Hope and Faith in the Unexpected-back in Michigan for a little bit

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope and pray that you and your family are safe and healthy as we all continue to navigate how to wisely respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

Some major changes have happened for me over the past week.

In the evening on Friday, March 20, the core leadership of YWAM Kona asked all staff and students living on the campus to leave campus and the island if at all possible. At the beginning of last week we had our first few cases of COVID-19 confirmed on the Big Island and on Friday the local Kona health clinic saw many more people coming in with symptoms. It can take up to 7-10 days to confirm cases because tests done on the island have to be sent to mainland USA. Resources (hospital beds, medication, etc) on an island are also limited for treating those who become ill.

At first I did not have any peace about leaving the island so I reached out to several different people I know trying to find a place to stay; however on Saturday late in the morning the Lord gave me a tangible sense of peace about coming back to Michigan for a short season during this COVID-19 crisis. So on Monday, March 23rd I arrived back in Michigan; the plane tickets were a great price, I washed my hands LOTS and used Clorox wipes, wet wipes, and hand sanitizer! I am self isolated in my parents basement for 14 days, in case I was exposed to anything while traveling through 4 different airports (Kona, LAX, Charolette, and Grand Rapids). I am super jet lagged but very healthy so far 😄

On one of my plane rides I had the privilege of sitting near a women who is also a believer and we talked about why we were traveling and then prayed for each other! I think we were both encouraged and blessed by our meeting.

My plane from Charlotte to Grand Rapids was pretty much empty;
only 9 people total and they were all in seats in front of me.
I am super tired in this picture; it was about 20 hours of travel from Kona back to MI.

I am waiting to hear from YWAM Kona about possible online training to be offered during this time; Restoring the Foundations (RTF) prayer ministry has offered some online trainings before; I have been in touch with the people who head up this ministry and they are looking into how to offer more training at this time and have said they will let me know when they can move forward with it. I also heard talk about the campus offering a leadership track course online in April. Both RTF and leadership track were things I was seriously considering doing after staffing this DTS, and then when outreaches were cancelled I was considering doing them this April. My plan right now is to return to Kona when the YWAM campus reopens; I renewed my ID card just this morning! I think I would like to help staff the September Crossroads (but not staff the outreach part) and then stay to staff the entire January 2021 Crossroads DTS including helping staff an outreach.

The funds raised that I was going to use to stay in Kona until at least the end of June ($3,812) will now be saved for when I return to Kona when the campus reopens; if there is a cost associated with the online training (RTF or leadership track) I will updated you on what funds might be used that direction when I know more!

The YWAM Kona DTS students are finishing their last week of lecture online which also includes some debriefing; transitioning home after a normal DTS can be difficult; these students have the added challenge of not doing a normal outreach, the craziness of these times and not getting to walk through a week long debrief in person with their classmates.  I have heard several students mention coming back to Kona do outreach once the COVID crisis ends and others have talked about coming back to staff on campus or be mission builders on another YWAM campus. Those that signed up to do "Homereach" are starting those teachings and figuring out how to connect with people in creative ways, since meeting face to face in groups is just not a wise option right now. This week one of our Crossroads couples hosted a virtual prayer meeting through ZOOM as part of launching their Homereach. I logged in just to see how it went and think they did an awesome job!

I have been following along with the last week lectures/debriefing and below are some links if you would like to check some of the lectures out for yourself!

• Darlene Cunningham - friendship with Jesus and hearing God's voice
• Andy Byrd- 5 teachings about going deeper with Jesus

I will also be following along with the Homereach teaching and will try to post something once a week about what the students are learning!

Answered Prayer:

1. My ears did not hurt and I did not get sick on any of the 3 planes that I took to get home; I am healthy!
2. The students and staff have all returned home safely or found a place to stay on the island during the COVID crisis.

Prayer Requests:

1. Healing of those who are sick with COVID-19; protection over health care workers and that people would be drawn closer to the Lord in this time.
2. Perseverance and intentionality to maintain the freedom God gave me while in Kona and how to walk in it in a way that blesses the people around me.
3. Clear direction from the Lord during these next months about how to use my time here in Michigan and that I would be ready to go back to Kona when the campus reopens!

How can I be praying for you?