Long over-due update

Aloha!

It's been a while since I have written, so a lengthy update is due. Sit down with a cuppa and enjoy! This past quarter has been a busy one, to say the least.

I taught two books:

Zephaniah - a Prophet that warns Judah as they are spiraling downward towards exile to repent so they might be hidden on the day of the Lord.

and

Esther - The story of God's providence and sovereignty in a Jewish Queen of Persia who saved the Jews from annihilation. The story also tells of the origins of the Jewish Holiday "Purim."

Here's a photo of my neighbors, Isaac and Lucas who came to visit as I was preparing my teaching for Esther. They came dressed up as action heros... so I decided to put my Queen Esther costume on and play for a while. I of course was shot repeatedly by imaginary pistols.

Not quite the Purim story... But nonetheless, we had fun.

Speaking of Isaac & Lucas, here's a photo of Isaac holding an Anole Lizard.

These boys live in the downstairs home and their parents are also YWAMers and very involved in their church, Living Stones. Their mom, Jane, is Danish and bakes AMAZING treats for my roommates and I all the time... she's really too good to us. And their father, Andrew, is always giving us meat as he hunts wild pigs and sheep around the island. You may have seen him on "Hogs Gone Wild" on the Discovery Channel. He's the Australian bloke leading the Kona, Hawaii team. If you haven't seen it yet, please watch it and show your kokua (support)!!! Andrew and Jane and their boys have been a great family to me and I feel really blessed to know them. I've babysat a few times, and I seriously tell them I can't wait to babysit more. Being around the boys brings such joy and adventure (and mischief) to my life!

Another major event this quarter was the devastating Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. We did have a warning system here in Hawaii that sounded soon after reading the news of Japan, and indeed, we had tsunami surges and risings up to 11 feet higher than what is normal, causing millions of dollars worth of damage to hotels, small businesses, homes, and property. But, thanks to the advanced Tsunami Warning Sirens and Evacuation plans, we had no loss of life in Hawaii, and for that we are very grateful. This is a photo I took of the asphalt by King Kamehameha Hotel and the Kona Pier after the Tsunami.

Lastly, now that I've shared where I've been, let me share where I'm going.

Our students finished their last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, on Saturday and are now studying Matthew. To see their faces light up as they talk about how much Jesus makes sense in light of the Old Testament brings so much joy to my heart. It reminds me of when I first "got it."

We will have a Spring Break for 7 days starting next Thursday, in which I will be preparing some teaching and also taking some time to hopefully do some scuba diving and hiking and other outdoor things... I feel I've been under the fluorescent lights of this office & our classroom far too long... you would never know by my skin tone that I live in HAWAII!!! ;)

I will be teaching 4 books for the New Testament: 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, and Philemon. Small letters, but oh-so-powerful!!!

And I am gearing up to co-lead an SBS outreach team to Fiji & Samoa from June 30-August 28, so that's another thing on the horizon that I will tell you more about later.

That's the latest from Jillian - always a little late, but always with lots of love and aloha!!!