History is the making

Friday last week Elin and I had the priviliage of witnessing history in the making. The Plaza of the Nations, the focal point of the whole Kona campus, was dedicated by Loren & Darlene Cunningham. The Plaza was part of the original vision of Loren and Darlene when they moved onto this site over 30 years ago, and has been in various states of progress ever since.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                     Darlene shared at a staff meeting recently about the Plaza, she mentioned how when they first moved onsite most of the buildings were in various states of disrepair - floors were missing, they had no plumbing, the grass was head high over the whole campus, etc. In the midst of such obvious challenges and immediate needs, Loren had the vision for the Plaza as a testimony of the goodness and grace of God and his love for the nations expressed through the mission of YWAM - “To Know God and to Make Him Known”. She thought he was crazy, but since it was the word of the Lord to them, even before there was plumbing, they were out digging a hole in the lava rock, that God would be glorified through this place. What a privilege to be a part of a mission that has that kind of heart!
                                                                                                                                                          The plaza is a triple fountain surrounded by water, in which stand three statues, entitled “To Know God”, “To Glorify God”, and “To Make Him Known”. Bordering the fountain is a tile mosaic of waves which represent the ‘waves of young people’ Loren envisioned before the beginning of YWAM. Around the entire fountain is a plaza of bricks - many of which have the names of former YWAMers and supporters (each brick is a donation toward the scholarship endowment fund, which goes toward students from developing nations). The entire plaza is surrounded by about 40 flagpoles - a flag for every nation represented on the campus at any one time.
                                                                                                                                                         The ceremony itself was incredible!!! We started with adoration and worship of our God - He has been so good and faithful to the words He’s spoken! Then the flags of the world were paraded around the plaza by kids from the campus, from the youngest all the way up through high school! Prayers of thankfulness and praise were offered to God in over 30 languages, after which Loren and his family (four generations) led us all as a base in a commitment to the Lord to take his love, truth, and hope to the nations.

NYC - TEAM UPDATE

A recent report from a DTS team we have in New York City. They are currently in the 8th week of their outreach.

"I'm a Christian, but I haven't been walking with the Lord for quite some time. I was recently invited to a meeting with a group of people who LOVE Jesus. They have kindled in me a desire to know the Lord more personally. I found out they are a DTS outreach team from Kona, Hawaii. Where can I go to get what they have?!"

17 Weeks Pregnant!!!

Yesterday we went to the hospital again for Elin's monthly check-up. The hospital is about 45 minutes away from where we live in a town called Waimea. The midwife said Elin's pregnancy so far is text book. It was so exciting to hear the heartbeat again - what a miracle!!!! We will go for the second ultrasound in 2 weeks where we will find out the sex. Elin and I considered waiting until the baby was born to find out the sex, but to be honest, we are too impatient (and excited). Elin's already showing a little baby bump and about 1 week ago felt the baby move for the first time, she called me up saying "Jon, it's moving!! It's moving!!" Thanks for all the prayers, we'll keep you updated.

The Masiphumelele

Each week,  I recieve amazing stories from our teams we have on the feild. They are currenlty in the 6th week of their outreaches. Below is an email I recieved today.

We held Thombeka's crutches as she walked into her sisters home on her own, we had just walked four blocks from where we had just met her and a local pastor named Fransisco. She called to her sister in the other room in Xhosa, her native tongue "I can walk, I can walk. These people prayed for me and told me to walk and Jesus healed me, I have no more pain.". Thombeka had just walked on her own for the first time in years after having crippling pain in her left hip. We continued to tell Thombeka and her sister about the love of Jesus. What he did for her on the cross because he loves her and wanted to free her from her sins and bondage, that he wants a relationship with her. We asked her if she believes that it is true and would like to accept Jesus into her life, she said yes.

It is undeniable that the kingdom of God is breaking into Masiphumelele, South Africa. We are in our sixth week of outreach and after a month and a half of pressing in to God's goodness and promises for Masiphumelele, we are beginning to see things that he has promised our team fullfilled. Our hope is to point people to Jesus by walking like him. We are learning more and more how the Spirit of the Lord is so attractive, even to those who don't know him. I can't count how many times people have approached us from all cultures and backgrounds to ask what is so different about us when we are just enjoying relationship with eachother. It is so humbling, we are just focusing on loving God and loving people and God is moving in mighty ways

Report from Cape Town, South Africa

The below is an update from a team we have in South Africa.

Today I took the my son's and their good friend Sammy to McDonalds for Lunch...and we met Lincoln. Lincoln's face was covered with dried tears and snot, his pants were dirty, thread bare and inside out...and he was begging for food. He looked the same age as Elijah and Sam, and they were so happy when I suggested that we buy him a Happy Meal also and invite him to play and eat with us. Lincoln had no filter on his emotions! He was 100% stoked when the boys took him a Happy Meal and invited him to sit with them! They ate, and then played on the climbing frame for a while - amazed at how well Lincoln could climb! We discovered that Lincoln was 11, but still small from malnutrition and poor living conditions. I noticed that Lincoln only ate about a 1/4 of his food and drink. We said goodbye to Lincoln, and watched him walk across the road to meet his Father , who was selling grapes to the cars stopped at the Traffic lights ( or 'Robots' as they say down here) - a hard way to earn a living. As we drove away we saw Lincoln's Dad eating Lincoln's Happy Meal.

The boys and I prayed for Lincoln and you can too. We are looking forward to the next time we see him, and are asking the Lord to show us ways He would want to minister to Lincoln and his Family.

We are in South Africa until January 26th, visiting and working with our Discipleship Training School Outreach teams that are here until March. We LOVE this land! We wish we could show it to you! Our teams are experiencing incredible things already, as they work daily into the Xhosa (pronounced "Kosa") Township of Masiphumelele. In just two weeks they have:
~Made valuable friends within Masi
~Begun working with house churches planted by our friends who work here long term.
~Reconnected with people who came to the Lord on the DTS Outreach that came here last year!
~Started a Summer-Camp for township kids ( this will open up amazing opportunities with the families of those who attend)
~Visited local AIDS Hospice Living Hope.
~Discipled and encouraged the Christians already here!
~...that's just to name a few!