After three weeks in Hawaii..

Obviously I'm not very good at this blogging thing as it seems like it has been ages since I last updated you all on what has been happening - sorry!

It has been so busy here.. the fun of just going to the beach has started to die down and the reality of being on a course has started to settle in! My days start as early as 6am (for MANDATORY aerobics twice a week - can you believe the cheek?! haha) to the latest at 8am.. so no sleep-ins for me! And often, we have evening talks, so my day is often fully packed all the way through to 9, 10pm! I even get homework and have just handed in a big fat book report =) but hey, as they say, education never ends huh?!

However, it has been an amazing experience thus far - it really does leave me in awe of how real and loving God is. I am so appreciative of being able to worship God everyday in such beautiful surroundings! Oh man, I wish I could share with you guys all the things I'm learning here - God is teaching me so many things it blows me away and I can barely keep up!

We have had lectures on things like the true meaning of worship, the nature of God, intercession, how to hear the voice of God.. and all these things that I thought I knew all about before, but God is definitely challenging me from a new perspective..

I have also had the opportunity to hear amazing testimonies and recognise the power it has (Rev 12:11).. from missionaries being imprisoned in Iran and China to my fellow classmates being obedient to God's call to bring their families here to do the Discipleship Training School (DTS) and selling up their houses, cars and whole lives to follow Him.. so inspirational.. especially when they are people like you and me, and you see how God has blessed them so much more in their obedience!

God has been working so much here - I have seen so many manifestations of the Spirit it's crazy! Like the girl who I came with, Shinae, was praying the other day, and when she looked down at her hands, they were covered in gold dust. She thought it must have been something off the floor, so she tried to wipe it off on her trousers, but the more she wiped, the more gold dust that came.. Praise God! Wow.. But we serve a great God, so how can we not expect great things?! =)

Oh, and another cool thing that happened this weekend was that the YWAMers went to volunteer as security in the big Iron Man competition in town on Saturday.. the athletes are insane. They first swim 2.4 miles, then cycle 112 miles and then run 26 miles. They were fainting all over the place.. but so many people finished it - including loads of like 60 year olds! Best part though was at the afterparty.. do you remember seeing the video of the father doing the iron man triathlon with his quadriplegic son? They were there! It was so touching to see them... wow.. now that's love!

Anyway, I would love if you guys could pray for me for a few things (if you guys are still reading!):
- pray that God would continue to reveal Himself to me and be more and more real to me everyday, that I can hear His voice clearly, and be obedient to His will. I am also waiting on God to confirm with me where He wants me to go on outreach: to Japan (or Singapore and Malaysia).
- pray that I can trust that He will continue to be the great Provider, including for the first instalment of my outreach/mission fees which are due next week.
- pray that He will continue to look after loved ones back home.

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers - I miss you!

I promise promise my next blog will be SHORT(er)! =)