Hard to believe it’s already April! The year so far has been a whirlwind of activity for our Ohana. Here’s a recap of the first 3 months of 2018.

As Paul has done for the past 3 years, he again served on a part-time basis with the Discipleship Training School (DTS) being run by our twin ministry down the road from the main YWAM campus, YWAM Ships. Paul enjoys doing this each year, as it is run by his good friend Sean, and Paul has a great deal of respect for how Sean leads, and so he enjoys working with him, but also, it’s a good opportunity to work directly with a school. Paul gives oversight to the finances of the school, making sure that the finances flow smoothly from start to finish. The school of 50 students plus staff has just sent out 6 outreach teams to Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Haiti, Cameroon, Costa Rica and Cambodia.

This drone picture will give you an idea of YWAM Ships’ great location. YWAM Ships is the buildings surrounding the swimming pool. The lower left hand corner of this photo is the stunning Kailua Bay.

As one quarter comes to an end, another begins. Thursday was Spring Quarter arrival day in Kona, with over 300 students coming to be trained as missionaries. These students are from 39 nations, participating in 6 different DTS’s and 12 different upper level courses.

Lynnette continues to serve on the campus Beautification Team. This team was formed last August, and has REALLY become important as the campus looks to beautify all areas – landscaping, exterior of buildings, interior of buildings, furnishings, window treatments, etc. She is enjoying working on this team, and she is in her element in this role. Currently, this team are remodeling a room that will be the office of Darlene Cunningham, the co-founder of the mission. The room should be completed by the end of April.

Here’s a picture inside the Defender Building, working with the architect.

There is great momentum right now. All over the campus, people are sensing that the Lord is doing something fresh, and we are seeking to be right in the middle of all the plans He has for YWAM Kona. In the early part of 2017, the base encountered some significant challenges, but we are so thankful that we are moving beyond those challenges, and into a season of growth. To give you two specific examples: We are currently moving ahead with finishing the upper and lower levels of the Defender Building, which will greatly increase our classroom capacity. In addition, we are also starting 2 new dormitory buildings to accommodate the additional students the Lord is bringing to us. Based on our current projections, we estimate 875 students will come to Kona for training this Fall. Last Fall Quarter, we had approximately 600. That’s a staggering 46% growth. Part of the reason for this is the launching of a new school called Foundations for Revival & Reformation, or Rev & Ref for short [we YWAMers like to abbreviate :)]. This 9-month school will start this Fall, and we anticipate around 200 students. For more info on this school, visit: http://ywamkona.org/uofn_courses/revivalandreformation/

As is the case every Spring, we have been BLESSED with many visitors: Lynnette’s parents coming over Christmas, Paul’s brother Dave & his family, Lynnette’s brother Craig & his family, Uncle Basil from London, and then friends: VanderHaak’s (Washington), Hudsons (Montana), Gallaghers (Chicago).

Austin has been enjoying playing tennis for Kealakehe High School. Here he is, with his Uncle Craig, Aunty Ann, and cousin Inga during his 1st match.

You may recall that Josiah had a very serious bike accident last May, breaking his collar bone. Unfortunately, he recently had another accident: he was hit by a car on Feb 25, as he was biking. The driver didn’t see him. Fortunately, the Lord was watching over Josiah, and he escaped with minor injuries. His bike was seriously damaged, but we were able to repair the bike as the driver’s insurance covered the accident. One other negative factor was the accident happened just 4 weeks before the Lavaman Triathlon, the race he had been training for, for months. After the accident, he wasn’t able to train, and in fact he wasn’t able to run until a week and a half before race day.

Because of this, we went into Lavaman with moderate expectations. Despite this major set back for Josiah, he finished the Olympic distance triathlon 13th overall, and 3rd in his age group. This local race had over 1,100 participants. His result was also good enough to qualify him for age-group nationals, which will be held this August in Cleveland, Ohio. He also qualified for nationals last year, but was too young to go. Austin also participated in this race, doing the 25 mile bike portion as part of a 3-person relay team. He did really well, and we are super proud of his achievements too, especially his persistence in training. His relay team, which included 2 young ladies from his High School, actually won their division.

Summer Plans are in full swing. We are planning to incorporate some time in Southern California, to look at some colleges there (Josiah is a Junior this year), followed by time in Washington, visiting family and friends, and then some of us will head East for Josiah’s race in Ohio, while the rest of us will head back to Kona. We plan to be in Southern California in late June and Washington in July. Exact dates to be determined. We sure hope you’ll be around, so we can see as many of you as possible. Our last trip to Washington was in 2016, and the last time our family was in California was in 2005, when Josiah was 4, and Austin was 2.

We have the funding for most of our Summer plans, but:

• Renting a car for 6 people is expensive. Do you have any leads on a vehicle our family might be able to use, either in Southern California, or in Washington?
• Getting Josiah and his bike to Triathlon Nationals is going to cost around $2,000. Would you consider partnering with us in this? The Lord has gifted Josiah in this sport, and we want to encourage him in it.

We hope this post finds you well. If you live in Southern California, the State of Washington, or lower British Columbia, we hope to see you this Summer.