aloha ke akua

back in hawaii

2011-01-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

It is so good to be back in Wahiawa, Hawaii with Surfing the Nations. This morning as I woke up and thought about the things that I have been wanting to meditate on and just spend some time in the presence of the Lord about, I immediately was consumed by my immediate needs. I moved out onto the back porch and decided to bask in the presence of God outside. I took one look at the sunrise and knew my needs were nothing but God. God told me, "Just as I placed the stars in the sky and paint the morning sky, so I will provide for you."

It is so good to have such a loving father.

As I said, being back is so good. I love STN, but I also love Wahiawa. I wish everyone could experience how amazing Wahiawa is. The nicest people live here. I know that the street I live on has been invaded by evil and serious drug trade, and dealers live on every side of our apartment complex, but that doesn't mean they aren't nice people. I love walking down the street and being able to stop and talk with people. Wahiawa is a place where people walk. Not everyone has cars, and definitely not every family has 5 cars like the neighborhoods I've lived in the mainland had and so people walk. By the simple act of walking and not driving, one is exposed to a whole other world. One that doesn't speed past you at 45 miles per hour disconnecting one from everything, but is right there and one has the privilege of stopping and smelling the flowers if wanted and can stop and talk story with people also.

I had the blessed privilege of helping out at Feeding the Hungry Wahiawa last Tuesday. It was awesome. It was so great to reconnect with some of the people I had met two summers ago. I reconnected with Tony Girl, a woman who lives in the park up the street. She was so excited to tell me that she is clean. She made the decision because she wanted to be apart of her 3 grand kids lives. Another person I met two summers ago late at night while they were working the streets is also doing well. It is the best feeling to know that I am simply doing life with those around me.

Life is good. So so good.

In between too many worlds

2010-05-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

It seems as though I often find myself saying this to myself. Here I am in beautiful, colorful, historical, spiritual India and yet as of right this moment, I just want to go to the place where my feet will be standing for the next period of time. Nothing is ever definite in my life. No place is ever permanent. Familiar faces are never lastingly remaining. In the past 5 years I haven’t lived in one location for more than 4 months (minus my year in Hawaii where I still traveled every few months). I lived in 10 different rooms, not to mention all the floors I have crashed on. I’ve lived in Los Angeles, on a small island, in India and traversed across the globe. My heart was deeply broken in the City of Angels only to be repaired and filled anew by the grace of God in Hawaii where I truly learned how to love. India has made me grow up.
The only consistent thing in my life is God. In the past few days God has really been allowing me to fall deeper in love with him. I’m realizing that there isn’t really any place, or people I belong with, except for with God. I say that a lot in my life, but there has been deeper meaning lately. I was reading poems by Rabindrath Tagore the other day while sitting in the oven of a auto rickshaw (because it is so hot, it literally feels like I am looking in an oven as I drive through town and hot air blows in my face) on my way to a coffee shop to do homework. They were all love poems, and I can’t really say that there is any guy I could dream about to go along with these love poems. But these poems about love somehow drew me closer to God, allowing me to fall deeper in love with him.
God is so good. Although I am in between so many worlds, I am in God’s world, and it is the only place to be.

beautiful creation

2010-05-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today instead of celebrating with Razia the birth of her new baby, Rita, Elsie and I comforted her as she lay in the corner of her cement house. On a blanket with her head rested on some wadded up clothes as a pillow she lay crying. As the tears rolled down her cheek she told us that her husband told her to leave or he will leave. He threatens to throw the baby out. She fears what her life will look like. When will it be that he returns home? He didn’t even look at the child after she gave birth, all because she gave birth to a girl. What God intended to be a glorious and celebratory moment, Satan has turned to misery, grief, and pain. Carrying a baby for 9 months, going through the agony of child labor all to be rejected by her husband.
A system of evil entwined in such a beautiful culture. The prize of a boy child and the burden of a girl child is still the reality that families across India face. The birth of a girl means debt, a dowry fee that needs to be paid for the girl to one day be married off and lost to another family. The birth of a boy means carrying on the family name, someone to care for and provide for the parents once they are old. A boy child brings in money as the girl pays the dowry. He is a blank check.
We comforted Razia, we told her that her daughter is a very special gift from God to her, created uniquely and perfectly. This beautiful little infant is a masterpiece of God’s hand, not a mistake. She is blessed to be able to conceive and give birth to a healthy little girl. We prayed with her and asked God to bless this child, for her husband to see how wonderful this baby girl is.
Oh Lord God, mighty and great king, sovereign over all the earth, we praise you. You are the author and illustrator of all our lives. We know that this baby was not a mistake, how could something so unique and perfect be a mistake. Oh Jesus, transform the hearts of the individuals still believing that girls are not important. Transform their hearts to see the beautiful creation as you have made her. Send your angels to fight against the system of evil that entangles and ensnares so many individuals and blinds them from beauty. Lord Jesus, bless this little girl, protect her as she grows, we commit her into your hands and trust in you. We love you. Amen.

silence.

2010-05-16T07:40:00.001-07:00

Some days in India can be too much. Too much pollution. Too much poverty. Too much disparity between the rich and the poor. Too much pain in the eyes you look into as you pass people by in the auto rickshaw. The intensity and hardship that is expressed in a man’s eyes as he carries a heavy load on the back of his wagon bicycle. The desperation in a begging woman’s eyes wearing a sari clumsily wrapped around her body. It looks as though it is her only piece of clothing and she’s been wearing it for years. Religious clashes that have heightened and killed two policemen. Too much begging. Things that money can’t solve. Too many emotions are expressed on the crowded busy streets of Hyderabad. The temperature is too high. Above the hundreds. Sometimes it is too much for my sensitive spirit that wants to heal all people and create a world that lives in harmony.

On another note, I just returned from a week long adventure in Kerala. Kerala is a state on the south western tip of India. It is known as “God’s own country”. It is a tropical climate. Your eyes cannot possibly scan the horizon without seeing a dozen palm trees. Every kind of tropical tasty fruit grows in Kerala. Papaya, Mango, Coconut, at least 5 different kinds of Bananas, bell fruit, passion fruit, you name it, they have it. Although Hughie, Sara and I spent half of each of our first 4 days in Kerala on buses, trains, or boats traveling, it was a relaxing, amazing time. We enjoyed singing along to Hughie playing the guitar of Ukulele as we sped through the jungle on a rusty bus with no glass in its windows. One town we visited was a mountain town full of spice and tea estates. Breathing fresh crisp air was so relaxing to my soul. It was such a good time to get away from the hustle and bustle of crazy Hyderabad and relax in “God’s own country”. I had so much time to evaluate my time here, deeply think about all the things God has taught me in the past 4 months and pray and seek for what my next step after college should be.

As I have been in India I have been reading iGracias! by Henry Nouwen. He has spoke such truth into my life and it is as though he wrote about my exact thoughts years before I ever dreamed of coming to India. Although his experiences were among the poor of Latin America, his writing relates exactly to what I have been experiencing in India. Today I read about his experience visiting the valley of Incas.

“Along the road small groups of Indians guiding cattle carried their loads of wood. These small, dark people with faces carved by nature and hard work evoked in me a sense of the sacred. In their silence, they spoke of centuries of care for the land, of a mysterious intimacy with nature, of an unceasing prayer to the God who has made their land fertile, and of a knowledge that we in our Volkswagen would never be able to grasp. The valley was filled with a holy silence; no advertisements along the roads, no factories or modern houses, no loudspeakers or shouting vendors. …When we came back to Cuzco I felt refreshed, renewed and grateful to the Indian people for this healing gift of silence”.

This sums up my experience of Kumali.

Dad in India

2010-04-11T05:48:00.001-07:00

My dad was here in India for the past two weeks. He left last night to go to China where he will get to see my brother Robb. The day after he arrived we headed up to Rajasthan to visit the desert town of Jaisalmer. We got to see the beautiful fort, which he really loved. I just love that town. It's so secluded and out in the middle of no where. As we traveled, my dad loved meeting the people on the trains, in the rickshaws and on planes. He had so many questions for everyone as he tried to get a grasp of this new country. We met some men on the train who shared their dinner with us, which was a fun Indian experience :) In Jaipur He got to meet my host family. We stayed in a nice hotel and I read most of the day. We had a great home cooked meal by Mummyji. It was so nice to just relax! I enjoyed having him in Hyderabad. He was in meetings a lot of the time, and I was busy working, but we were able to share some evenings together. It was SOO nice to have some home cooked meals in the flat he was staying in. Pasta, tacos, coffee, the wonders of having your own kitchen :) It was a nice break from rice and curry. He came and visited my work in the slums.

He loved playing with the kids. One day he bought pizza for the kids I tutor. I think it was their first experience eating pizza. It was one girl's first time drinking "cold drinks", which was such a funny experience. She drank pepsi, but wasn't used to the carbination so kept making the funniest face.

It was so nice to have him here. This was my second time traveling with just me and my dad. I hope there are many more to come! And hopefully Mom will join in on some traveling as well :) Although we did have lots of fun shopping for mom :)

freedom

2010-03-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

I've started reading other people's blogs and it's inspired me. I've also found that I have stopped writing, and maybe that's why I haven't felt so much passion lately. Usually writing about my experiences and what I see stirs the life up in me and causes me to want change to take place.

This past few weeks I have been irritated by all the rules I have to follow; texting my supervisor before I leave campus, asking for permission to go across town, not being able to go by myself, with out a boy in the group, girls have to be back by 9 PM, or take an expensive taxi, there must be two girls to every boy whenever going out, can't talk to a guy for more than two minutes. I've felt so confined, and like a caged bird. I just wanted to get out and fly.

(taken in Younan Province, 2006)

I've been having a rough time getting out of bed in the morning for my quiet time. The snooze button keeps getting pushed and sleep keeps conquering the slight desire i have to get up and spend time with God. So this morning I put my alarm clock across the room and forced myself to get up at 6AM to meet God on the roof. I got up there and was so happy to be in the cool overcast morning, which I know will only last until 8. As I just poured out my heart to God, I began to look for verses and passages that talk about freedom. I wanted to be reminded of the freedom I have in Christ. So I came across 2 Corinthians which talks about the Glory of the New Testament. I wasn't so hooked on it, and didn't look so deep into the passage, but one verse stuck out like a soar thumb.

"Whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away"

I know this has to do with Moses and the veil he wore so that the Israelites wouldn't see the bright radiance , but it reminded me of a prayer I prayed all the time while I was in Rajasthan. It was that the spiritual and physical veil of the women of Rajasthan would be removed as people come to know Christ. That the veil which covered the Marwari people, and kept them from seeing the beauty of Christ would fall, and his glory would appear.

(Krishnanagar village, Rajasthan, 2009)

As I was reminded to pray for the Marwari women, I realized that I have SOOOOO much freedom compared to them, and that I am a free bird flying across the sky, landing in whichever land I find enticing and am able to enjoy that land.

(Kathmandu, Nepal 2007)

I'm so thankful for the word of God, that each day is new, the pain of yesterday, the laziness of yesterday, the bad attitude of yesterday doesn't have to stick with me to today, that I have been made anew and alive in Christ today.

2010-03-27T10:23:00.001-07:00

An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

-Solomon

It's the small things that count

2010-03-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it droop and drop into the dust.

I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am aware, and the time of offering go by.

Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower in thy service and pluck it while there is time.

Rabindranath Tagore

Beautiful day. It's a choice.

2010-03-22T03:42:00.000-07:00

Life is a journey,
Not a destination,
There are no mistakes,
Just chances we've taken
Lay down your regrets cause
all we have is now

Wake up in the morning
And get out of bed
Start making a mental list in my head
Of all of the things that I am grateful for

Early in the morning
it's the dawn of a new day
New hopes new dreams new ways
I open up my eyes and
I open up my mind and
I wonder how life will surprise me today
Early in the morning
it's the dawn of a new day
New hopes new dreams new ways
I open up my heart and
I'm gon’ do my part and
Make this a positively beautiful day

Life is a challenge not a competition
You can still smell the roses
and be on a mission
Just take a moment to get in
touch with your heart
Sometimes you feel like
you've got something to prove
Remind yourself that there's only one you
Just take a moment to give
thanks of who you are

Let’s make this a wonderful
Let’s make this a powerful
Let’s make this a Beautiful Day
it's a Beautiful Day

"Beautiful Day" India Arie

Just Pray.

2010-03-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

It’s not so difficult. It’s really not complicated. You just pray.

Why is it that I’ve been able to submit some things to Christ, but tightly hold on to others? I just met with my research assistant and went over my questions that I will use to interview people about their growing up discriminated against because of their caste. At the end she prayed for me. She committed everything to God. My paper, what I write, who I interview, everything. She prayed this prayer with such sincerity, really relying on God to guide me. During the prayer she recited Psalms 121 which begins with “I look to the mountains-does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” It gave me such peace to know that during this time of research and school I simply need to call upon God to give me strength. And he REALLY does care about my research, each word I type, everything.

He says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

He tells us to not doubt “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6

I don’t think I mean a lot of the prayers I really pray. I don’t think God will really answer them, that’s why I pray them every day. Haha. If I just prayed them with such sincerity of heart, I’m sure I wouldn’t spend so much time on the same prayers-for years. I would expand my concerns to things far greater than me.

My team was talking about a conference/meeting they have in the north where everyone gathers with the sick. People travel so far with their animals to have them prayed over so they will be healed. It sounds funny at first, to pray for your cow to be healed. But when you think about it, if you have no money to buy a new cow, if you have no way of replacing the cow, you will do ANYTHING to have that cow healed-you depend on God, because God is the only one who can do something. I was thinking about if I was in that situation I would simply buy a new cow, or a tractor for that matter. I wouldn’t ask God to heal it. I might not even think of it. Maybe I would pray, but in the back of my mind I would be thinking about how I could just buy another one.
I am gaining confidence in the prayers I pray, I’m learning to back my prayers up with sincere faith. It’s hard removing the world from my heart, but I’m trying to do that, and allow faith in Jesus to fill that spot.

life is wild.

2010-03-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday night I attended the graduation for the 10th grade class of the Good Shepherd High School, along with the Teachers Training program which sends teachers out into the Good Shepherd schools. I watched as one graduate cried on her mother’s shoulder. I’m sure her tears weren’t saying “Thank you it’s finally over!” as mine would have said, but I imagine her tears were saying “Thank you God for educating me, for caring enough about me to allow me to carve a future for myself that is different than the rest of the women of my village”

At school the children all look so nice in their uniforms, and like they could come from the nicest of homes. But really most of these kids come from little shacks, homes built of pipes, or an orphanage. Most of the members of their families are illiterate and work hard labored jobs. God has placed this school in this community so that these specific children can get an education. One of the speakers asked the graduates who would pursue a career that would allow them to give back to their community of the Dalits. Each one of the students stood up. These kids know the blessing of their education and will not take advantage of it.

I often times find myself telling people back in the US that life is just life here, nothing special or different, just a daily routine. One day after saying this I had a prayer meeting with my team. I don’t know how I ever thought that life here was nothing special. As I dug into prayer I realized the heaviness and seriousness of my life. I’m in the midst of people who are tormented by spiritual warfare, with witchcraft being done on them, evil spirits invading their lives. God has chosen ME to be HERE. It really could be seen as mundane and an everyday task, anyone can think that about their life, but anyone can also see each day as the wildest day ever. I’m thankful that God has revealed this to me.

Life is wild, no matter where you live and what you do. Many of us have the opportunity to breathe, to embrace the sunshine, to laugh, sing, rejoice and praise God. Let’s do that today.

God is good.

2010-02-03T04:26:00.001-08:00

I began my 24th year in life by a grand adventure into Bharat (India). After many hours, maybe days, I don't even know how long it took, I arrived. Barely able to keep my eyelids open, I waited at the airport for an hour to be picked up. I shamefully walked back and forth through the line of drivers holding signs for the strangers they were to pick up multiple times. The women dressed in saris trying to go down the escalator but constantly failing and holding up loads of people was sheer entertainment for me. It brought a smile to my face each time I saw a new woman have her try. It was here modern India and the rest of her people mixed.
I can confidently tell you that God knows me well and loves me much. Oh, God knows me sooo well. There are more gardens than I can count on this campus. Everywhere I look, there are the MOST beautiful flowers ever. They aren’t your ordinary rose bushes, or other plain flowers, but they are the most beautiful, colorful, exotic flowers. My gaze is constantly fixed on the beautiful flowers that I pass as I walk. It is a constant reminder that God loves me.
Three times a day is like my most dreaded time of my sophomore year of High School when I first moved to Colorado-LUNCH. You know when you don’t have any friends-well, I didn’t, and you scan the cafeteria and wonder which batch of people you might try to sit with? It’s not so bad. It’s good that God has grown in me and I am not that shy sophomore anymore. I like it actually. I look around the cafeteria and wonder which group of girls I will meet today. It’s a hit or miss. Some meals I sit with girls who don’t speak English, and the conversation goes nowhere. Eating with strangers is a humbling experience. I feel like a fool as it takes me much longer than everyone else to finish my meal, as I have not perfected the hand shovel. Thankfully two groups have told me they really appreciate me eating their way. There is a group of 5 women from Bangalore and Kerala who are here for a VBS training camp and I have shared a few meals with them. They are in their 50’s probably and have the sweetest spirits. They were my first friends who welcomed me here. My most blessed meal was last night when I sat with three girls and found they were Masters of Divinity students who speak excellent English. I pray and hope I will remember their faces and be able to continue a friendship with them. When I do have the opportunity to talk with some girls, it always turns out so positive. I see their deep trust in God being in control of their lives. They confidently look up at the sky and tell me that God is in control. It has blessed me so much.
Another woman I have been so blessed by is Vanita, my coworker. We have spent the last two days sorting through Barbies (don’t ever send Barbie to India, they are far too scandalous. My other coworker Annimma told me that she did not want to teach such ways to the children), books, Matt and Creighton’s counting books, and whatever America has chosen to send to India. Some of the things we sort through is such junk. Toys we have no idea how to use, the Guiness Book of World Records 1985, or “How to prepare yourself for a roadtrip with your teenager”. Vanita and Annimma are so thankful for each item though. Their tender spirit of gratitude is so contagious. Throughout the day I hear Vanita speaking with God. “Lord help me sort through these books” “Give me the discernment to know how to sort these” “Oh Lord thank you for all these things”. It is the most precious and beautiful thing. We pray all the time. We pray when we begin the day, they stop and pray for people passing by, there is never a bad time to pray.
It’s only my third day here, but I feel God has taught me so much. I feel SO blessed to be here and so fortunate to have this experience. I also am so thankful for my time in the desert. After going through that quite difficult time, I have such a deeper appreciation for everything. I hope I never lose that. I am just so thankful for everything.
Slow down, smell the beautiful flowers. Live for the moment. Cherish the life you have been given. Thank the Lord for all things.

arrival in india

2009-09-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

I’ve packed my bags and moved onto my new home for the next 4 months-Jaipur, India. My time in Hawaii was absolutely lovely. Home is where the heart is and my heart is definitely in Hawaii, so I guess therefore Hawaii has become my home. My weeks in Hawaii were slammed packed with prayer, Bible studying, feeding 500-700 families a week, teaching swim/surf lessons to kids from shelters in Waianae (the Hawaiian side of the island that is loaded with drug abuse and homelessness) and my favorite-cruzing with the street and park dwellers of Wahiawa. Hospitality and being in the neighborhood as much as possible has been really heavy on my mind the past month. I’ve been pushed to love more and become more a part of the community. One day we prayed for the community of Wahiawa-the prostitutes, transvestites, alcoholics and drug addicts. During our time of prayer I thought of the idea of going up California street (the street where all the action takes place) and handing out flowers to the women we came across. I wasn’t going to let this idea get away from me, so that week a group of 5 of us left our apartments at 11:00 at night (I generally am in bed by 10, so this was a stretch for me) and walked up the streets and were ready to love anyone that came in our path. Right as we began our walk I was plagued with thoughts rolling through my head. I was afraid that maybe it would be offensive, or belittling to the women, or we would be rejected. The enemy always tries to destroy something good through confusion. We carried on though and I began to pray that I would come in contact with the women that came to our Friday BBQs in the park. Most of the girls we saw out that night were ladies that came to our BBQ. It was so exciting to see them at night, some of them were working the street and others were just cruzing. We also chilled outside the Texas Strip Bar with some of the local guys till early in the morning. It was so good to meet these people in the time of day that they thrive. The people of Wahiawa are such night owls. I know that giving the flowers to the girls really meant a lot to them. It was an action of pure love with no personal agenda attached.
There are many sides to my time in Hawaii. Sometimes I wonder if God has me cruzing with the street and park dwellers for their sake or mine? He tends to teach me more lessons than I could possibly teach them. Other than the social aspect of being in Hawaii, it was a time for me to prepare to come to India spiritually. The environment of Surfing the Nations always amps me up and sets me on the right course.
Now I am in India. I’m across the world far from anyone I know and yet I don’t feel like I’m in a foreign uncomfortable place. I haven’t really had the opportunity to get out into the community yet as we have been in orientation for the last few days but that will change soon. I will meet my host family on Friday. My mom is a yoga master, I don’t know much about my father, I have a sister and grandmother. That’s about the extent of the information I have been given. I am looking forward to all that God will teach me in India. My anticipation is that God will open my eyes to new things I have not seen before and drive my passion for the poor even deeper. My biggest prayer this summer has been for God to provide an Indian woman to be a mentor, friend and someone who teaches me about following Christ in India. You can be praying for God to reveal the ways He wants to use me within my study abroad group and in my community. I really have no expectations or ideas of how God will use me, but I wait patiently and hope God will unfold that secret in the right time.
Until more adventures head my way, make sure you love all those around you.

pressing, pushing and character building

2009-07-11T13:40:00.001-07:00

Hitch-hiking, camping, surfing, swim lessons, figuring out how to cook, rice and chilli making, learning to play the guitar, investing time in my Surfing the Nations family, pushing myself to meet new people, wedding and Luau on the beach, eating poke and taco (raw fish and octopus), Acai bowls (delicious blended fruit mix from the amazon), prayer, fasting, bible studying and character building. These are just a few of the things I've taken part of in my last few weeks since the last blog.
Amidst the crammed pack daily schedule of living and being apart of Surfing the Nations is the cruz mellow mentality of Hawaii. Last night I fell alseep to the neighborhood guys jamming to the ukulele. Everywhere I walk in Wahiawa people are hanging out whether that is at 7-11, the park or parking lots, people are lounging and enjoying life. Sometimes I can get so carried away with doing and going and whats next on my schedule that it is really nice to realize I can just sit and enjoy the moment.
Pressing on my mind and heart is trying to build relationships with the community of Wahiawa that does not live in houses. There are so many homeless people that live in Wahiawa. Its not like the mainland where you rarely see a homeless person unless you are driving around downtown or are in a big city. Here living in the parks, parking lots and forests is just another way of life. Although it is another way of life, there is still the community of people that live in the comfort of their home and are bothered by people crowding "their" sidewalks and parks, and the sight of people living on nothing is a soar in their eye. As I was saying in my last blog, I know I have been allowed the gift of life so that I can love these people. This doesn't mean its always easy though. For a girl from the mainland it takes a lot of effort to give my all to building relationships. It takes an active mind that won't allow inferiority, insecurity or awkwardness get in the way of getting to know them. Loving and caring for people takes a lot of initiative, courage, and vulnerability. Its not always easy. It's good to have that push though.
I imagine the community thinks that I am one strange girl. On tuesday and friday afternoons I can be found either carrying a rice cooker, pot of chilli up a few blocks to the nearest park. Sometimes I can be found carrying a box of food bags up the street as well. Why use our trucks and vans to drive up the street two block when God gave me a perfectly healthy body that can carry things?? So I carry these things to two different groups of guys that hang out a few blocks away. There's a group of 4-6 guys that hang out next to the KFC parking lot and are drinking at all hours of the day. I think I'm about getting to the point where I am not that awkward girl that comes to hang out with them. Then there's the Center Street Park crew that sits back and drinks as well. Pray for me as I try to build relationships with these guys. Its such a bust that I will only be here for 2 months. Lets hope and trust that God will use me in this short amount of time!
What I love about being in this community is the push and shove that I am constantly feeling. Whether that comes from my room mates and friends, or from the Holy Spirit, I'm never allowed to slip into a complacent life. Its a continuous challenge to sharpen and shape my character. My apartment is full of appologies and forgiveness. Cindy's teachings are continuously challenging me to be a better person. I feel as though I'm doing the dishes non stop and picking up after myself non stop. I really don't enjoy doing these things but it is sharpening my character into becoming more responsible and caring more for my room mates. Doing the right things is definately not always easy, but it is such a fulfilling feeling when its past to know th at I was stretched and did what was right.
My parting words for anyone who reads this blog is to not sit on your couch and watch TV. Go do something. Love deeper, more painfully and sacrificially. When you feel that tension of being pressed to do something, you'll feel the rewarding feeling of knowing you've impacted the world.

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

Mother Theresa

first week back on oahu

2009-06-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

After waiting on a plane at Denver International Airport for 3 hours due to a broken piece in the plane, wrong directions, losing too much gas during 30 minutes of taxiing and a tornado I arrived on the beautiful island of Oahu. I have been welcomed back to the Surfing the Nations community that now resides in Wahiawa (the middle of the island). I will be here for two months. We live on Ohai street which is known as the most dangerous street on this side of the island (known for its drug dealing). In fact one of my friends from the lagoon used to deal drugs on this street back in the day! The morning after my first night here I walked this “dangerous” street in prayer as a sign to Satan that I would not be afraid of any plans of my destruction through fear. The Holy Spirit was ever present during my walk and has been so thickly present throughout so much of my day.
I am apart of the “Summer Challenge” which is the summer team for STN as well as being in charge of picnics with people (who are or will become my friends) who live in cars, parks, forests and under bridges. Already I’ve met such wise and wonderful people living in these areas. On Thursday we had our weekly distribution of food from the Foodbank in Kalihi. Since I have been gone my friends from the Lagoon have stopped coming to our distribution, so Troy and I went down with a van full of food to give out. I first stopped by to see Uncle Tony in hopes that he could take us into the paintball field and lagoon so I could see all the rest of my friends. Uncle Tony lives under the bridge still. The entrance to his home is about one and a half feet tall, but once you get under the freeway his home is 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 15 feet long (I’m just guessing). But he also has an area under the bridge that isn’t inside his house. He was fixing up a bicycle but was so kind to walk around with us to meet people.
As we walked over a bridge to get to the field/lagoon that everyone lives in I immediately saw the development that had gone on while I was gone. The homes used to be restricted to the bushes and spots that are not so obvious, but now the houses are right out in the open. There is a plethora of home styles from tents and tree houses to houses on the water. The Filipino mastermind of it all lives in a house on the water, has a netted in area to keep fish that have been caught and a boat made of a BIG piece of Styrofoam (its just one block with a sheet of wood on top). Most houses are about the size of a typical room in the suburbs. Inside the homes are TV’s, sound systems, couches, beds, kitchens-everything. One home is set out on the water and to get to it you walk through the brush of the lagoon on a little bridge, walk through a little door with a welcoming circle in it onto the house. It is so impressive. As I walked into the home my boyfriend’s friend welcomed us with a big smile to what he proudly called a home, Swiss Family Robinson style.
My closest friend greeted me with a loud scream and big hug. She was so happy to see Troy and I (I was just as happy, if not more, to see her). Entering her home was not such a joy though. Her boyfriend lay on the bed out of his mind. He caught pneumonia while spending time for a warrant on a “traffic ticket”. It was so hard to see them like this. They’ve been my friends since the beginning of my journey with the bridge. If you think about it, pray for him, and pray for wisdom for me to know what I should do (if I can do anything).
That was the only sad part about being back at the lagoon. I’ve never been so welcomed in the community. As we walked through the tall grass Tony would call out to each home and say “Eh! Whitney’s here, you know from Surfing da Nations!” People would come out and greet me and welcome me into their homes. It gives me such joy and peace to know that these people trust me and love me. It’s been all the prayers prayed for them and 8 months of trying my hardest to get to know them and care for them individually, being consistent with them. Everyone was so excited to get some food. I saw the deep thankfulness in their faces. Although they all do meth, abuse each other, do lots of “bad” things and are a different community when I’m not there, my vision of them is not tainted at all. God has given me His eyes for them. When I look at them and think about them, I know it is the way he looks at the most “awful” (in earthly terms) of people. I believe in the spiritual world so much more after going down to the lagoon. I see the traps that Satan has each of them in and the stronghold he has on that area, but I see the light of Christ in Troy and I and I see what it does to that area. Some of my friends were strung out on drugs, but in conversing with Troy and I they were fighting for sobriety to maintain a conversation. It makes me so happy to know that in the moments I’m down there they are fighting to defeat Satan, even if all the other hours of the day they allow Satan to rule. I believe that even one hour with the light of Christ ruins so much of the evil that goes on in the Lagoon.
It is such a joy to me to love the people living in parks, lagoons, cars, forests and under bridges. I’m not “saving souls” or anything like that but I know this is EXACTLY where my God wants me. It’s hard sometimes living and working in community while eating food bank food but there is no place I’d rather be than hanging out with these friends. I was created to love the rebellious drug addicts and I am thoroughly glad to know my place in life.
Please pray for continual energy to love all these friends I have mentioned as well as my family I am living in community with. Pray against Satan’s grasp on my friends through drugs and violence. I am going to Bangladesh in August and would love your prayers in advance for this trip. I won’t mention much about it now, but in another letter I will give you more details. Be praying for the finances to come in so everything can go smoothly.

Thank you so much for your prayers, support and love

Whitney

2008-07-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

Well hello friends. It has been a while since i have updated this thing. For those of you who do not know, I was just in Sri Lanka for a month, and now i am in Bali for another month-both with surfing the nations. So I feel really out of touch with everyone. I guess that happens when you are in a fishing village for a month and can't really use the internet. But I want you all to know what Ive been up to. I've decided that hopefully in the next few days I will write more on here and give you lots of details about Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka. So this first blog started out as an email to my parents but then i decided i would fill everyone in...it's written really sloppily, but thats how i always write so i hope you do not mind. This first one is just about Arugam Bay and the set up of it.
So. Arugam Bay. It's a little fishing village. I really didn't realize that it was so small until we left. Arugam bay is on the east side of the island. we arrived in colombo and took a 10 hour ormore bus ride to the opposite side of the island, all on semi bumpy roads. Pottovil is a bigger town next to Arugam bay. We drive through Pottovil which is one main strip that has tailer stores-i don't know. where they make your clothes, little convenient stores that have laundry soap, crackers, water and fruit, fruit stands and restaurants. nothing is nice and new with air conditioning, everything is hole in the wall style stores. at the end of pottuvil is a new big bridge that was at the end of being built. It is the nicest thing we saw pretty much our whole drive..pretty much in all of sri lanka maybe haha. but arugam bay is on the other side. obviously arugam bay is a bay and the whole little town is shaped around the bay. we lived towards the middle/beginning of the bay (Surfing the nations has property there). the street is lined with lots of rotti stands, which is like sao bing yo tiou (for people from taiwan)-the outside bread type stuff...and i pretty much ate that for breakfast lunch and dinner. for breakfast it was two plain ones for 20 cents, lunch was maybe a vegetable or egg and vegetable rotti, and dinner was koti rotti which is rotti cut up with some veggies mixed in. so i really got my fill of carbs! so the street has lots of these little greasy hole in the wall rotti shops, probably at least 20 hotel/bungalos that have no people staying in them and little stores. i guess oprah has a hotel out there-Tri star, but no one was even staying in it. when we got there there were only a handful of tourists and 25 of us...ahha. but by the time we left the tourist season had picked up. At the end of the street (or where arugam bay kinda ends) is a buddha in a glass box that renee likes to call the buddha information center...take a left there and a 1 minute walk down a broken road and it opens up to the ocean. boats are lined everwhere with men who act as though they have never seen elbows and calves (It's a strict muslim community so we women were dressed in skirts below the knee and loose t-shirts the whole time...we were really longing for some freedom from frumpy clothes!)...then a little walk around the bay and you are at the point! there is only one surfing point in arugam bay so pretty much the five tourists that were there for a nice surf vacation were quite shocked the first morning we were there and 20 people crowded the point. so yeah...oh yeah. i can give you more details about the property (this would be so much easier if i could show you pictures right now, but i obviously can't!) the property. it is the first property off the street and then there is one property right behind us and then the beach. we have a front entrance that is a gate (kind of i guess) and then a side door..we only use the side door and the alley that it is off of has a nice view out to the ocean. so our property is half lined in bricks and then half fenced in by palm frawns.i think that is what they are called. its palm branches woven together to make pieces to make fences, roofs, shade, walls, everything. and the property is one piece of land. i'm not exactly sure how big it is. it's not big, but its not small. on the property is palm trees, a house- a cement house with two bedrooms, a (i don't even know what itis called) but its like a shadey area...a cement slab with a roof on top...so that is where all our meetings were and if anyone was on the property this is where they were sitting because it was too hot in the sun. then we have a well, which was my favorite part because i loved pulling the bucket up with the dirty water to flush our toilet or to water the plants. I could pretend that i had left this modernized world and was living the origional way..the property also has .a bathroom and a shower. the shower is super sick, its got the palm frawn wall setting and has trees in it and then a cement slab for where you can stand and shower. but we didn't shower there becasue the water is brown and dirty-something was wrong with the well...so they either gotta dig another well or wait for 3 months till the whole town gets clean water. our first two days there we used thed irty water but we decided it would probably be better to use our neighbors-aloha cabanas showers instead. then we had 7 tents set up around the property where we all slept. My bags were covered in sand by the time I left.
so that is the set up of A Bay. As for daily life. A regular day was wake up between 6:30 and 8 (my tent always woke up early because we were right next to the door and all the boys were always at dawn patrol-morning surf-and would wake up right when the sun came out) the first week i was there i ate at aloha cabanas every morning, milk tea and a jaffle (like a bananna panini) but then that became too expensive($3.00) . so i would have my quiet time with some milk tea, and then we would usually have a meeting around 9 or 10-have worship, testimony and a little bible study. the last week or so we were studying galations so we would read a chapter as a group and dig into it, and then by this time it is about noonish and the surfers would surf and us non surfers would hit the ocean and do a little body surfing or just getting refreshed by the water...then we started work on the property. i was on the alley team (we cleaned the alley and the name just stuck) and so we pretty much had no jobs because we werent painters or good with construction..so we would just go and chill with people in the community. One day a bunch of us girls bought ice cream for the Why Not family (i'll tell you more about them later). we got close with two families that lived right next door to eachother. the Ali family and the Why Not family. (the why not family had a restaurant that we ate at everynight called why not. cuz why wouldn't you eat there-great local prices and good food) the Ali family is the family that made me fall in love with Arugam Bay the most. there are 4 older girls, two boys and a 3 year old girl. By the time we left the three oldest girls were married and pregnant, and rodja is 18 and probably soon getting married. we'd go over and they would make us tea and we would just sit. not really talk because there's a big language barrier, but we would just kinda talk and laugh. they always fed us strange snacks...like berries that made our mouths extremely dry. they tasted like unripe bananas. the Ali family's dad, who we called papa is something big with at the mosque. A Moula (sp?) i think is what it is called. I don't really know what that means, but he was something important at the mosque. So his family was run by strict Muslim rules. This means that the women of the house were never allowed to leave the house except to cross the street to get water from their neighbor's well. This means they were really happy to have us over at any time of the day. The people of Arugam bay were so so welcoming and friendly (sometimes its hard to tell if its genuine or whether they just are wanting to be friends with stn so they can get money...) but the Alis are genuine friends, people with STN have known them for years. We couldn't really communicate that well with the girls. Rodja spoke a bit of english so it was always a challenge to know what was going on. On the day before we left we were supposed to go berry picking with the family in their garden but we told them we couldn't get there until 10:30 instead of 9:00..when we arrived the berry pickers were gone..the time change was lost in translation (this was one of our favorite phrases)...it was kinda okay though because it was going to be an hour walk in the blistering sun. While we were there Falilah, the 3rd daughter got married out of no where. she had a "boyfriend" that she married. we're not sure exactly how the ceremony was supposed to go or what exactly was going on but i was just so happy to be able to be apart of a muslim/sri lankan wedding. And then there was the Why Not family. We met them one day while we were sitting at the Ali's place and we saw some little kids peeping through a crack in the fence. Renee went over to talk with them...an hour or so later we were all sitting around like..where is renee?! we weren't sure if maybe she had left to go home because of a bad case of diahrea (this happens a lot here..people will just dissapear to the bathroom) or where she could have been...but we found out that she had been trapped next door by the 15 kids that live there. So since then we became friends with the little girls (they're about 15 and younger) and spent a lot of time at their place. One day Renee and i got to do laundry with them-not in a washing machine, but by hand...it made me happy.
So i've had enough of typing for today. I will continue tomorrow or some other day to tell you more about life in A Bay.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. We really felt them!

2008-04-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

Hello friends that check out my blog. Sorry I am not very good at updating this thing. I feel like everything I do is the same everyweek. I don't know what to write about. I'm brainstorming of what I should write to tell you. I don't have it yet. But for now I do have my support letter that I am just going to put on here that does give you a little more information about what I am doing. It doesn't really have the juicy details of everything though. sorry! Hope all is well with you!

Aloha friends and family,
For those of you who don’t know, I have moved to Hawaii and am planning on being here until December. I am working for an organization named Surfing the Nations. STN is a humanitarian/missions non-profit 501(c)(3) committed to impacting local and international communities by meeting needs and changing lives of those around us. Here are some of the ways we impact our local community in Honolulu, Oahu as well as the international community:

o Feeding the Hungry Programs
o Weekly Surfers Leadership Training
o Island Youth Program/At-Risk Youth
o Surf Contests
o Surf Camps
o Local & International humanitarian/outreach trips
I would like to share with you two things that are on my heart; the Feeding the Hungry Team and going to Sri Lanka. I would also like to share with you how you can be involved in what I am doing here in Oahu as well as what I will be doing in Sri Lanka.
The Feeding the Hungry team feeds more than 300 people a week with food we get from the Food Bank. I have been on the Feeding the Hungry team for the last two months and have just recently taken over the homeless out reach side of the team. This means I plan our Friday outreaches to the people who live under the freeway. Let me tell you a little bit about this community and how we are involved in it. There are many reasons someone would move under a freeway to live. Frank lives under the freeway because he was in a relationship and his girlfriend’s mom paid him to leave. After bouncing from one place to the next he found himself making a home under the freeway. Tiari, an 18 year old who is living with a 30 year old man just delivered a baby and is in the process of giving the baby to her brother. Bella is a 60 year old Nicaraguan prostitute who has made her home into a little girl’s dream home with decorations all over the trees. Skip has had two cars, two divorces and a golfing career but somehow now finds himself living in a broken van. Although they were once accepted by society and the world, they now live in what they call “the underworld”, a place where the only people that come, come to fix the broken fences, tell them they are dirty and leave. There are churches that deliver food, fix up their wounds and leave, but no one who comes to hang out, talk story and love on them. When we first started visiting the community, we handed out food bags to whoever we came in contact with, talked story for a little bit and then left. We want to do more than hand out food and ditch so now we have a picnic where people can eat fresh food. We have activities for them to do so they feel more comfortable hanging out and there is more of an inviting setting. Last week we brought beads and made rings and bracelets with some of the ladies. I am hoping that my team and I will come up with more ideas as to how we can show the people under the freeway that Christ loves them. I am praying for money to come in so we can buy more fun things to do with them like painting and tie dieing. The reason I go down there is to show them that God has not forgotten about them and that there are people in the world who care about them. By donating money or supplies you can also be apart of sharing Christ’s love with these people.
This summer I am going to Sri Lanka with Surfing the Nations. Sri Lanka is a war and tsunami torn island to the south west of India. (Although it is war torn, we will be in the south east part of the island which is not touched by war) It’s four main religions are Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. We will be there June 7-July 2. The main place we will be is Arugam Bay which is a small fisherman town. You can watch movies on www.youtube.com documenting STN’s past trips to learn more about our involvement in Arugam Bay. The cost will be $2,200 which will cover airfare, ground fees, food and spending money. While there we will do post tsunami relief, build relationships, continue to pioneer/build & establish STN’s Surf Center, teach English and evangelism.
Here is how you can help me. I came to Hawaii with the intentions of staying with STN for only 3 months to do an internship, but God had other plans for me; I am now staying 7 months longer than I had intended. My work out here is purely volunteer and therefore have no means of supporting myself. Staying here is a step of faith into God’s world by relying on Him to provide for my needs. There are three ways you can help me live by faith. You can support me financially, prayerfully and with your network.

Here are some ways you can support me financially:
o Write a check/money order to me.
o Write a check/money order to Surfing the Nations or Surfers Church ATTN: Whitney Willett (Tax deductible).
o Donate online @ www.surfingthenations.com (Tax deductible)
Ø Click Contributions -> Click Make a Donation online -> Fill out required information-> Purpose of gift: Whitney Willett
(The "deadline" for me to get my ticket is May 10-but hopefully they won't stick to it that closely seeing that that is only a few weeks away!)

Here is what you can pray for:
-That the characters of a leader would be growing in me (especially patience).
-That I would be learning to hear God’s voice so I follow Him and not my own desires.
-Sri Lanka trip: For safety and that I wouldn’t get frustrated by working in a big group

I need you to help network with me. Please pass the word or this actual letter on to others who might be interested in supporting me. Money is important, but your prayers are even more important. My being here is the result of praying parents and friends. Inside I have enclosed a return envelope if you desire to financially support me.

Thank you in advance for your support.

In Him,

Whitney Willett

Moloka'i and Honolulu outreaches

2008-02-29T15:03:00.001-08:00

On Moloka’i there is a peninsula that is cut off from the rest of the island. It is surrounded by ocean and 2,000 ft high cliffs. To King Kamehameha V this was the perfect place to isolate those affected by the outburst of Hansen’s disease (leprosy) in 1865. The first patients were dumped off the side of the boat and would swim to shore. This place is called Kalaupapa and I got to make the 2 mile hike down to see this “colony”. (The first picture above is looking down at the peninsula from the starting point of the hike, the second is of looking at what we just hiked down)
At first I was like I don’t know, I feel like this is going against the Global Studies handbook. I would be going to a human zoo. But actually, it was a God given gift to me to be able to go. Its amazing how we got the opportunity to go. Christy (one of the leaders) saw park reservation instead of preservation and so she called the number and left a message. The guy was so confused when he got a message about 10 people visiting Moloka’i, but called back anyways. They talked and he informed Christy on how we could do some volunteer work down there if we wanted, instead of paying the fees for a tour.
We left at 8 in the morning and got to the bottom at about 9 and were ready to start our volunteering. We were assigned to working in a patient’s garden, Paul Harada who passed away two months earlier and painting a picnic area. Working in the garden was amazing. Paul loved working in his garden. He grew poinsettias so he could give them away to the other patients around Christmas. The National Park Preservation people aren’t sure what they want to do with the garden-I think they might keep it nice so that it can be one of the exhibitions of the park. But as I sat there pulling weeds out of the extremely dry land I couldn’t help but think of Paul looking down on us and smiling. (first picture is what i was looking at as i pulled weeds, the second picture is of the ground around paul's garage-it was full of little trinkets and things everywhere. it looked like an eye spy picture. I think i would have gotten a long well with him, i don't think he threw anything away)

We took a lunch break by the dock and got to jump into the water and go for a little swim which was quite nice. Then we went to the other side of the peninsula to paint. Below are the pictures of that side. The first one is the end of the drive to the pincnic area, and the second one is a look out to where the people were first kicked out of the boats and had to swim to shore and climb up to land. It was such a privelage and blessing to be able to paint the picnic area because we got to drive across the peninsula and see more of the land. We passed Father Damien's church and grave where his hand is burried (weird. i know). We got to see where the people burned sacrifices to the gods, where some people were burried and many churches. This place was the most beautiful place I have ever been. It has a heartbreaking history but yet is full of life. Everything is so simple. It hasn’t been invaded by tourists. Looking to the high cliffs to the ocean is the most beautiful view. Even the hour hike up 2,000 feet was beautiful.

As for the rest of my time in Moloka’i; I think I painted almost everyday. I painted the skate park, at Kalaupapa, and one of the rooms in the church we were staying. Since we are Surfing the Nations, we went to the beach a few of the days we were there. I don’t surf, but I loved being at the beach because it is such a great place to have my quiet times.
Moloka’i was like a vacation for me. Even though we were working a lot, it was all relaxed working. Didn’t have to deal with Filipino and Korean Aunties trying to cheat the system and get twice as much food as they are supposed to get from “Feeding the Hungry”. Didn’t have to sort through salvage food at the Food Bank, or do yard work around the house. It was a good time to learn more about God from the people I was around.

Now I am back in Honolulu on the Feeding the Hungry team which I hate and love. I think it is the hardest team. I don’t get to go to the beach and chill at UH like I did on College Team. I do get to give out loads of food in Kalihi every Thursday. Sometimes we go to Barber’s Point and give out food too. For our outreaches we go to the community that lives under the highway. There’s a neighborhood down there. People living in tents or tarps made into houses. We hand out bags of food and invite people to our other events and of course we pray for them.

1. a couple getting married at Once a Month Church in North Shore
2. Vasiliy and Galina, a couple from Ukraine who have left everything to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. I met them at Feeding the Hungry
3. Freddie praying for someone before they get food at FtH
4. Willa and Atti-a grandma and her grandson who are from the Marshall Islands and come get food on thursdays
5. Do you want oreos or nutter butters?
6. Waikiki Outreach-we have a bbq at Waikiki every wednesday for the homeless.

Thank you to all you who pray for me. God is making me into a new person. Its kinda weird. I’m too lazy to read through this again, so you can get over the mistakes.

oh and i can't take credit for all the photos. the one at the skate park and 3,5,6 aren't mine. I think they're james's.

2008-01-27T23:41:00.000-08:00

Ohana, Aloha. So it’s been about two weeks since I have been here. It’s so weird. I feel like I have been here for so long and it was so long ago that I was in Azusa hanging out in parks and freezing my booty off in Denver. You all would be so proud of me because I don’t wear five thousand layers and I am always the only one who doesn’t think its cold-a change from always being the cold one.
I’m trying to think of what I should tell you but honestly I have no idea. I could tell you about how much sand I have in my dreads, or how much sun has been captured into my skin, or how hot the brazilian boys I met today were or how much I love riding in the back of trucks and how great Acai bowls are.

I could tell yo u how much beauty lies on this island from the sight of storms rolling in to the people to the orchards, hibiscuses and plumerias.

But I think I should cut through the surface and tell you what is really going on in my heart (naturally). I don’t know how many of you really know where I was before I came here, but I was in this spot where I questioned God and life so much that I had a hard time loving God-I had a lot of moments where I didn’t even think God was real. So you can imagine coming to a place so spiritually based pretty difficult. Mmmm…welp it has been. It has been a soul and mind battle-I feel like this is kind of becoming a daily pattern for me. But it’s really hard to go against the grain and not believe in God. I see God’s presence in so many people’s lives. I am constantly hearing people’s testimonies and constantly hearing incredible stories of how God has provided for STN. Who or what is it that provides free ipods and watches to people every week, donates the exact amount of money to people who are in need of it, and gives away cars, tvs, food, clothes and money to homeless people? There are moments when I want to resist and say that it is just coincidence but I have come to realize that is just stupid.
I have a hard time being here because I don’t know why I am here. I am not really into the ministry that STN does, although I think they do great things, its just not really for me. I don’t know if I really agree with a lot of comments that are thrown around. I feel really guilty because I feel like I am on vacation. I don’t understand the use of talking to a homeless person for 30 minutes a week. It scares me and trips me out though because I know I am supposed to be here. Someone told me the other day that “People don’t just show up at STN, God brings people here”. They went on to say that it is because of the prayer of parents, of friends, of people here that makes people come. It weirds me out-WHY AM I HERE? I am used to doing things because it will prepare me for the future in one way or another, so it is kind of weird being here and not really understanding how this fits into my life that I like to think I have planned out. Its weird because if you would have talked to me one month ago I would have probably told you that God didn’t do things for people-I liked to think of life more as a flow of coincidences. I don’t think I can really believe that anymore, and it is really hard for me to admit.
One of the requirements to finish this internship I am in is to do an outreach with STN. STN is known for its outreaches to Bali, Sri Lanka and all these crazy places that hate Jesus. There are also outreaches to the different islands in Hawaii. There is one coming up in a few weeks to Molokai. When I first found out about this requirement I thought to myself-I am NOT going on a mission’s trip. I feel like that would be sinning against Global Studies. And plus I have begged for money from supporters for too long and have never written thank you notes :-S…uh sorry friends. Anyways. As I thought about it though I realized that I shouldn’t put the creator of this universe in a box. At first I told myself that I would not send out letters to people-if God wanted me to go then he would provide. But I realized that I should put a little effort in, so here I am adding this into my letter/blog. From what I hear Molokai is the island where all the lepers were sent. It is the type of island where t he people live off the land. There aren’t too many people that live there and is a very chill place. I obviously want to go for selfish reasons. It seems like a dream place for me-where western society hasn’t taken control. But I guess I don’t want to go if it is not what God wants for me. And I don’t know if I want to go anyways because I don’t really know what the point of me going is, except for a great traveling experience. I think what I am going to learn from being here is that I don’t always have to do things that fit into my life shaping plan-its okay to do things that I don’t know what the purpose of them is. And I need to stop placing times in my life where God can use me and not allowing every moment to be God’s. Oh yeah, while on Molokai we will be doing random service-STN has gone for the past I don’t know how many years, and has built a lot of friendships with the people there so we just show up and are put to work around the island. I think they started to build a skate park last time and so maybe we will work on that, but I don’t know. So in all honesty, I don’t know why I should go and I don’t even know the point of going, but I am sure that our creator does, and I am doing what I should. I am saying “I’m willing to go”. The trip is $300. So I am asking that if you really feel God or whatever it is that you feel, telling you to donate some money to me, please do, or don’t I guess. If you want to donate money you can do it a few ways. You can write a check out to Surfing the Nations and send it into
Surfing the Nations
P.O. Box 29393
Honolulu, Hawaii
96820
You can also send me a birthday present too :) haha. Just joking. Or you can make an online donation by going to http://www.surfingthenations.com/ and going to the contributions section which will send you to an information page about online contributions. Funny how that happens. But make sure for either way you send money that you write Whitney Willett on the memo line.
Sorry this got pretty long-I’m sure a lot of you didn’t even make it to the end of this, but if you did, thank you for caring enough about me to read my long blog :)

Oh yes. And for those of you who really care about me and pray for me I have a few prayer requests.
As I kind of mentioned I am having a hard time giving my whole life to the creator of this universe and father of Jesus. Pray that I will lay my pride aside and surrender my life.
My first prayer that I prayed for myself when I got here was that I would find someone who I could talk to and have real conversations with. It has gotten better but I just haven’t really found that person that I really connect with.
That I wouldn’t be swept up in the greatness of all this-I don’t want some spiritual high or anything, I want my feelings to be real and I don’t want to be brainwashed into believing whatever everyone around me is believing. (I hope that makes sense)
Mahalo and Aloha Ohana.
P.S. I thought of you Mzzz Betty while I was walking around UH’s campus-you went there for a while right? I hope so or else I just thought of you. : )

been in hawaii for 2 days

2008-01-17T01:14:00.000-08:00

So i started this as an email for my mom and dad and then of course i started to go into detail, i was going to email it to you all but that would have taken too long so i decided to make a blog..so if i forgot to delete something that has to do with my mom and dad..get over it :)
I'm kinda in the mood to not be very social...i just like thinking that i am away away not using my phone and staying away from the internet.... i barely have time to talk on the phone anyways because my days are filled with things to do. dad you mentioned something about probably not having a lot of quiet time. ohhhhh don't you worry i have probably at least one hour a day and probably more everyday. we wake up, have quiet time for an hour, worship or prayer as a group for an hour, teaching for an hour (thursdays we do testimonies), and then in the afternoon we do different kind of work..soooo its a little bit different than i thought it would be. its really a lot of prayer and it is kind of overwhelming for me but i'm just going with it. i've been here two days and i am already really comfortable, but i wish that i could get past this first week or two so i feel even more comfortable and don't have to stand around awkwardly or try to keep busy haha. its weird being here...on friday everyone leaves for china, so that is like 15 people that are leaving. there's about 55 people that are here right now-short term interns like myself and then more committed people as well. i am living in a house with probably 30 girls. there are two other houses within 3 minute walking distance that have the boys. there are probably 20 swedes that live here. all blonde hair blue eyed with the accents that i know you would love mom :) i hear things like yared (jared) and yulia (julia) are going to SHina (china) in two days. its funny. there are i think 8 girls in my room-4 bunk beds squished in there. i really actually don't know all the girls that are living in my room. i feel like i am back in taiwan with the green trees, beautiful smelling bushes and flowers everywhere with hills off in the distance. i love it because i have not been exposed to all the tourists here. i've only been in my neighborhood and then i walked around china town for a little bit this afternoon-but only like 5 blocks. its weird because i just got here and the two nights i have been here we have had going away parties for people. there were 18 people who graduated tonight from the internship that i am in. its kinda weird because everyone is so sentimental and i have no idea whats going on. I'm surrounded by all these people and i just want to jump into their lives and know everything about them but i am trying to be patient and not come off as a creepo. I could probably go on for a long time about my thoughts and critique on this place but, its just the second day so i think they are all judgements and i think i am probably wrong about a lot of them so i will just have to wait a little longer to say more of my thoughts and everything. ok. and for all you girls who think i am going to find ma man here...let me just tell you. these boys are very fine (you're supposed to read that wtih one of my accents) ok.

oh actually i have learned something cool about the history of hawaii since i have been here. i guess that when the first missionaries came over from new england, the ruler at the time decided to get rid of the religion they had been believing in and said that the new god they would praise would come in a black box and land on this rock on the big island...what do you know these missionaries came, got off their boat and stood on this rock-holding bibles in a little black box. and Hawaii used to be the most literate place in the world (like 100 years ago) and this is because the missionaries wrote down the language and everyone wanted to learn how to read and write so they could read the bible. They knew how to read sideways and upside down because everyone would crowd around the bible while everyone tried to read it.

anyways. i hope you all are enjoying whatever place of life you are in :)
dad can you email me to let me know of any contacts in hainan??

and my address is
p.o. box 29393
Honolulu, HI
96820

peace.