Progress and Adjustments

Well I will be real (when am I not?!) and say that that initial EVERYTHING-IS-FANTASTIC-AND-I-AM-OVERJOYED feeling only last so long. But, thats normal. Initial excitement is just that--initial. So do not get me wrong, call my parents, or be concerned, because I am still super content and joyful. There was a lull in between, you know like crashing after coffee. Anyway, it didn't last long as the Lord is good and has plans for me, plans that require moving on!

I haven't had much to do since arriving outside of taking care of the logistics like making a list of all the things I need at Target that I have forgot to pack and hanging up some pictures (I'd love some of you if you want to print and send them!) I have taken the luxury of sleeping and taking naps, and praying for all that is to come through me and the ATV/my garden.

It has been peaceful and I actually had a day where I did not know what to do with my free time--so I went and sat. Yes, that is all I did. Okay..I took my iPod with me and then I sat. And watched the ocean.

There has been a lot about me that needs to get in shape. Walking! Oh me oh my! My legs are sore, my feet are bothering me again, my calves are tight...I live on the slope of a volcano. My lungs! Talking while walking up and down and up and down said volcano takes a lot more breath than I seem to have pumping. Spiritually: disciplines that get me on God's pace, timeline, agenda, and heartbeat. The greater vision for the farming and gardening things on campus is to eventually feed ourselves, train all the missionaries in appropriate projects for their country locations, and maybe even host scientific conventions...and thats all a big feat. So I want to be sure that everything I pursue is not my own, like chasing the wind, but of the Lord's plans and purposes basked in His favor. Things seem to work better this way, you know, when you've got God's green light.

My biggest curiosity to starting this new gig was how to lead the student helpers while I was at the same time learning everything they will be learning. It's like having a mechanic on his first day of tech school working with you on your car. Okay, so not that dramatic, nor technical. But you know, in YWAM and particularly in the culture of Science & Tech dept, we are a family and not all about prestige or expertise. So, I simply started off by saying,

 "Welp, today is my first day and I will be learning how this all works alongside you. I studied Agriculture development but it was mostly Community Development and now I get to figure out how to do it all...." 

I continued to elaborate on my philosophy on working: see Ecclesiastes. You should read the whole thing, its only about 12 chapters. If we are to labor and have hard work to do, it is best to also enjoy the fruits of this life that bring joy.

The group of students that will be helping me in the mornings are on the Leadership Track. They are advanced students and will have bigger projects and more responsibility. I have three of them with the possibility of having more. They are very ambitious which is a great match for me--they want to help make a big difference in this grand-re-opening of the ATV which is so nice and will be so effective. We are praying about rebuilding the methane catchment tank to run a process of trapping methane from the poo of the pigs. This will be a really big project but they're up for it! They were super thankful and genuine. I like the way this looks already.

I am excited to be able to work and lead from a place of relationship with God and wanting to do His work. Its quite incredible to say things like, "well, lets see what God wants" or like how I mentioned my work philosophy above is the wisdom from an entire book of the Bible. That's cool. #biblenerd #giddygardener ... I realize hashtags don't work on blogs. I still think they're cool.


Let's see what the other work-duty students are like this afternoon and what the work-week holds.


Prayer requests: for the pain in my feet; sun burns and bug bites; hearing from God on what to do and what not do to--not getting spread to thin or trying to do too much, too quickly. Finances for my leadership students, they're praying for income!

Thanks! Love, Bee...bzzz.

YWAM Staff Position: details!

I am OVERFLOWING with joy, the solid hand of God in putting me here, calling me here, creating me just for this opportunity. I might repeat myself and talk in circles but it will all be in attempt at describing everything that is going on in my heart and in my head!

I arrived Tuesday afternoon after a really long day of travel and was met by the lovely Linda who is in my department. She will surely be my motherly figure on base: she brought me a bottle of water and gave me a piece of gum, then took me to grab dinner; SO what my mommy does.

I unpacked and arranged my things, cramming them in between dressers and underneath bunk beds--oooh, yea, here we go dorm life! I fell in love with my roommates already, took about 20 minutes. There are 7 of us in a 10'x20' room. But we have a full size fridge/freezer, hallelujah!! And a kitchenette, kitchen table + chairs, two small closets and a full size bathroom. Praise. The. Lord.

Wednesday I got all set straight with officially being staff! Which means I paid for rent and my ID card. Then, Derek my department lead, and Vernon the department head, started chatting away about God/Jesus-jokes. "It's like joyful repentance, it doesn't make sense, but it sure is good!" Already thoroughly glad to be here!!! There are SEVENTY SEVEN stairs from the bottom of campus to the mid section (we're on quite a hill, the island is a volcano after all) and Vernon bantered on how if you ask for forgiveness on every step you're fully washed clean by the time you've reached the top! (Forgive your neighbor not 7 times but seven times seventy).

Now, for the really good stuff (as if the above summary wasn't good enough!):

I HAVE BEEN GIVEN FULL OVERSIGHT OF WHAT WE CALL THE ATV: APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY VILLAGE. It is a garden-like area that has about 100 plants and trees as well as experimental technologies either working or ready to be fixed (that's my job!).

There are baby pineapples on their way to becoming adult pineapples--there's not much cuter than a baby pineapple, perhaps maybe a baby panda bear?

There are moringa trees which are the world's next superfood!! The leaves are edible right off the branches and have more protein than beef or chicken (~6-8g protein/100g leaves). They taste different depending on how old the leaves are, the younger ones have a herbal spiciness to them--I think that's if you didn't grow up with Mexican food though because it tasted like a great seasoning. They can be dried and then powdered and added to water, pancake mix, smoothies...whatever you'd like! If you were in extreme survival mode, you could live for a while on just these leaves and plenty of water. But let's not try that one out.

There is a plan/idea/dream/vision to plant about 500 citrus trees on campus--free food!

There is a pig pen with a wash-off area to capture pig-poo + miscellaneous waste. Makes sense, we like to keep that around, right? Hah. Actually its because of the anaerobic bacteria that release methane while they digest the poo, and if we can replace the small capture tank with a bigger one, we might be able to eventually fuel the kitchen. Free cooking fuel!!

If I see a plant I don't like, I can get rid of it. If I want to grow something and its not here, I can ask for it. I am not allowed to remove trees without asking. Though I don't know how I'd manage it without asking for help anyway.

We have plans to rearrange the set up of the garden contents so that they are consolidated into groups (by purpose, prettiness, function, something logical...) so that we can easily have self-guided tours. You know those QR codes on things you use a smart phone to scan? We plan on having those code deals on placards that will link to an audio clip that will play as you walk yourself through our oasis of a polynesian paradise.

We want to build archways/terraces to create an entrance to each of the 5-6 walkways that enter this ATV area.

We have a huge tub for aquaculture: growing fish in water. It's not as simple as it sounds. Right now they are in the process of testing to see if the fish can survive on duck weed (a plant) and another one I can't remember the name of without adding fish food you'd find at a pet store. This is a big deal. Because if you can simply send baby fishies and small seedlings of these plants to other nations with our missions teams, we can be fishers of men and feed men fish! Before that though, we've got to figure out how to provide enough oxygen to these lil guys without adding it ourselves (requires electricity and other apparatus.

We have aquaponics in a different area as well. This means growing food in water and we use fish to supply the nutrients otherwise supplied by soil. We have a steady supply of lettuce for the campus right now but the vision is to have this system expanded big time so grow more and more.

So I think there's a lot more going on than what I've mentioned. But I'm tired of typing and you're probably tired of reading these alternative ideas that you don't quite understand. But the basic idea for all that I will be doing, all that the Science & Technology department already does is this: through community-based principles of relationship and love, we aim to develop simple technologies that are useable in the third world. These ideas we are playing with are beneficial to campus (free food, independence from imports that could go awry in weather--disasters like hurricanes, lost cost on the environment--we have very limited resources on an island) but most of all the practicality of these things is exactly what we need. They have to be repeat-able, learn-able, and locally manageable. 

This was my final charge: 

"Don't think small, dream big. And even then, it might not be big enough"

Unbelievable!!

So, I am in Kona, Hawaii. Nah, no I'm not. Wait, am I? Yes. Yes, I am. Palm trees, check. Volcanic
rock, check. Greeted with a delicious lei, check. Convertible cruising along Kuakini Drive and Palani, check. Flags of the Nations, check. Youth With A Mission campus entrance, check.

How does it feel like I never left AND that I'm not actually here?? At the same time!?

I am not sure! BUT nevertheless I am happy. I am happy to be here and have been greeted so greatly by some of the staff in my department (Science & Technology).

I thought I would have a whole lot of things to say...but...I'm really tired. I went to bed 24 hours ago in California, in my giant cozy bed, and then 24 hours later (CA time) I have unpacked, met most of my roommates, made my bed and brushed me teeth. I am ready to sleep!! So far, I have already fallen in love with one of the girls I room with and there is not more than one girl of each ethnicity: Korean, Canadian, African-American, Australian, and Me. YAY!!

Alright, really, I'm off to sleep!!

Goodnight, y'all. I love all of you and can't begin to tell you how blown away I am by the support, encouragement and love y'all sent me off with!! Gahh!!