God showed me and taught me a lot in Hawaii. He showed me that he is the creator of everything and that he will always be in control. It was amazing to just be able to take in all of God's creation and see everything he made and see how beautifully and perfect he made it. Sotero a wonderful man part of Kona Baptist Church reminded us that all of God's creation is perfect and everything living thing on this planet has a purpose. During this trip God taught me how to me humble, that the only way to live is completely through him, how to serve others no matter how little the act I may be doing is, and that his plan for me is far greater than what I imagined it would be. God really opened my eyes during this trip and I am really thankful for having the opportunity to have been part of such a great group and program.
Quest was amazing. When I had had gone on a missionary trip or go somewhere to serve my favorite part has been the preparation time. In the past this was because as we prepared I still had hope that I wouldn’t mess up. That if I really pay attention to the preparations I will do good when I start to serve. But Quest changed that for me, I really loved the preparation that we did and I expected it to be my favorite time. But once I actually went through the trip I felt that God put me on that trip just to be used by him. I felt Him using me to show his love. While serving with Quest in Hawaii I truly knew that God intended me to do everything I did. By the end God showed me He had it all planned out perfectly because he answered prayers that I had spent months praying about. Andre Quest has taught me many things, how to be humble, how to serve and how to be a Godly leader, not only in a foreign country or missions trip, but in my daily life and with my family. My trip to Hawaii showed me that there is such a need in a place we often associate with vacation. One of my favorite things they told us as soon as we arrived in Hawaii, was "Don't turn your backs to the waves". The waves can destroy your life. I applied this to my spiritual life. If I turn my back the the waves (God) then my life is in disaster. But if I face the waves and recognize their power then I am with the waves, and God. God has used this trip in my life to show me the great and wonderful things he has in store for my future. I hope to one day return to Hawaii and continue serving there. Madison One of the things that God had taught me during the trip was to trust His plan even if I could not see/ did not know what was happening. Each and every day I would ask our leaders at the end of the night as to what we were doing the next day and they would answer "whatever the pastor wants/ needs us to do". This stressed me out because I wanted to prepare myself for what we were going to do each day and know what was going on. One day the pastor brought all of us out to a few places across the island and we had no idea where we were going, we just had to trust Him and follow close behind his car. Each and every time we had no idea where we were going but we were amazed to see the different creations of God that the pastor showed us across the island. By the end of the day it was dark out and we had no clue where we were and all we could see was the pastors tail lights, but sure enough the pastor took care of us. God used this as a real life example to show me to just have blind, child-like faith; knowing that God will never guide me into harm. {Jeremiah 29:11} Amy My Quest experience in Hawaii was extremely eye opening and humbling. Serving the Hawaiian people and seeing how truly lost many are taught me that God is needed in every single place in the world. God is not just the God of America; he's so much bigger than that and people's lives truly transform with Christ. While my heart breaks for the people in Hawaii, the trip gave me hope that God is going to use us and the future Quest teams to make an impact for Him there. It taught me to share the Gospel with every single person I meet, because anywhere I go is a mission field. It taught me to completely fall in love with Jesus in order to show there His love. And most importantly, it showed me a new path for my future that I hadn't thought of before. Jessica Quest 18 shared and celebrated today!
Thankful for all each team experienced. Time to rest, reflect and apply. Monday -
This trip has had many learning experiences for each of us. Today we met Pastor Dean to spend some time in prayer. We prayed 1. for God to do great things in Hawaii 2. for the right leader to step up to help start a church in South Kona 3. for land to put a church in South Kona 4. for people to stay true to their commitments within the church. South Kona has around 12,000 people, only 7%-8% have been reached evangelically. After we went back to the schools to prayer walk. Several of us on the team had never prayer walked before. We then headed to a coffee farm called Kona Joe. We continued to learn about the coffee making process as well as the Hawaiian Culture, traditions, and religion. We were taken to an ancient burial ground set in a cliff next to the ocean called "the end of the world" and reminiscised our calling to bring the gospel "to the ends of the earth". We walked around not only praying for the people who believe in madam Pele (the volcano "goddess") of Hawaii but marveling at God's awesome and amazing design of the ocean. That night we had a time of fellowship with local believers who we've quickly become good friends with. We are very thankful for your prayers. Tuesday - Today we saw different parts and cultures of the Big Island. We first went to an unbelievable black sand beach, saw a few Sea Turtles and quickly learned that touching them or even getting as close as 10 feet to them was illegal. We also quickly learned that taking black sand from the beach was frowned upon. From there we went up the world's largest active volcano and prayer walked around the visitor center where we learned more about Pelé, Hawaiian cultures, and religions. It was spent being emerged in Hawaiian culture as well as trying to understand why people felt such a devotion to Pele. Wednesday - Today we journeyed to the other side of the island, Hilo. We went to the University of Hawai'i at Hilo and partnered with BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries) where we prepared and served their weekly free lunch. We had great gospel conversations with believers, skeptics and seekers alike. The night ended with a panel presentation back at Kona Baptist where members as young as 7 to their 70's asked questions about missions and discipleship. It was a great time of mutual learning, fellowship and sad goodbyes. We are so challenged to appreciate but look beyond the beauty of the island to see real needs and potential for God's mighty work. See you all soon! #Shaka Parents, mark your calendar for our Quest Celebration, Saturday, February 25, at the BCNE building in Northborough, MA. We will have a light lunch and time of sharing about the trip. We will meet from 11:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Students will leave with their families following the Celebration. Please RSVP to [email protected] the number of your immediate family who will attend. Space is limited to immediate family, mentors, youth leader and pastor.
Today was spent worshiping with Kona Baptist church. We went to Sunday School with Abbey and Kai (the youth leaders here at KBC) Nicholle shared a growth story, Jessica her testimony and Finn shared about the Quest applications and process. At the church service, Dre played guitar, Thalia sang and Isaac played the drums, along with the worship team. After the invitation we presented a skit. It was a huge success!! After we finished, a lady came up to us and told us her daughter played the main lead in the very same skit a few years ago. She told us her daughter has now been diagnosed with Bulimia and FaceTimed her while we did the skit. They were both very emotional. We took some time and prayed with the lady and her husband. After a quick lunch we headed to the Huli Huli Chicken lot, where we had a food give away. We made bags with Canned Goods, Oranges, Avocados, Ramen, and Spam. We also included Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, washcloths, and Kleenex. We had an afternoon filled with meeting people, sharing about why were here doing this, meeting new friends and hanging out with the Youth. It was an amazing, bright, sunny day. Filled with God and the love of the church.
Love, Q18 Hawaii Aloha again! The Hawai'i team spent much of the day prayer walking the South Kona hills, parks and schools while inviting kids to the sports camp we had this morning (Saturday). Then we spent an afternoon picking what seemed like thousands of avocados and some oranges (we cannot appreciate farm workers enough now). We had an early morning today to set up and host a sports camp at a local elementary school where students played soccer or basketball. We were able to give t-shirts and a soccer ball or basketball to every participant thanks to God providing through things like the missions offering at YEC! Tonight will be dinner, games and stories with the local youth group and preparing for a full day tomorrow of church, a free farmers' market for the community (the reason for picking avocados) and church discipleship time. We have been really encouraged by God's love through reading the book of Ephesians together and are being challenged to lavishly love and serve others. Pray we would make good connections for the local church and encourage believers here. Pray as we continue to get used to the heat and allergies due to "vog" (hazy weather due to erupting volcanoes). Mahalo (thank you)!
|
Archives
March 2017
Categories |