Still NO engine....so....followed the call to the Big Island of Hawaii!

7/18/22  After months of bouncing from place to place waiting for our new engine to arrive, we got a call from our friend, Todd, who lives on the Big Island, Hawaii.  He said he was swimming that day and had a vision of us coming over to help him with his needs.  You see Todd has been a friend of ours for years.  Previously, when we were all in the New Age, he was one of the leaders on the island who brought people together for various pagan events.  When we became followers of Jesus and renouncing everything from our old lives that was connected to deceiving spirits, deceptions of the New Age promises of peace, love and enlightenment, we shared our new found faith with Todd.  As only the Lord can do, He orchestrated this perfect storm in Todd’s life to meet the soft, warm breeze of God’s grace in the form of our testimony and the gospel of salvation.  This warm breeze of life giving grace washed over Todd and he soon became a follower of Christ, baptized into Jesus, being freed from his sin.  The joy and peace was not only what Todd needed from a hard and painful time in his life, but the only thing that could save him from this life!

Todd is now 70 years old and has a lot of very challenging physical problems with constant pain.  So, when he shared this vision with us we thought we should pray about it.  The very next day we got news that our van engine wasn’t anywhere near being sent from Texas to California and this meant that it was that much further from being installed and ready for us to go. We began to pray about Todd's request.

7/26/22  After some time had passed and praying about Todd's request, we felt led this was a “God appointment” and tried to book our one way tickets to Hawaii.  The modem died where we were staying and no cell service either, so we decided to wait on getting the ticket. We decided to visit our friends Rod and Therese to surprise him for his birthday, but we'd need to take the bus, which could take hours to go 8 miles with walking and transfers, so I said, "Skye, lets hitch-hike". I've never hitch-hiked in my life, it was a God appointment as the third car picked us up and we connected with a young man who just found out that day his wife was having a baby. He showed us the ultrasound. We got to share with him the gospel and he seemed so eager to have us pray for him. He was so grateful for our encounter that he gave us his food which we shared later with our friends.

7/28/2022 Today, we booked the flight to Hawaii. BUT...afterwards Rebecca had a fall on her bike, onto the low top tube, damaging her inner thigh and leaving a huge contusion.  We had to cancel the flight, and wait to reschedule so as to avoid any complications with the risk of blood clots with flying with such a nasty bruise. God must have other appointments as He uses all things for His good.

8/1/22 Cancelling our flight led to other divine appointments. After some great fellowship, and prayer with some new friends staying in the home with us, we had Rebecca checked out by the Mt. Hermon nursing staff after their recommendation.

8/4/22  We had the joy and fun helping Maria (a single widowed Mom), assemble some very challenging furniture and encourage one another.  

8/6/2022  This week Skye and I got in some yard work and other projects for our friends that are so generously hosting us. Rebecca had her birthday in Felton with our new friends Juan and MaryAnne.

08/07/22 We also got to connect with a brother in Christ that we know, Steve, who was on his epic bike ride up the coast of California. Skye biked with him a ways one day leaving the Redwoods in Felton to Santa Cruz and coming back along an exhilarating railroad track high above a river.

The celebration continues that evening as true party animals do. Skye says, "Party on Garth" and Rebecca replies, "Party on Wayne".

REBECCA'S performance after dinner...dedicated to Ben and Erica Brodie, who wrote the song, and to our brothers and sisters out there, that Jesus is all we need.

8/11/22  We finally flew out 10 days later to the Big Island.

Our 25 year old brother in Christ, Timothy, and his dad, Gregg, welcomed us to their homestead farm property on the far reaches of the more remote part of the island.  Timothy gave us his old school bus to stay in which was his home.  He went down to the “monkey camp”, the homespun structure below on the property where the young men staying on the property would stay.  The bus has a kitchen built onto it, all from free materials, that Timothy built as a community kitchen and hangout area for the people staying on the property.  

Greg, Timothy’s dad, has a more traditional Hawaiian style home also on the property where we would have morning bible study and fellowship along with a near by neighbor, Elliot, who is hungry as could be for the transformative word of God.  I think Elliot will become a pastor someday as his zeal is huge! The guys did yardwork most days while I prepared food for them, cleaned and attached orchids to the trees.

The night before we got to Hawaii, Rebecca dreamed of a black cat face and guess who the tiniest cat was at the farm? A black cat named "Batman". Probably the most roudy and he loved the counters in the kitchen. Once Skye got the BB gun to be a threat, (all he'd have to do is just shake it) and they didn't come in the kitchen (until after we left the house). Cockroaches and geckos also roamed free and liked the countertops too!

Seth lives on the property too and he is 22, a local Hawaiian with a long lineage of family having lived on the island and worked the sugar cane back in the day.  Seth is an earnest follower of Jesus and really being formed in his Godly character and lifestyle.  We spent more intimate time talking with Seth, sharing story and sewing into one anothers lives. We shared a ton with him about what it can look like to be in purity and seek out the Fathers will for courtship.  Seth has an amazing talent for Christian rap and his music is amazing!  He is also born and raised in the ocean as a surfer and his love for the waves is a beautiful part of who God made him to be.  We are super excited to be a part of his life and to watch what God does with his obedience.

Seth's music links....

Here's a video short on Instagram we recorded for his song "Pride is the Devil".

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ch5fO9ALH96/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Check out the full song "Pride is the Devil" to be blown away by this 21 year olds talent and transformation by a Holy God amidst the darkness he was in.

Here's Seth's (Tainalu's) Youtube channel.

https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCghtREjOq4kvH3033cXxihw

Stay tuned for his testimony in our next blog..you won't want to miss it!

There were so many amazing things about this place besides the brothers we lived and worshiped with daily.  The property has abundant coconut trees, avocados in excess, papaya, star fruit, bananas and that’s all just happening on their own.  In the past they have had vegetable crops and currently have a man made pond filled with Tilapia fish.  So much goodness.

Greg and Timothy have a very organic approach to who is on the property.  People some times just show up like when the time Todd (our friend mentioned above) brought a hitchhiker to the farm, presented him to Timothy and said; “This is Daniel.  He isn’t a follower of Jesus yet but he is a really good guy.”  Well, Daniel at the time was a Jew (but not a messianic Jew) and after hearing and seeing the gospel being lived out by Timothy and Greg, became a disciple of Jesus….a completed Jew (as I like to refer to myself as too).  Daniel has lived on the property for over 2 years and his brother has lived there too.

This part of the island is lush and windy, hosting steep hills, deep ravines, waterfalls and the most epic ocean cliffs and surf breaks. We did some snorkeling, tried surfing, hiked to the cliffs and waterfalls and enjoyed the beauty all around us.

8/20/22  Skye was reading his Bible and sitting sideways on the hammock when he flipped backwards and hit his head on the banyan tree. SMACK!! Over the next few days he realized it was more of a small concussion as he felt dizzy, very tired, and unmotivated to do much at all. So much unlike him. He wasn't much fun as all he wanted to do was rest and recover. Understandable, of course but snorkeling and beach going were rare on this trip!

Rebecca did manage to go snorkeling a few times. Snorkeling underwater with reef and fish is her happy place. One of her favorite fish is the state fish Humuhumu-Nukunuku-Apua'a - Reef Triggerfish. (A mouthfull)

The times with Todd were very special…Rebecca helped him with meal prep and reflexology for his very painful ankle on several occasions. We often had the Bible open for a passage to share or sang along to a song or two of worship to lift Todd's spirit! Skye helped him with organizing, cleaning and also spent time sharing the gospel with Todd's friend who'd never heard it before.

8/29/2022  GUESS WHAT? We got a picture texted to us of our engine actually loaded on a truck set to be delivered with 7 other engines to our mechanics in California from Texas!! YAY!!!  We need to get a flight back there as it could get to him by next week. You think we could be first on the list Lino, to get our engine in?

9/3/22 Trip to Waimea markets and to visit Audrey. Here's a funny video of a voice I hear often!!

Later that day, Audrey, a native to Hawaii, met with us in the Waimea shopping mall for lunch where we got to know one another more and hear how God moved in her life. She wanted to know how we shared the gospel and so we shared it with a couple of new friends who had never heard it before. Afterwards, while waiting for our food, we thought, maybe we could pray for someone, and right then young Amelia shows up at Skye's feet. We followed her to her Mom and asked if she needed prayer and she responded, "Boy, do we ever need prayer!" Amelia really took to Skye. We had a nice connection and we got to pray for her family who've been really struggling to get there place built over the last four years because of many obstacles!

One of the highlights of our time there was getting to know the fellowship of believers at the Kohala Baptist Church.  The body couldn’t have been more than 30-40 yet they are a full of life, rich fellowship that knows the joy of the Lord!  Every Sunday after outdoor service under sun canopies, with the ocean breezes wafting through our meeting, we would all have a potluck where most everyone brings wonderful dishes to share.  It was a time of really getting to know one another and sharing story.  Rebecca and I felt welcomed like we were family…..and we are….the family of God.  We enjoyed this time so much we would stay all the way until most everyone had left so we could help Pastor Steven and others with the fun process of taking down all the sun tarps, folding and putting everything away until the next week.  It was quite a joyful time with wonderful brothers and sisters.

It wouldn't be a trip to Hawaii without a jam at the local beach shelter for some Hawaiian ukulele music with Timothy's sweet mom Anne! Shadrack, another guy staying at the farm we were on, also joined in with his flamenco style guitar player. Ann is a great cook and we topped off our trip with making chocoloate coconut mint balls to share at our gatherings and Bible Study. They were a hit!

9/7/2022  Even though, ten days later, there STILL is no word on our engine arriving to the Sprinter mechanic shop in California, we are saying Bon Voyage and Aloha Hawaii! Stepping out in faith that our van will be done in short order.  We love you HAWAII and our new family and friends,  We will be back!

Here is a scripture the Lord gave me comfort in returning to California.

"In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength" Isaiah 30:15