God is good all the time - and all the time, God is good.

These last two weeks were very eventful on the emotional side. Lots of tears - but many of them were tears of joy! Let me fill you in on four major things that grabbed my heart:

1. Every Thursday afternoon, we have intercessory prayer time with our entire class. This is something completely new to me and I cannot deny that the first couple of times, I went in quite skeptical. For two hours, we all pray for a certain people group or for a certain change we want to see in the world. But would God really "care" if we were praying or not...? On April 29th, we were praying for the passing of Hawaii's FIRST anti-sex trafficking law. So far, sex trafficked persons have apparently not been protected by the law. For a long time, people had been fighting for it and on Friday we heard that on April 29th, at the time in the afternoon that we had been in the prayer room, the law had FINALLY PASSED. I felt a shiver down my spine - of joy as well as of mystification (just learned that word :) ).

Further info on the matter: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=150142551717558&ref=mf and http://www.change.org/petitions/2011-signatures-to-pass-hawaii-anti-human-trafficking-laws-in-2011.

2. Please meet my friend Gille Legacy: He was born in Canada, now lives in Hawaii and is a magnificent painter. The downside: he was born with cerebral palsy and has almost no use of his arms or legs. Until the age of 17, Gille never left the house. However, when he was 8 years old, he found his sister's coloring book on the floor and discovered that he could paint - with his nose! God has blessed Gille with a marvelous talent, a beautiful wife, and a contagious laughter. I have hung out with Gille and his wife Sandi over the past couple of weeks several times at the beach - collecting sea shells, taking pictures of this wonderful couple and learning from them what love is all about. When you meet these two and see the way they love and treat each other, you get peek into the DEPTH of true love. Please check out Gille's website and support him online by purchasing his artwork: http://www.manwhopaints.com/.

3. Two weeks ago, I met Jude and Peterson, two worship leaders from Haiti. Together with YWAM, these two compelling men are devoted to rebuilding Haiti on God's love and truth. One night, I had dinner with Jude and some of my friends. Jude, who always seems to be overflowing with joy and peace, shared that he actually grew up as a slave. He was sold into slavery by his parents to his uncle and was forced to do intense manual labor every day. At some point he was able to buy himself out of his misery. Because of his past, Jude developed an immense heart for getting children out of slavery and providing them with a loving family - the family in Christ. His hope and dream is to rebuild Port au Prince on God's love and truth, and therefore turn the city away from the belief in the gods of voodoo - which has added to the distress and turmoil of the country in the past, according to Jude. Please contact Jude at check out the YWAM Haiti website and consider supporting this wonderful opportunity of rebuilding a city on HOPE. You can contact Jude and Peterson at info@ywamportauprince.com.

Betty - she is not the lady I was writing about
but one of my favorite people at Hope Services!

4. Last but not least is my community outreach experience at Hope Services. Every Tuesday, my group goes to the hang out with, minister to, and teach new skills to the (temporarily) homeless of Kona. Most of the people here are in a transition part of their lives and are looking for hope, peace, and courage to take the next steps. Two weeks ago, my group hosted a "Beauty Night." We were offering haircuts (one girl on our team actually has a license!), manicures and face masks. This night was a big hit and I could see the joy in the people's eyes that came from within. At some point a lady sat down in front of where I was offering the manicures but she did not stretch out her hands. "I am not sure you want to touch me." she said. "I have skin cancer all over my arms and hands." Wow. Immediately I replied that I would not mind at all. Skin cancer is not contagious, so why wouldn't I? But when I started very carefully massaging her scarred arms and hands, barely touching her open wounds, I knew that things are easier said than done. I always said that I wanted to provide shelter for orphans, stand up for the poor and embrace the sick - but for the most part, most of these things have only been a concept to me until now. Actually being in the middle of it took courage and strength - and was rewarded a hundred times by the smile of being valued that can only go out from a person who usually receives rejection instead of embracing. This is the power of giving somebody back their DIGNITY through simple actions. At the end of that night I KNEW that this is exactly what I came for and what I want to do in my life: to be an active missionary wherever I go and speak through my actions, not my words. 


And this is what I hope and pray for you this week: May you be like a cup that God pours His LOVE into until it overflows - so first all the "bad stuff" spills out and then, continuously, His love will spill out from your cup to others :)

Lots of heavy stuff on my mind...

Our Monday morning worship in the Ohana Court

This weekend I took it slow and tried to process some of the heavy subjects we have dealt with in these past three weeks. As I mentioned earlier, week 1 was all about hearing God's voice. And this is still a struggle for me because even though I can feel God's hand guiding my path in many situations throughout my life, I am still having a hard time "talking" to Him (and get an immediate response) or receiving clear guidance on certain subjects that I have been praying about for years. I know God wants me to be here right now - but where does He really want me to go in my life? I know He gave me a great passion for caring for others - but will that be in Germany, the USA or in the mission field? And it is dawning on me that maybe He does not need to speak more clearly but that I might just have to listen more closely...

The topic of week 2 was "Kingdom Sexuality." A very interesting topic - but also very difficult to address for some of the people in our class. And I believe that this second week has changed some of my thoughts as well as strengthened some of my views in mighty ways. Here are two major points that stuck with me:

1. Pornography
I had often heard about this topic but since I personally never struggled with pornography it was simply "not my problem." But it is. It is a problem of our society. It is not only that EVERY TIME people go on the internet to watch pornography, they support the pornography industry that robs the prostitutes and playboy actors of their self-worth, their dignity. But the people who seek out pornography also do massive damage to their own souls. By watching a one-dimensional virtual fantasy, they are affecting their own worldview of what sex is like. Over time, this changes people's expectations of sex and of love itself. As a result, people cannot help but carry some of these skewed values into their own relationships. Thus, many relationships and marriages of "normal people" today fail because the two individuals in the relationship have a wrong view of either a) how one should act and therefore "deliver" or b) what one can expect and therefore request of the other person. It makes me sick to realize that unrealistic ideas that are skewed by the media have caused God's heavenly gift of "making love" to be degraded to "casual sex."

2. ... And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.
This is the "pathway to freedom," as our speaker, Kenny Jackson, put it. God has a very hard time getting through to us if we carry bitterness in our hearts. Forgiving another person often does even a greater good in the person who forgives than the person who is forgiven. Important: DO NOT dig up things from the past and hold them against a person if you have already forgiven him/her for it. And here is what struck me:
Several times in my life I have felt wrongly treated and have hoped to be asked for forgiveness by the one who hurt me. BUT Kenny Jackson highlighted that often the victim also needs to ask for forgiveness because he/she LET the other person hurt him/her. That means, by not speaking up in a situation that I could have, I ALLOWED the other person to take advantage of me and thus to sin. I have never looked at it that way and need to meditate more on it. It looks like I will have to ask some people for forgiveness...

Week 3 was Corporate Week. The founders of YWAM, Loren and Darlene Cunningham together with their friend David Hamilton, were the speakers for the week to the entire campus. Once again, I want to mention two points that stuck out to me.

1. You Cannot Steer a Parked Car
I have often heard the term "waiting on the Lord."And I have encountered people who have been sitting back and waited to hear from God about what to do in their lives before they would get up and do anything. And because they "do not hear anything," they remain seated. But God IS calling us already. He would like to give us directions but if we do not move forward, eager to hear His voice, He cannot guide our path. Just as you cannot steer a parked car.

2. Love Is a Choice
We often hear people talk about "falling in and OUT of love." Why is it then that some couples stay together even after the "butterflies" are gone? Or are they simply super-humans and the lovey-dovey feeling just never left them? The answer to this hit me like a hammer because of its simplicity:
Imagine a train. In a healthy relationship, your WILL is the LOCOMOTIVE, your MIND is the COAL WAGON and your FEELINGS are the CARS. If you choose to love someone for who he/she is (steering locomotive) and you devote your time, your life to this person (empowering source), then feelings of true love will follow (cars). However, if you try to let your lovey-dovey feelings rule your decisions (thus, you are letting your cars steer your locomotive), then you will most likely end up with a train-wreck.
Therefore: Guys, go and buy your girls flowers for no reason. Ladies, invite your husbands to go watch his favorite sports game. Because it's the little things and the constant practice of loving each other that make your love last. 

My wonderful roommate Grace took this series for a class assignment