Kauai March 2020

 

Gracious and Faithful

*This blog entry was written in January of 2020 and saved. It was punlished Dec. 2021*

He answered me "Yes". How gracious of our God!  I've been praying for 3.5 years that the Lord restore and opportunity to go back to the island of Kauai.  Why did I do that? Honestly, I have no idea.  Why would I spend time and energy praying for something that at the time was impossible? We left the church that was responsible for the Kauai church plant. We moved back home to New Mexico for support from family and we lost contact with most of our faith family. But I kept praying for Kauai. A couple years later my husband was offered a job with the same church and we moved back to AZ! Now the opportunity to move to Kauai has presented itself again. Just wild. So we are on our way to visit our friends on the island AGAIN. The Lord has given us the opportunity to go back. Prayers do things. I'm nervous and excited. Lets see what happens. 

Four Years

And so it has been.  Four years since I wrote my first and only post for this blog.  I actually forgot I had started this page and I honestly don't even remember what Hele Hana Kula means. Ha!

What happened? Well, a week after we learned about the potential church plant in Kauai, chronic illness hit me like a freight train and I've been sick ever since.  Four years.  Four years of God allowing me to suffer. Extreme fatigue and blinding brain symptoms. Aches and pains. Confusion, anxiety and discouragement. Four years of vomiting sin and returning to it. Four years of learning everything I never wanted to know about the body, mind and spirit. Four years of pleading with the Lord for healing and answers. Oh me of little faith.

Four years ago I prayed that the Lord would prepare the hearts of the people that would go to the island of Kauai to plant a church.  Maybe it takes four years.

Well, the church has been planted! Praise God.  We are not a part of it although we do give a little amount each month to help the family that is out there.  Grateful for the 3 families that have given up everything to go and plant a church in a very hard place.  It has not been an easy.

It's New Years Eve. Tomorrow is the new year 2020. I'm home sick but I love this time of year.  New starts and new goals are always so refreshing. I have lots of goals! Health goals. Parenting goals. Business goals. Family goals. Etc..

 2020 should be an exciting year! I'm hoping to heal more this year.  I have a great healing plan in place just working on raising the money to afford it all. Last year I made a big gain in my health journey.  I've had a set back this last month which is very discouraging but think I know why and I know to keep going.  I've learned so much. God willing I'll be working with a new practitioner. Coffee enemas anyone??

  

God has been patient and kind to me.  Since I can remember I have always prayed that the Lord deal gently with me because I fear Him. I know what He can do and that can be scary. Sometimes chronic illness does not feel like a gentle way to deal with someone but I know He has been gentle. He has been good to me because the bible says He has. He takes suffering and brings forth good.  The greatest example of this would be Jesus. From the greatest evil came the greatest good. I know He does this for me too.

What does God have in store for our family in 2020?  Healing? I hope so! A move to a tiny island in the middle of the ocean? Maybe! Maybe not. Who can know His plans. Only Him. So lets prayerfully wait and watch.

Happy New Year!

 

Beautiful Places Don't Need the Gospel....Right?

A few months ago the Lord sat us down with our church elders and invited us to be a part of His plan for Kauai.  Kauai is one of the smaller islands in Hawaii with a population of about 65,000 permanent residents.  I honestly had never heard of it.  I knew my sister had gone to Hawaii a few times but I couldn't recall where.  Bring the gospel to Hawaii??  It's suppose to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth, do they even need it there? 

If you know me you've probably heard me talk about all that the Lord is doing through a young girl named Katie Davis.  Her book, "Kisses from Katie"is one of my favorites. It's an easy read and I enjoy her story.  She was a young American gal straight out of high school, popular, homecoming queen, president of her senior class, in super love with Jesus.  After graduations she surrenders everything to the Lord and follows Him to Uganda.  She gave up the American dream to follow hard after God and be obedient to what God commands in scripture.  The Lord has used her to turn a part of Uganda upside down for  His glory.  She clothes, feeds, educates and provides medical services to thousands of people, she has 14 adopted daughters, shares the Love of Christ with everyone she meets and is a wonderful example of being the hands and feet of Jesus. I love her story!  

It didn't take me long to realize that Kauai is not Uganda. Lol.  It's not India. It's not South America. It's not a third world poverty stricken country and I've had a bit of a hard time with that.  Christians in general have a hard time with that.  

"We are going on a missions trip"

"That's great! Where too?"

"Hawaii."

"That's my kind of missions trip!!"

I was a little embarrassed at first.  Christian traditions told me that mission trips are not for the beautiful places.  They are for the "hard places" and that the Gospel is reserved for the third world poverty stricken areas.  I use to believe that too but the bible says otherwise.  The great commission is this, 

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Matthew 28:16-20.

Jesus says share the Gospel and make disciples of ALL the nations, not just some. Not just the ones our Christian culture approve of.  Kauai, Hawaii is a part of all nations.  He cares for the people of Hawaii just as much as He cares for the orphans in Uganda and He commands us to go there and be salt and light.  

People have suggested ease and comfort for us.  They see us lying on the beach with a Bahama Mama in our hand and our bible in the other.  They see us taking a nap against a palm tree with our hats over our eyes next to sign that says "Repent and Believe". They see us sharing the gospel to the dolphins and taking selfies next to volcanoes but I've see otherwise. Instead of coconuts and beautiful beaches  I see the Lord preparing my family and I for His mission there. I've seen my flesh dying a slow and painful death these last few months.  He has shown me where my comforts lie. He has revealed to me my heart full of fears and anxieties, He has shown me that I have extreme lack of trust in Him.  I don't see sandcastles and sunsets but I see us leaving our family, friends and comforts to go live on a tiny thing of an island in the middle of the ocean.   When I think about going to Hawaii I'm not exaggerating when I say that I think about dying.  If we go, we go to lay down our lives for the Gospel.  It's pruning season in this house and it hurts.

So my answer to the title to my first blog entry is yes.  Beautiful places need the gospel too and we are looking forward to being a part of all the God has for the island of Kauai.