Hawaii 2013 part 1

Steve Ruth and I had the peasure of going with the TBC youth on a mission trip to Hawaii in early July. Steve and I both agreed it was by far our favorite youth trip to date, and no it wasn't just because of the location :) We partnered with Olivet Baptist Church in Honolulu. They were a blessing to us as they allowed Steve Ruth and I to stay in their ministry appartment. This became the teams homebase throughout the week. Because we had a kitchen and free parking we were able to save a lot of money making the trip only $900 for the students!! The girls also enjoyed the hospitality of Pastor Jason and his wife Emily (former TBC members.) The Hew's and Olivet really showed us the Aloha spirit.

Ruth did outstanding on the flight! She really is an amazing traveler. She has such a pacient spirit for such a little one. She made it all the way until we got to the church before she melted down. That was ok with us as she was able to go right to bed. Everyone else was able to enjoy a nice welcome dinner put on by Olivet.

The next day was Sunday. We dropped Ruth off in the nursery (Which we really liked. It felt realy nice and safe.) and went to Sunday school with the church's youth. We were then enouraged by Dr. Chun GGBTS History professor and TBC member's, message for church. We were then given another wonderful lunch by Olivet (I'm telling you they spoiled us!) That afternoon the majority of the group went on a prayer walk around the churh while Tyler, Juliann, Ruth and I went shopping for the food supplies. It went off without a hitch other than Ruth exploding a diaper and geting it all over Juliann. Thank goodness she is a mother and understands!

Monday started out with an amazing prayer hike on the lighthouse trail. We were joined by another former TBC member Meridith After getting some beautiful pictures at the top it was off to lunch and our afternoon activity, nursing home minisry. The youth played bingo with the residents while Ruth and I chatted with a sweet resident. She was in love with Ruth. The lady had trouble remembering past about 10 minutes so we talked about Ruth over and over again. I was amazed at how she continued to bring her joy for the full 2 hours we were there. I would have continued to tell her about her the rest of the day but we we had to get going and prepair dinner. (Youth can eat!!!)

Each night we ended with a family time where we could worship and share what God was doing and of course after that we had to play a few rounds of Mafia. Here are a few pictures from the first 3 days. More to come soon!