The Osterhus Times

Just a couple of weeks after we returned to Maui from Minnesota, Tom headed off to Chiang Mai, Thailand. While there, he attended 2 different YWAM conferences, the Asia Pacific staff Gathering and the University of the Nations workshop.

This was a great time of networking with other YWAMers from the Asia and Pacific region as well as connecting with the greater vision of YWAM and the current missions movement worldwide.

In the time since Jesus gave us His great Commission almost 2,000 years ago, there have been many missionary movements aimed at reaching the world with the gospel. Each major movement has built on the fruit of previous ones. With the current size of the body of Christ worldwide, many Christian leaders realize that this goal of reaching every people group may now be within our grasp.

4k is a tool being used by various mission agencies to map out where their efforts need to be focused. Essentially, the world is broken down into about 4,000 neighborhoods based on population and access to the gospel. These neighborhoods are called Omega Zones.

YWAM is teaming up with nearly 200 other missionary organizations and Christian denominations in order to coordinate a strategy to place a Christian fellowship or church in every one of the 4,000 Omega Zones around the world. The significance of the 4k approach is the 4,000 zones can be easily conceptualized whereas trying to imagine outreach to 6 billion people is difficult to comprehend. We are currently praying through what zone we will target from YWAM Maui. To learn more about 4k, please visit www.ywam4k.com.

Earlier this fall, we went camping at Hosmer Grove. It’s a little campground 7,500 feet above sea level, just below the summit of Haleakala. And it was COLD! Coming from Paia, where the temperature averages 85 degrees during the day and 72 at night, we were freezing in the 50 degree weather. Of course Tom, having grown up in Minnesota, just loved it! It would have been nicer if it wasn’t so windy. I, Hoku, spent the evening in the tent with Elias, whose little nose was red from the cold. It was nice and cozy in there, until Tom started the fire outside. The tent was just 15 feet downwind from the fire pit, so all the smoke blew directly towards us. I ended up doing 3 loads of laundry when we got home from just one night of camping because everything smelled like smoke! But, it was a nice getaway and a great time together as a family.

Tom’s uncle, Ray Badgero, was here earlier this quarter teaching in the SBFM. It’s always nice having him here. We enjoyed having him join us for dinner. Speaking of dinner, I am cooking a beef brisket in the crock pot. I added some sliced onions and mushrooms along with a barbecue sauce made up of Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, ketchup, and pancake syrup. It called for dark corn syrup, but I didn’t have any, so that was the next best thing. We’ll see how it turns out! I’m also making some honey muffins and sauteing some fresh green beans with garlic. Even Timmy eats his beans when I prepare them that way! For dessert, I made an applesauce cake. I was looking for a recipe that was simple and that I could make with what I had on hand. That is what I found. It serves 9, so it’s perfect for just the five of us. Maybe I’ll post the recipe sometime.