Summer 2019 Update

Posted on June 12, 2019 by randersonohana

We haven’t sent out an update in a while, so we’re sure you’re itching to hear how things are going with us. 🙂 As of this month, we have been back with YWAM Kona for 6 years already. Hard to believe! Though we miss our life in Washington, we still feel called to serve here, and believe we are where God wants us to be.

Kenya Workshop

2019 started with a trip for Paul to Kenya, his first time in Africa. What a stunning country and beautiful people! The purpose of the trip was to run a “Family Reunification Workshop”. The week-long workshop was highly successful, with almost 200 attendees representing 120 organizations from 7 developing nations (Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, South Sudan ,Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia). With the current movement around the world to shut down orphanages, there is an urgency to do something in this sector.

The purpose of the workshop was to share a model that has been successfully used to transition from an orphanage into a family reunification center. The goal of these FRC’s is not to house the children long-term, but rather to get the children back with loving, biological family. Keep in mind that 80% of “orphans” have living relatives. The orphan crisis is a large one with an estimated 8 million children in orphanages, and 100 million children living on the streets.

Workshop attendees
The team who put on the workshop
Beautiful Kenya
My travel buddies, David and Jeff

Back in Kona

Paul continues to drive the internal development of the University’s Salesforce system. This is our entire student registration system, and in the next year, will also host data on our staff and other types of volunteers. This new system will transform the University’s administration, and replaces a legacy system that is long past its use by date. With the University’s goal of training 5,000 students per year, the focus to streamline our systems is increasingly important.

Financially, Paul continues to be involved in the CFO team which oversees all campus spending, as well as the Finance Working Group (FWG), which sets finance policy and answers finance related questions. Campus finance continues to “mature” and we now have a lot of stability in this area. The dual focus of the campus is to pay down debt and to develop the property. The FWG has spent the past 9 months developing a finance policy manual, which will be a helpful tool for our staff. This policy manual is expected to be launched by end of June.

Trials

In James 1:3, we are told to rejoice in trials. We have had lots of opportunity to rejoice in 2019. The campus has been facing some headwinds this year related to development of the “62 acres”, the undeveloped parcel of land adjacent to the main property. The campus was required to have meetings with the land use commission (LUC), to do with the zoning of this parcel. After some stressful months, we are now seeing some favor in this area. The campus is rallying behind this, and the goal in the next 4-5 months is to draft a complete plan for the development of this parcel. We just held a “charrette” today, with around 30 key leaders, to discuss the use of this land.

At the end of 2019, we hope to have the LUC sign off on our plans. At that time, Lord willing, we can start in earnest to develop this land, as funds allow.

Outreach Report

One of the campus’ focus nations is Myanmar (formerly Burma). In early May, we sent a team of around 50 to hold a 4 night evangelistic campaign in that nation. It was incredibly fruitful. Here’s some statistics: 10,501 people heard the gospel message, 561 salvations, over 100 physical healings, 25,626 bibles distributed, over 250 local leaders trained. If you’d like to hear more, let us know. We have a detailed report from this team, with specific testimonies.

The Family

Another school year has come and gone. Next school year, Austin (16) will be a junior, Kyle (11) will be starting middle school and Tre (6) will be starting first grade!

As for Josiah, he has now graduated high school and is off to College. This fall, he’ll be starting at Chapman University in Orange, California, about 15 minutes from Disneyland. Don’t worry, he’s going there to study 🙂 His major will be Applied Human Physiology. Move-in day is August 20th, so the plan is that Lynnette will fly him over and get him set up and moved in. Please pray for him, and for us, as he transitions out of the nest. While Chapman has offered him an incredible package, it’s still a stretch financially. Josiah plans to work part-time to help pay for college. Pray for provision for him during this next season of college, and also for costs related to Lynnette and him being there in August. They’ll probably need to be there for between 1-2 weeks.

Here’s a pic of Josiah’s high school graduation. In Hawaii, they give leis to the graduating students. Fun!

Since February, Austin is now the 4th driver in the family. He just had a successful sophomore year, and finished with all A’s. He’ll continue to attend the local public high school next year. He’s also been enjoying building his own model airplane from scratch, as well as taking motorcycle lessons.

Kyle will be heading into middle school next year, and is growing from a boy into a young man. We’re praying for Kyle to find his passion, something he loves (that’s not his phone or the computer).

As for Tre, he has “graduated” from Kindergarten, and is excited to start first grade in the Fall. Both he and Kyle will be attending the “Learning Center”, which is located on the YWAM campus. Very convenient for us, and has some excellent teachers.

You can also pray for our family to continue to develop good friendships. Sometimes, it’s hard in YWAM as there’s always people coming and going.

We’d love to pray for you too. Let us know what prayer requests you have.

Summer News

Posted on July 23, 2017 by randersonohana

Never a dull moment, as they say. Life for our Ohana in Kona is full, but that’s a good thing! Here’s an update on our life over the past few months.

Lynnette and Austin had an amazing outreach in June, serving with YWAM in Battambang, Cambodia. It was so great for Austin to see an altogether different life than what he sees living in the USA. Austin commented on how it had changed his perspective on life: “It makes me super grateful for all that God has given us”! Their time was spent serving YWAM ministry “Cafe Eden”, which provides meaningful employment and job skills for local women.

They also got to see and serve at the new Battambang campus, which has literally sprung up from rice fields. Here’s a side by side comparison. The pic on the left is Lynnette and Josiah 2 years ago…..the one on the right, in June with Austin. Can you say Transformation?! The new campus is amazing, and God will use this place to greatly impact both the nation of Cambodia, and also surrounding nations.

For Paul, it meant being a solo Dad for a month, and lots of juggling. But the good news was that Josiah was able to drive, and he could run errands for me……well, that was until his bike accident (see story below), and the helper turned into the patient. Fortunately, Lynnette’s parents Dennis and Marilyn came to the rescue, and flew to Kona to help out for 2 weeks. So great to have them here, even though they missed seeing Lynnette and Austin.

Paul joined the Finance Working Group in April, and has been enjoying this new responsibility. This team primarily deals with campus financial policies and processes, but also answers various finance related questions that arise. Paul has also joined the CFO group, which is responsible for approving all campus payments.

Summer Quarter at the campus typically sees low enrollment. This quarter is no exception. There are only 2 discipleship training schools running this quarter, plus two second level schools, totaling around 100 students. To make up for these typically low numbers, it is common for numerous seminars on a variety of topics to be held in Kona, which bring in participants from around the world. This quarter, 2 of the larger seminars have been 21Project and Infusion.

21 Project, run by Circuit Riders (a ministry of YWAM), is running from July 12-30. This seminar has around 350 participants. Here’s the link to the CR website, as well as a quote: https://www.crmovement.com/21-project/

21 Project is for young leaders who are wanting to live for a cause greater than themselves! Come and go deeper in your surrender, walk, and obedience to God as He begins to equip you to carry His presence and His glory into any situation you face. 21 Project recognizes that a generation is responding like perhaps never before in history. This school is designed to reinforce in students the courage, dedication and initiative to awaken their generation to the freedom and power of the Gospel. Our desire is to see leaders who will Revive and Multiply! Revive: by igniting Christians through the gifting God has given them. Salvation: by seeing the lost saved. Multiply: by carrying out the huge dream of God to go into all the world, preach His gospel and make disciples in every part of society.

Infusion Youth Camp has also been running. This event is a 10-day camp for high schoolers. For the first time, this year, they had 2 separate camps. Here’s a link to their website: http://infusionyouthcamp.com/

YWAM Kona was also blessed to have the amazing Francis Chan with us for a few days. Lynnette and I got to listen to some of his teaching. It was so good! If you haven’t heard any of his material before, we highly encourage you to look him up on youtube.

Paul’s work with Chosen & Dearly Loved is going really well. Paul has helped this ministry to improve their financial systems, and is also helping Chosen to launch a new donor management system. So far in 2017, Chosen has helped 26 children be adopted into loving families, by providing matching grants. Chosen’s goal is to be part of eliminating the orphan crisis in our lifetime. For more info, their website is: www.chosenanddearlyloved.org.

Family-wise, our 4 boys are all growing up fast. We now have 2 high schoolers. Austin will be a freshman this year, while Josiah starts his Junior year. Do you think they’re excited?

In March/April, we had Paul’s family visit. It was the first time we had all been together since NZ in 2010. So it was long overdue! It was such an incredible time of visiting with Paul’s two brothers and one sister, along with spouses and children, as well as Uncle Basil from London. While they were all here we got to celebrate Basils 90th and Tiffany’s 40th! We even found time for a group photo down by the Ocean.

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At the same time, Lynnette’s brother Craig was here in Kona for a business trip. It was great to see him, and it worked out really well to have him here at the same time as Paul’s family. He even offered to take the above photo 🙂

April was Josiah’s biggest race of the year with the annual Lavaman olympic distance triathlon. He did incredibly well, crushing his personal best. He finished 12th overall out of 1200 athletes, and even made the front page of the local newspaper.

Kyle will be entering 4th grade this coming August. He is doing well at school, and is definitely a smart young man. Outside of school, he enjoys swimming for the Kona Aquatics club.

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Tre turned 4 in May, but wants to be a teenager already, to keep up with his older brothers 🙂 He doesn’t understand why he can’t drive like Josiah! He is a passionate kid, who brings joy and energy to our life. His favourite things in the world are currently Batman legos and Dinosaurs.

Tre will be starting Preschool next month for the first time. He could have gone last year, and probably should have, but we elected to keep him home for financial reasons. He’s pretty excited to start, and the structure will be really good for him. We’re believing in faith for the extra funding to make this happen, as he also really needs the social development.

Lynnette and Paul celebrated our 19 year wedding anniversary on July 10th. Plans are already underway for the big one next year!

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As we mentioned earlier, Josiah had a bike accident in May. He was riding with a group of bikers, and the biker in front of him fell down, leaving Josiah nowhere to go. He broke his left collarbone, and had surgery a few days later. Here’s a pic of the accident, with Josiah about to flip over the other rider. We are super grateful that the Lord was with him. He actually landed and rolled into the road (55 MPH speed limit), so praise the Lord that there were no cars when that happened. Only the white one pictured below. We’re also grateful for this group of riders, who helped Josiah right when the accident happened. The support he has received from the local Kona triathlon and biking community has been incredible.

going over

Josiah is now doing physical therapy twice per week. We would love your prayers for his complete healing, so that he can get back into the sport he loves.

We hope you are enjoying your summer (or winter for you Kiwis and Aussies)! If you have time, we’d love to hear from you and know how we can pray for you. With love from the Randerson Ohana. (pc: Emily Gallagher)

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Busy times in Kona

Posted on March 18, 2017 by randersonohana

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.

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.

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!

October news

Posted on October 11, 2016 by randersonohana

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!

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.

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.

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.

March Madness, Hawaiian Style

Posted on March 15, 2016 by randersonohana

[Disclaimer: this post has nothing to do with basketball]

Wasn’t it just yesterday we took our Christmas decorations down? Ah no, that was 2 months ago! Oops! As the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun!” The Randerson Ohana has proven that saying to be true thus far in 2016. The time is literally flying by, so it’s time for an update!

We are excited to announce that our family will be in Washington this summer! We’ll be in Whatcom County from June 5th to July 1st. Our first trip back in 3 years!! It’s going to be great to catch up with friends and family. Of course, there’s no way we can spend individual time with everyone, so we plan on having an open house style event. Details will come later, so you can save the date in your calendars.

An update on Paul’s role: at the end of last year, Paul stopped doing the accounting for two local ministries, and began serving in a new ministry called Chosen & Dearly Loved. “Chosen” focuses on orphans with special needs. Paul is really enjoying working there, and his accounting gift has been really appreciated, as this ministry continues to grow. For more info on Chosen, check out their website at www.chosenanddearlyloved.org.

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Paul has also been involved again with the Justice Ships DTS which has been running since the beginning of January at Port YWAM, our “twin” base just down the road from the University of the Nations. The school was again led by Sean. We’ve known Sean and his family since 2002. Paul really enjoys working alongside him, and working directly with a school. It’s quite a bit of extra work though, so doing it once a year is enough! The school has an amazing group of students and staff. Outreach teams will be leaving soon for Panama, Haiti, Germany, Togo, Papua New Guinea, California and South-East Asia. A few of the teams are staying longer than the required 8 weeks of outreach. The Cambodia team is doing a 9-month outreach!

The student call center continues to operate from the DTS office. This is the second quarter it has run, and it really is such a valuable thing to be calling all applicants promptly after they start their applications. This quarter, the call center was managed by another staff, who did an excellent job! Paul was able to teach the call center crew on personal fundraising, taxes and finances. Please pray for someone to lead the call center for the April quarter!

This month has been particularly mad! Two sets of visitors at the same time, combined with Paul’s crazy time for teaching. Paul’s brother Dave, his wife Tiffany, and their 2 kids were here. At the same time, friends of ours from Lynden were here too, so we did our best to get quality time in with both visitors. Paul also had to juggle his regular training sessions: training the April school leaders on finances, and training the January outreach teams on outreach finances. He was also invited to speak in a debrief, preparing the students for life after DTS.

YWAM Kona continues to focus on Bible Distribution as one of it’s core initiatives. Our teams are currently distributing bibles in Nepal, in some of the most difficult areas in the world to reach. Outreach teams are being trained for this purpose: both in how to do this, as well as receiving physical training to do this at altitude….remember, Himalayas! It’s not just giving people bibles. It’s interacting with them and praying for them at the same time. Teams have found people eager for God’s word, and there have been many testimonies of God working through this work.

Click this link to watch a great testimony about Bible Distribution [Facebook video].

For more of what YWAM Kona is doing, “like” them on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/ywamkona. Here’s another example. One of our DTS’s ran a local outreach at Josiah’s high school last week. So amazing!

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Thanks for reading our update! We hope you are doing well. We’d love to hear from you too. Let us know if you have any specific prayer requests that we can be praying for.

God Bless you.

When it rains, it pours!

Posted on September 8, 2015 by randersonohana

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:

Josiah at his high-school track. He is on the Cross Country team, and has been selected for the varsity team.

Riding a horse at a birthday party!

Summary of Outreach to Cambodia

Posted on August 9, 2015 by randersonohana

I asked Josiah to write a report on his and Lynnette’s outreach to Cambodia. Here it is, along with some pictures of the trip.

Going to Cambodia was the best experience I’ve ever had. I learned so many things about myself. It was such a fun trip and I miss that beautiful country so much. I could have stayed way longer, but I had to come back to start High School. Thanks to everyone who donated and contributed to this trip, whether it was donating money, or giving by having me wash your car. I couldn’t have done this trip without you guys!

I’m definitely shocked as to the differences between here and there. I’ve also grown in my faith and my behavior. I met so many amazing people while I was there and got to do things that I wouldn’t be able to do here. Young guys like Sat and Lang were so amazing while we were there, and I got to know them very well.

We got to join in with two visiting teams from the U.S.: a team from Washington State. We did some amazing stuff with them. We got to play with a big group of kids at a school out in a village. We also got to join a team from Texas that arrived right after the Washington team left. For three days, we helpped build bathrooms for another village school. They were both such fun groups! I also got a chance to help at Café Eden with some of the new work being done upstairs. That was a lot of fun. If you are ever in Battambang, go to Café Eden, and try the French Toast and Syrup, it is the best. Also, try the Limenade! (Lemonade, but with limes.)

For fun, I also did something called the “Bamboo Train,” where you sit on a bamboo platform and ride this rail track. Luckily, we got the young guy as our group controller, so we asked him to go really fast, which probably wasn’t the smartest idea. (We gave him some extra money so we would go fast. Shhh, don’t tell anyone!)

My highlight of the trip was everything! Except for when I got sick the last few days of being there, but no worries. Once again, thanks to everyone that helped me and my Mom complete this amazing journey!

-Josiah

Josiah at the local market

Josiah holding two baby crocodiles, just born that day!

Our view out of the window of Cafe Eden, a ministry of YWAM Battambang

This is how we got around every day

Josiah and Lynnette in a TukTuk

Josiah and Sat, one of the amazing Khmer guys he got to know

Josiah with the Washington College missions team

Josiah doing tricks with yarn with some kids

Lynnette’s very favorite picture from outreach!

Josiah with his “scavenger hunt” team

Starting the foundation and floor of the toilet block for a village school

Finding the “treasure in a basket” (candy) after learning about the hidden treasure story in the Bible

Josiah and I on a Moped – Yes, there’s 3 of us!

Josiah washing dishes at the YWAM base

Group shot with Washington team, traveling in back of pick-up

With the awesome Childers family

Hanging out with 2 YWAM staff kids

Lynnette with Sopheap, our contact while we were there

Working on metal for the foundation

Working at Cafe Eden

Josiah with 3 of the Khmer guys he really connected with

Lynnette and Suel Pratt – her amazing family serves with YWAM Battambang full-time

Josiah and Lynnette with Anna Milligan – Anna is the founder, the heart and the mind behind Cafe Eden, an amazing cafe/ministry in Battambang, as well as a key leader there.

Josiah and Lynnette, just left Cambodia, now on the Thai side of the border

A quick update from Battambang

Posted on June 29, 2015 by randersonohana

Hi all, many of you have been asking how Lynnette and Josiah are doing. So, I asked Lynnette to write a brief update on their time in Battambang so far.

Josiah and I have been here for two weeks now! Wow…it is HOT. Yes, we live in Hawaii but it is HOT here!
We have two bicycles that we use to get around, and have enjoyed riding around different areas of the town. Last week, we worked at a home one day that goes and gets kids from the area that have very little and they take care of them for the day. They feed them breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then they wash the clothes that they come in so the children can go home in clean clothes. I was asked if I could share with the staff, so I shared with them on the topic of unity. It was a wonderful time!

Today, we started building a wall around two toilets. Hot, hard work, but rewarding to see the smiles on the kid’s faces to know they will have two private toilets!

Josiah is doing really well, and I am feeling blessed to get this special time to be with him. He is embracing the culture really well. I am very proud of him.

Please continue to pray for us while we are here that the Lord would shine from us and use us has He desires. Please also pray for Paul, Austin, Kyle and Tre as it is hard to be away!!

We have a powerful Loving God who I am so excited to serve!
Blessings,
Lynnette and Josiah!

And some pics:

Josiah and Lynnette building a wall to create private toilets

Josiah helping to prepare lunch at a village

Josiah and Lynnette at the all new University of the Nations Battambang Campus

Josiah and Tyler from YWAM Kona! It’s a small world sometimes!

Josiah on his own initiative, started helping with the dishes.

Josiah with one of the YWAM Battambang staff children

Grace falls down like rain

Posted on April 15, 2015 by randersonohana

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!!

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.

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

Posted on June 3, 2014 by randersonohana

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!

Randerson Ohana

Serving with YWAM – U of N Kona

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