SUNRISE TODAY IN KONA

Sunsets are celebrated every night here in Hawaii, but I wanted to share a SUNRISE with you! This morning we had to get up at 4:30 (yes, am!) to be ready to catch the 5:30 buses to Easter Sunday Sunrise service. It was a wonderful celebration with many churches involved in different aspects of it. There were two Hawaiian ceremonial dances, as well as worship and several messages given.

Worthy of note from the service, is to take prayer to the streets by going to www.transformourworld.org and registering your street so that all around the world can pray for each other. Check it out!

"E PULE KAKOU" (''Let's all pray" in Hawaiian)

It's been another amazing week of learning for not only me, but for our entire CDTS team. I won't go into detail about the teachings here on my blog, as much of it needs to be in context, and our speaker Bill Payne taught us for 5 days. How could I possibly convey all that I learned from this amazing man. Perhaps though, I should at least mention that I came here for "undistracted devotion to God" and this week, my revelation was that HE is devoted to ME (and you) - and the word distraction is not even in His vocabulary!

There is an incredible love here at the UofN for all nations and all cultures, and we are challenged to do new things in new ways in new places. We find, though, that it is a small world - I keep running into people who know family and friends back home, and of course am making new friends from 37 different countries.

So, the studying continues and one of my biggest challenges is finding a quiet, uninterrupted place to do my many hours of reading, writing, memorizing and devotions. Our room is a beehive of activity (with 5 women....what can I say), so I have resorted to going to the ocean and sitting on the barrier wall. I know many of you will say, "yeah right, a big hardship" and it isn't except for hauling books, supplies, water, etc and then trying to write with the moisture and breeze in the air. I am not complaining at all, just trying to paint a picture of what it's like. Here's a photo of where I spent some homework time this week:

Speaking of photo's, here are a couple of things I saw this week that I couldn't get my camera out fast enough for:

- a white car with big, black eyelashes radiating from the headlights (these weren't painted on the car, they were flipping in the breeze)

- a huge dog sitting in the back seat of a convertible with 18-inch bunny ears attached to his head

I certainly did a double-take for both of those, and laughed out loud each time!

A really neat encounter this past week:

I was walking at dusk, which is my habit, and passed a homeless man - yes even in Hawaii! He had matted, long hair and his skin was all in sagging wrinkles from having lost absolutely all weight except what would cover his bones. His fingernails were probably 4 inches long - curled due to their length and a dirty tan colour. His toenails were only slightly shorter, but much dirtier than that. It looked like he was carrying all of his prized possessions in the small bag on his back. I was stunned and speechless. I wanted to say something to him, but had no words. Then, the next day in class, our speaker Bill, talked of how precious we all are - so precious that Jesus gave every drop of His blood for us. I realized that I could have said that to that homeless man.

Well, 2 days later I was walking along the waterfront, and a different man (this one a black man) called out to me and came rushing up to me. "Can I ask you one question?" he said. I initially felt a recoiling in my heart and even a certain degree of fear, and I wanted to just brush past him. Then I remembered what Bill had said and I wanted to say it to this man, but first I needed to honour his question. So I said, "Yes". He said, "What is your name?". Surely not the question I expected (I assumed he was going to ask me for money), so I told him. He said, "June, you are beautiful!" Okay, wait a minute!!! I was supposed to speak into his life, and here was a dirty, lost, homeless man telling me how precious I was! I asked him his name, and he said "David" (which because of someone special in my life, I knew the meaning of). So I said, "David, do you know your name means Beloved?". He took my hand and kissed the back of it, then we smiled, said "thank you" and parted ways. Here we were showing Christ's love without even mentioning His name!

Please take from this whatever fits in your life right now.

And on the comical side: I was taking a shortcut through a back alley (it was daylight, so I felt safe) and there was a fellow on a motorbike that obviously wouldn't start. The bike wasn't a Harley, but close in size, and this man had feet on either side and trying to "walk" it along while sitting on it. I asked him if he was out of gas; he said no, there was a problem with the starter. I suggested a push, he hesitated, and I insisted. So here I am bent over, running along with both hands on the back of the seat, pushing this huge bike (and I'm thoroughly having a blast). The bike suddenly starts with a deafening noise and off he rides (no helmuts here, by the way) with him waving and calling thank you. I chuckled to myself for half a block after, imagining what some of my friends would have said had you seen me.....

I want to introduce you to the rest of my roommates (you've already met Rango).

From your left to right

Back Row: Ok, Stephnie, June

Front Row: Eunice, Michelle

By the way, this was taken at 6:00 am today...

Speaking of my roommates: They had French Toast the other day, and were saying how they like "maple syrup". I looked at the package and it said "corn syrup, sugar, carmel colour, and a bunch of unpronounceable names". I told them THIS is NOT maple syrup!!! So, here is a call if you want to do something kind for these "non-Canadian's". If you feel the urge and want to ship some REAL Canadian Maple Syrup (with real Canadian love!) for them to sample, you are invited to do so! There is no food here for me to put Maple Syrup on, and I never even thought to bring some with me.

If you are interested, here is where to send it:

June Traptow CDTS 4/11
Box 430
University of the Nations
75-5851 Kuakini Hwy.
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740-2199, U.S.A.

Please DO NOT put "P.O." before the "Box 430" -- this confuses the downtown post office.

How do I end this except with one of our gorgeous Hawaii sunsets!

Good night; sweet dreams!

This is my first attempt at blogging, so I'm still quite elementary about the site, and all the features and options. As I learn more, you will see a difference in the appearance. For now, I appreciate your forgiveness for anything that you think could have been better or "prettier" or fancier. Right now, I just want to test this out to see how things will go, and there are many of you who have been wanting to hear about my life here, and really don't mind how it "looks".

The photo shows the Flags of the Nations that encircle the fountain here at the YWAM base in Kona. The background photo on my blog (with those gorgeous yellow hibiscus) is the front view of school, with those many stairs that lead up to most of the classes and residences. As a side note, one of my early morning routines is to take 45 minutes and walk from my room down the hill, down the stairs and then back up the stairs, up the hill. I do that circuit 3 times. It's a great way to start the day. How early is early? Well, the birds start singing around 5:15 or so and I am usually laying awake waiting for them to start (that means the sun is rising). It is so easy to get out of bed when you know the sun is shining and that it will be 27 degrees!

I share a room with 4 other ladies: 3 Koreans and 1 South African. We haven't had a chance to do a group picture yet (we are kept VERY busy here). But, I have posted a photo of our name tags at the door (it's a start!). "Eunice" is one of the Korean's; however they often will choose an "English" name to make it easier for us to say.

We have another roommate, and although we are not supposed to have any "men" in our rooms, we have decided "Rango" is a "he". He stays up in the loft with Stephnie and me and keeps the bugs to a minimum for us. We love him already!

When I mention "loft" you probably think of something exotic; however this is how close Stephnie and I have to sleep, and the only other thing there is room for is a dresser near the foot of our beds. The rest of the unit consists of one set of bunk beds and two other single beds. We share a bathroom (and have already settled into a respectful morning ritual that works) and have a little kitchenette, and one plastic picnic table with 4 plastic chairs. We also have a couple of desks. If I were to guess, the entire room (not including the loft) is probably 30x18 feet.

Back & Front View of My Residence

I have been trying to learn some Korean as there are many Korean's here on campus, and it's nice to be able to say please, thank you, good morning, etc. Ok (pronounced Oak) - one of my roommates - took English in school, but hasn't used it for over 40 years, so we thought she couldn't speak it at all. She is here to be a nanny for her daughter's children while her daughter and husband take a class and she seemed so very isolated from the rest of us. I was feeling a little sad about not being able to communicate with her, so I had a brainwave one evening. I typed a note to her on my laptop and used the google translator to convert it to Korean, and voila! (oops, mixing up my languages) took the laptop to her for her to read what I said. She was so very touched by it that she has made an effort to use English when she can (and of course I use some of my new Korean).

하나님이 좋으 시네요!

We eat all of our meals outside, and it is cafeteria style. Many know about my food allergies, and I have chosen to eat what I can and not ask for special treatment. This is not a resort, and there are many mouths, cultures, food preferences, and allergies. Everyone is a volunteer here, and I want to humbly accept whatever we are provided.

There is such a feeling of peace and contentment on the base. There are 39 countries represented during this quarter and we are all here for the same purpose, it seems.... To know God and to make Him known. There were a couple of Hawaiian welcome ceremonies during the first few days, which was a special treat for those who had never been to Hawaii before. It's important to be familiar with the "host" culture.

We go off-campus to church on Sundays, and many of the churches send shuttle buses, so there is a selection. I have gone to Living Stones Church (there's irony in that for those of us from Red Deer, knowing that I am on a "Crossroads" DTS) and intend on trying some of the others over the next few weeks. We worship together as a community in the Ohana Court (an open air auditorium; Ohana means family) twice a week - it's uplifting to be with each other.

Monday through Friday is class, which runs from 8:00-2:45 (with lunch at noon). From 3:00-5:00 all students must go to their work assignments. Then we have supper. Most evenings are for homework and reflection, except Thursday night we meet as a community. Weekends are for cleaning our rooms, laundry, doing our homework, reflection, prayer, etc. There is a lot of homework and reading, and I find that other than my walks in the morning, I don't have much spare time. I'm sure that as time progresses there will be a bit more of a routine, but now it is all pretty new.

There are 22 students in my class; we are in a room that is just big enough for us, with a wall of doors that we can open up so that the entire back end of the class room is open to the outside (nice!). The first week I have already felt challenged, but have had such growth! Our leaders, Bob & Carolyn Hopkins, have been doing this for many years and are wonderful teachers. Our guest speaker, Andy Byrd, was there Thursday and Friday. He is a young man on FIRE for Christ! I want to follow him around and listen to him all day; he is so passionate and relates in a way that makes sense. He said that 3 months in YWAM DTS is like 7 years of regular church learning. But 2 days with him felt like 2 years of learning to me!

Our class verse for this quarter is John 15:16b: I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit.......fruit that will last. For those of you familiar with my story, the fact that the word "go" is in this scripture is extremely meaningful.

It looks like our Outreach will be in Asia. I will keep you posted once all has been confirmed. However, sometimes things change. One of the teams from here was to leave for Asia a week ago, but their passports were lost in transit to the Embassy during their Entry Visa application process. They have all had to contact their own embassies to get new passports, and there are over 30 of them on the team. Disappointing to them to be sure, but they have bonded together to make the most of it.

I think I will end here with a photograph of the view from the top of those steps I mentioned. Thanks for your prayers for me! Please know that I am praying for YOU!

PS: I've wondered what you will want to know about, and each will have different questions. So, if you post your questions, I will try to answer them on my next entry. I will probably only post once a week, probably on the weekend, and we are 4 hours behind Alberta time, so having a look after Sunday would give you the best results.