Life Here

The campus of the University of The Nations, where most of YWAM's DTSs are based, is located in Kailua- Kona, Hawaii. YWAM Ships has it's own, much much smaller campus for the Ships related DTSs. The Ships campus is in the heart of downtown- just across the lane from Kailua Bay, where there's coral and a pier and always fishermen fishing on the wall. The town's full of tourist shops and restaurants, and the facility itself is situated like a motel, surrounding a pool.

I have a room on the 3rd floor; the top floor, which I share with 3 other girls. There's Amanda, who was here when I arrived and is from San Diego, Cali; Christine from Florida, who arrived late at night after I had fallen asleep; and Bedo from Washington, who arrived partway through dinner. They're all fun and wonderful. Amanda laughs at many things, which is beautiful. Bedo thinks like I do and enjoys the same things. I haven't talked to Chris much, but she's cool and she reminds me a bit of Ashley Solle.

I've met many many other people, am friends with a few of them, and wish to be friends with even more. Life here is fast-paced, yet relaxing and invigorating. We eat breakfast on the balcony overlooking the bay, and dinner up at U of N's main campus. There's no AC except in the lovely Prayer Room, and our classroom has windows looking out over the ocean and the road. It's warm at night, hot during the day, and the sun beats down and burns, but the island breeze is cool and refreshing and smells of the sea.

It's beautiful here, absolutely beautiful.

Settled In and Feeling the Lord

My flight left on Wednesday shortly after 11:00. I switched planes in Chicago and flew to LA, where I had a 16 hour layover. I worried that I might not be able to see any part of LA, as I didn't have a place to store my bag, and I certainly wasn't going to drag 50 pounds of clothes around Hollywood Blvd. Wonderfully, my luggage was delayed and so I was able to take a Lyft to Hollywood Blvd and walk around- I saw the Chinese Theater, walked the Walk of Fame (saw many names I recognized woohoo), met a few crazy amazingly different people, then I crashed at an IHOP (free wifi; Netflix beckoned) to wait out about 6 hours before going back to LAX to go through security early and take a nap before my flight.

Arrival was surreal; it felt like a dream and it feels like it's been a week. I met a bunch of other YWAMers who I haven't seen since arrival day (different DTSs, so we don't interact), I met a bunch of people who I've seen frequently, met my leaders and roommates, unpacked, and then went to bed at 10:00 HST (4:00 in MI). Today we woke up at 6:00 HST (so, noon in MI), then had a full day of cramming information into our heads about what YWAM is and why and how and everything important that I promptly forgot; I was so tired. 

I'm still very tired (I'm certain my writing reflects that; I'll check tomorrow), and there's so much to tell and I can't tell it all, at least right now. I'm far busier than I thought I would be, so updating the blog every day like I was planning may be rather hard- I've already missed a day. We have weekends free though, so I should be able to catch you all up on stuff over the weekend. 

I'd like to tell you about a few of the people I met in Los Angeles, about the people I've met here, about my living situation and atmosphere, and about the wonderful experience I had tonight... The last one I'll do now. It was a welcome ceremony; there was traditional Hawaiian food, dancers, and singing; a guy who juggled fire; break dancers; a sermon/reflection thing led by the founder of YWAM Kona; and an official welcoming of all the nations represented by the hundreds of students participating, which culminated in a time of worship. It was powerful, and beautiful, and I nearly cried 4 times and actually cried once.

So! Again it's only 10:00 here, but I'm dead tired and ready to sleep; goodnight, God bless, thank you all, I'll post pics, and update you later! 

P.S. Oh, and tomorrow my Ships YWAM family (Ohana, yesss) are all going to the nicest beach on the island; should be fun, but we'll be leaving early, which means waking early.

!!!!!!!!!

Low-key freaking out right now.
I'm going to miss my family so very much. I'm going to miss my church, and my friends, and my cat, and my room; and I have a 16 hour layover in LA, which I have to spend by myself-- which wouldn't be a problem, except that I'm already freaking out and so now it's a problem.

So I need to relax, which I will do by watching my favorite show on Netflix and not sleeping.

Moments

So I'm flying out in a week... Yikes! I'm so excited, and nervous, and gahh I have so much to do before then.
Today I sorted through my clothes and belongings and decided what I'm actually going to bring on this 6 month trip. It's a lot of stuff, but not as much as I was expecting... It seems that we depend on far fewer things to live a life than we might imagine. At one point, I looked at my bed- where I had placed everything- and realized that these objects virtually make up my whole life. Except for food, I barely touch anything else. It was a strange moment, and in that moment my life seemed sparse and common.
I was missing the obvious; my life is not about what I have, but about the people I love and the things I experience. Primarily, though, it's about the God I love. These thoughts, which occurred a moment later, spurred me to another moment; a moment of anxiety for what I'm going to miss and what I'm about to do. New people! New places! Foreign experiences! And then I became excited all over again.
I also went shopping to pick up a few things I need to bring; bug spray, glasses case, watch, a duffel to actually bring things in, etc. I spent nearly $100 in a moment and got everything I needed, which was a weight of my shoulders.

As a going away gift, my grandma gave me her card and told me to spend $50 on whatever I wanted; I got myself new black Converse low tops (finally!) and... an Eeyore onesie/sleeper thing (!). It's adorable and hilarious and soft and so warm and wonderful it reminded me that I'm going to miss all of the cold weather, the Fall and probably all of the snow.
I'm going to miss Thanksgiving dinner with the whole family in our new house. I'm going to miss Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and New Years' parties; and my birthday will be celebrated away from home.
Oh well! Enjoy everything about Autumn for me, because I can't, and treasure your moments with your family around the holidays... And treasure the beauty of the snow!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               See?!  
...1 week away...                                                                                                  

  

Introduction; Why A Blog

This year, instead of going directly to college after graduating high school, I'll be taking a gap year to go on a mission trip.

I'll be doing this through an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM), specifically YWAM Ships. Basically, in their own words, YWAM is "a global movement of Christians from many denominations dedicated to presenting Jesus personally to this generation, to mobilizing as many as possible to help in this task, and to the training and equipping of believers for their part in fulfilling the Great Commission".

I’ll be flying out September 27th, bound for Kona, Hawaii to begin the lecture phase—three months of training—with other students like me. We’ll be hearing from international Christian speakers, taking spiritual courses, and learning skills that will be helpful in our service. My group will be taught how best to minister and serve. We will be studying the Bible and deepening our knowledge and our faith. I'm excited to learn and grow!

After I've completed training, I'll be sailing with others to different regions of the world; serving the people, showing them God’s love, and helping to provide them with medical care, service, and ministry. In many of the places I’ll have the opportunity to visit, the people have little access to medical care or basic needs.

This blog is for my friends and family to hear what I'm up to, and any stories that I have to tell. It's essentially my travel journal; to remember events, people, and experiences and to tell about them to others. Follow me, and feel free to share or comment whenever you'd like! I'd love to know when someone reads what I've written and what they think.

Yours of course, Anya Rop