For the first time since 1994, we came under a Tsunami warning here in Maui. While our home is in the safe zone, there are a couple of YWAM staff homes that are in the Tsunami zone in Paia. These folks were packed up and moved to high ground at the Haiku facilitiy. The surges hit the islands but thankfully, none weren severe. No damage was caused and no one was hurt. Thanks for your prayers and concern.
We hope all is well with you and that you had a wonderful Christmas. 2009 had been a very busy year for us and 2010 doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. Timmy had 3 weeks off and he and Elias enjoyed playing and fighting with each other. On Christmas day, we had about 10 staff over to celebrate (most went home for the holidays).
Our outreach teams have recently returned from ministering in Borneo, Thailand, Nepal, and another big country in Asia. Graduation was on February 26th. On the home front, we have had a number of experienced leaders move on to other things such as marriage, university, or overseas ministries. This has left a greater leadership burden on our shoulders. Our DTS school leader (from Thailand) was not allowed back in the country and it took some time to find new leaders to take up this role. Besides leading the Maui base, Tom has been doing a lot of teaching this year. In addition to teaching here in Maui, he has also been blessed to teach at YWAM bases in Kona, Honolulu, Alaska, and Asia. Next week he will be at the YWAM base in Honolulu teaching in the DTS on the topic of Christian Worldview. One of our ministry highlights has been commissioning a long-term team from Maui to a city in southern Asia to pioneer a permanent ministry. It has been thrilling to see God’s favor on us in our endeavors there.