Tag Archives: university of the nations kona

October news

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We are in week 2 of the Fall quarter. Over 500 new students have arrived in Kona, to be trained and sent out as missionaries to the nations. Here is a picture of student orientation in the Ohana Court [“Ohana” is Hawaiian for family]. The quarter change-over is always a fun time, as the previous quarter’s students go on outreach to share the gospel, and the new students arrive.

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Hard to believe it’s been 3 months already since we were visiting many of our family and friends in Washington state! Our work with YWAM continues to go really well. Paul loves all his roles – DTS office, school finance training, Impact Team, circle leadership, and serving at Chosen & Dearly Loved.

Here’s a great short video that simply explains what YWAM is:

Some family news: Austin is enjoying being home-schooled this year, for 8th grade. Next year, he will join Josiah at the public high school for his freshman year. Lynnette really appreciates having him around the house, as he is a big helper! He is currently working on his tennis skills with his Grandpa, and likes to run.

Lynnette has joined a Mom’s weekly prayer group, and is really loving that. She is quite busy with Tre, who is both adorable and strong-willed. A future leader for sure!

All our boys are doing well – growing up way too fast! Josiah starts DRIVING school on Oct 24th!!!! Kyle is prospering in his new school, and is enjoying swimming. Here’s a pic of them all at Old Airport beach, where we sometimes choose to eat our dinner, rather than at home, because our condo is so HOT!

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October is “Ironman” month in Kona. Last Saturday, the world championships were held, and for our triathlon loving family, it’s a really fun time to volunteer and serve these athletes whose life dream is to finish the Ironman in Kona. Here’s a picture of Kyle serving at an “aid station”, where athletes are given nutrition to keep them going strong. Kyle is such a servant, and LOVES this kind of stuff.

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Josiah, whose dream is to become a professional triathlete, got to meet both the race winners: Jan Frodeno of Germany, and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. Here’s a pic of Josiah and Jan at the awards banquet.

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This is Team Agar – Jeff and his son Johnny, from Michigan. Johnny has cerebral palsy, but Jeff doesn’t let that slow them down. Such is his love for his son, he does the Ironman pulling him! Paul was privileged to meet this amazing family earlier in the week, and Lynnette took this pic on race day. Though they didn’t finish the race, they inspired so many! This is such a testimony of how we are to love our children – selflessly and deeply. Their story has really spoken to us about the love of God the Father. God’s love for us is so great, that He died on the cross for us. He put us first, showing us how we are to live: for others.

If you like to pray for our family, we’ve put a new prayer list on our “partner” page. Check it out by clicking here. We also love to pray for you! Please send us your prayer requests.

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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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.