2013 is only days away from being done! It seems like January 2013 wasn’t that long ago, and here we are, the end of another year. Time flies by so fast; it’s a good reminder that we need to make the most of every moment that we have been given.

Our year had two major events. We had another baby in May. Tre is now just over 7 months old, and is now mobile. Look out world! He is a sweet boy, who adores his family, and readily gives a big smile to anyone who catches his eye. Then, in July, sensing the Lord was calling us into something new, we moved to Kona to serve as full-time volunteer missionaries with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). It wasn’t easy to say “Yes, Lord”, because we were content in Lynden, but it has been the right thing for our family to be back in YWAM. We are grateful to be part of how God is using YWAM to spread the gospel around the world.

This Christmas was very different than the last few years. We will have to figure out some new Hawaiian Christmas traditions. This year, we went to the beach on Christmas Eve. I guess not everyone can say that!! 🙂 We spent part of Christmas day celebrating as a family, part of the day with Paul’s parents, and the rest of the day with friends. Here is a picture of Tre, enjoying a new book.

Watching our children open gifts on Christmas day, I was reminded of some other “gifts”: for many families, 2013 was the year they received the gift of clean water! Justice Water (a ministry birthed in Kona, but with hub locations in Haiti, Togo and from April 2014, in Cambodia) produces an excellent Annual Report each year. For those not familiar, Justice Water uses inexpensive technology to give people access to clean water. For example, a BioSand Water Filter that can eliminate 99% of water impurities can be built for under $20. Gifts like these water filters can radically alter a family’s life and their future, and once they receive that gift, we have found they are often more open to hearing the gospel message. Click here to view the 2013 Annual Report. It’s a great read!

We also reflect on the incredible privilege it is to serve here with YWAM. As volunteers, we rely 100% on funding from generous donors like you. We are so thankful for the team of faithful supporters we have, that give to us each month without fail. We are so blessed to have these partners alongside of us. Having said that, we are still looking for a few more people to commit to supporting us financially on a monthly basis. If you would like to partner with our ministry in this way, visit our Partner page to find out HOW you can give.

If you would like to make a one-off financial gift before year-end, time is running out. Since this coming Tuesday is the last day of 2013, if you would like to have your contribution count towards your 2013 taxes, I suggest you call the Donor Processing Office (808-326-4428) promptly. If that doesn’t work, please call us (360-393-8662 Paul) and we will be glad to help. Thank you so much to those of you who have already sent year-end contributions! May the Lord bless you richly!

With all that happened in 2013, I think we can be confident that God will do even greater things in 2014.

In John 6, we read the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes. A crowd has gathered around Jesus, and knowing they are hungry, He asks Philip “how shall we feed them?” Philip observes it would take 8 month’s wages to buy enough food for each person to have just a bite. Another disciple, Andrew, finds a boy with five loaves and two fish, but questions how far that will go among so many. We all know how the story ends: Jesus gives thanks and is able to perform a miracle, taking the loaves and fish, and using it to feed the entire crowd, numbering probably around 15,000 people (including women and children), and not only that, there is even left-overs!!

What an incredible story of how God can take “nothing” and make it into “something”. Isn’t that true of our lives, too? We are like the boy with the five loaves and two fish. From a human perspective, we may think we don’t have much to offer, especially when the needs around us are so great. But it’s not about our perspective. We need to see things from God’s perspective. When we come to Jesus, He is able to use our lives for His glory. I have heard it said before that God is more interested in our “avail-ability” than our “ability”.

God is calling us as His followers to serve Him, to proclaim His name in all the earth. Wherever He has placed you, there are needs all around you. Will you make yourself available today to the Lord, to serve His purposes?

Here is a great video, just released by YWAM, about what it is to be a missionary.

We are gradually finding our feet in Kona. We’ve been here for 16 days now, and it’s starting to feel more like home.

The awesome news is that we have found housing! We found a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo, and we move in August 1st.  The condo is close to campus, so close we can even walk. So we think it’s going to be the perfect place to start out. Long term, we would like to own a home in Kona and put down roots.

The housing timing couldn’t have been better. We had to find a place to live quickly to give the shipping company an address of where to deliver our shipping container. We found housing just in time. Once the container is ready for delivery, you have 10 days to get the container back to the port to avoid surcharges. This 10 days ended up being August 2nd, so we will have it unpacked on the first, and back to the shipping company just in time.

Our car has also arrived on the Island, and we are going to pick it up tomorrow. It will be fun to have our car back, although Paul is eager to unpack our container and get his motorcycle out….but he’ll have to be patient, as it was the first item into the container, so it will be the last item out.

The boys are getting used to the Kona lifestyle, and are starting to make friends too. Tre is now over 2 months old, and is also adapting well to the new surroundings. The poor guy must wonder what happened, having gone from low humidity in Lynden, to super high humidity here.

Our work with the campus is going well. Paul is continuing to meet many of the key players at the campus. He is currently involved with school leader training for the quarter starting in September. Because YWAM operates schools on a quarterly cycle, the need for proper training of leaders is paramount to ensure we have successful schools. Paul’s goal is to make sure systems and procedures are in place so that as the campus multiplies, that our programs are fruitful and effective, for the glory of the Lord. Paul is also putting his accounting background to good use, and has been put in charge of the book-keeping for the cooperative school that Josiah and Austin will attend.

Here’s some pics of the kids at the beach. The pic of Lynnette and the boys is the wonderful view from the U of N campus, overlooking Kona and Kailua Bay.

Our life in the State of Washington is rapidly drawing to a close. We spent the weekend packing our container, and cleaning the house up for the new owners. We were all moved out by Sunday afternoon, and have now moved in with Lynnette’s parents for a few days. On Saturday, we head down to Seattle to spend our remaining time with Paul’s brother Dave & his family. We fly out on Tuesday the 9th.

It was great having Paul’s parents here – not only did they get to meet young Tre, who is now 6 weeks old, we also had some fun times with them, and they were a tremendous help in the packing process.

Packing the container went very well. At first, we didn’t think that all our stuff would fit into the 20 foot container, but thanks to the masterminds of Craig (Lynnette’s brother) and Lynnette, we fit it all in, and with room to spare! We were super blessed by many helpers – people who lifted, packed, cleaned, organized, delegated, got food and those who held babies. And thanks to some generous friends, we even had the use of a forklift, which was necessary to get items into the container which was 4 feet off the ground (not to mention it was a big hit with the boys).

Paul is finishing up at his work this week – he leaves with mixed feelings: sadness because he is leaving behind a job that has given him great satisfaction over the past 6 years, working with a team of great people, but also excitement because we are being obedient to the Lord in what we are embarking on.

Here’s some photos of the packing process, the truck taking away our container, as well as dinner out with Paul’s parents.