Soo Many New Things...

South Point

Time is flying by and I don't even know where to start with my post this week. Well how about... I WILL BE GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA AT THE END OF JUNE! Last week, we were told our outreach options and everyone got to write down two or three choices. These were the options:
Mozambique, Cambodia, Asia, South Africa, Japan&Thailand, Philippines. And guess what - I got my first choice :) South Africa had actually been my first choice before I even knew it was an option... so I am pretty stoked!! In case you know of any contacts, places you've been to, or helpful information on South Africa, please send it my way :)

Green Sands Beach

But just as much as I am looking forward to my outreach, I am looking forward to every new day here in Kona. The leaders are wonderful, I get to watch a beautiful sunrise every night and I have started to take Hula lessons on Monday nights :)

NOT me :)

The weekdays are intense with a very scarce amount of free time but on the weekends we get to explore the island. This past Saturday, we went to South Point where a lot of our group members went cliff jumping (I did not jump - I'm already getting freaked out when I have to jump from a 3-meter board at a swimming pool!) and afterward we went to the Green Sands Beach. What a view! Half of the former volcano crater has been washed away and has transformed into a beach. The water there is crystal clear and the waves were so much fun!

On Sunday, I went to a Sunrise Easter Service at the old airport where many churches came together to celebrate our risen Lord. The service started at 6am and while we were watching traditional hula dancers dance and worship, the sun was coming up behind the mountains... It was a magical atmosphere. But what intrigued me the most on this beautiful Sunday morning was the elderly lady that was dancing among the beautiful young hula dancers. Watching her grabbed my heart and drew all of my attention to her. Since I love dancing and I have always been scared that I might, at some point, not be able to dance anymore due to possible health issues, this woman gave me an incredible sense of hope, perseverance, and passion. Walking in and walking off using her walker, she never for a second lost her gracefulness and dignity. Even though I don't know her name, she has instantly become one of my heroes!

After the early service, I went to a later service at Living Stones Church and met my new friend Travis: a native Hawaiian and former YWAMer, who took me and a classmate of mine to Kahaluu Beach for some snorkeling. The many colorful fish in the water somehow reminded me of multicolored Easter eggs... ;) And since Travis knew his way around, I even got to hold red sea-urgents and learned about Hawaii's state fish: The Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. According to Wikipedia, "It is often asserted that the Hawaiian name is one of the longest words in the Hawaiian language and that "the name is longer than the fish." ;)

The credits for this image of the
Humuhumunukunukuapua'a go to Wikipedia ;)

Sea turtles everywhere!

Did you know that these sea-urgents don't sting?

What else is new? I cracked my first fresh Macadamia nut this week, found out that my favorite earrings are made of Kukui nuts, and that leaving dirty dishes in the sink is a good enough reason for thousands of ants to pay us a visit within 30 minutes...

Day 8

... and it feels like we have lived together for months. Friendships build up easily, everybody has found their favorite spot in our outside dining area and almost everybody has started to show the beautiful island tan :)

However, it is very clear that this is no vacation: we are all leaving our rooms at 6:15am for breakfast and often don't get home from class and work duty until 9pm (with a 1-hour lunch break and 1-hour dinner break). I love it though! I am learning so much and I have already been challenged in many ways. For example, this week we have heard lectures on "Hearing God's Voice" and I realized that up until now, it seems like I have mostly had a one-way conversation with the Lord. I have to admit that most of the time I prayed to God, I was quite impatient and didn't take much time to listen to God's response. Taking my quiet time seriously, learning to listen deep inside myself and taking time to unwind (instead of rushing around all day, trying to keep busy) will be a challenge for me over the next couple of months.

Our piggies!

My work duty has started three days ago and while my roommates are working within Natural Farming (we have our own little farm on campus with pigs that eat our leftover foods!) or clean the buildings, I am working with the video department on campus! That means, we are recording the live-stream of the worship services on campus and help out with video projects. Even though the work is intense, I love the fact that I can bring my video skills to work!

And today we've found out that we will be doing community outreach as well as of next week. Once a week, our group will be working at the Hope Shelter and we'll work with the homeless of Kailua-Kona, offering classes like cooking, photography or hair braiding. I am sooooo excited for it :)

Our room, some of my lovely roommates, and one of our campus cats :)

But now it's the weekend and two of my roommates and I went downtown after dinner to explore the area. On our walk along the ocean, we got the chance to make leis and learn some hula dancing, buy fresh fruit at the farmers market and watch a beautiful sunset on our way home. I've already fallen deeply in love with the beauty of this precious island called Hawaii...

Everything Is Falling Into Place...

When I started my fundraising process, I would have NEVER imagined me saying this at some point:

Please hold your donations, I HAVE REACHED MY FINANCIAL GOAL! Isn't God truly amazing?? Just the other day I heard that another check might be coming in and today I know it for sure that, thanks to your donations, I will have enough support for my training and outreach! Who would have ever thought that a little German girl who grew up atheist would ever be able to raise the money to go on a mission trip? Certainly not I. For such a long time I was scared of walking in faith - planning on going on a mission trip with basically no money did not sound like a smart idea... But amazing things happen when you gather the courage to walk in faith and when you choose to rely on your family in Christ!

Therefore: THANK YOU once again for all of your support, I would have never been able to make it here without you! But please keep the prayers and encouragements coming, one can never have enough of those ;)

Living Stones Church

On Sunday, I went to an amazing church: it's called Living Stones Church and it is right by the ocean. The cool thing: there is indoor and outdoor seating!! But besides being beautiful, the church also has a great pastor and I have already made friends with some of the worship team. The sermon was about how God sometimes uses problems and pressure and other times future promises to lead us into the right direction. I could very well relate to that, being unsure for a long time if I was going into the right direction with my life and somehow problems in my life and promises of a bright future have lead me here. And therefore I have already signed up to volunteer at the Easter Service :) 

And more amazing things were happening over the past two days: Even though the 51 students of our class have only known each other for hours, everybody was willing to share so much about themselves in their testimonies that it now already feels like we have known each other for months! It doesn't only look like this is going to be a great semester; these first couple of days have proven that this our time here will form life-long friendships, transform our lives and is FOCUSED on God. 

On my way to class...

Well, God is good - all the time. And all the time - God is good. And right now He is REALLY good to me! He has been giving me so much through all of you and now I am already receiving so much love from the people here. And I will do my best to give back as much of it as I possibly can :) :) :)

By the way - in case anybody would like to know my address - here it is:

Kat Stahl

PhotogenX DTS - 2 nd Quarter 2011

University of the Nations

75-5851 Kuakini Hwy. #430

Kailua Kona, HI 96740-2136 USA

Blessings AND THANK YOU to all of you,

Kat

Aloha!

WOW - I have made it to the Kona YWAM base in Hawaii!! I'm sure you all know the feeling when you have waited for something for a long time and you have imagined what it would be like a thousand times... and then the moment is finally there and you can't really believe it or take it in at one time because it's far more, far greater than what you've expected it to be. That's where I am at right now :)


My first 2 days with YWAM have been full of wonderful new adventures and experiences:
The campus is beautiful, imagine Calvin College full of palm trees, tropical flowers and... mopeds!
There are 11 different nations represented in my mission photography class PhotogenX.
I am sharing my room with 4 Korean girls and one Canadian girl who are all super nice and polite.
We were welcomed by the Hawaiian culture with song, dance, and a fire show!
Target and Walmart are in walking distance (that's somehting I got really excited about)!
The second night we had an amazing worship time... no, it was more a God celebration :) :) :) People were dancing, jumping around, singing out loud, or simply praying for each other. Absolutely beautiful.
One personal favorite of mine: There is stray (but friendly and healthy looking) cats everywhere on the campus!!!

And then there are things that are not so nice:
Besides sharing a room with 5 other girls, we are also sharing it with a multitude of ants... Even when windows and doors are closed and the food is put away, they find their way inside.
Breakfast is between 6am and 7am.
I never knew that Hawaii has a loooot of rain... Even though it is very warm outside and you dry off quite easily, I wish I had brought my rain jacket.
However, the sun IS strong even though it's not sunny all the time and so I got my first real sunburn in years...

But there is nothing that can get me down right now! This place is wonderful and you can feel the presence of the Lord on this campus - you can see it in people's faces, you can hear it in their songs, and you know that God truly is the greatest artist when you walk past all the colorful flowers and wildlife.
I just got back from a day at the beach and an amazing game night (I now feel like I have already really gotten to know quite a few people from my class) and tomorrow a couple of my new friends and I will go church hopping :)

This has been an eventful and exciting weekend so far and I am looking forward to Monday for classes to start!