The Lord Leads in His Perfect Timing

A picture that I feel like describes how the Lord has been leading me over these past few month is this:

All around me looks dark, but the Lord shines a light on someplace specific and I know clearly that is where He is directing me; the amount of time the light shines in that place varies (lately is has felt really short!:)), eventually I start to see the light shrink around me and know He is leading me somewhere else in the near future. I start looking/asking/praying for where He is guiding me. Sometimes, the next lighted place appears just before the current one goes dark...and other times it feels like it gets totally dark where I currently am...and then I am to just stand firm and wait, trusting He is with me even when it feels/looks dark, that there is good purpose in the waiting, and He will shine light someplace "soon" and show me where He is leading next.

Thank you for joining with me after my last blog post to pray for clear direction, I feel like I am seeing our prayers begin to be answered!! The past two weeks I have been assisting the campus health clinic in the afternoons get caught up with digital medical data entry. I saw that they needed volunteer help with this when I was staffing DTS in Feb/March and even prayed that God would send them help; so I was glad to be able give time now; the medical staff have been very kind and welcoming to me! I will continue to serve doing data entry a couple afternoons a week for the entire fall quarter . Even though Crossroads DTS was postponed, there are still several other schools that will run this fall; this week Wednesday (Sept 23) and Thursday (Sept 24) are the official arrival days for incoming students; they will all receive rapid COVID tests and also be quarantined for 14 days. These arrival days will be long and busy for pretty much the whole campus; please pray for physical/mental strength and safety for all of us who will be helping to make arrival day happen. 

In addition to helping with medical data entry, I have another possible connection for serving this fall that sounds exciting! There is a ministry here on campus that works with something called the SourceView bible; click the link to learn more about the benefits of this bible reading app, especially for reading out loud in group bible studies. The ministry recently got the rights to forms Spanish NIV translation for the SourceView bible. While working on the farm, I connected with a woman who is a big part of this Spanish NIV project; she invited me to help! I should learn more in coming weeks.

Medical data entry and SourceView bible work I think will both utilize skills from my library science education and I love the idea of connecting with the Spanish language again too!

At the farm two weeks ago, I learned how to get the plastic pots ready for planting lettuce in aquaponics and then this past week I got to teach a group of people how to do it! I am looking forward to learning how to plant seeds in the rocks hopefully soon (it takes a special technique to get lettuce to sprout in lava rocks instead of soil).

"Big" rocks fill the bottom

Little rocks cover the top

Ready for planting

Fundraising for Oct-Dec: Funds still needed:$1,400-$2,000

I am raising financial support again for October-December 2020! I do believe the Lord is calling me to be in Kona in 2021, but right now I only able to accurately estimate expenses til the end of this year. Monthly donations or one time gifts are both greatly appreciated!

Total estimated monthly expenses: $850- $1,050 (Estimated funds needed for Oct-Dec: $2,550-$3150)

• Housing: $450/mo
• Groceries/Food/Household items: $300-$400/mo
• School loans: $100-$200/mo (*according to government mandate my loans are in forbearance until December but my goal is to still pay on them at least some each month.) (HUGE PRAISE my loans are now approx. $13,500)

Funds raised so far: $1,150

3 ways to support financially:

1. My Venmo account: @Jenna-Patnott
2. A check made out to me and mail to my bank (include a note in envelope that says "to be deposited into account"or to my address her in Kona:

• Address for my bank Lake Michigan Credit Union: 

                        LMCU PO Box

                        PO Box 2848

                        Grand Rapids, MI 49501

• My address in Kona: 

                        Jenna Patnott

                        75-346 Hualalai Rd E103 

                        Kailua, Kona HI 96740

3. Tax deductible donation processed through YWAM El Paso-Juarez Mission account (if you want to donate this way please email me and I will send you instructions)

Fun Times!

Cutting down banana tree at staff farm!

Hiking with friends:

Answered Prayer

1) I am seeing/experiencing the beginning of deeper community and friendship develop

2) I am enjoying applying in my own life a new ministry tool called Immanuel Journaling and can see how the Lord is using it to soften my heart and open my ears to hear Him.

3)God's clear direction a to help with medical data entry this fall and possibly also with the SourceView bible Spanish NIV project.

Prayer Requests:

1. Safety and energy for all of us helping with the busy arrival day for student on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

2.Good, deep, and healthy community/friendships for me during this time when “social distance” is the norm.

3. A yielded heart to the work the Lord wants to do in me. 

4. Continued clarity and direction from the Lord and filling me with His hope and joy

4. Good communication and unity in general; it seems like in this season miscommunication  and disunity just come out of nowhere.

Changes continue to abound!

It’s been a month since my last post and many changes have happened again in that time. 

There is not going to be Crossroads DTS this September; it is postponed until January 2021 (pandemic pending). These past two weeks of prayer ministry training were good and also incredibly challenging. I feel like I understand the structure of the ministry well, but I am not ready to lead other adults through the ministry on my own. I was hoping to keep helping/observing, like I was before the seminar started, but for now that is not an option. There are other staff who participated in the seminar that will be helping/observing in place of me as they get more experience/practice to be able to lead others on their own soon. After these people are released, its possible I will be able to step back into helping/practicing. In the meantime, the Lord has showed me some areas in my own life that He wants to bring more healing to, and has directed me to people who can counsel/mentor me in the process; so that is something to be thankful for!

Helping with coffee plants on a staff owned farm property
that is also used to teach YWAM students

Please join with me in praying about how I should best use the time in the coming weeks. I am still helping on the natural farm a few hours each week, which I like and will probably do more often as I wait for clear direction. There are other opportunities to serve and different free or low-cost trainings being offered on campus, so if one of these things is something the Lord wants me to do, please pray He would clearly highlight that to me.

Lettuce that I planted at campus farm and then covered to protect it
from the strong sun here in Kona

Cases of COVID have increase on the Big Island quite a bit, but mostly on the other (Hilo) side of the island; the YWAM campus continues be cautious cleaning/sanitizing and being compliant with all government mandates.

Fundraising for October-December

I need to start raising financial support again, however because so many changes keep happening I am only raising support for October-December 2020. :) I do plan to still be in Kona after December but due to the constant changes I am not able estimate expenses accurately past the end of the years yet. Monthly donations or one time gifts are both greatly appreciated!

Total estimated monthly expenses: $850- $1,050

• Housing: $450/mo
• Groceries/Food/Household items: $300-$400/mo
• School loans: $100-$200/mo (*according to government mandate my loans (approx. $24,000) are in forbearance til December but my goal is to still pay on them at least some each month.)

Estimated total funds needed for Oct-Dec: $2,550-$3150

3 ways to support financially:

1. My Venmo account: @Jenna-Patnott
2. A check made out to me and mail to my bank (include a note in envelope that says "to be deposited into account"or to my address her in Kona:

• Address for my bank Lake Michigan Credit Union: 

                        LMCU PO Box

                        PO Box 2848

                        Grand Rapids, MI 49501

• My address in Kona: 

                        Jenna Patnott

                        75-346 Hualalai Rd E103 

                        Kailua, Kona HI 96740

3. Tax deductible donation processed through YWAM El Paso-Juarez Mission account (if you want to donate this way please email me and I will send you instructions)

Answered Prayer:

• My ears are normal as long as I remember to take meds morning and evening. :)
• I saw the Lord at work during the prayer ministry training.

Prayer Requests:

1. Good, deep, and healthy community/friendships for me during this time when “social distance” is the norm.

2. A yielded heart to the work the Lord wants to do in me. 

3. That God would give me clarity and direction and fill me with His hope and joy; it is easy to fall into feeling discouraged, sad, angry, and confused when doors that seemed open, keep shutting.

4. Good communication and unity in general; it seems like in this season miscommunication  and disunity just come out of nowhere.

Free from Quarantine!

Freedom

Friday July 24th was my last day of quarantine, so when I woke up on Saturday morning I was free!!!

                                                  

That morning I attended a 3 hour class/seminar hosted by the cafeteria staff about how to make sauerkraut and the concept of "food as medicine"; it was a lot of fun! Its amazing how much the food we eat can either help or hurt us. The cafeteria here at YWAM Kona has made many changes over the past year trying to make the food served to staff and students fresher and healthier. The 25 lbs of sauerkraut that we made during the class will be served on campus over the next two months; we got to sample some from a batch they made earlier...and even though I am still acquiring a taste for sauerkraut I thought it was really yummy! I will include the recipe we used at the end of this post if you want to give it a try yourself.  For the rest of Saturday I just enjoyed being outside walking around Kona and the YWAM campus. I did visit a doctor on Saturday because the day after I wrote my last blog post I woke up with really bad vertigo; so my ears are still having an issue. I have a lot of congestion which is causing continuous inflammation in my Esuatchian Tubes; the meds I have been taking lessen the congestion, but don't actually make it go away completely. I am still on some meds but I am also now trying to go dairy free for while to see if that helps!

This was posted in the doctors office!
Have you ever been to the doctors and had them pray for you?  Such a cool experience.

I am still figuring out what a normal week will look like but two things that I know I will be doing is learning about the prayer ministry, Restoring the Foundation, and also helping out on the campus's natural farm a few hours each week! The farm supplies produce to the campus cafeteria and to people in need in the Kona community; the farm also teaches staff and students skills and information about natural/sustainable farming that they can bring with them on outreach to the nations. I have wanted to learn about the natural farm since I was a student (2019 so I really excited and grateful for the opportunity now. Today (July 30) I helped to harvest lettuce grown by aquaponics.

                            
                                                  

Lettuce-grown by aquaponics

Cilantro-grown by aquaponics

Views and sunsets from the Condo complex where I am living:

Answered Prayer

1. My two weeks of quarantine were good! I am totally glad to be free but the time in isolation was mostly good.

Prayer requests

1. My ears :)

2. My laptop needs fixed eventually- the backlight is not working so even with the computer turned on the screen is black. To write this blog post I am using a computer in an office on campus.

3.  Dependence on the Lord to equip me as I learn about the prayer ministry

Sauerkraut Recipe

1. Rinse 1 medium head of green cabbage. Remove outer leaves and set aside. Quarter and de core the head.
2. Shred the quartered cabbage in long stringy pieces (Can use food processor or hand held cheese grater)
3. Add 1 TBS of sea salt. Mix and wait 20min.
4. Work cabbage with your hands until it sweats or until you have juice coming from it.
5. Place shredded cabbage into a fermentation crock or container and press until you have juice over the cabbage.
6. Layer the outer leaves over the cabbage and press until you have juice over the top of the leaves.
7. Place weights in crock and put top on with water seal. (If using another type of container you can use a plastic bag pressed over the top of the surface and down along the sides between the container and the cabbage to seal it off from the air, then fill that bag with water and tie it shut. The purpose of this is so that gas created during fermenting can escape but air cannot get into the cabbage. ** do not put air tight lid on top,  lots of gas is created during fermentation and the result will be messy :)
8. Place the Crock or container in a warm place (65-75 degree for 10 days to 6 weeks)-longer makes stronger more tart/bitter taste.
9. After desired length of fermentation remove top leaves and discard. If there is any mold on top remove this also.
10. Place sauerkraut in glass jars and in refrigerator (33 to 45 degrees). Enjoy!

Quarantine in Kona

Travel

My travel from Grand Rapids, MI to Kona, HI went really well; it was actually the easiest trip to Kona I have done so far. Thank you Jesus!

Wearing a face mask for 20 hours was a bit challenging, but one mask that I own is pretty comfortable, so even that wasn't too bad. :) I felt really pleased with how much care the airline and airports were taking to keep things clean and keep passengers/traveler physically distant from each other. I still had some pain in my ears during each landing, because of my right eustachian tube not functioning quite right, but a friend of mine recommended some special ear plugs and I think those definitely helped.

Kona - Quarantine

Today is my 5th day of quarantine, only 9 more days to go. I am healthy and have no symptoms of the virus; the state calls me every few days to check in.

The people I am living with are very nice! Before I arrived they found me a great mini frig for only $25, and a free hotpot for boiling water; they brought groceries to the house for me and they picked me up at the airport. Although I cannot really interact with them much yet (because I am quarantined) I feel very welcome.  I look forward to getting to know them better in the coming months. 

The other two times that I have come to Kona, my daily schedule felt really intense/busy right way, so I am enjoying having these days to adjust time zones and rest after long travel. I am also using this time to study the RTF prayer ministry training notes from the online seminars I did back in June, read the bible and other books, pray, listen to audio books, worship music and recordings of the DNA teachings that are happening a few times a weeks on campus. 

I watched a beautiful sunset from the back porch where I live last night; I will take a picture some night to show you all!

Here's a link to a recent video made by the campus containing an inspiring story from SunAwh Park, who is part of campus leadership, about how he first started to learn to hear God's voice. SunAwh was one of the speakers one week when I did DTS as a student in 2019 and he was one of my favorites!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zqcg6BOLPM

Answered prayer:

1) I felt well pack and organized to leave Michigan and head back to Kona

2) I am very healthy so far!

Prayer requests:

1) Good health for me and the people I am living with

2) That I would have open ears and soft heart to what the Lord wants to do in me or speak to me in this short season of intense quarantine.

Going back to Kona July 11!!!

I have plane tickets to return to Kona, HI July 11! Hooray!!!

The plan once I am in Kona has been adjusted a bit since my last post, but it is a good change.😊

I will not be doing Leadership Track like originally hoped; this training was recently modified and it is now very heavily geared toward staffing with a DTS call Fire and Fragrance. They are a great school, but I don't feel the Lord calling me to staff with that DTS at all; I believe the Lord is asking me to keep staffing with Crossroads DTS this coming fall, so it would not be beneficial for me to do that training anymore. 

Instead, this summer I will be learning more about the prayer ministry called Restoring the Foundations! This is a ministry that blessed many of the Crossroads DTS students (and many other students and staff on the YWAM campus) this past January-March. I have been interested in learning more about it since I was a DTS student in 2019. I am even more excited to learn about RTF than I was about the idea of leadership track; it will be a very beneficial tool for me to have for staffing with Crossroads and wherever the Lord leads me in the future. 

I will be living in a shared room in a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom condo in a complex that is literally right next to the YWAM Kona campus! The condo belongs to a couple who are YWAM staff and two other female YWAM staff also rent rooms there. As required by the state of Hawaii, I will quarantine for 14 days once I arrive. The other person I am sharing a room with will be gone for the month of July, so that works out good for me quarantining; by the time she comes back in August the mandatory quarantine will have been lifted. As a courtesy to the other people in the condo and especially to the person I will be sharing the bathroom with, I will take a COVID-19 test the Tuesday before I leave.

Answered Prayer

• I get to return to Kona to learn about Restoring the Foundations with the intent to keep staffing with Crossroads DTS! :)

Prayer Requests

1. Wise use of time the next 10 days as I pack and prepare to return to Kona

2. Good health :)

3. That my heart and mind would be ready to step fully into this next season whatever it may hold.

Financial Update

Funds set aside for return to Kona: $3,717

Estimated and known expenses for July-Sept 2020:

• My plane ticket back to Kona (plus luggage): $512
• Housing: $450/month
• Food estimate: $120-200/month 
• Estimate for toiletries, household, misc items: $10-$50/month

Total estimated expenses for July-September: $2,342- $2,612

(Estimated remaining funds to be used toward staffing in the fall: $1,105-$1,375)

Continuing to Staff with Crossroads 

Pandemic pending, my plan this September is to staff with Crossroads for the 3 month lecture phase that starts at the end of September. I would not go on outreach with these students, but would instead stay in Kona to help with the January 2021 Crossroads DTS lecture phase and then go on outreach with the January students. 

I will need to raise funds to continue to staff with Crossroads!

Please pray about continuing to support me through prayer or financially. I will begin to reach out  more actively through emails and phone calls to raise support once I am back in Kona, but below are some estimated expenses and also possible ways to give for you to begin considering.

Estimated expenses for staying to staff:

Housing: $450/month

Food: $120-$200/month
Toiletries/household/misc items: $10-$50/month

Graduate School loan payment (starting in Sept) $250-$300/month

Estimated Monthly Total:  $830- $1000

Estimate for 2021 outreach: $3,000-$4,000 (This is would likely include round trip plane tickets, housing and food for the two month of outreach abroad)

Ways to Give (**Two of these have changed since my last trip to Kona**)

• 1. Donate through my Venmo account
•  My user name is @Jenna-Patnott

• 2. Check made out to me and mailed to my bank (Lake Michigan Credit Union). Include a note that says "To be deposited into account" Mailing address:

          LMCU PO Box

          PO Box 2848

          Grand Rapids, MI 49501

• 3. Tax Deductible donation to be process through YWAM El Paso-Juarez Mission account (if you want to use this option email me and I will send you the info for how to do this)

Week 13 in Michigan and Looking Ahead

Looking ahead

I am hoping to return to Kona at the beginning of July to do a two month training call Leadership Track; this training was recommenced to me by the January Crossroads school leaders when I first returned to Kona this past December. One of the Crossroads school leaders is hoping to meet with someone from the Leadership Track staff next week to see if I can get into the training. Please pray with me that this meeting goes well!

(Pandemic pending, my hope after doing Leadership Track is to stay in Kona to be staff for the 3 month lecture phase of September 2020 Crossroads DTS; I would not go with the September students on outreach, instead I would stay on in Kona and help with the January 2021 Crossroads DTS lecture phase and then go on outreach with the January students.)

Finances

When I updated you about finances on March 28, I reported $3,812 to be set aside for going back to Kona. I forgot to subtract the cost of my one checked bag, from when I flew back to Michigan ($30), and while back here in Michigan I used $20 in May to complete the first online training seminar of Restoring the Foundations. I just used $45 to begin the second online RTF training seminar.

So the actual amount left is: $3,717

• The cost of a one way ticket back to Kona right now is between $400-$800.
• The cost of Leadership track is $2,000. This cost includes housing and food for the 2 months, along with the cost of the training.

This would leave me with $917- $1317 at the end of August to be put toward paying for housing and food in September.

I will need raise funds again to stay on with YWAM Kona to staff the September 2020 and January 2021 Crossroads DTS. I will post more information about this after I know if I am accepted into Leadership Track.

Song

I meant to include this in my last post (many weeks ago :) ) but forgot; here is a link to Hawaii's version of the song The Blessing; it is beautiful!

The Hawaii Blessing

Prayer

1. Please pray for the meeting that should happen next week between the Crossroads school leader and Leadership Track staff about if I can do Leadership Track training.
2. Clear direction
3.My ears :) The meds take away or greatly lessen the symptoms but it seems that there has been a change in my eustachian tube anatomy and fluid now has a tendency to back up behind my ear drum, especially if I am sick or have allergies. I can monitor the symptoms and take over the counter med as needed; I am standing in faith, however that God will heal it completely.

Week 8 in Michigan

After chatting with some of my school leaders this week, I finally was able to get connected with the online Restoring the Foundations training that I had hoped to do when I first got back to Michigan. Hooray!!! This training consists of video seminars and a printout workbook; as I go through those videos and workbook slowly, I will process what I am learning and what God is doing in my own life with someone on staff from YWAM Kona. The unique thing about this training is that as a person goes through the seminars the hope and intent is for them to be receiving ministry while they are also learning how to facilitate prayer ministry for others. There are two online seminars that I hope to do. This first one is eight sessions and is called Hope Healing and Freedom; the cost was only $20.  

Over the next month or so, the YWAM Kona campus is also offering many free online courses/teachings through Zoom for all the students that had to return home. Some of the courses/teachings are one day intensives, others are 1 week long (Mon-Fri), and still others are three weeks long (meeting 2-3 times per week). Students and staff are welcome to sign up for as many as they would like! I will probably sign up for at least one but I am not sure which yet, as I am just getting started with the RTF seminars and that is where I feel like the Lord has said my main focus should be right now.

Another opportunity that the campus just announced is for people who have never done a DTS but are interested! Below is what was posted on workplace and YWAM Kona's facebook page; please pass the word along if you know someone in your life that has wanted to do a DTS.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Intro To Missions is six-week (2 day per week) online course that gives you a taste of what DTS is like and prepares you for missions.

We will dive into the word of God and many of the amazing teachings the Lord has given us over the years, including:

• The Cost of Discipleship
• The Person of Jesus
• Hearing God's Voice
• Holy Spirit
• Sin and Repentance
• Missions and Evangelism

Classes run May 19 - June 25 with live Zoom calls featuring teaching and small groups every Tuesday & Thursday morning from 8:00-9:00am Hawaii time.

The total cost is $150. If you do your DTS in Kona, this amount will be credited towards your DTS fees.

Class starts next Tuesday, so sign up today!

APPLY HERE

If you have any questions please contact introtomissions@ywamkona.org

_________________________________________________________________________________

The campus leadership is still praying and talking about what the future re-opening of the YWAM Kona campus will look like. They are making plans in faith, but also walking in humble respect of the state of Hawaii COVID-19 guidelines.

Lecture for Homereach Students

Here is the link to the last homereach lecture; unfortunately I didn't enjoy the delivery of this message, I think the speaker took some liberties with the scripture text and I don't totally agree with everything he says. But I do think there are some good points that can be support with other parts of scripture so I am in agreement with those.

• When God Smells Honor- T.D. Jakes