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Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Return South

we woke up at 5 am to catch the bus at 6, the only problem was that the time had changed back, we had sprung forward an hour, so we were freaking out that we might miss the bus, i prayed and God said we had not missed the bus, which was good. we got on the bus and asked how much 4 seats would cost to gilgit, we wanted too be comfortable, they said 740 rupees, we got in and began the journey south. it was a van like the one we took to gilgit from islamabad and it was packed. we got half way there and we stopped in aliabad and they began to take our luggage off the roof, we had been warned that we would not be able to go all the way to gilgit on this bus, this is where the fun began. the driver came up to us and asked for 740 rupee, we told him that was for gilgit, but he insisted that he be paid the full amount. i am an american, we pay for the service we get and we only got half way, and we told him that, he said no that 740 is for the four seats. we said yes for the four seats to gilgit this is half way we will pay for half. at this point things were getting heated aaron went to find a new bus and i got to deal with our old driver, who did not speak much english. he came back with an english speaking pakistani and told me that it was 740 because we had our luggage on the top of the van, “no thats not right other people had their luggage there as well, i will give you 500 rupee this is more then fair” this went back and forth for a good ten minutes until he finally he begrudgingly took the money. the nice thing though was the sun had returned, or we had returned to the sunlit lands. we got on another bus this time we just had our seats

Jamalabad

we started on a bad note aaron was sick with intense cramps, and i had just taken to imodeum for diarrhea, the rest of the time in the village was spent hovering somewhere between needing to go home from illness and just getting by. aaron had giardia. i had altitude sickness. the first three days were incredibly hard, it was cold we knew only two people, and we were both sick. we were at 9,200 feet, i had just gotten used to being at around 5,000 feet in gilgit. one thing that was good was there are two english speakers there, they are punjabi christians working at the school we were going to teach at. the only frustrating thing about them is that no does not mean no, i know this is a purely cultural thing that in the east they are trying to be hospitable to their guest, but im from the west and no means no, here no means yes. would you like some more chai? no thank you, and then you get a new full cup of chai, so being sick was partly a blessing. i never liked school so the thought of me as a teacher is the definition of irony. but teaching was fun, the interesting thing was school was not even supposed to be in session, so we had about thirty students that they roped into coming to learn, it was a grade range from kindergarden to tenth grade. they love songs and would sing them any chance they got, so getting the room to settle down was a real task. but i figured out how, just sing loudly a line from radiohead’s wolf at the door and the shut up it was awesome. unfortunately the trip was not all chai and radiohead, aaron was not doing good, by the third day he had gone into a depression that soon turned into despair. we would pray and worship, and at times he seemed better but he took the rest of the trip hour by hour and moment by moment. i had my moments as well but whenever i would begin to feel down or have a bad attitude i would start to worship and Jesus would show up and things started to look up. i don’t know why this didn’t happen with aaron, or why i didn’t stay in the dumps, i wish i new but i don’t. it was a harsh area, no believers, no green, and no school. we had plenty of down time enough for me to start and finish the fellowship of the ring. one thing that was a blast for me was i got to farm, it was cool. but we need to leave, our time was up and aaron was deteriorating so we looked into the bus south.

The Breaking of The Fellowship

two weeks after we arrived in Pakistan the time came for the Afghan team to leave and for aaron and i to head north and leave our leaders for ten days. it was before dawn we woke up and said what i thought was the final goodbye. i don’t know if i will ever see everyone from my school ever again, i doubt that i will see them all in the same place, i love them. they have become closer then family, they know my deepest secrets and darkest places, because they were there as i walked through the pain of giving them to God. they’ve helped me become a man of God and grow up into who i am supposed to be. this parting was painful, my roommate who was also one of the first two friends i made in kona would be leaving, as well as my work duty partner, men that i had spent countless hours with praying and growing as well as having fun with. also two of my leaders, one a man who can see deeply into your heart and pull out the best in you and a woman who has become like a sister and a true encouragement. this parting was painful but it needed to happen, they needed to walk into the destiny that God called them to, and me and aaron needed to do this as well. so we said our goodbyes, then i went back to bed for a few more hours until my journey north was to begin. we woke up, got our stuff and threw it in the back of a truck, had a light breakfast and got ready to depart to jamalabad.

Gilgit

we stayed at the Horizon Guest house here in Gilgit, it has one floor and an accessible roof, when you look out you are surrounded by mountains. mountains taller than anything i have seen, on a clear day we can see rakaposhi’s peak in the distance. the food is excellent. i was in the biggest room basically because there were 6 guys so we were all together. we had orientation about the different people groups and what has been going on in the northern areas. we spent two weeks together as a large team, and with the other westerners. it had been three days and they found my bag unfortunately it took another week for it to get here. “but alex did you just have that one set of clothes?” no the blessing of being overweight in my bag was that i put some clothes in tim's bag so i had a few clothes. my bag did arrive and it was one of the happiest moments of the trip. we worked at the school as well as in an orphanage. now you might still be wondering about the ipod well i had been wondering how to use it for Gods glory and i finally found a way to do it. in kona i bought a five way head phone splitter, and on the plane i picked up a bunch of head phones, so one day at the orphanage i brought my ipod and the headphones. i got to introduce these kids to music and sounds they had never heard before. there was one little girl there she was clearly the runt of the bunch, and i felt like God wanted me to bless her so i let her use my personal head phones. she could hear the music in both ears while the other kids only got one ear bud. i played everything and anything for them, but it was viva la vida by coldplay that made the moment for me, and this little girl. i love that song and she did to, watching her as she heard the sounds of coldplay for the very first time was amazing, an entire new world opened up and her face lit up time and time again as the song flowed, this was one of the happiest moments of this trip. but all the happy moments as a team couldn't last. no the afghan team need to go to afghanistan.

The KKH

people would ask me back home, “alex aren't you scared of terrorists?” and i would always say no, but i met one, it was no man, it was a road. the Karakorem Highway, calling it a highway is generous at best, its closer to a navigational hazard then anything. at first its a nice easy road that you can just drive but that is near islamabad. you see in america we have smooth stretching vistas of concrete that has been engineered so that the driver or rider feels the most minimal discomfort, this is not america, and this is not an american highway. we left at 3 am, at first it was no big deal i slept most of the way till breakfast. the breakfast was great. we went to what i can only describe as the mountain dew cafe, due to the fact that the entire front and side of the building had mountain dew logos painted all over it. our driver and our guide helped order the chai and food, it was wonderful i really enjoyed it we had naan and bratha, two types of flat bread, and dhal, which is a type of lentil. after breakfast we continued our journey. driving the KKH is something i will try to avoid and here is why, first we are stuffed into a tiny van that has been made to cary as many people as possible. what that means is its to small for me, the planes were more spacious. secondly the road itself is so riddled with pot holes and land slides that it feels like you are in a constant earth quake, i can not tell you how many times i hit my head on the wall or ceiling during our 19 hour journey north. the one thing that is good about the drive is the beauty of pakistan, the mountains and valleys and the indus river, my only regret was not being more awake for the ride. everything was fine till Kohistan. kohistan is a state here in Pakistan, it is traditionally a rather fundamental part of pakistan. I'm not sure how long we had been in kohistan, but its where we decided to have lunch, dark men with long beards and dark stern expressions surrounded us, the clearly out of place white people, i didn't eat, partly from feeling sick but also the heaviness. i felt it all around me, darkness pressing in an oppression that was trying to pull me down to the pit and never release me. we got back in the car and i asked for motion sickness medicine. and it hit me, I’m not sure what hit first the medicine or the enemy. my entire body began to tingle and feel fuzzy and then the oppression, the depression, the stress, the heaviness hit, but the thing that stuck out was the complete lack of hope. they have no hope, their is no savior in islam, even if you are the best person allah can still throw you into the fire. and then for the first time in ten years i began to cry, i wept for these people that had no idea about the overwhelming love of Jesus, they were going to die and go to hell because no one had told them yet. i wept and prayed and worshiped and my friends prayed for me. and then i fell asleep. after that i was in and out of conciseness till we arrived in gilgit.

Islamabad

wednesday, dawn, march 28th. i had been traveling for 48 hours but i made it. Pakistan. but not everything did make it. we went through customs, and i got the first stamp into my passport, then i went to claim my bag. baggage claim is the most nerve wracking part of any trip for me, you wait and wait, and wait, never knowing if they lost your bag. so i waited and waited, and waited, the carousal slowly emptied, my team had all got their luggage, but i was left wanting, and God reminded me of something he said to me on the plane to san francisco. i was on the plane and God spoke to me and said my bag would be lost for three days, i of course rebuked the devil that i thought i heard, but it turns out i heard correctly at least that my bag would get lost, it was. their wasn’t much left to do but go to where we were staying. we were staying at the comfort in, for you with an imagination forget what the west looks like, or how a western hotel seems. it was more of a big house then anything, some rooms had western toilets others had squaties. my room was completly pink, pink carpet pink drapes, pink satin comforter, it was awesome. that day we had breakfast and then i crashed, i slept the whole day, apparently i had jet lag, you catch it on planes when you travel half way around the world. i woke up that evening and had dinner and then an unexpected surprise. you see the next day we would be going to Gilgit, and we were leaving at 4 am to get there, well around ten aaron and i got on the internet. the last time i saw my friends in kona i thought it was just that, the last time i would see them, it wasn’t. Aaron has Skype and since it was night here and morning there we skyped everyone back in kona. having people that you know love you is great but what is better is being able to talk to them. for two hours we did just that talked with our friends back in kona, they told us about what we had missed, but mostly we just missed each other. we had been through a transformative experience together and we all wanted more of Jesus in our lives, i have never experienced this kind of love. but i was no longer in the west, i was now in the east and things are different here, like the ability to stay online or have constant electricity. so of course the power went out and i went to bed at midnight, hey i had to get up in three hours and drive to gilgit the next day.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

flights

Kona
adventures and stories are never any good without conflict and airports are rather dull places unless you have a challenge, and my first challenge came before i even got my ticket. my new bag was to heavy. 13 pounds to heavy to be exact, it was 63 pounds and the limit for a checked bag was 50 i needed to loose 13 pounds immediately. luckily my friend tim had room in his bag to spare, so the first thirteen pounds of clothes, mostly heavy jackets, went into Tim's bag, this turned into one of the greatest blessings during the whole trip. after that we got our tickets got on a plane and headed to san francisco.

san fran
our time in san fran was nice but short we had about 15 minutes at the airport just enough time to get to a bathroom and board the next flight to chicago.

Chicago
chicago was just as nice as san fran but in stead of having to little time we had four hours to kill. so we got lunch charged our ipods and napped, one very good thing came out of this airport, the iGo. the iGo is a battery powered universal charger. why would i need this beyond just having a cool gadget? my phone, i lost my phone charger two days before i left kona and i needed some way to charge my phone so i bought the iGo and adapters for my phone and ipod and i was set to go to london.

LONDON CALLING
i like traveling its fun especially when the plane is half empty, you can walk around, change seats, basically do what ever. i had a middle aisle seat so i missed flying into the sunset but i changed seats near the end of the flight and looked out the window. a million points of light shining out in the black night and to the right quickly filling the sky was the pale light of the sun, chasing away nights blackness and the beauty of the stars. as we flew into london we flew into the sunrise, there are no words to describe the beauty and wonder that i felt in that plane watching a sunrise in fast forward. underneath me was a field of clouds dotted with the flickering lights of what looked liked fires burning. and then i was in london. not only was i in london but i was in london for breakfast a true full english, but i didn't have the egg because they are gross. it was epic i was in the homeland of Tolkein and the adopted homeland of lewis, and my ancestral home, just soaking in the england that i could, the airport. My friends and I happened to do so much soaking that we almost missed the final check in to board our plane. there i was in an unfamiliar airport running on moving sidewalks following signs, and you might not have guessed what i was thinking, most people would say i was hoping that i wouldn't miss my flight, maybe in the back of my mind i was thinking that. no i was thinking the whole time man this is going to make a great story, and if i miss my flight it will be an even better one. we did not miss the flight instead we made it onto the nicest plane i have ever been on.

A Plane to Bahrain
I'm from seattle, so i know Boeing planes, this was not a Boeing plane, this was air bus. and of course we were in economy, but it felt like economy plus! i had my own 13 inch screen, i could watch t.v. movies and play video games! i did none of these things no i turned on my ipod and crashed hard i am not sure how long the flight was cause i don’t care i was comfortable. for the first time on a plane since we left kona, i had room to stretch my legs, plus the two seats next to me were open, it was great. we also were served a great meal. my first taste of the middle east, my appetite was wet, and i was about to get even more. Bahrain is a rich island off the coast of saudi arabia, the airport was more of a mall then anything. Mcdonalds, its a staple of the west, but it has made it to the east and so they have regional food, in the middle east they have the McArabia, its a Gyro, i have yet to try one but i really want to maybe on the way back. i had one last plane to go my final red eye.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Last Days in Kona

the last days in kona were some of the best and most important in my life. my parents visited me. they couldn't have come at a better time, it was three weeks from when i was going to leave and i became very homesick and i was talking to my mom and telling her that they could always visit me. the next day before work duty my dad called and told me that they would be coming to see me in two weeks. they were supposed to arrive on a wednesday. i was walking down to meet my friend who was going to take me to the airport to pick them up when i got a call from my mom, they had landed early i thought, to my surprise quite the opposite was the case, they had not even gone to the airport. what happened was my dad got either the flu or food poisoning, and was so sick they couldn't come, so they had to reschedule. saturday the day before they were supposed to arrive i got a call, now my mom was sick, at this point i knew that God wanted them in Hawaii but the devil didn't, and to be perfectly honest i was sick of delays so i got my friends together and called my mom. like i said before i expect God to work in miraculous ways, and he does and did, the next morning my parents got on a plane and came to see me.

that few days that my parents were in kona were incredibly important for our relationship. at first i was super excited that they were there but then it dawned on me, what are we going to do? you see my parents aren’t exactly beach people, and there is not to much to do in Hawaii besides go to the beach, not to mention the other problem. i had changed so much over the past two and a half months that i wasn’t sure how to act around my parents. so the second day showed up and my dad asked me a question that was probably well deserved, seeing as i was being the worlds most awkward turtle, he asked;

“are you feeling alright?”

“ya why” i responded

“well your just really quiet, do you not want us to be here?”

I’m not sure how that ended but we ended up going to get shave ice and it got even more awkward there. so we are all three waiting in line when my dad gets a call i asked my mom who it was, because my dads face gave the classic tell tell signs of receiving bad news, she said it was my sister and that grandma had just died. my dads mom was dead, his parents were now both gone, and he was receiving this news from his daughter, in hawaii, while in line for an afternoon desert. well if that didn't just push the afternoon into to hyperdrive awkward mode I'm not sure what could. i called my brother, to let him know what was up. now don't get me wrong i loved my grandma, she was my grandma, but i didn't really know her, we never spent much time with her. after that my dad, who has been to kona before wanted to show my mom the places he had been, so we went for a drive. what do you say to your dad when his mom just died? “hey cheer up dad at least it wasn’t you?” no you say “I’m sorry” just like the rest of the world and you sit in the back of the car enjoying the silence and tension, feeling like a moron because you just said the least comforting thing in the entire universe. seriously how is I’m sorry supposed to make things better in any way shape or form? it doesn’t instead it just makes you feel a little better because you just said some thing that sounds consoling. but thats a rant back to the story.

so my parents don't think i want them there, we have nothing really to do and my grandma just died, this was officially the most awkward moment of my entire life to date and i hope that it never gets topped. so we drive to waikaloa and after having a snow cone the size of my head and hearing bad news i needed to pee so we stopped at a gas station and i went in and asked jesus a simple question, “jesus what do i do?” “ask your dad how he is doing with me.” he replied. i was incredulous but thats what i heard, so i got back in the car and just to be consistent with the rest of the day i asked my dad how him and God were, but i did it in an entirely awkward fashion. but to my surprise it wasn’t another awkward moment, my dad totally opened up and all of a sudden all the awkwardness and not knowing how to act around my parents, everything, just fell way. the rest of the night was great we got dinner and talked about Jesus and what he was doing in my life and what he was doing in their lives and in our family’s life. the rest of the couple days were great and made getting to pakistan possible.

when my parents got to kona i needed over $2,300 dollars, for this trip. but due to adding errors it was significantly less, and as most of you know i got the money i needed. not only did i get the money i need but I got a surplus of over $1,300 dollars with that i was able to help my roommate pay for his trip to iraq. but not only that i was able to get an ipod, now i know what your going to say, “alex the money we donated was for you to go to pakistan, and your work there, not for you to get an ipod.” well rest assured that this was a hard decision to make and that your money is being put to good use. not only did my money come in but God also blessed me with a $300 dollar hiking bag, a few nights before i started to pack i went into my room and next to my bed was a massive hiking pack with a note on top that said “for alex” to this day i do not know who gave it to me, but if your reading this thank you it is being put to good use.

the rest of my time in kona was spent getting ready to leave the place that i have grown so fond of and so attached to, and the people that i love and hold so dearly. sadly all good things must come to an end. my bag was packed the rest of my stuff was in storage and my room was clean. it was time. the goodbyes began and to my surprise the goodbyes came with tears, i knew that i loved my friends but i had no idea how much they loved me. now i am not so silly as to think that all the tears were falling solely on my account, my whole school was leaving. we said our goodbyes, got into the vans and went to the airport as the sun sank into the western ocean, waking up the other side of the world that i would soon be in. we got to the airport and then said one of the hardest goodbyes, we had to say goodbye to each other, our school was breaking up to go to five distinctly different places. then we went to the check in.

the longest journey yet

the last ten weeks will now be chronicled of the next two weeks, sorry for the lack of updates but i was in an unsecure country pakistan and could not post but im back in the usa so buckle up your in for a wild ride

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Big Fish and Big Dreams

yesterday our marine biologist caught a 400lb marlin, they look like a sword fish, and i got to help cut it up, dts is an adventure. life is supposed to be like this, full. full of new experiances full of light full of friends full of God. now i know and believe that there will be times that we do not experiance this fullness, but that is a good thing, if all we experianced was a fullness of life we would not fully appreciat it. only after knowing hunger and longing can we completly enjoy the fullness God wants in our life. its like Jesus he is such a mystery on one hand there is nothing in this universe that satisfies like Jesus but at the same time i am left hungry for more i am left wanting.

God is begining to put a vission for the future in my heart. part of me wants to stay in YWAM and continue on this adventure in missions. thats a missleading statement, i will continue in missions. but i am not sure if that means i will be with YWAM or not. now as to this vision i see the church rising once again from the ashes. maybe your the average american church goer and you belive that the church is doing fine, if thats the case this is really going to hurt: she isnt. the church is a shatered weak hardly recognizable wisp of smoke, compared to what she is supposed to be. now i know what your asking, alex what are you talking about we go to church and feel good isnt that what its about? well yes it is, if you dont ever read your bible. you see the church in the bible is completly diffrent from the church of today, and i am not talking about your sound systems, i am talking about people being healed miraculesly. i am talking about a church model where we ask God for his plans instead of making plans and asking God to bless them. im talking about a church where we spend more money on missions then on the potluck. you see God wants to move in BIG WAYS. you might be thinking thats nice alex but God doesnt do that anymore. he doesnt? what bible are you reading? doesnt the bible say that God is the same yesterday today and tomorow (Heb 13:8) cause if it does oh and it does then that means that God still does miracels and he still speaks to us through prophetic words. when did we decicde that it was ok to stop using the bible to guide us? when did we decide to ignore the great commision? when did we decide it would be better to not offend some one and let them go to hell? cause you know what thats what we have decided.

i know that getting upset about this is not going to change things. you see God is coming back for his bride, the church, and she needs to get ready and God is going to do it. i just want to be part of it. ok so maybe you dissagree with what i said thats fine tell me about it, but first ask God if there is more to him that he wants to show to you. ask him "God can this fullness that Jesus talked about (jn 10:10) be more full?"

Friday, February 13, 2009

sick

i am a loud person, in all respects. this week i was official the sickest, physicly, that i have ever been in my entire life, like i have said im loud, so loud in fact that people a floor above me and three rooms down heard me throwing up, but that does not take the cake, 50 yards away my friend beth in her room heard me. im better now though.

God is so much more intense then we let on. i think its because we are completly comfortable that we try and nueter him and make him tame, but you see there is the problem God is not tame he never has been and he never will be. you see back home i acknowledge that God has the power to heal the sick and do cool things like that but if you tried to actualy have that happen i would be the first to say you must be outside your mind. you know whats cool? in the time that i have been in Kona i have seen countless miracules healings and been part of one. God moves in the supernatural and we need embrace that and let God out of the box called the american church. i love my church and i am sure you love yours but the jesus at my church has been castrated and is not the awesome and powerfull God of the bible.

God is indeed making me a radical beliver and i am going to come home and pray for the sick and expect God to heal them. you might be asking "but alex what if they dont get healed?" well then they dont get healed but i was called in the bible to preach the gospel and heal the sick(mark 16:15-18). if God said to do that then you know what thats what im going to do, and if someone doesnt get healed, they can ask God why he didnt heal them. because you see its God who heals people not me, if it was by my power guess what? i would not have got sick this week i would have just healed myself. done. but i did get sick and i got prayed for but i stayed sick. sometimes you get healed and sometimes you dont. i have no idea why its that why i just know that right now in my life thats how it is.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

let me tell you about my boat

so for this one you should listen to "let me tell you about my boat" by mark mothersbaugh from the life aquatic soundtrack. is it cued up? ok lets go.

i have been in hawaii for over a week now and everything is amazing first let me tell you about where i live. i live in village one building 4 room 83, i have 6 roommates and one bath room, they are from all over the country and canada, three of them are in my dts and one is on my outreach team, his name is Jordan. from my room i can get to all the important areas of the campus in less then a minute walk, to my left at the end of my building is the dts lounge, where i am writing this. 20 steps out my door is where we have our meals, they are outside because of the fact that we are in hawaii and the weather is nice alot. 19 steps from my door in the same direction is the cashier and finance offices where i check my balance, i still need that $2,190. in the other direction is the library and prayer room.

my class's are amazing and so are my class mates and staff we have bonded faster then normal and gotten closer then most, it might have something to do with the fact we are so extreme or maybe that God is moving in big ways. for example last week we were sharing our testimonies and it went from how did i get here to lets confess one to another all the sins in our past that have kept us from God. it was amazing all of us feel lighter and closer to each other and God.

let me tell you about my adventures.

last week we went to two different beaches makalevana and hapuna. makalevana was especialy fun because you have to walk down this long path but we took a wrong turn and ended up walking across a lava feild. now if you were ever wondering what frodo and sam walked across just walk across a lava feild it looked like mordor it was crazy. we didnt actualy make it to the beach but it was fun none the less, we did end up going to kua bay and had some great body surfing.

hapuna. now hapuna is a state beach with a big break close to the beach easily the face of the waves was 6ft plus. now on this day i was boogie boarding on my friend aarons board and every five minuts a set of three big waves would come in i chose the second wave. i started to paddle and the wave began to take me up and i reached the crest of the wave and i knew i had caught it. i looked over the falls, i got this, i began to head down the wave, no problem, i was becoming more and more vertical head pointed into the ground. i dont got it, over the falls. i went down faster the a fighter in a riged match and then this massive force of nature and energy fell on me. i was as usefull as a mouse in a dishwasher getting tossed and tumbeling, you have no idea where the air is or the ocean floor. my board had been ripped from my hands at the begining and the leash on my wrist was about to cut through and chop my hand off. finaly i found the ground and stood up just in time to get knocked back down by another masive wave, once again into the wash, once again i found the ground and pushed up no more waves. i pulled my board in and it had all but been ripped in half. i tell you the truth it was the best ride of my life.

roommates
so i have 6 roomates and they are all so awesome. the other day i came into my room and on my bed sitting on the pillow was a stuffed doll, she was wearing a a dress and a bonnet. it was creepy so i threw it off my bed, that night it was back. this time stareing at me from between the slats above my bed, so i pulled it out and put it on my roomates bed. the next day it was hanging by noose from the light, after that it was hung in the bathroom. it sat out side then had its throat slit and hung from the pull up bar. thats when i felt enough is enough and relized i had to rip its head off. so i did. the legs became capture the flag flags. the body is gone and the head is in the lounge. like i said i have great roommates.



Friday, January 2, 2009

im here

with any journey their will be ups and downs, and when you throw a trans formative proses done by God their will be some major upheaval. i have now been in Hawaii for four days and it is amazing i wake up and look out my window and i am in the middle of the crown jewel of Gods creation. jerusalem is the capital of Gods kingdom but here in Hawaii is where he walks. its weird when i left there was snow on the ground and its been in the upper 70s since i stepped off the plane. that was a great adventure when i got of the plane i got to use the stairs and go straight on to the tarmac which was awesome. i got to the base got and the first thing that happend was my to dear friends brian and mackenzie byersdorf ran up and geve me hugs welcoming me to hawaii. i then began the orientation, to my suprise i had got alot more support then i was expecting, i still need over $2,000 but i want to thank all of you who are reading praying and supporting me its making a huge diffrence.

to be coninued...