Hawaii summer project - the final update

Hello friends and family,

I know it's been a while since I sent my last Hawaii update, but after talking to some of my project students about what happened after staff left, I thought I'd give you one last glimpse of summer project when the students ran the last 3 weeks on their own. I know project is much more than I can begin to describe here, but hopefully some of these sketches will give you an idea of how much life change can happen in just a few weeks.

Kyle*

So you remember Kyle, the poor student I told you about who had 2nd degree sunburn, grass allergy, bronchitis, and then an allergy to the bronchitis medication? He started out pretty shy, but he eventually came out of his shell and actually ended up being the emcee for the women's appreciation night!

More significantly, I saw him grow by leaps and bounds in conflict resolution. One night, as we were walking down to 7-11 (for spam masubi and other snacks), I asked what aspects of project had been challenging for him, and Kyle said he had some differences in opinion with other students, but he hadn't talked to them about it and didn't intend to. I was frustrated, but I reiterated to him that we told them from Day 1 to expect conflict and walked him through the steps of how to resolve them.

I wasn't sure if anything I said stuck, but a week later, during our conflict resolution night, I saw Kyle in the hallway, talking through a conflict with another student (who, incidentally, was the one we considered sending home. We let her stay, but she still continued to be a source of conflict even after staff left)! I'm really proud of him for taking the initiative to have a potentially difficult conversation, and I pray he will take this skill with him back to campus.

Hawaii Pacific University
At least 1-2 summer projects before this year have tried to start a CCC movement at HPU, but they had been unable to meet students who were interested in what we were doing. However, this summer alone, our team met 4-5 students who were extremely excited about starting a movement, including Larry* (pictured right), a local student who remembered my EHSP 08 team from two years ago and said he wished he could have hung out with us more last time!

When our students challenged Larry to be a part of bringing CCC to campus (about the time that staff left), he was pretty non-committal, but apparently, after staff left, something clicked and Larry has since become one of the most passionate local students -- he even came up with a semester plan for the group! He and 3 other HPU students started meeting with 2 CCC Hawaii staff (Jamie and Ed), weekly for Bible studies, and are hoping to get campus recognition as a student group next spring!

Please join me in thanking the Lord for all that he did this summer, and pray that the project team will take these lessons they learned in Hawaii back to campus.

Thank you for being a part of transforming lives of students on project like Kyle, local students like Larry, and for the many others who are in their networks and spheres of influence. We could not have done this without your faithfulness in prayer, encouragement (sorry if I didn't always respond!), and giving, and I am blessed to know you all.

Gratefully yours,
Jessica

A week on project

Hello everyone,

It's hard to believe that we're wrapping up our 4th (and the staff's last) week of summer project - it's been an amazing journey so far, and I'd like to give you a glimpse of what we've been up to the for the past week:

Thursday 7/8: Prayer Van
Once a week, a few students from each campus take a day off to go in the prayer "van", which visits a different Oahu campus each week to pray over that campus, and then have lunch and some free time on the beach before heading back to UH. On Thursday, I went with the prayer group to Windward Community College, which currently has the largest Crusade movement on the island, with about 15-20 students (and growing!) that only began a few semesters ago when Tricia, the Hawaii staff team leader took a student from her church to share their faith once a week. It's amazing to see what God does in such a short amount of time and it definitely reminded me of the power of prayer.

Friday 7/9: Staff day
We had an extremely long staff meeting to place all 30 students in their leadership positions that they would have after we leave. On the bright side, I finally got to work out and lap swim!

Saturday 7/10: Team social day (alternates every other Saturday with a community service project or an outreach event)
This week, we had an outing to Pearl Harbor to honor those who gave their lives for our country and then a visit to the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium, which is basically a giant street fair that puts the NYC ones to shame. The social team handed out slips of paper with "get to know you questions" for us to ask each other throughout the day, and I feel like I learned a lot about the students I was with, including worst haircuts :) and embarassing moments as well as more serious conversations about their testimonies and how the Lord led them to Summer Project.

Sunday 7/11: Church at Kaimuki Christian Church and Ohana Time
Ohana time has taken many different forms to build the team, but this particular night included some group games (like the human knot), followed by an encouragement activity where each team member had a sheet of paper with their name on it taped around the room, and everyone had 15 seconds to write a note before rotating to the next name. By the end of the night, we all had pages with 45 different notes of what others appreciated about us.

Monday 7/12: Day of rest, with men's women's time in the evening
Hung out at Waikiki beach with some other staff and enjoyed fresh takoyaki (Japanese octopus in fried batter covered in sauce). For women's time (my committee), we decided to let the students run this one. During our planning time, they talked about having a slumber party, but we (the staff women) never got details and we noticed some of the student women were acting suspiciously. It turns out that they had actually planned an appreciation night for us! It was a really sweet and encouraging time as each pair of roommates verbally affirmed each staff woman. I felt so loved!

Tuesday 7/13: Training, campus time, weekly meeting
During campus time, J and J from our team ran into R and had an opportunity to share the gospel with him. If you remember from a previous update, R is our HPU contact who has been so helpful in introducing us to other HPU students. He has become friends with most of our campus team members and spent a good amount of time hanging out with them, checking out our weekly meeting, and asking lots of questions about what we believe and what we're here to do. We think he's close to coming to Christ, but is unsure because he has been to church with Mormon friends before and doesn't quite know the difference between our beliefs.

Wednesday 7/14: Training, announcing student leadership positions
After hours in that Friday staff meeting and beyond, we challenged our students to their roles and announced them during training on Saturday. Of the 3 women I'm discipling, T will be leading our small group, C will lead women's time, and P will be the female project director. I'm so excited for them and how they'll grow as they step into these roles!

Only a few more days before I return to the mainland...I can't wait to see you all, but I'll also miss these students and staff. Please pray for us to finish strong and for the students to rise to the challenge as they run the project themselves for the next 3 weeks.

Please also pray for our team as we are experiencing a lot of conflict on our project, especially with one particular student who doesn't seem to recognize how his/her actions result in tension within the team and his/her various sub-teams. Issues that started small are now approaching serious proportions, so please pray for wisdom in how to proceed in managing this student (even if it means sending him/her home) especially since the staff are leaving in 3 days.

The staff are leading a time of conflict resolution during this Sunday night's ohana time, where we'll train students in healthy conflict resolution skills and then give them time to put into practice what they've learned with people they're in conflict with. Please pray for this time to be led by the Spirit, for students to address the issues at hand with truth and grace.

Thanks,
Jessica

Thanks for your prayers!
Jessica

PS - food post coming soon, by popular demand :)

Hawaiian and Local Food

To you foodies out there -- this post is for you!

Before I show you the food, I want to make a quick note about the title which may sound redundant but is actually not. Hawaii consists of a hodgepodge of cultures from the immigrants who came to work on the plantations, so referring to people (and subsequently, culture or food) "Hawaiian" refers to the indigenous people, and "local" refers to other non-native peoples.

Hawaiian food

Kalua pork

Pork shoulder rubbed in salt and slow smoked, traditionally in a an "imu" or underground oven.


Lau lau

Pork roast wrapped in taro leaf, which tastes kind of like spinach


Poke

A raw fish salad with cubes of fish marinated in soy sauce and chili peppers


Poi

A Polynesian staple made by mashing cooked taro and adding water. It's definitely not my favorite, but you should try it anyway.


Haupia

A coconut geletin dessert, but can also refer to coconut filling in malasadas or McDonald's haupia pies :). There's a bakery on the North Shore that makes an AMAZING chocolate haupia pie, but unfortunately, I can't remember what it's called or where exactly it is.


Noni (aka, the Cheese Fruit)

I have no idea where this came from or where Chris found this, but it smells like a really strong cheese and doesn't taste much better.

Local food

Spam Masubi

You'll find a lot of spam in local cooking, thanks to its introduction by the US military during WWII. Spam masubi is a great (and cheap! ~$1.50) snack; we had many late-night runs to the 7-11 behind campus for these!


Manapua

Steamed buns, filled with roasted pork (叉燒包)，pork and vegetable (菜肉包）, curry chicken, or other fillings. You can buy these at 7-11 for about $1.


Malasadas

Portuguese donuts sprinkled in sugar that can also be filled with chocolate, haupia, custard, or seasonal fruit jellies. My favorite is the custard or the haupia, although if you're trying it for the first time, you should get a plain one. Malasadas are a must-have if you're ever in Hawaii, and they're one of the things I crave when I'm back to the mainland. Maybe one of these day's I'll get around to trying recipes for them...


Saimin

Soup noodles


Chili and rice

Self-explanatory, and a really popular meal. We made this for our homeless outreach at Ala Moana Park that I blogged about earlier.


Loco Moco

A hamburger patty over rice, topped with an egg and gravy. Local comfort food :)

Beef Teri

This is one of many "plate lunches" (meat, rice, and mac salad) that you can get at Zippy's or L&L Barbecue (local fast food chains, like McDonald's)


Boots and Kimo's Banana Pancakes with Macademia Nut Sauce


These are HANDS DOWN the best banana pancakes I've ever had in my life -- super soft, moist, and spongy with a sauce that's to die for. After I had these the first time 2 years ago, I couldn't bring myself to make banana pancakes for about 6 months afterward. This is not for the lactose intolerant, and unforunately, sometime in the last 2 years either the sauce has changed or I've developed an intolerance for it. Regardless, it's DELICIOUS!!!


Shave ice

This is not "shaved" ice; there is no "d" It's a cup or a cone of finely shaven ice then topped in syrup (choice of flavors). You can also add other toppings like ice cream, azuki beans (red beans), mochi, or condensed milk. Some favorite places are Waiola's, Tropicana's, Masumoto's, and Shimatsu, although you'll find that some people can get into heated debates about which one is the best shave ice place.


Dole Whip

Probably my favorite dessert; it's a frozen soft-serve made from pineapple. It's not exactly ice cream because the texture is more icy, but unfortunately for Jill (who's lactose intolerant), it is not dairy free. Look at how happy Mary is when she tried it for the first time!


Ice cream mochi

Ice cream wrapped in a glutinous rice-based dough of sorts; best at Bubbie's (which is about a 10-15 minute walk from our dorm....also a favorite hang out place for our team)

Weeks 2-3 update

Hello friends,

I tried posting another video, but I had some trouble uploading it, so I'm just going to give a quick summary. Food and fun posts coming soon!

Highlights

• Seeing community develop in women's times and ohana times
• Opportunities to speak from up front - leading a devotional on fellowship and walking in the light (I John 1:5-10), training this morning on the growth model and adulthood
• Sharing our faith on campus. We've met some people who are really hungry to know the Lord, some who've become friends and ask really good questions as well as about 4-5 who've expressed interest in either starting or being part of CCC at HPU.

Prayer Requests:

• Physical health for Kyle* on our team - he's been through 2nd degree sunburn, grass allergy, bronchitis and an allergy to the medication! It's hard for him to be engaged and fully present when he's dealing with all these ailments
• Community on our team - our dorm set up isn't really conducive to building community
• Staff leave in 2 weeks and the students run the project on their own. Wisdom in choosing leaders
  
• Personal - still struggling with what it means to be staff on this team and letting go of expectations of repeating last time's AMAZING experience. This is a different time and place in my life.
  

A week at Hawaii Pacific University

Hawaii Pacific University (downtown campus) is a small private school in the middle of downtown Honolulu, just a few blocks from Chinatown. It's only a few buildings here and there (the shaded ones in the little map and maybe 1 or 2 more) right next to restaurants, shopping centers, and business/finance buildings -- reminds me of NYC. HPU currently has no Christian groups on campus, so we are trying to launch CCC there by finding students or faculty who want to own that and start a movement.


This past week was HPU's finals week for summer school session 1, so our campus team got permission to set up a table on Tuesday to hand out free water and snacks. A few people stopped by to chat, including a biochem major originally from Georgia, but for the most part, the day was pretty slow and we didn't get into very many conversations. The team was a bit discouraged, but they decided that this approach (waiting for people to come to them) was probably not the most effective way to form relationships.

So on Wednesday, the team decided to be a little more proactive and pair up to survey students on their spiritual backgrounds and share the gospel if an opportunity arose.

One of the most encouraging parts of the day was running into a student (R) that we had met there the week before. Although he wasn't a believer, he really wanted to help us meet students - he told us what time summer school classes got out, what days were better for tabling, and where students hang out, etc.

In addition to being a fountain of information about HPU, he also seems to know everyone on campus, and has introduced us to quite a number of people. On Wednesday, he took us to meet his coworkers in the admissions office, where my student T was able to get into spiritual conversation and present the gospel to R and his coworkers! She was a total natural, even though she hadn't had much experience in sharing her faith and expressed doubt in her own ability to communicate the gospel. It seemed like every pair had some great conversations that day -- 15 people got to hear the gospel that day through our team's conversations!

Campus team with R and his brother M before we head out to the bus stop. Please pray for continued opportunities to develop our relationship with them and to continue the conversation on beliefs.

The team headed back to HPU on Thursday, excited about all the people they had met and talked to on Wednesday. However, campus was really quiet, and there weren't many people to talk to that day, so our team was a little discouraged. Please pray for God to connect us with students who want to reach their campus for Christ and a reminder that God is at work, no matter how many people we can talk to on a given day.


Thanks for praying!

Lunch with the homeless

Although our focus on this summer project is campus ministry, we do desire to be a blessing to the community as a whole and not just its students. As a result, our team will be doing some sort of community service every other Saturday. This past Saturday, we had our first service project where we joined one of the UH Crusade students (Matt) in an outreach he and his friends started last year of sharing lunch with the homeless (instead of just handing them food and leaving) at Ala Moana Beach Park. We divided the team (30 students/14 staff+2 staff kids) into groups of 3-4 and sent them out with bowls of chili and rice (a local favorite) and bottles of water to share with the homeless.

To be honest, it was a bit outside of my own comfort zone, but Matt reminded us the homeless are people too, and that they have a story and are hungry not just for food but for company and people to talk to. I ended up being in a group with 2 students (S and K), and we met a man named Jeff who was immediately suspicious of our motives when we came with food, asking if we were from a church group and if we were going to push Jesus on him. We told him that we were from a Christian organization but that we just wanted to have lunch with him.

He let us sit down with him and then proceeded to share about his own beliefs for the next 1.5 hours, during which we mostly smiled and nodded and tried to squeeze in questons about himself and his own story of how he ended up at the park, and how his beliefs affected his daily life. Those attempts didn't really work too well; he just kept going about why John Lennon was the source of all evil and the popularity of Christianity in the tates, something about a chair held in the sky by electromagnetic forces and a mish mash of history with scientific terms that were redefined in nonsensical ways. For example, he said homology was the mechanism behind telekenesis (he actually meant ESP). Other comments he made were either so racist or so outrageous that I really had no idea how to respond.

I know my group had a hard time with conversation, but it sounds like other groups got into some good conversations. One student discovered that she actually had a lot in common with the homeless person their group met, so she shared her story with him. Another group ended up getting into spiritual conversation and eventually an opportunity to share the gospel, which the man said he'd never heard explained that way before. It's encouraging to know that even if i personally didn't have a super positive experience, God was still at work on the park that day.

First week - video update!

Just to switch things up a bit, here's a video update of the first week.




If you're more text-inclined, this is a quick summary:

Busy (and rough) first week for 3 reasons:

• Tired
• Learning to be flexible
• Figuring out my role as staff on project

Please pray for

• Relationships to be deepened and rooted in God
• Conflict to be resolved in mature and godly manner
• Our team's hearts to grow deeper in love for the Lord and for the people here
  

Go!

Greetings from Hawaii and Happy Father's Day to you fathers!

I asked you guys to pray for a miracle, and the Lord provided! After a very stressful 25 hours, our team of students raised over $33,000 of their needed $66,000 and pledged the rest from their own pockets so that we were able to bring the entire team to project (for a while, it looked like we would have to send some students home). They will continue raising support while they're on island, but we want them to finish that as quickly as possible so as not to detract from their missions experience.

We left California in the wee hours of the morning for an early flight today and are now unpacking and settling in the UH dorms. It's a little strange to be back - coming into the summer, I definitely knew that I would have expectations from my last experience here as a student on project, but it's really hitting me now that this is going to be a different summer -- different people, schedule, dorm setup, amenities, responsibilities, etc. As someone who likes the known and doing things the way they've always been done, this realization comes hard for me, so would you please pray that I would be open to change and whatever else the Lord wants to teach me this summer? Thanks.

Please also pray for:
- Student financial support to be completed as quickly as possible so that they can focus on the summer missions.
- Praise God for bonding the team as they stepped up together to work on support and encourage one another.
- Good communication among the staff team and to our students
- Rest and our team to know when we need it. Personally, I am exhausted from the flight and being around so many new people all the time (I'm an introvert, in case you couldn't tell)

Thanks and let me know how I can pray for you all!
Jessica

Get set!

Today during briefing, I ran into someone who looked oddly familiar. He turned out to be Jason,* one of the local believers that my summer project team met in Hawaii 2 years ago! I asked him how he decided to come on project, and he said, "Well, you guys came 2 years ago, and so I wanted to go on a project!" It was so encouraging to hear that our team had (and is still having!) an impact on the local believers in encouraging them to take steps of faith for the kingdom of God! I can't wait to see what else the Lord has done there since the last time I was there.

However, before we let our students get on the plane on Sunday, we are requiring them to have at least 83% of their support in. Many of our students are not anywhere near their goal; collectively, our team of 30 students is short $60,000, and they only have until 5pm on Saturday to raise it all or make out a personal check for the balance. As of 3pm today, only 10 students had enough to get on the plane.

Our students have have been diligently making phone calls, sharing their calling, and inviting people to join with them for the summer and grow in their faith. Those who are done with their own support have been helping their roommates brainstorm names, give them pep talks as they make phone calls, and praying for them. It's been really encouraging to see them step up as as team. Please pray for the Lord to provide -- this is no small miracle we need.

On your mark...

Greetings from Southern California! Thank you guys so much for your prayers for safety in the Bay; I'm alive and well, and my ears are fine. I'm now in SoCal for a few days for summer project training. Yesterday and today is for the staff teams to get to know each other and plan for the project, and tomorrow the students from 4 different projects will arrive for more training/briefing/getting to know you before we leave for our various locations: San Francisco, Hawaii, Japan, and East Asia.

It's a little surreal to think that the months of anticipation, the uncertainty whether I'd be allowed to remain on this team, the packing and shuffling from city to city (this is my 4th in 2 weeks)...is all unfolding right here, right now. The names on the summer project staff emails are now faces with stories, and the students that I've been coaching over the phone will soon be here too. It's both exciting and nervewracking all at once -- exciting because I know it's going to be an incredible summer as God grows us all, but also nervewracking because I'm not really sure what to expect this time as a staff member. A lot of things are still up in the air, but even what we do plan is bound to change and flex throughout the summer, so I think it's another lesson in learning to let go and stop being such a control freak :)

More later,
Jess

Summer 2010, here we go!

Ok, so I know I've been pretty delinquent about this blog, but I promise I'm really going to try to update this regularly for the summer project because I know there will be WAY too much to write about to fit into a single end-of-the-month letter.

Anyway, I'm now in San Francisco for a few days on a ministry trip, sharing what I'm doing in NYC and inviting people to be a part of God's work there. There are also a number of friends I get to see, so I'm excited to catch up with them too.

The flight was pretty smooth except for the last hour when one of my ears started hurting like nothing I've ever felt before. At first, I thought I just needed to pop it, but it won't "pop" and my hearing is muffled in that ear, so if you wouldn't mind praying for my ear (or offering some suggestions about what I can do about it), I would really appreciate that. Praise the Lord that I got here safely, and please continue to pray for safety as I drive around the Bay Area -- definitely not something I usually do in NYC!