The Community

God has been putting it on my heart to get involved in the greater Kona community while I am living here. Not just by attending church, although that is part of it, but I really want to be able to be a light and encouragement to locals.

Last weekend, I had a rather traumatic experience watching a 16 year old boy fall onto lava rocks while jumping off cliffs at a place here we call "The end of the world." But our group got him out of the water, carried him to the road, called an ambulance, and prayed for him. (I posted the full story on Facebook Notes if you want to read more.) Then, the next day, a few of the people in our group went to visit the kid at the hospital and he was doing much better, bones we were certain had been broken were not, and he was so grateful we were there. He shared that he didn't ever believe in God until that day.

Then this week I finally was able to arrange my schedule to help at the "Meet & Eat" program at Kealakehe Intermediate School. I am hoping to make this a weekly commitment - every Wednesday. The program serves meals to homeless and/or low income families and individuals... The majority of these people are children. I was talking with one kid after we had cleaned up about trick-or-treating. I asked him if he was bringing a pillow case to stuff full of candy. He laughed and said, "Not even! I did that once but then had all this sticky melted candy in my pillow and ants on my face! Now I use a trash bag!" I suppose trick-or-treating in Hawaii is a bit different from in Washington where its FREEZING usually... not to mention, I just assumed the kid would have more than one pillow case, you know?

So, anyway, even though for this season, I am called to minister to the students in the CSBS, I know that I am also called to be a light to the community around me... and I pray that more and more from YWAM in Kona will have that same heart calling and we will see more and more locals come to know God and make God known.

Here are some things I am praying for that would help me to be in the community more--please join me in prayer for God's provision!

• A place to live off-campus and the right roommates
• A new Buoyancy Compensator (BC or BCD) and weights for scuba diving
• For the CSBS students to feel God's heart for the lost and hurting here in Kona
• For more opportunities like the "End of the World" incident to share God's love with locals whether at Walmart, the beach, or just walking down the road.

Mahalos for the prayers!

Jillian