Tag Archives: Kona

Busy times in Kona

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It’s been a frantic start to 2017 here at YWAM Kona. Paul continues in his primary roles of training in areas of stewardship, finances and outreach.

Justice DTS

Paul is again serving as part-time staff of the Justice DTS at YWAM Ships, with his long-time friend Sean Murphy as school leader. Paul supervises the school finances, and gives oversight to the team outreach budgets. It’s been another excellent school to be involved with, with amazing students and staff. Teams are leaving in the next 2 weeks and heading to Cambodia, Cameroon, Haiti, PNG, Mexico and Vanuatu.

Speaking of YWAM Ships, our twin ministry here in Kona just got given a new boat, valued at $11M. This vessel will serve YWAM’s ministry in Papua New Guinea. You can read more about this here: https://ywamships.net/lastrolabe-set-join-ywam-ships-fleet/

Meetings, meetings and more meetings

There have been numerous groups meeting at YWAM Kona over the past month. The U of N Advisory Board, the Board of Regents, as well as the Board of Trustees have all had their gatherings in Kona. Part of that group of people was John & Sam Hudson, who lead a ministry based in Montana called 100 Fold Studios. 100 Fold is responsible for designing the new U of N campus in Battambang, Cambodia. We met John and Sam 20 years ago during our YWAM DTS in 1997, and had not seen them since. It was so great to catch up with them, and Lynnette will see them again this Summer in Cambodia.

Count down till Cambodia Outreach

Speaking of Cambodia, Lynnette and Austin leave for their 4 week long outreach to Battambang on June 4.

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They are super excited to go! Their tickets have been purchased. Now, we are raising funds for their ground costs. Lynnette and Austin will serve alongside the U of N in Battambang, partnering with their ministry, and also serve at Cafe Eden, which is a ministry birthed from the U of N, and run by a friend of ours, Anna Milligan, who was sent out from YWAM Kona in 2005.

What’s upcoming?

It’s March in Kona, which means it’s “visitor season”! 2017 is no exception. Paul’s family will be coming – they start arriving today actually – for 3 weeks. It will be the first time the whole family has been together since 2010! We are so excited for this time to be with family! We also have dear friends here from England. We met Shane & Christina in 2004 when they did their DTS in Kona. It’s the first time we’ve seen them since 2011 when they visited us in Washington.

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Pic of the last time the family was all together – April 2010, in Auckland NZ. So, pre-Tre and pre Paul’s siblings having kids of their own.

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Pic with Shane and Christina on the Kona Campus – March 17

In mid-April, Paul will join the campus Finance working group. This is a logical move for Paul, who already gives oversight to finances with campus schools. This new team deals more with broader campus operational finances.

Want to do an outreach this summer?

Outreaches to 4 locations are happening this summer through Fire & Fragrance Kona. You do not have to have completed a DTS to go on these outreaches. They are filling up fast. For more info, go to: www.fireandfragrance.com/gonow.

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We trust that you are doing well, and would love to hear from you. Send us an email or a text, and let us know how we can pray for you!

When it rains, it pours!

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Flooding in Kailua Kona August 2015

The weather in Kona lately has been crazy! People who have lived here a long time report that this has been the wettest period they recall. A series of Tropical storms and Hurricanes that have surrounded the Hawaiian Islands in recent weeks have caused high surf, extreme humidity, heavy rain and numerous flash flood warnings. You’ll be glad to hear that despite all of this, we are all doing fine! Apart from struggling with the higher than usual level of humidity, for the most part, we have been enjoying the rain, and it’s fun to see the big waves roll in! Although, Austin’s small car washing business has been taking a hit, with some cancellations of late – go figure!

In addition to a crazy season of weather, September will be a busy month of training for Paul. On Thursday, he will be training our Fall school leaders on understanding/stewarding their school finances. Then on Friday, he will train the departing Summer DTS outreach teams on accounting for their finances on outreach. Then, next week, it’s Corporate staff training for the Fall quarter, and Paul will train roughly 100 staff on budgeting for outreach teams that will depart around Christmas time, and then another session specifically for the school finance person. That’s about 6 hours of training in the next 2 weeks, and many more hours than that go into preparing for these training times. It’s a job that Paul doesn’t take lightly. His goal is to maximize the resources we have been given as a University, so that our discipleship programs can continue to flourish, as we are faithful to the Lord.

The Fall quarter, which begins October 1st, is typically the biggest of the year. We have 9 separate DTS’s running this coming quarter, with an estimated 325 students arriving in Kona, to be trained, equipped and then sent out to the nations as ambassadors for the gospel.

We are humbled to be involved in this place, serving in various ministries, and as a part of the overall missionary training program. We are so grateful to our supporters that partner with us financially, allowing us to do this work for the Kingdom.

Speaking of supporters; due to some policy changes at the University this year, we are now making all our meals at home. Previously, we were provided meals for free on the campus. This, combined with the fact our kids are getting older, is having a large financial impact on our family! We have now used up the savings account that we came to Kona with, after receiving one-off donations as we left Washington, in addition to funds raised at our garage sales, etc.

We are in a season of needing to increase our monthly financial support. Our goal is an additional $1,000 per month. This will take us from a place of barely surviving, to thriving. We would like to have the necessary funding to visit Washington every 2-3 years. Currently, we don’t have the budget for travel like that. As an update on this support initiative, we have one new supporter who has pledged $100/month, so we are on our way! If you would like to become a partner of our ministry, please call Paul at 360-393-8662. To find out more information on partnering with us, visit our website at http://www.RandersonOhana.com/partner.

Here are some recent pics of our family:
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Josiah at his high-school track. He is on the Cross Country team, and has been selected for the varsity team.

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Riding a horse at a birthday party!

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Grace falls down like rain

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As I look outside, rain is coming down hard. When you live in a climate that doesn’t change much, a sudden down-pour, with a massive temperature drop, is cause for celebration…..It’s also motivating me to do a blog update, something that we haven’t done all year. Here’s a picture of Austin, who just returned from a run, soaked! See, I told you it was raining!!

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The first 3 months of this year have just flown by! Paul staffed the Justice Ships DTS at Port YWAM under the leadership of our close friend, Sean Murphy, who we’ve known since 2002. This DTS role was in addition to Paul’s normal role, not instead of. And because the school was at Port YWAM, not at University of the Nations, this meant many trips back and forth. Fortunately, Port YWAM is only about a mile down the road!!

The school had a total of 43 students, and 24 staff, from many different nations, including one Kiwi and a few Aussies, which was fun for Paul. The “lecture phase” of the school focused on personal discipleship. Speakers taught on topics like hearing God’s voice, God’s Father heart, Spiritual Warfare, Evangelism, etc.

Paul’s role was to take care of the school finances. Sean, the school leader, commented that he’s never had a school with such clean finances! 🙂 Paul also had 2 “one on one’s”, which was a weekly time of discipleship with Isaac & Pete, two of the students. Here’s a picture of Paul with Isaac, shortly before Isaac left for outreach. Below that one is a picture of Pete and his family, on their way to the airport. It was so fun getting to know both of them better, and to be able to encourage them in their faith.

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After 3 months of “being transformed by the renewing of our minds”, the outreach teams began departing at the end of March, with the last team leaving April 7th. They are now spreading the gospel in 8 nations: Cambodia, France, Haiti, Micronesia, Panama, Thailand, Togo and Vanuatu.

The team to Vanuatu was a response to the category 5 storm “Cyclone Pam” that devastated that country on March 13th, with winds of up to 200MPH. Within days of the storm, we were able to mobilize a team of 7. The team is helping to bring physical relief in terms of restoring shelter for some of the thousands of people who have lost their homes, and spiritual relief, bringing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Here’s a cool video about YWAM Ships, which features Nick Mason, one of the students from our DTS. For his outreach, he is spending 1 month in Vanuatu, and then going on to Haiti.


The teams will return to Kona at the end of May, for a time of debriefing and graduation from the school. We are so excited to hear their stories and testimonies of all that the Lord has done through them in the nations.

So, what now? It’s back to our normal schedule. Because of the hectic schedule during the DTS, we’ve been intentionally laying low for the past few days, trying to recover from what was an intense season.

For those on our email list, you will know that Josiah and Lynnette are in the midst of planning an outreach to Cambodia this July. The purpose of this trip is to give Josiah a solid foundation in his walk with the Lord before he starts High School next school year. They will work alongside the YWAM ministry in Battambang. Ministries there include orphanage, sports, youth center, teaching English, cafe; tons to be involved with. They can’t wait to be part of it. If you’d like to be part of making this 4-week outreach a reality, we’ve set up a GoFundMe page: www.gofund.me/ryk5dzg.

We were also hoping to make a return trip to Washington this Summer, in June. However, the financing for that has not eventuated. We are bummed, as we were very much looking forward to visiting family and friends. But we feel it is the best choice, to avoid going into debt.

For those of you who are part of our support team, we are SO APPRECIATIVE of you. Literally, we cannot serve in YWAM without our financial partners. So, you share in all the things the Lord is doing around the world, through the ministry of YWAM Kona. If you would like to join our support team, please visit our partner page at www.RandersonOhana.com to find out how you can join our team. And since it’s April 15th, I will remind you that donations to our ministry are tax deductible for U.S. taxpayers.

Thanks for reading! God Bless you!

Be thankful, but only when you feel like it

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In scripture, God tells us to be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18)…..all. That is no easy task! It is easier to be thankful when things are going well, but what about when you are going through a rough patch: sickness, money problems, relationship issues, etc?

Having an “attitude of gratitude” is essential to seeing God’s goodness, in the midst of life’s ups and downs! Life can be a roller coaster, but with the proper perspective, the “loop de loops” can be a little easier to navigate!

We are so grateful for our faithful financial support team: friends and family who believe in what we are doing enough to send money month after month, for our family to live in Kona. But in addition to this type of support, there are other ways we get blessed too! One time we received a $100 Target gift card. At Christmas, we received an amazing care package full of goodies for each person in our family. Then, just this week, we received a package of sunscreen and band-aids, things a family of boys in Hawaii need!

Bottom line: sometimes our support is in “the valley”, and sometimes it’s on the “mountain top”, but through it all, we are grateful for our supporters, without who we couldn’t be here serving the Lord in YWAM at all!

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Life in Kona

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As the saying goes, “time flies when you’re having fun”. It must be true, because 2014 is flying by!!!! In a few days, the year will be one third complete. For you glass half-full types, I will phrase it “there is two thirds of the year left”, to keep everyone happy.

We’ve been so busy in fact, that we haven’t updated the website this year. A bit slack!! So, we have to make amends by doing an incredible post this time! Read on to learn more…

So far this year, we have hosted numerous visitors, volunteered for various YWAM events, volunteered and competed in local triathlons, traveled to Oahu for surgery, on top of normal life and ministry commitments. Life so far in 2014 has been full, to say the least.

The year started off with a surprise visit from Lynnette’s brother Craig, his wife Ann, and their daughter Inga. They surprised us on January 3rd, Lynnette’s birthday.

In late January, we were visited by Paul’s brother Dave, his wife Tiffany, and their daughter Tori. And Paul’s sister, Sally, and her boyfriend Mitch from Australia came too. The only one of Paul’s siblings who couldn’t come was Tim, and his wife Megan, who were missed.

In February, we wrapped up our “visitor season” with visits from Lynnette’s parents, Dennis and Marilyn, and Lynnette’s good friend Jewel, from Lynden. We had a great time hosting all these visitors, showing them our life in Kona, and our work with YWAM.

We also love volunteering at different events. Lynnette made cup-cakes for an “adoption seminar” put on by a YWAM Kona ministry called “Chosen & Dearly Loved”. She also helped to put on “the Big Smile” event, which raised money for cleft-pallette surgeries in Thailand. Another thing our family likes to be involved with is triathlons. Josiah and Paul like to compete in some of these events, and when we’re not competing, we can volunteer by running aid stations for the athletes.

Then, unexpectedly, Tre had to fly to Oahu for hernia repair surgery. So that was a bit traumatic, to see our 11 month old have to go through a surgery, but we sensed God with us, and the surgeon was amazing. Tre did so good!!

Thanks for reading about our adventures these past few months. We are so blessed to serve the Lord with YWAM Kona, and we are immensely grateful to our team of financial and prayer supporters who stand behind us, allowing us to serve as we do.

Meeting Spiritual and Physical Needs in Togo

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One of the YWAM ministries that Lynnette and I will be working with here in Kona is called Justice Water (http://www.justicewater.net).

Justice Water aims to empower developing communities with multipliable and sustainable water technologies, using resources that are available, affordable, and acceptable to their culture and region.

It is easy to take our access to clean water for granted, but according to the World Health Organization, over 1 billion people do not have access to safe water supply sources.

Check out this video below, to show how simple technology can be used to meet one of our most basic needs: clean water.

We have arrived

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For over a year now, our family have been in a transition, as we followed the Lord’s calling to return to Kona, Hawaii to work with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). Well, that season of transition is now over, and we have arrived in Kona to start a new chapter in our family’s life.

We flew in on Tuesday July 9th, and were greeted by not only intense humidity, but also by our good friends Andrew & Jane West and their two boys, Isaac & Lucas. So, as I type this, we have been here for 5 days.

We are privileged to be staying at the house of some friends of ours who are vacationing in Montana for the month of July. They have 4 boys also, so the house is tailor-made for us. At the moment, we are searching for a suitable place to rent. There is not a lot available, so we are trusting the Lord that he will continue to provide for us, not only in finances, but also in accommodation.

The great thing about the place we are staying is that it is around 800 feet above sea level – this is really helping us, by keeping the temperature’s down.

Most people want to know if we are getting settled – I think that process is going to take a couple of months! We are awaiting both our shipping container and our vehicle. Once those arrive, and we have our accommodation sorted out, then I think we will start to feel settled. It is on the one hand great to be here, and feels like we have come back home (this is where Lynnette and I met 16 years ago), and on the other hand, it feels like we have left home in Lynden behind, and we all miss our friends and family from there.

Since arriving, we have been down to the YWAM base several times, as we try to find our way around again. I think one of our favorite places is the Plaza of Nations, which has flags to show the nations that are represented at the Kona base. It is very cool to be surrounded by so many nationalities, and I think just a small glimpse of what Heaven will be like, as the nations worship the Lord together.

plaza of nations

Paul had his first meeting with DTS leadership on Friday. It was a great meeting, and gave Paul a sense of what the Lord is doing right now through the base, and how He is making the DTS program grow in fruitfulness,and effectiveness, but also how the base has such a need for people with administrative skill, to make the program even more successful.

We also celebrated our 15-year wedding anniversary on July 10th, the day after arriving here in Kona. It was special to wake up on our first morning here, and celebrate our journey together these past 15 years, and our future together. We were able to spend that evening with some friends down at the beach, share a meal together, and watch the incredible sunset.

Please pray for our family for the following:

  • For each member of our family to adjust to life in Kona
  • For our family to find housing in the next 10 days
  • For more people to become monthly financial partners of our ministry. We are so blessed by the support we have received, but we are still around $800 per month short.

If you would like to partner with us, either through a one-off gift, or as a monthly supporter, please go to our “Partner With Us” page, which has details on how to give.

Aloha!