happythankyoumoreplease.

Wow where do i even begin. these past few weeks have been really challenging. stretching. emotionally draining. i've felt everything from disbelief to a restless spirit. to an indescribable joy! i know this is just part of my journey and this process is so completely crucial for my relationship with God. i am reading a book called "a beautiful way" by Dan Bauman.. i recommend it. it's all about simple love. focusing your eyes on Jesus and letting the rest stem from that love.

- - - i am blown away at my fellow students. we keep hearing that we are an entirely new breed of wild revivalists, the passion and hunger for god is bursting at the seams, it's so tangible

... and it seems that this positive peer pressure environment we've created is overwhelmingly contagious!

this week all the students split up into their outreach teams and went on a 'Faith Journey'. what that was going to look like we hadn't a clue in the slightest. so me and my team of five set off to spend the day listening to God's voice. open and sensitive to his leading, the game plan was to love on people wherever and however we could! we decided that the airport was where God wanted us to go, so we stuck out our well-used thumbs to hitch the next bunch of miles that lay North ahead of us. after waiting a good 20 minutes... some of the team was getting restless, doubting the airport decision, David said the magic words "i don't think we're getting a ride"... and a truck who had passed us earlier did a u-turn for us! already crammed with people, we jumped in the back, thankful for a ride and the wind in our faces.

...little did we know this truck was filled with a family from Texas who, if we hadn't started to talk about Jesus and our purpose for the day, they would have begun evangelizing to us! so the next few miles we conversed easily about our lives, we prayed over the 3 sitting in the back with us.. then as we were jumping out of the truck bed, the back window rolled down and one of the guys in the truck called to David, asking him for prayer about a possible promotion among other things and gave us all the money in his wallet, blessing us and encouraging us in our faith journey! wow. so we took a moment as they drove away to pray for melaud. (mee lawd) we covered the airport in prayers... and were excited for our 22 dollar blessing, we assumed was for lunch. (because we were supposed to rely on god for everything for the day) but as we walked past a lei shop, it was as if i had been hit over the head with the most obvious notion. we were to buy lei's and bless people with them as they arrived! turned out Whitney had the same exact thought. her eyes lit up as i told the group what God wanted us to do. so we walked in and bought 4 of the prettiest smelling lei's. we prayed over some airports workers. waited as planes came in. and prayed over the lei's to see who God wanted us to bless. i knew i was to give mine to a mother in her 30's with straight, blunt shoulder-length brown hair. so i waited. she wasn't on the first plane. so we waited over an hour for the second to arrive! and there she was. it was so much fun greeting people as they came off the plane. just bringing in that atmosphere of love made me smile all the more. i was so blessed to work alongside God at the airport. we helped some people with their luggage. and then were off.

we hadn't eaten and were starving so we hitched back to Kona and ended up at mcdonalds. we were able to rest. to bond as a team. the entire afternoon we found ourselves doing just that. regrouping made us realize we didn't need to strive to be in God's will. we didn't need to be desperate or deliberate about anything. just live our lives with him at the center, ready and willing to serve with open hearts. we didn't have to push our agenda or make something happen. so we just sat and enjoyed each others company. making the trek back home... we had spent 8 hours away from campus and were ready to jump into the pool! and that's just what we did.

we are now in the midst of a 50 hour burn. prayer and worship for 50 hours as a school!! so far it's been fantastic. just burning for the Lord. in community with everyone. re-focusing our eyes on Jesus. interceding for our outreach nations. only 25 more hours to go!

i just received my itinerary for outreach. i leave on the 22nd of September for the Middle East! i am so excited to see what God has for us come September. Thanks so much for your prayers and support. love to you all. karli.