DR recap

We are back from the Dominican!

Our two weeks in the Caribbean was a mixture of challenging and exciting times.
Straight off the plane we were greeted with palm trees, coconuts and warm weather. The Dominican Republic is definitely the tropical getaway as far as missions goes.

The Joshua class partnered up with students international, an established missionary organization in the Dominican, and work alongside these other missionaries around the DR.
The SI(Student International, not Sports Illustrated) headquarters were amazing and provided a comfortable and relaxing place to stay when we were not at our missions sites.
All 56 Joshua Students and some staff were divided up into groups to go out every day on trucks to work at different mission sites. There were medical, dental, education, construction and sports sites to name a few. I was on the construction team building a new school for a poor community called El Callejon.
We only finished the foundation for the property, but that is the nature of SI's two week student mission groups. It was hard labor out in the sun going back tot he basics of building. Everything we did was hand crafted from the re-bar pillars to mixing concrete. Initially it was difficult doing this ministry with the right attitude and not getting upset when things didn't work out, but God worked on our hearts, and we came to do everything with great attitudes for His glory. At that point it was easy to see God in everything. The Kids would "help" us and we could see the joy they had because we were there serving and loving them, and everyone in the Dominican were incredibly hospitable, and the work soon became easy.

It was a really great trip and I can see how God has worked through us to impact the families in the DR (Dominican Republic) and also how he has worked in us to help us grow into who he wants us to be.
Much of the trip was work, but missionaries need breaks too. We did a few hikes around the DR and saw some of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen.
We had a night where we went into town and had a cultural dinner with a host family. Other fun stuff included exploring the city of Jarabacoa and the shops, going to a Dominican Church( I was very thankful I could understand a little of their Spanish), And not to mention an awesome dodge ball tournament! Who ever said Christians cant have fun?


Oh yeah! I don't want to forget the one time a cow ran through the base and sent everyone screaming in every direction. I calmly walked over, grabbed a rope, and roped the heifer just to make Grandpa proud. Then it decided it didn't like that very much, picked me up and gave me a fun little 8 second ride. All while in flip-flops and my Sunday best! I am very thankful we use horses in the US.
Well, Back in the states is different, but I am enjoying water pressure and flushing my toilet paper. I have definitely learned to be content and bring glory to God wherever I am, and to enjoy the little things.

This last week Fred Blackburn, a worldview teacher at San Diego Christian College, was our speaker. This awesome short round man with a beard who reminded me of Santa taught us all about Hinduism, Buddhism, the Tao and Atheism. However it wasn’t just the content that kept us intrigued, but the way he taught. He would assume the role of whichever belief he was teaching and would be that person for the rest of the night allowing us to ask questions and defend our own faith as if it was an actual Buddhist or Hindu.
Adjusting to a new roommate has been interesting, but I like Matt a lot and we get along really well. It’s just nice having a roommate who is as clean as I am.
This weekend I worked in the Ponderosa dish room and surprisingly had alot of fun. The two girls I worked with stretched my patience but I think it was a good growing experience and a great way to be a servant leader from the bottom.
It was the first weekend of winter camp and everyone was excited about the cool stuff to do, and the great thing about working at Hume is that on your breaks you can do all that cool stuff! So Friday afternoon I went snowboarding for 2 hours then back to work, Saturday I rode the mechanical bull in between shifts and played paintball, and at the end of the day was able to test the tube run and watch the Box Sled Blitz: where the campers build cardboard sleds, fly down the tube run and off a jump. Pretty crazy stuff. I’m not to sure why Hume still lets them do that….

NEW YEAR!

I arrived safely back at Hume! It was snowing pretty hard but was not bad to drive in. It has been snowing non-stop since we have been home and has made for a really fun weekend of work. This weekend we ran paintball in the snow and tandem screamer. Throwing two people off a 45 foot cliff into snow and watching kids slide around while playing paintball made for a great weekend. Friday night the Joshua students worked at the dining hall and threw a New Years party for all the conferees. We learned the pizza train, where all 56 of us lined up and ran out of the kitchen carrying pizzas and dancing. The whole new year party was a lot of fun and it was awesome that we could welcome the new year with all of our Joshua family together.
Sunday morning we had a family meeting where Rich announced that we would all be changing rooms and roommates. We spent the rest of the day moving into our new rooms and getting situated. I have room 211 no which is on the 2nd floor, has a great view, a loft, and 2 windows- pretty much the best room at Joshua. My roommate is Matt Waters and we have been getting along really well.
Here’s the view from our room…

Winter Weekend

This weekend I was assigned to work as a server in pine tree, however we had over 1000 people on the hill and we needed a little more help in the kitchen. So I was able to cook and get to know what goes on behind the scenes at Hume. The weekend conferences only lasted till Saturday, as a result I only had to work on Friday and half of Saturday.
Saturday afternoon I was able to go snowshoeing with Jordan Stonerholm and a few of my other friends up here. It was a blast; we arrived at our destination: Buena Vista, at sunset and the reflection of the setting sun on the snow, and later the moon, was a spectacular view. There came a point on the hike when we were climbing nearly straight up and could see the Moon and all the stars in the sky. It was a spectacular view at the top, we could see 360 degrees around us at the moon soaked mountain ranges. I could not help but marvel at how amazing a God we have that could make something as beautiful as the sights we saw and as enormous as the stars and still care about us enough and love us enough to send His only Son to die for all of the atrocities we have committed so that we could spend eternity with Him in heaven.


I tried as hard as I could to get all the stars, but it just didnt work...
Sunday we were able to take a trip to the General Grant Tree in Kings canyon National Park, and were surprised to see the 85th annual Christmas celebration and Veterans Memorial service. We stayed to watch the old carol singers sing Christmas songs in many different genres including rock and rap, and watch the ROTC color guard present the colors and salute the veterans. It was a great time full of fond memories and fun people.

SUN-SHINE!

This last week we have been blessed with wonderful weather up here in Sequoia National Park.
My first weekend working support services went very well. It is surprising how much fun you can have cleaning toilets, mopping floors, and picking up after messy campers if you have the mindset that you are doing it to bring glory to God. It’s funny to think that something as insignificant as cleaning can be used to praise God.
This week we have been training on how to use the snowboard run, tube run, and referee broom hockey. So if any of you want to visit I can take you on any of those!
Our speaker this week was a man by the name of Dave Hanson, president of Student International. Student international is a ministry in developing countries, using college students who want to join a short term ministry team; we will be working with SI in the Dominican Republic. Dave discussed missions, and why we are called to do missions and reach out to the poor. Yet, what I enjoyed the most was how he said that not all missions is going oversees; granted some are called to go to foreign lands, however it is necessary that people remain in the states to support, get college degrees, and even use those college degrees for missions later on. God will use you where you are at, as long as you emulate Christ in everything you do. This encouraged me because I feel the desire to go oversees while I am still young and minister to those less fortunate than I; yet I still want to go to college and get the degree I want.
I have just applied to Moody Bible Institute in Spokane, WA, and San Diego Christian College to study aviation. Both have fairly prestigious aviation programs, however Moody doesn’t cost as much, and seems to be a little better schooling. I am leaving it up to God, and wherever I get accepted is most likely where I will go. All of your prayer would be really appreciated since this will be the second most important decision I have ever made.
Tonight we had another themed dinner: Joshua 50 year reunion. It was a very fun night, full of apple sauce, prune juice, and bunko. Needless to say, I felt very much like grandpa… Just look at the pictures…