Prayer Letter Archive

I wanted to give you a brief report on the Hawaii Team and Thank YOU for praying for them and their time here. The team was great! Each member played a unique roll making the team well rounded so all in our family had someone to relate to.

Everyone worked hard on the projects which included a lot of cement work which Wayne played a crucial part as he made the forms and smoothed the surfaces. Some electrical, plumbing and painting was done as well. No one got injured nor sick which was good. (Except me.)

The experience inlcuded flying in a little plane, fresh spring swimming, pounding thunder, killing a Boa constrictor, seeing stars you could almost touch, traveling on bush roads, (Stephen said he would "never complain about pot holes in Hawaii.") living in the jungle with villagers all around (Donna commented it was "like National Geographic.") going through bat caves (Scott said it was "eXtreme caving!") and eating exotic foods.

Each day the villagers would treat us to one of their meals wrapped in a leaf which had been cooked on a fire. On the menu were beetles, a bird, grubs, a bat with fur on it, a tree rat, lizard and more. Not everyone tried the delicacies but Brandi ate it all and when she bit into the lizard head she said "something squirted in my mouth." It was like watching Fear Factor as she held back from vomiting. We nick-named her, "Lizzy."

Frank was a hard worker as well as a cut up which kept everyone laughing (enduring) at his antics. He had the village kids singing YMCA along with hand motions and you never knew when you'd get a bucket of water dumped on you or a water balloon splattered against your side.

After the morning teaching session with 90 believers (some kids with running noses, smaller kids peeing on the floor or on their mother's laps) hearing God's word taught, the team was speechless as they held back their tears. It was truly a unique experience.

We did get a chance to do some fishing as well and managed to pull in a 55lb. Spanish Mackerel and some Yellow fin tuna. Needless to say, we ate a lot of sashimi. (raw fish)

A BIG Thank YOU goes to the members of the Honolulu Christian Church who sacrificially gave so the team could come here and be a blessing to so many people. They were truly an encouragement to everyone they came in contact with and especially us (with all the goodies!) as we enjoyed every minute of their fellowship. More was accomplished than just the work projects, a greater work was done in all our hearts. Neither us nor the team will ever be the same. It was truly a "Vacation with a Purpose." Also a Thank YOU needs to go to the parents and spouses of the team members for sharing their loved ones with us. It was hard for us too to let them go.

So, life for us is back to "normal" but we have many stories and fond memories to keep us laughing for many years to come.

Love,

Mark