Author: ba

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Freedom Festival – February 1st

Every February 1st I have decided to celebrate my own personal Freedom Festival (I named it that too!)! Here is what I am celebrating:

 
When do you ask questions about meaning of life? Usually the early teens. By young adulthood you have started to numb yourself to those questions. Why? If you have no meaningful answer then it leads to despair.  It was at the age of 13 I started to ask those questions. Why am I here? Who am I? What happens when you die? You know, the questions we don’t really talk about as adults.
 
I grew up in a super loving home with a brother I looked up to like crazy! At age four I met my best friend Liza Johnson and my life was great. Throughout elementary school (especially near the end) I started to form a group of friends. We were pretty rebellious, as rebellious as a person who is 11 can be J.  I didn’t care if I got kicked out of class, I just wanted to be popular. Liza used to invite me to church with her family. Now I knew that church was for losers and so I made up as many excuses as I could not to go. Eventually my excuses ran out. 
 
Grade seven was a difficult year. I started going to a youth group at this church which was full of amazing people and was so much fun. However, my friends at school were also getting more involved with smoking, drinking and other things. I still really cared what they thought of me and so I lived a two-faced life. I also would go to bed with this feeling in my heart like something was wrong…missing. I can remember that so clearly.
 
Finally in the winter of Grade 8 I was at a youth group retreat and I felt like God spoke to my heart and asked whether I would let Him have my whole life, or would I keep living for others and ultimately myself? It was a battle because I had a lot of pride and didn’t want to be ‘unpopular.’ As I talked to God I realized that I had guilt and fear, I wanted that to be gone and I was tired of the double life. I decided to accept Jesus’ offer. I went to school after that weekend and I was totally released from that need for approval. I was finally able to stop caring only about myself and instead care about others. The freedom and weight off my shoulders was indescribable.

I look at what happened to some of those friends as they grew up, one was pregnant by age 16, another in jail after high school for murder, others involved with gangs, drugs… I have no doubt I would have made choices to do some of those same things to be accepted.

I’m not perfect (even though Ben always tells me I am, he is so sweet!) and I often find myself living for my own pleasures instead of loving others first, but I know that this journey is one of love, forgiveness, and growth. It’s actually a love story between God and me, He pursued me and won, and I would give my heart over again and again….  No regrets!

Thanks for letting me share my story with you- it is exciting to celebrate my first freedom festival!

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Always time for friends and family

Sorry it has been five days since our last blog.We are studying the pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) which can be dry and boring unless you look for the big picture and understand historical context- so actually these books that I used to think were dry and boring are really coming to life! I love studying the bible! Life becomes richer, fuller, and deeper!
 
We are trying to get ahead in our work a little because Ben’s dad is coming to visit next weekend! We are very excited to see family, it feels like much longer than a month since we have been home. I guess it is because of our study schedule… We made a new video and it should start playing in a few minutes- it’s a little silly and cheezy but I hope seeing our faces helps you remember us :) 
 
Well everyone here is a thought for you, what is one thing you want to accomplish before your life is over? We’d love to hear some of your thoughts, so hey…leave a comment!
 
Some of my goals: go to every country in the world (okay maybe a little unrealistic but aim high right?) and I would like to write a book one day, but I will have to wait until I have something to say. I heard once that if you write a book it should be something that is burning on your heart so much that you just have to let it out! However, right now my goal is to finish this SBS…well! It is good to have goals, keeps you in line and makes life much more purposeful! Another goal of mine is to live in such a way that I grow in closer friendship to the only True God and to help others along that path as well as they desire to do so…
 
Okay enough rambling. Back to work. Thanks for listening, caring and staying in touch! We value relationships SO much!  
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Who?

If I was telling you a story about a friend of mine, and you and I were not that close, I probably wouldn’t bother mentioning who my friend was. For example, "my friend and I were out for dinner yesterday when such and such happened". Now if you and I had a close friendship I would probably say instead, "My friend John and I were out yesterday, you know John, he’s my friend from work, anyways John and I were out…" 
 
Ok, its the simplest example I could come up with but this is what I learnt this week – when you get to know someone, spend time with them and care about them it is expected that you know their name. Many of us think of God, the intelligent force or whatever out there, but few of us – me included often – realize that He, God, shared his name with us so that we might know him. He wants to be known by us. Exactly that, He isn’t some unnamed force, but rather he has a name, I AM WHO I AM. Ok – so maybe the name isn’t like Ben which is pretty simple and explained but it gives us a glimpse of how big He really is – He chooses who He wants to be, He doesn’t change like shifting shadows, He loves justice, He is filled with love and kindness, He is willing to be known. I want to know him.
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Billy in the Hills

This was a crazy week, it’s a good thing God said take a rest once a week. Ang and I have sat in our chairs for nearly 30 hours except for a wonderful day off on sunday – we took a long walk and watched two of the original hillbillies episodes (i mean, they were the original – they didn’t even have the theme song, just the music). Actually this weekend was cold over here but it looked nice and warm for the ‘Peg (-5). Well we completed our homework for Genesis, God shows himself to be wonderfully close to each generation as they obey him. I think we’ll celebrate tonight’s work with another hillbilly episode, so far Jed is my favourite but granny really keeps him on his toes.
 
On a final note> Ang would kill me if she knew I was putting this up here but … Colts will win the superbowl, 27-20 (don’t put money on that, my predictions are priceless (or worthless :)!
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We Speak to Nations

So what has our life been like this past week?
 
Well, we have a guest speaker Carl Amerding (from CANADA!) this week who has written articles for many books and commentaries, has been president of Regent College, lived in Israel, Germany, Switzerland, etc. and the list of his accomplishements goes on (Ph D in Middle Eastern and Semitic practices). The coolest thing is that while he is so smart, he still is totally down to earth and easy to talk to! He is a great man to be teaching us Genesis! We are so blessed! Genesis is a big book and so we have 40 charts to do this week (each takes 45 minutes) so if you think to pray for us, that we will have good time management and endurance, we would really appreciate it.
 
You may notice that a video comes up after a few minutes, it is a moving video about the needs around the world for freedom and love through Jesus, and we have been given special permission by Voices of the Faithful (International Missions Board) to have it play on our website. Feel free to check out their website at http://www.voicesofthefaithful.com.
 
Have an awesome day!
 
By the way- does anybody think we really will get a new stadium for the Bombers? I sure hope so! What about airport shuttles? See, we do keep up on Winnipeg news :)
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Celebration!

Celebrating Achievements is important! We wanted to share these pictures from our Graduation which occured just before Christmas. We call these mini-grad’s (since it is not the end of the whole school) a Love Feast!
 
On another note we had a huge test this morning (Had to memorize the reason every book was written in the New Testament, the Main Idea of each book and the Key verse) and both of us did pretty well. That is another achievement we are celebrating today! Tomorrow we start with Genesis :) There are so many things that we learned as we studied the New Testament – so many ways that we feel God challenged us to live differently, to experience His love for others and for ourselves more and more. Words like humility, unity, love, sacrifice, selflessness, perseverance, comfort & victory come to mind. The journey the last three months has been like starting in a boat at the mouth of a river and experiencing every part until you are thrust into the ocean: the calm slow movement where the river narrows, the rushing rapids over sharp rocks, turns and bends along the way, but what a ride it has been! Thank you to the many who have prayed and encouraged us to stay in the boat and keep going!
 
But it is not over yet! We are excited to dive into the next 6 months with the same vigour that we came here with! We look forward to sharing our thoughts and experiences with you as we go… Please share yours with us as well- we love mail, email, comments (I’m having a deja-vue, have I said this before?)  
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Earthquakes and Tidal Waves!

We had quite the scare last night when right around 8pm people bust into the computer rooom – a tsunami is coming! After the shakes we’ve had these are not so funny jokes right outta the blue. Well anyway, there was a 8.2 (or close to it) quake northeast of Japan and the whole Pacific got a Tsunami warning – its a pretty good system because we knew with lots of time to spare. So I found where the warning updates are on the web and I thought I’d give you the address – last night I was checking this page every twenty minutes. At the top you’ll notice this was the sixth message and it hasn’t changed since. Well, one more harrowing encounter with mother nature and we live to tell about it! Have a good day everyone, enjoy the weekend. As one author put it, keep warm and well fed :). Oh yeah, the page http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/wmsg.
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Your opinion…

Everyone always wants to give their opinion on a subject- ever notice that?
 
Even if they aren’t asked they’ll offer it: "What a nice day out today." "Yeah it sure is beautiful, not quite as nice as yesterday though."
 
So here on our site, guess what- we WANT your opinion! We love comments and we read every single one of them- sometimes more than once. Why do we love them so much? Not sure, but I think it is the fact that we know all this work we do to keep this website up to date isn’t for nothing.
 
Now here is the challenge, for some reason we cannot get this website to allow everyone to post comments. You have to have a ‘windows live id’. In case you didn’t know this is a: 1) hotmail address  2) passport address or 3) msn address. If you don’t have one of these all you have to do is sign up for free. (click on the little link or go to www.hotmail.com) This is not a big deal and only takes a minute or two- and then guess what? You can leave all the comments you want!
 
Okay, I think I am done now. I promise I won’t ask for comments again :) At least for a little while…
 
By the way, I noticed it is pretty cold at home these days, I hope all you Winnipeggers are keeping warm- drink a cup of hot apple cider for me, they don’t have it here. Oh, and for those in fuel, we are jealous we can’t be with you for winter wonderland, think of us as you go ice skating and tobogganing.
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Unity

How good and how pleasant when brothers dwell in unity… Psalm 133:1
 
Two nights ago we had ‘aloha night.’ Every quarter right at the beginning we have a big celebration welcoming all the new students! Island Breeze (a hawaiian ministry team) performed two amazing dances and there was a procession of flags representing all the different countries that are here this quarter. Over 30 different nations are here on the campus right now but I want to tell you what really moved me. We began in Africa where people from Rwanda, South Africa, and many other countries were represented. We moved next to Asia where Mongolia, South Korea, Taiwan and more waved their flags proudly as their national anthem was playing. It is amazing to be in such a multi-cultural, international community! The most moving part of the night for me was when we got the Middle East, Anushka from Israel walked in with her white flag bearing the star of David and then following her the first person to come to YWAM Kona from Palestine waved his flag! Israeli and Palestinian united in Christ! It is only the power and love of Jesus that can unite people like that. He then came up and prayed in Aramaic for all the people and the nations of the earth to hear about the Love of God through Jesus Christ. 
 
On another note we are right back into a full work load this week and we are so excited to be studying the gospel of John! What an awesomely written book about the person of Jesus and how he was God in the flesh! You know, I have never known anyone to rise from the dead but Jesus! As we study the book this week so far that is what has stuck out so far, there is no need to fear death because I know the one who has power over it :) what a comforting, peaceful realization!
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Carcassonne

We are game people! Anyone who has spent any time with us knows that we love games! In a few days we will have very little time to play games and so we are getting it out of our systems during these last few days of vacation. Ben thinks it is a good thing to advertise how much better at Carcassonne he is than me, and so at the bottom of this page you can see a tally of who has won more games, myself or Ben… So far, I’ve only beat him once- it’s so frustrating to be married to someone who is smarter than you :)
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The Big Island

Well – we’ve seen it. And it’s big. Rainforest like Penang, coffee plantations like Columbia, ranchland like Texas, volcanoes like Hawaii, the ocean like the Caribbean – this island has it all. We enjoyed two days of driving, walking and picture taking around nearly the whole big island. We enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere of the Hilo Bay Hostel for a couple of nights while we soaked up the rain of the east side of the island. Hilo has over 3000mm of rain annually (that’s the most anywhere in the U.S.). Hawaii has an excellent park system and we saw where trees had been covered with lava and then the lava drained away leaving lava stumps, there were many gorgeous waterfalls and some tremendous plants on the scenic road, incredible gulches filled with flowering vines and palms and trees in gorgeous arrays. This was a most wonderful way to cap off an excellent Christmas!
 
We’ve included a short video that should start automatically after a few minutes. We heard that for many of you this is your favorite part of our website! If you have watched it once already we recently uplaoded a better version so it should be more clear than the last one.
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Christmas in Canada

We arrived late last night back to Kona and realized that this place was starting to feel like home. It’s a funny feeling when you start to think a place like Hawaii is home, but as I type these words and barely notice the seven kids that live above us jumping off their loft I realize that the three months we’ve already spent here feel a lot longer than that.
 
Winnipeg was white and pleasantly cool over Christmas. We arrived at the airport only to be greeted with lots of family…and that pretty much summarizes the whole trip. We spent almost all our time with family-it was awesome! Ben’s sister Lisa was due to have her fourth baby the week we were home and we waited with anticipation the whole time hoping that it would happen. We had lots of laughs between Phase Ten and Karaoke with the Krystiks and hanging out with the Doerksens. We were also able to see a lot of friends at church on Christmas Eve and had the opportunity to serve others on Christmas day at Siloam Mission.
 
We got this great new game called Carcassonne for Christmas and we played it with Kevin, and then again at the Doerksen gathering with Jon, Mandy, Colin and Tasha, with our little cousin Twila’s help! It’s a fun game and any who would like to play it with us is invited to come over for a games night, it’s only an 8-10 hour flight :)
 
The last day at home we drove around like crazies trying to do little errands like get Tim’s coffee cups for people back here in Hawaii originally from Canada. We packed that night until 1:00am and then got up a few hours later to be at the airport for 4:00am. It was hard to say good-bye… there were so many people we wish that we could have spent more time with and we miss everyone already, but now we have a much needed week of rest before we dive back into studies!
 
Oh, and by the way, this morning we woke up to an email that Lisa had her baby the same time we were leaving for the airport, a little cutie named Noah Ethan, I knew we should have stayed just one more day…
 
 
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Christmas in the air…

Even without the snow and cold Christmas is still in the air here on campus. If you stay on this page for a minute or two a video will start that highlights our Christmas celebration here last week. It ranged from upbeat Christmas carols, classical music, a commissioning by Lorne Cunningham (founder of YWAM) for a group of DTS teams leaving for Africa, and a congo line to the beat of Drummer Boy to finish it all off. Hope you enjoy getting a little picture of a worship celebration here. The picture may be a little fuzzy, I do that so it doesn’t take too long to load for you.  
 
On another note, in the photo album you will see a few shots of our room. The focal point of the pictures is the string by the cieling. The other day Ben and I got an envelope in the mail. We were so excited (as we always are when we get mail), but you can imagine our shock when the envelope contained over 20 Christmas cards and encouragement notes from people in our church! It totally made our day! Thank you to everyone at Kilcona for taking the time to do that, and thank you to the missions team for coordinating it! We couldn’t wipe the smiles off of our faces all day, and with the super busy weekend we are having trying to get all of our work done before we leave on Wednesday, it couldn’t have been better timed! We strung them all up and will continue to add any letters we get in the next six months. We’ll see just how many times we can go around our room!
 
 
 
 
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Catch me if you can

 
Frank Abagnale Jr had a very unique life even before he turned 19. This movie by Spielberg starring Tom Hanks is quite a story, basically a true story (watch the extras). Obviously his is not a life we should aim for but it is a reminder that good things can still come from something broken, we can all break free of our past. It also shows well the very negative impact that broken marriages have on children, not to mention the partners. We are all broken people with the need for forgiveness which means we also must learn to forgive each other just as God through Christ forgives us.
 
Angela and I enjoyed it last night as we relaxed before launching into our last full week which is packed even over the weekend before getting a break for Christmas on the 21st. Thanks to all of you who sent Christmas cards & pics- they’re strung up (we’re not, they are) all over our room.
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We did it!

I can’t believe it but it is true! We have finally finished our books reports! Imagine summarizing an encyclopedia! That is what our book reports basically were! Can you see all the exclamation marks? That is because we are finished!!
 
And so tonight we celebrate! We are going over to our friend Bryan’s house to watch Elf and make cookies- good mindless entertainment!
 
"this is buddy the elf, what’s your favorite colour?"
 
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Joy- how do I get it??

Just imagine a stagnant pool…can you see it? Algae growing on top, no movement, the water begins to stink because it has no oxygen flowing…
 
Now imagine a fresh bubbling brook, moving, dancing, laughing! Can you picture it in your mind?
 
We have just finished studying the wonderful book of Philippians where the main message is humility brings joy in all circumstances, even suffering. It’s like they say, "true joy is elusive because when you try to get it you never can, but if you forget about yourself and serve others then you realize that joy is there."
 
The writer of Philippians can say this with confidence to them. Why? Because he was held in a horrible prison in Phillippi and they all knew it. So Paul, is in a HORRIBLE situation (decaying bodies around him and in stocks that separate his legs to the point of MAJOR pain after being severly flogged) and what does he do? Prays and sings.  All of a sudden an earthquake happens and his bonds are released. He could totally have escaped but he chose to stay. Why? Because the jailor in charge of guarding him would have been killed for losing the prisoners. He puts aside his own rights for someone else. Guess what happens to the jailor? He is impacted big time and gives his life to Jesus. (Read Acts 16 for details)
 
Paul has credibility to tell the Philippians that they will find joy in the midst of their suffering if they serve one another, because it was right in Philippi that he lived this out. So what is the timeless truth in all of this? As I go through this difficult course, struggle, and want to give up sometimes- I have found that I need to serve others around me and remember that this study is also to serve the ones we will one day teach. It is only then that I continue to find amazing joy each day!
 
So if you would like to be a bubbling brook you need to be flowing, giving into others lives, and then you will be able to dance and laugh- but stay still, serve yourself and you will be like the stagnant pool…stinky and slightly green.  
 
    
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Of Cowboys and Cacti!

 
There has to be a first for everyone – today was ours. We finally had the opportunity to travel around a little. A couple graciously loaned us a car this weekend and on sunday we took her up north through Kohala, hiked this cool trail down like 500ft to a secluded black sand beach. Boy was that a workout!
 
Well we nearly fainted from lack of dietary supplement on the way up so we hit the high country for some chinese chow. We didn’t know we were going to get chinese, but we had only a couple options, either chinese, chinese or japanese – it wasn’t too tuf!
 
Up in those hills (we had a lonely planet guide, but we weren’t too lonely) we met a friendly cowboy. Apparently, up there is the Parker Family Ranch – so named after Peter Parker (jj – spiderman doesn’t do so well with cows). Actually, up around the 2500 ft altitude mark we were met with warm windy conditions. Mr Parker (can’t remember his real first name) got in with the king (thats King Kamahamaha I) he made it rich off some beef and ended up with what once was the largest ranch in america (don’t mess with Texas – Hawaii). Long story short the company now owns just about all of Waimea and surround. So we enjoyed chinese up at his little town with the cows agrazin’ and the cacti agrowin’ (please use a southern drawl).
 
Happy Hunting!
New Pics
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All on a Christmas Day!

Always wanted to go to Broadway?

 This is a big weekend at our home church Kilcona as they present their annual Christmas Musical. This year they have taken a different twist and it is a broadway style, with singing, dancing, acting and everything! My best friend Liza May is directing it and I know that it will be awesome!

 Yesterday night and tonight (Saturday Dec 2) are the dessert theatres which are both sold out, but Sunday night is the final performance (December 3rd- 6:30 punch, 7:00 pm start) tickets are only $2.00 to help cover costs and there are still some left (Call 222-7384, or go nice and early and you can pick some up). I wish I could go because I know it is one of the best things to get me in the Christmas Spirit, but since I can’t I thought I would let you all know!  

 Also, for all of our friends who are involved this weekend we are praying for you and hope that it all goes well! Hopefully someone will send us an email or leave a comment about how it went!

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Friendly, familiar faces!

This week we have had two experiences that have been awesome!
 
1) We got together with Colin and Tasha Doerksen (Ben’s cousins) who were here in Hawaii on vacation. They came and picked us up in their car on sunday morning and we went to church together. Afterwards we went to ‘Bubba Gump’s’ for lunch. We had an amazing table right on the water. It was so great to see them and have a fun! They are too much, we laughed about Forrest Gump and Lava rock everywhere and just had a great time! Thanks Colin and Tasha for taking the time out of your vacation to visit!
 
2) Our other cool experience this week is our lecturer for the week is Don Gillman from Taiwan. He is the base leader of where we will be working for the next few years and so we had dinner with him last night to talk about what Dan Shui Taiwan is like, what we will be doing etc. He was telling us that there is a huge need for teachers in the area and he would like to set up a teaching team that is based in Taiwan but basically travels and teaches all over Asia. The reason for this is that Titus Project currently only runs for three months out of the year (with about 2 months prep time) and so we will have 7 months of time to do other things throughout the year. This really got us both super excited! We can’t wait to get out there and do something with all this knowledge! As we heard on SpiderMan 2 the other day (yes we took the time to have a date night!) "With much power (insert knowledge) comes much responsibility" Thanks Spidy for the advice!
 
 
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New video!

We are doing our very best to keep this blog updated VERY regularily and also give you a variety of different glimpses into our life, from work to play, pictures to videos! This week I decided it was time for a new video. It is 2 minutes and it gives a short run down of just how we go about studying each book in the bible. Hopefully it will give you a little insight into how we spend our days. It will automatically start to download but may take a minute or two. If there is anything that you are curious about, let us know and we can do a little video about it or maybe take pictures specifically related to that topic, just send us an email or leave a comment on our website, we read every one of them!
 
We also had some guests from Winnipeg visiting us today, we will post more on that in the next few days…