Overview since we have been here

The first opportunity we had as a team right away was the first Sunday we were here. We were blessed to be involved in the morning service at Horizon Honolulu. It was an amazing time of the women sharing their testimonies and the men giving teachings. Kelly and Angelique connected with a lot of the women through the power of their testimonies and Robbie, Jordan, and Derek were chosen to fill us with encouragement from the Word. Not only were we so blessed in the morning, but later that night we had sweet fellowship with one another. The guys went and had some alone time together, while the girls stayed at home and got deep with each other. Their were so many walls that had been built up that were broken down, trust was built and there was an abundance of love. One of the ladies was able to share her life testimony for the first time and afterwards was able to be loved on by the rest of the ladies.

All day Monday we had the pleasure of spending sweet fellowship with one another by traveling around the island of Oahu, and getting to experience the beauty of our creator. One of the members of our team had stated that this was the first time just being able to sit and enjoy the company of people. To say the least God continued to heal wounds in the hearts of each member and bind all of our hearts together.

Tuesday we were even more blessed to be able to connect with Calvary Chapel Honolulu and minister to the homeless in Waimanalo at their weekly outreach called "Loaves and Fishes". One of the leaders of our practicum, Jordan, was able to reconnect with a friend, whose name is Levina, from his previous practicum trip last semester. It was so amazing to see how joyful she was to see him. At the outreach, Lindsay and Kelly were able to give their testimonies, Robbie gave a short teaching, and we were able to reach the people through an amazing drama about Gods willingness to fight for us even in the depths of our despair. Afterwards we were able to serve the people of the beach a delicious dinner while fellowshiping with them and handing out care packages provided by dovetail ministries. One of the ladies, Dawn, sat and had an meaningful conversation with one of the girls at the beach. She was able to minister to her by just simply connecting with her and building a relationship founded on love and not judgement

On Wednesday afternoon we had the blessing to serve the pastors of Calvary Chapel Honolulu who we had served with previously at loaves and fishes. Once we were done many of us came back and commented on how we recognized that we weren’t just cleaning a building but the Lords house. Later that night Francis and Patti invited us over for dinner and prayer for the Jesus Loves You (Wainai). The Holy Spirit showed up and moved in a mighty way. God spoke through Francis and he was able to guide us into the throne room of God and lift our prayers up as a sweet aroma to the Lord for favor over the next couple of days as we went out and served the community and the up coming outreach of Jesus Loves You.

Thursday our team joined together with Surfing the Nations, which is a ministry that incorporates surfing as a way to open the door into places where the gospel is not accepted. We were able to serve along side of them at their weekly outreach where they supply spiritual and physical needs such as prayer and free food given by the food bank. We had the opportunity to interact with them in a one on one basis where Amanda had the privilege of leading one of the girls there to the Lord. She was also able to present the girl with a bible with some of her favorite verses highlighted. God is doing a great work which involve feeding the hungry, weekly bible studies and the numerous outreaches that we get the privilege of partaking in.

Friday we had the opportunity to pick up a missionary from the airport and be engaged while she shared about the ministry the Lord formed for her from scratch called "Rock Ministry" (http://www.rockministries.org/index.cfm). Lindsay, one of the girls on our team, was compassionately moved towards the ministry after talking with her about the hurts and the pains that the children were going through.

Monday night we traveled to Waikiki to do one on one evangelism. We had four groups throughout the city interacting with the diversity of people. One case was with Amanda, Sam, and Cayla in a local coffee shop

We went to Loaves and Fishes again Tuesday night was engaged in our relationships that we had formed the previous Tuesday. There were testimonies from the Montebello group and a teaching from the CCH pastor. Many of the people their that attend the loaves and fishes ministry commented that they feel very welcome that they don’t feel judged and that the bible is easy to understand because of the environment.

Wednesday we once again had the blessing to meet up with the those at the church at CCH and serve them to the best of our ability as unto the Lord. It was really a sweet time of sharing with each other about our testimonies of where the Lord has taken us and where we are now. Once we had finished we headed off to the prayer night with the Montebello team, and Francis for Jesus Loves You Wainai. While we were there we were encouraged to hear some testimonies from the Montebello team, that they had led three people to the Lord while in the bathroom, one while they were in Walmart, and then were able to hear from Francis that all the money that was needed for Jesus Loves You Wainne.