Well, 25 is just around the corner.

Well if you didn't know, I'll be turning 25 next week the 12th of February! Along with Abraham Lincoln who turns in his grave, and will be turning 203. Happy Early Birthday Bra-ham.

Furthermore I shall be visiting my mum and pop(pup?) on the Mainland of Cali-4-NY-AY
Should be fun. I can't wait to see family and friends!

Here at SBCC we packed 108 Blessing bags for Ron Valenciana and his Once-a-month church Ministry for the needy. Blessing bags include: a roll of toilet paper, a toothbrush, a wash cloth, a juice, a snack, and a loving bible card/verse. Pastor Ron told us that people use everything in it, even the BAG itself is useful to them. We were glad to be a part of it and hope to be of further help in the future. Pastor Ron's heart is so big.
<---Check out the video!

Meanwhile I've been here preparing for our big worship night on the 24th of Feb! (Stadium screams)I honestly am so very pumped to be a part of it  along with the other worship leaders from the surrounding churches. The last rehearsal we had went incredibly well.

Our youth are getting pumped about Camp coming up. We'll be joining the other youth groups on this side of the Island for a huge  Spring camp.

James and I at the mall. Chinese new year is the year of the Dragon.
I love this lady to the right's reaction.

James re-enacting a cliff-hanger scene

James(my temp. rommate!) have been going on adventures and misadventures here and there. Here are some pictures!

Climbing to the top

I can't believe the Lord really came through.

Have you ever prayed for a miracle? I know we all need one, or have been in need of one in the past. A financial miracle, a physical healing, a relationship healing; God still works miracles today. They aren't just a thing of the past, Miracles happen in the now when the Spirit moves. What I have begun to notice is that when they occur, we are generally shocked. It's quite funny.

                                                             For example, in 2010 I was raising support for my 2nd Missions trip to the Dominican Republic. Funds were coming in much slower than I had planned(I planned, thats funny), having raised around $200-$300 by which time I needed at least TWICE that. I was beginning to see my hopes of going fade away. If I was to go it was going to HAVE to be a miracle. I remember one night at one of our conferences at The Cause (while Anthony and I prepared one of our skits), Caz came up to me and said "How much do you still need to go to the DR? Someone wants to give some support." I told her straight up, "I need somewhere around $1500." Caz left for a moment, came back, and said this "Ok Lou, you're trip has been paid for, you're all set." I was speechless. Who in their right mind would help me with that much support? God really works through people. We truly are His hands and feet. Whoever it was wasn't using their "right mind", they were using their heart for God. I was truly blessed. Shocked and blessed.


As I was reading in Luke this morning the Lord opened my eyes to this revelation: We often pray for miracles with a hint of doubt. As if to leave a back-door open just in case the Lord doesn't come through.  In Luke chapter 1 we find Zechariah in the temple burning incense. An Angel of the Lord appears to him and it reads "When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear-Luke 1:13"
The Angel opens up with, "Do not be afraid..." as he often does. If you continue reading the Angel also appears to Mary(the Virgin) and again must say, "Do not be afraid...". As I read this I could almost see the expression on the Angels face. I think that the Angel is saying more than just "Do not be afraid of ME" but is also saying "Do not doubt, the Lord is with you" or "Why are you so surprised? Doesn't the Lord come through?"

In our Spirit we believe and follow the Lord. It's our flesh that's to blame for our disbelief. Galatians 5:17 says this, "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want."

 I have to admit to the Lord that I  do wrestle against unbelief. I love the story in Mark chapter 9, when a man asks Jesus to heal his son. The man exclaims "...I DO believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" That prayer has become one of my favorites. Just one of the moments that I am at my most sincere with God. I have to admit that I HAVE unbelief, and then ask for HIS strength to overcome it.

I pray this finds you well and encourages you to keep pressing on. Final 2 days of fasting. God is Awesome!

PS - The option to give and support me financially is always there. I'm getting creative in how to raise some support here myself. I'm starting with collecting cans! Odd jobs are next! The support button under the picture to my right works too!
 

Fasting, praying, going, staying

It's day 19 of our 21 day fast. I'm getting excited to be complete. I've been seeking God for wisdom on a number of things during, and it's incredible what has happened already.

We(myself, Sam, Spencer and Tyler) had our first rehearsal this past Tuesday in the chapel here at Sunset Beach Christian. After having been e-mailing each other songs for the past couple weeks, I could really feel our excitement at finally meeting up and beginning to live out this vision God placed in us. It was becoming real. Now it's not just a paper idea. We had a successful rehearsal and prayed for God to give us further wisdom and encouragement. I must say that as we rehearsed I really began to miss the Movement band. Daniel Clark, Chris Kim, Scott Greytak, James Larson, and of course James Paek and David Brunelle. I can't wait to see them in February!

Another adventure included a friend of mine ,Colleen. Colleen is recovering from a foot injury that she incurred a few months ago and so can't drive herself long distances. This is where I come to the rescue! I rode my bike over to her home and chauffeured her to Target. I previously did not even know there WAS a Target on the Island. Apparently there's two....btw Target is awesome and terribly addicting. Probably a good thing its 30-45 minutes away.

After a couple hours at Target(Tar-jay) we proceeded to a health foods store called Down to Earth. What a cool place! Reminded me of a Henry's. I can't wait to need to restock my shelves with stuff so that I can go back and buy food there!

After Down to Earth we went and closed down Costco. Boy do I love Costco, more-so when i'm not fasting though. Costco is such a delightful place. It's like Disneyland for Groceries. As you can tell we went to a few places on our trip. Here on the North shore, when you go into town it's likely you are running multiple errands. You have to be in order to really justify your trip.

Finally Teresa made an appearance on the Island and we hung out a couple times actually! It was so great to see a familiar from-home face. Hanging out with her family was a great way to spend my Monday/day-off.

Well that's pretty much all for now. I do have a roommate for a little bit while i'm here. It's proven to be pretty interesting. The whole going from living alone to now having another body here. We're still getting to know each other so I'm hoping after this fast we'll be able to connect over some great food. Food has that power to really bring people together....mmmm....Togetherness.

Chilly days in Haleiwa town

Its Januray 9th, around 60 degrees here! I'm cold! HAHA how are you faring?

This first week and a half of 2012 has been so incredible already. I'm SO pumped for the rest of the year to pan out.

This past Tuesday I had the great opportunity to meet with a few of the worship leaders from the North shore Area: Tyler and Spencer from North Shore Christian Fellowship, and Sam from the Mission. We talked about the need for our community to have a time of worship in which the whole community comes together, that is, starting with the 3 church communities. I was so excited to hear their hearts. It was encouraging for me to know that others here are willing to fight this battle. 

Sam shared, "...I've been to a plenty of dark places on mission trips, but when I visited here for the first time I felt a heaviness like no other..."

I felt that statement rung true. I have had the opportunity to be amongst the poor and very needy. I find though, that those people are the ones most open to receiving a better life with Christ, that is if they don't already have one. They already have the attitude of "there is more to be had than this". Here in paradise though it seems people are for the most part satisfied and content with life as it is. Its hard to imagine a better life among these amazing beaches, amazing homes. "What could be better than what I have?" Someone must share with them the Joy that we have in Christ (Romans 10: 14-15), that all this beauty will fade away.

Truth is we all need God equally. We ALL need God.

So I'm excited to be a part of our worship nights. We'll be rehearsing next week!

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

Happy new Year And Merry Christmas!
Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!  Mele Kalikimaka!

My first holidays away from home were tough, but I was glad for the growing experience. I just now finished my thank you cards and I'm just about ready to mail them out. I'm excited to continue sharing with you all the great things that are happening out here on the North shore of Oahu

Here are some of the highlights that happened in December

• We partnered with the North Shore Christian Fellowship and The Mission church for an outreach at the local skatepark (Banzai) Tons of food and giveaways and a short documentary film was shared about a well-known successful skater, Christian Hosoi, and his encounter with Christ. Kids had a great time and there was a number of kids who responded to the Salvation invitation.
• My friend Danny from home realized I had a need for a camera. So he sent me one! It arrived Christmas Eve, just in time! Now you'll be seeing more pictures!
• Our Christmas Eve service was tons of fun. Many visitors, and we had a great time in prayer
• My friends Nick and Kirsten had their first baby boy! His name is Luke! I got to hold him when he was barely more than a day old. That was an experience!
• I went caroling with some of the carolers from our church. It was nothing like Caroling with Corey Hirsch and the carolers from the Cause, but it sure was an experience haha. 

There really is so much more to share now that we're in this New year! I'll save it for the next post though, which will come sooner than later. Thanks so much again to those of you who responded to my last support letter. Your support is the only way I can really make it here. God works through you! Are any of you fasting? I started fasting with the Cause on the 1st. Its day 4/21: one of the hardest days for me. I'll get through it! I'm hungry for God to move this year. Here are a couple of my favorite Christmas lit houses/buildings from the Neighbor hood that I took with my new little cam cam:

The Holidays approaching!

Dec 12th, 2011. Its a rainy day in Haleiwa.

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Whats the best snack?

Grapenuts + Applesauce = amazing. 

Here the rain comes down and its life as usual. Its just part of life, you hardly see an umbrella. In fact only in moments of weakness do I feel tempted to take one with me, but then I think...I'm a MAN...I MUST PRESS ON. Funny when you can turn not taking an umbrella/jacket with you into a manly moment...

Sent out all the Christmas cards I could this month so if you gave me your address you should be getting them or have already received them. I've already had some responses! You guys are awesome! I'll be sending out a thank you letter in January.

Well just a short update:

This last Friday was the Christmas parade in Haleiwa town. It was so much fun hanging out and watching the different businesses/schools/marching bands go by, they seemed to really enjoy themselves. My favorite part was when Santa rode by. The kids around me got very excited. I remember in the past thinking to myself "I'm not going to let my kid(s) believe in Santa.", but now I'm not so sure I feel that way. Afterwards we headed to the Koinonia room, where Tyler Nakamura, one of the worship leaders for North shore Christian fellowship, was showcasing some classic Christmas songs with his band. It reminded me of home, what with the soundcheck and the different musicians involved. I miss my musician friends!

Well this past Sunday I had the privilege of leading worship for BOTH services, traditional and contemporary. It was my first time leading for the 9am traditional service, and I was a bit nervous about it. I sort of had this image in my head of the older people booing me off stage haha! "WHERE'S OUR USUAL GUY!? BOOO THIS GUY!" Obviously...thats not how it went down, haha. It went way better than that. They were great.

Also I've been reading a lot! I just finished Soul Cravings by Erwin Mcmanus. I must tell you it was a fantastic read. If you have friends that are questioning about life and faith, or if YOU yourself have questions its a great book about desires that are within us all. Now i'm moving on to Forgotten God by Francis Chan, which I feel is just perfect for the season I'm in right now.

<--Find it on www.amazon.com for cheap!

Well thats where i'm at for now! I'm excited to be here for the Christmas and New years. I'd love to hear from anyone and everyone! I'll be posting another update before then I hope. If you're praying for me let me know! I'd love to know I have the support of my friends and family back home. Mahalo!

Its been a whole month!

Well folks its been a whole month. I've been having a great time here getting to know the community and just growing relationships. I spent the past couple of days writing out Christmas Cards. I've NEVER sent Christmas cards...I'll be mailing out 30 of them tomorrow, most likely more next week(once I get feeling in my left hand again HAHA...yes I'm left handed.)

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving day. I sure ate my share and then some. I went to my friend Mark's home in Waialua. The neighborhood he lives in consists mostly of people who have moved here from the mainland or other countries. They get together every Thanksgiving that they are in town and everyone brings food and has a huge community thanksgiving, about 30 friends who have now become family, or Ohana. This cool looking guy is Hannes. Hannes is an Austrian Redbull jet pilot, among other amazing things he does(Skydive, cliff dive, stuntman)

It was my first Thanksgiving holiday away from home and Family but I was very grateful for the opportunity to make friendships with people like me, who aren't in near proximity with their family. 

So as I've mentioned before I've been leading worship here, now for 4 Sundays. Whoa! The spirit of the Lord sure is moving here. Slowly but surely people are getting more in tune with what worship is, and how to do that openly. God has really been moving in our worship times and I'm praying that the church body would continue to seek Him. Pastor Larry and I have been praying together which has been great. We also have a vision for a coffee style music night in which we would open up one of our large rooms here for local artists who want a venue to share music. We'll be painting the room, and getting very creative with vibe. The hard part will be raising funds to do something like this. The church doesn't have a budget for it so it will be coming out of our pockets.

If you feel led to help financially the door is always open for that. Please get in contact with me. Its a ministry opportunity we feel will reach many unchurched people here on our side of the island. It will give us an opportunity to meet and create relationships with people we would not normally meet on our regular days. Well Surf's up! Da REAL surf started a few days ago with 15ft Hawaiians crashing against the sand. BIG BREAKS dats for sure. I'm going to watch a movie now!

Here is a picture of me and the youth! Still need a girl leader! Keep praying PREEZ