Big things on the Big Island

Dear Friends and Family,

We are now staying on the campus of YWAM’s University of the Nations in Kona, HI and are so grateful to be a part of what God is doing.  It's hard to explain the energy, watching students learn, worship, love the Lord with their whole heart and be so excited about going to the Nations to share the Good News. This last quarter there were 65 teams going out to 44 different nations. April's mom, who came to visit for 2 weeks, was able to experience some of it!  What a joy it was to have her here with us! 

The Foundations in Counseling school was cancelled for the quarter so April is staffing a brand-new ministry called the “Discovery Center” helping people discover their destiny and calling.  The idea is to connect students with ideas for their next step, holding “Destiny by Design” (DbD) workshops.  They have held many workshops so far averaging 30-40 people in each training and have gotten amazing feedback with students excited about what God highlights to them. We just both took the teachers training and are excited about how the Lord will use it. In addition to her work at YWAM, she is enjoying serving with Street Feet - a ministry to the homeless and has served as a nurse with a Dental clinic in a very poor part of the Island.  

I (Mark) am currently staffing the Discipleship Bible School at the University of the Nations. It is a secondary school of 43 students and is exciting to see their hunger for the Word of God. In our class messaging, there have been comments like “I love Deuteronomy 30 so much!” “The Bible is so good!” and “Now I see the big message of the Old Testament!”  Late into the evening, many students remain in the classroom working on their homework. Assignments include research, creating timelines, writing essays and sharing with others what they have learned. We also spend a few hours a day reading and discussing the Word in small groups. I taught on the book of Jeremiah this week and was told by the school leader that it was the most interactive teaching he has seen. At the end of July, I will be teaching on the kings of Israel and Judah at the YWAM Ships campus.

We are both so grateful to be making connections with many of the students. I spend individual time with two young men in the school and discuss where they are in life and what God is revealing to them through the scriptures. Being able to walk most days has allowed us to connect with some of the homeless in the area. Please pray for Caleb, a 21-year-old boy who has come to Ministry Night and William, an older man that God has given us a heart for.

We have spent so much time praying and contemplating what God is saying about our next step. It looks like we'll be coming back to the mainland at the beginning of August to take care of some business in Phoenix and Washington before returning to Hawaii in September so April can take the Global Health Care seminar and the Foundations in Counseling Ministry school while I will be staffing DBS again. We are looking forward to return to Kona for 3 reasons:

• We can have a big impact, as this is one of the largest YWAM bases in the world.

• We treasure continued relationships that were started here in 2021, and

• We are a part of the new Calvary Chapel church plant. Our Pastor has a huge heart for ministry and is an anointed preacher.  

Elon just returned from Egypt on a medical outreach to the Sudanese refugees and is continuing an outreach here on the big island for the next month. She really enjoyed the time overseas and was blessed to see the people so open and thankful for all the teaching and care they received. 

The longer we are in ministry, the more we see the value of having people who are praying, encouraging and supporting us. God has given us an amazing "Ohana" (Hawaiian for "extended family") of people and we are grateful for your partnership in God's Kingdom. We want to be more intentional about connecting with you and how we can be a part of your lives. We will be switching to a new electronic platform called Epistle that we expect will improve readership of these newsletters. Please be on the lookout for correspondence from Epistle in the near future.

With love and Aloha,

Mark and April