joined by my Mom, my Dad, my little sister Juliet, my older sister Brittany, her husband Josh, and their dog Azuki. I was grateful to have my family come out to see me off, and I felt strengthened by their love and support.

My last bit of good news is about our victory against the San Francisco Summer Project team in a football game rematch tonight. We came out high in spirits from the good news, and in the last play of the game, Chris Bandy scored the winning (and only) touchdown with an interception.

In 3 hours we will be heading to the airport to catch our 8 AM flight. I give thanks to God, my family, and friends whose love has gotten me here. Briefing proved to have unexpected challenges, but God made his glory apparent all the more. As much as I praise God for what He has done this weekend, it is a frightening kind of anticipation to know that project hasn't even started.