the epic garage sale.

So, this post is very late. I think this event was at least 6 weeks ago already, but since it was so epic, I wanted to still share it. I don't even know if anyone reads this much now that I'm home but I know I will love looking back on it and being reminded of God's faithfulness in the years to come. A while back, my sister Alissa had this idea to have a garage sale as a fundraiser for me. I still had debt to pay off from my last missions experience and it was hanging over my head a bit. My sister is one of those people who just gets things done, and so she and my awesome sister in law Jaclyn set to work. We asked friends if they'd like to donate anything to sell, and I was shocked by the amount of stuff that came in! really nice stuff too- seemed like everytime i went outside there was a new pile of goodness sitting in front of the garage! Garage sale day we were up bright and early to a beautiful sunny summer day! We were so excited...you may think that's lame but the Hennan family loves a good garage sale. Plus it ended up being super fun- tons of people I hadn't had the chance to see yet came by to support the cause and buy some clothes/appliances/other random things, and so I got to see so many faces. Most of my family was there too, which always makes me happy. I am always amazed at the way my family/friends/even people that hardly know me will go to such lengths to support the ministry God has called me to do. I felt so extremely loved on this beautiful Saturday. In the end when the money was counted, I couldn't believe it. It was enough to almost completely pay off my debt, giving me a clean slate to start saving for my future time with YWAM. It was the hugest relief and I just wanted to cry. God is sooooo good, and people in my life are soooooo incredibly generous and supportive. Thanks a million to every person who had any part in this fundraiser. You all make my life better.

Saturday morning...ready to go.

My neices were pretty stoked

This was towards the end of the day....

wouldn't you buy something half price from these cuties??

my neices helped me roll the change...a fun afternoon activity surprisingly

Okay, so I have been an extremely pathetic blogger. I actually didn't realize anyone really read my blog until I got back home 2 weeks ago and people keep saying things like "I feel like I know you, because I read your blog all the time." Oops. So then I started feeling pretty bad that I've been pretty lame on the whole communication side of things. My laptop died a few months ago and now that I'm home and have computer access, I don't even know where to start! Hmmm...so where did I leave off? I think I had just left London, which feels like years ago now. Since then I went to Thailand, Cambodia, back to Australia, and then finally to my favorite place on earth, Hawaii, and then home. It has been a ton of fun. I was completing my counseling school outreach in Cambodia, and it was amazing. We stopped first in Bangkok for 2 days where I got to see some old and very close friends, Andrea and Alejandro, who just happened to be at the same base we were. Sooo weird to meet up with my friends from Kona in Bangkok...talk about seeing people out of context! So that was an extra special gift from God. Then we got in vans and drove 12ish hours into Pnom Phen, Cambodia. It was a long, squishy, sweaty ride to put it nicely, but we survived. Cambodia was really amazing, but its really hard to put it into words honestly.
So instead of words, here are a few pictures of that time that I 'borrowed' from my friend Loe's blog (don't hate me Loe)...being that my laptop won't turn on, its kinda hard to get pictures off of it. But Loe's the photographer of the group, so her pictures are much better than mine anyways~ here are a few:

our team on a cambodian style taxi (AKA tuk tuk)

me with some ridiculously cute village kids. Not loving the sweat pants and headband look I'm rocking here, but this is just how I roll in the middle of a Cambodian village with the only shower being in a wide open field under a mango tree.

love this one of our street in Pnom Phen.

Looking at these pictures, I really miss this place. Such an incredible country with such a dark past. I loved the people there, they were so friendly and kind. Being that I was part of a counseling school, I definetely had my eyes and ears open for any opportunities God might bring me to minister to the people in this way. As a result, I was able to hear life stories, struggles, joys, pains, etc, from lots of Cambodian people, both Christian and Bhuddist. I got to teach on what it means to value yourself as a person uniquely created in the image of God. This was really surreal for me, as not too long ago I was the lost soul drinking in these exact kinds of teachings. But that is one of the many cool things about God...He takes us full circle and redeems our past hurts/mistakes beyond our wildest imagination. I think I fall more in love with my creator with each day that goes by. Anyways, like I said, it's very hard to put the experience into words. I don't know where to start at all. My sister Nikki says that if I would just get on this thing more often, i wouldn't have that 'I don't know where to start' feeling. hmm..interesting point. I will have to work on that. But until then, for those of you who want to know more about my outreach to Cambodia, London, etc. just call/text/facebook me, I'm in Portage for the summer. My time in Cambodia completed my Foundations in Counseling school. I returned to Perth for debrief week. It was amazing to see all my friends there in one place and be able to process about the good/bad/interesting times had on outreach. Saying goodbye always sucks though, and there were MANY tears as usual. Man, will I ever get better at getting less attached to people? I don't really honestly think so. Destined to a life of sad goodbyes. But, if they weren't sad, then I think that means you didn't really have that good of a time. So I guess I'm glad goodbyes are sad, they're sad because the times you had together were so good. Here are a couple pictures of my last week in Australia:

last night with the crew on the beach.

After Australia, I was THRILLED to return to my homeland of Hawaii, and see some of my favorite people on Earth. You'll have to wait to hear about that, because I'm afraid this update is getting waaaay too long, and my sister and her 4 small children will be knocking on the door at any minute. :)

The latest in my life is that I am back to my beauty roots and working at "FOIL" salon here in Portage la Prairie. I love working with the amazing women there,what a great crew. On my first day back last week I was still experiencing a lot of 'reverse culture shock' at being back home, combined with a horrible cold, and was basically just feeling awful in more ways than 1. Had about 3 breakdowns within 1 afternoon, after which they put a feather in my hair and bought me pizza. Not much in life cheers a girl up like a feather hair extension and pizza with your favorite girls. Am I right or am I right ladies? Like I said, I love my co workers and boss.  And meeting up with clients from the past! I will be here over the summer until I go back to the Univeristy of the Nations to finish my Bachelors in Counseling this fall. Yup so thats the scoop. 

Peace and much love <3

bye London town.

So in 1 day I say goodbye to London...this part of outreach is done. We ve already said most of our goodbyes and as usual, I got too attached to people and had a really hard time with this. They say in ywam it gets easier over time, but its been almost 3 years for me now and i have yet to see that happen! But, I think if Im sad to leave it means I had a really good time, so I guess Id rather be sad to leave than glad. Sunday night was our last night with the guys at the homeless shelter. The last couple weeks Ive spent most of my time there with a couple guys from Lithuania. They dont speak much English, but google translate is an amazing tool! We were able to have such good talks. They opened up so much about their addictions, and I was able to tell them about my God who can set them free, and share a little of my story. One of the older men promised me if I was able to get him a Bible in his language he would read it. The next day my friend Jiles had already bought 2 Lithuanian Bibles! We all signed them and Jiles will give them to the guys next week at the shelter. I am praying that the words will bring life to their souls, like they do to mine. I would say the work at the night shelter has been the most life changing experience of this trip so far. God really opened my eyes and gave me a piece of His heart for these people who are so lost. I cried a lot when we got home after saying goodbye. So overwhelmed by the brokenness in my new friends, and so sad to not have a chance to share and pray with them more.
The last 3 Saturdays we held a seminar on discipleship training here in Newham. I taught on the topic of Lordship, and was able to share a bit of my story with the class about my journey to making Jesus Lord over every area of my life... As i prepared to teach, my excitement was renewed like crazy for what God can do with my life, if I give it FULLY to Him. Some areas can be so hard to let go of-but so far I ve always missed out when Ive tried to do it on my own. So, ya, that was super fun to teach and our class was amazing! The presence of God was very heavy on the room and I was very impacted by the whole experience as we covered different topics like Gods Father heart, making Jesus Lord, repentance and forgiveness, etc. Met some really cool people and felt so priviledged to have a chance to teach and share.

Today, a friend had us over for high tea!! It was the most beautiful set up I ve ever seen, and i think now i wont need to eat for a week.
Leaving for Thailand on Monday morning, followed by a 20 or something hour bus ride to Cambodia!! SOOOO excited to get there!!! Will keep you posted on the going ons as best as I can!

London photos

sight for the 2012 Olympics

The girls!

 Here are a few quick pictures of my London outreach!! My time here has been amazing. Lots of ministry that I have loved...unfortunately no photos of that. Our ministry times have been with children and people we work with at the homeless shelter, so obviously not really appropriate photo opportunities. But here are a few of one of my days off..hope you like them. London is SO cool.

me, double decker bus, and Big Ben

the tower bridge is soooo pretty at night!

LoNdOn....

greetings from London!!
Its been almost 2 weeks now since I attempted to board the plane in Perth to come here to London, only to be told that my flight had been unexplaineably cancelled. And yes, just my flight. So, I waved my team off and went back to my dorm in Perth, and headed off to the beach with my friend Courtney. And yes, I still made it to London, just 1 day late. I guess God knows that I consider flying to be my alone time, and it is pretty much the only alone time I get in this crazy life, so that worked out! So, after 2 days travel I finally made it here!! My leaders and friend Marlin picked me up at the airport, and we made the long treck to our little home. We are living in a very, very old Kenyan church in a bureau called Newham. I love it. I share a room with only 1 person instead of 25. It is bliss. There are 7 of us on our team, all girls, and they are all really wonderful. As soon as I arrived, we began reading through the Bible, in shifts, all day and all throught the night, from Genesis to Revelation. It reminded me a lot of my SBS, reading through whole books at a time, and I loved it. We do this as a way of claiming the ground where we are living for God. Then we started prayer walking throughout Newham, meeting with pastors, going to church services in partial Swahili, Portugese, and English (who needs to leave London to experience muli culture?!), and in general trying to narrow down what areas of ministry we feel led to focus in on. This weekend we will be serving at a night shelter at our church, as well as helping out with kids programs....should be crazy! today was our day off and so me and 3 friends went into central London to see all the main attractions. I think we walked for like 9 hours or something. But we saw a lot´- Big Ben, London Bridge, the London Eye, parliament, Westminster Abbey....to name a few. I will put up some pictures soon....it was an amazing day, I LOVE exploring. So thats the latest, I will give you some more details as soon as I know them! thanks a million to all of you wonderful people who helped me to get here...I am loving it. god is at work in a HUGE way in this little bureau, and I am so blessed to be a part of it. In other news, I'm getting extremely impatient to hear news of my new neice- my sister could be having her 4th baby at any time now and I am dying here!! so excited!

27...

So...this week I celebrated my 27th birthday. 27. Officially can't get away with saying I'm in my mid twenties anymore ;) apparently we've moved on to late...so strange!!! But each year of walking with the Lord is more exciting and full of surprises than the last, so I look forward to this year with much anticipation.
My birthday itself was a little crazy, but really amazing. As many of you know, I'd been praying and believing for God to provide me with $5000 so I could go on outreach to London and Cambodia next week. The tickets were being held until 1:30 pm on December 22, which happens to be my birthday. As of my birthday morning, I was at peace with the fact that I wouldn't be going. By 11 AM, I was racing around from ATMs to the finance department and back, paying for my ticket! Because, friends, God gave me a birthday miracle. I am officially going to London on Thursday to be a part of Mega cities and all the amazing ministries they will be a part of there. I still can't believe that I'm going, but I guess I have to start packing soon, so I better get used to the idea!
So, ya that was the craziest part of my day.

In the evening I went out to the city with some friends for cake. I like being 27, each year gets better and better and I have a feeling it's going to be an especially good one!

one season over.

Okay, so we are in week 11 of the FCM. Week 11. I feel like I just got here, but next week is the final week of lecture phase here in Perth. Why is it that just as I start to settle in and open up and really start to love this base, the season is ending? Last night we had “Commissioning night”, which is where all of us students who are at the end of our lecture phase of school, get prayed over and commissioned onto the next phase-outreach. It was such a beautiful night, each school got up and talked about what the last 3 months had meant to them. I have to say I was feeling pretty sentimental. What I love about YWAM Perth, is that it’s not as big as YWAM Kona. What this means is that you actually get to know pretty much everyone on the base, to some degree or another. There are only 80 something students this semester, which makes it so much easier to get to know people in other schools. So, even though you can’t possibly get to know everyone super well, you still end up feeling like one big family. Last night each person in my counseling school was asked to choose one word which describes the previous 3 months of study. My word was restoring.  It’s really the best word I can think to sum up how God has been at work in my life. Restoring the walls that were broken down…or more like broken down, stomped on and thrown to the wind with no real faith that they’d ever be rebuilt. But the cool thing is, they were! I’ve never known this side of God so clearly- He is my healer. The more I meet people of every age, culture, and background, and the more I study the area of counseling, the more I realize that we are all more or less broken-which is why we need Jesus so desperately. Because He’s the only one who can truly heal and restore. I love that I get to pursue counseling in a way that really keeps Jesus at the center.

So, here are some photos from our commissioning night last night, hope you like them.

so nice to have Jenny here in Perth

my ywam experience is never complete without a few Koreans.

An uplifting study session... ;)

Courtney and I enjoying an afternoon at a local coffee shop. We had to laugh when we noticed our very depressing topics of book choice. In our defense, they were for our research project. 

this is how we do in FCM.

on Saturday...

So, as a Counseling school, we leave for outreach to London and Cambodia in 4 weeks, and have roughly a million dollars to raise before then (slight exaggeration). We are trusting God to do it, as He always does, in His own way. It has been a great lesson in faith, and continues to be. However, we in ywam also believe in doing our part. Asking God what He would like us to do to see this outreach take place, and to receive break through in the area of finances. We prayed as a class, and someone had the idea of a pizza making/selling fundraiser. So that’s what we did for most of the day Saturday, made/sold/delivered pizzas. It ended up being really fun, everyone loved our pizzas, and I think God really blessed our efforts! Here are some pictures of the blessed event for your enjoyment:

always important to wear matching outfits while baking bread dough.

Then, because we felt we hadn’t done quite enough fundraising for one day, my friends Courtney, Cody, and I decided to embark on a pancake selling adventure. You see, our dorm is about 10 steps away from the Stadium where all the concerts all held here in Perth. This is pretty cool, as we can often hear really well known bands from right outside our door. So, this particular Saturday night, Kings of Leon was performing, and we thought there might be some hungry concert goers. We finished cleaning up all the stuff from the pizza fundraiser at 8, and then had about 1 hour total to prep our own little fundraiser. So it was a mad dash to make a million pancakes, and find a cardboard box to make a sign out of (we had to make do). Then, we walked over and began the pancake sales. I will say it ended up being one of the most hilarious experiences I’ve had in a while. We met the most random people, some of whom really didn’t believe that we were actually fundraising to go overseas to counsel women. Apparantly it’s not all that common for 3 young girls to sell pancakes at a concert to raise money for a missions trip. J I even had one guy say to me, ‘ you know, that sounds like a really wholesome thing that you’re doing, and I’d love to believe you….’ In the end though, who cares if he didn’t believe me because he still bought pancakes. It was awesome, and Courtney even scored a t shirt from a grumpy old man who seemed to be willing to do just about anything to not have to buy our pancakes!

We had a great time, I haven’t laughed that much for a long time, and we did our part, which is what its all about.

Hope you like these photos of the evening:

my very ghetto sign

Loved.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love...." Jeremiah 31:3

Blessed.

staff/students of FCM 2011

So again I must apologize for being so slack in the update area. I really am trying, but between morning chores, worship, class, 1 on 1’s, work duty, small groups, community outreach, counseling workshops, book reports, weekly assignments, trying to have some sort of social life, not to mention sleep, it’s kind of hard to get a solid chunk of time for updating.. (However I know I’m not nearly as busy as my sister who has almost 4 kids and a new puppy and still manages to update her blog like twice a week…how do you do it Nik?!) But I am trying I promise and will try harder. So for all those who have been wanting to be updated, here’s a quick update, and will write more next week.

Things are great here in Perth. I love what I’m learning, like LOVE. Like as in I will be immersed in my huge Christian counseling book and realize I’m smiling (I know it’s a bit warped to be smiling while reading about really sad things like depression, anxiety etc, but ya know..). I’m smiling a lot these days- I feel like so many years have been leading up to this, finally getting a chance to study counseling, my dream for so many years. As long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be able to help people, and I feel like I’m finally getting equipped to do that!

So far, in my FCM (foundations in counseling ministries school), we have studied:

Foundations in Counseling

Nature and character of God

Evangelism

Transforming communities

The Divine Plumbline

Currently we are on Plumbline, which is a method of counseling developed by a New Zealand doctor named Bruce Thomas. If you guys have not heard of a plumbline or are wondering what it is like I was at first, the first mention of it is in the Bible. In Amos 7:7-9, it reads, “ This is what he showed me; the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, which a plumb line in his hand.  And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see? And I said, “A plumb line.  Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by…”

Any of you who are in the business of building houses would likely know what a plumb line is but just by a different name. By definition, a plumb line is a string with a metal weight at one end that, when suspended, points directly towards the earth's centre of gravity and so is used to determine verticality, the depth of water, etc.

So, basically, it’s used to measure whether or not a wall is straight. In this case, “the Divine Plumbline” ensures that the walls of our lives are straight and solid. So, basically, it is accepting God’s truth and re aligning ourselves with it so that our walls can be straight and strong, and not susceptible to tumbling down. Sorry, I know this sounds boring but in real life it really is fascinating. The last 2 days have been application of what we’ve learned.  It was intense but so good as we saw God move in such a strong way. Because my heart is so soft, I almost always cry when other people cry, so I was a bit of a mess for 2 days. J   I am really excited to be able to walk people through their hurts using this method, now that I’ve been able to experience it first hand. So ya, the learning aspect has been amazing.

Also, I love my friends here. Every time I move somewhere new, I pray like crazy that God will give me just 1 friend that I can be real with. Every single time, he outdoes himself and gives me  many amazing friends that I can be myself with.  So ya I feel blessed like crazy.

In other news, we are starting to plan our outreach to London, England, which will begin December 25 for about 7 weeks! And, we just found out our 2^nd outreach location for the final 4 weeks, which will be to Cambodia!!! I am SOOO excited to have 2 such completely different outreach experiences in the same month.

I was reflecting on this last year of life and realized by the end of the year I will have lived in 6 different countries by the end of 2011. What the heck?!! When did life get to be so much fun? I guess it was about 2 years ago when I decided to follow God fully for the first time. Never a dull moment when you are walking with the Lord. So cool that He knows and cares about each of the things that we are passionate about, and wants to let us experience those things. I feel like I could go on forever about this, as I am SOOOO overwhelmed lately by everything God is doing in my life.

But I’ll stop here as I have to be in the class room in 7 minutes.

Next week I will update with more details about our outreach plans….coming up so soon!

Much love

Australia.....

Okay so I thought its probably time to update, sorry for being so slack. So I've been in Perth, Australia for a whole week now and am feeling pretty settled in...Loving being back in the Australian laid back culture, such a cool country. I live in a room with about 20 girls, and am sleeping on a top bunk for the first time in like 20 something years, but surprisingly, its been really fun, not at all as crazy as it sounds like it would be. As usual with YWAM, I'm loving that I get to meet so many people from so many different cultures...it just brings so much flavor to life! This base is about half the size of the one in Kona so that has proven to be quite nice as you definetely get to know more people and feel like part of a family. A lot of things are different from Kona, and some are taking some getting used to, but all in all, I do really like it here. There are a couple girls in my class that I know from my time in SBS in Kona so that has been SUCH a blessing when I'm feeling homesick for Kona.
As far as my studies go, I am completely LOVING it. It seems like a dream come true to finally be beginning my journey into becoming a counselor. Last week we were taught on "Foundations in Counselling" by the dean of the university, Brad Tout. This week we are studying 'the nature and character of God' with a guy named Richard Blake, who is both hilarious and deep and insightful. I am loving, loving, loving it...I feel beyond blessed to be so blessed to be here, studying something I am so passionate about, in such a cool place as Perth, with such awesome people.
Still praying in my finances and asking God to show me for creative ways to fund raise, I know He will provide but I want to make sure I am doing my part to get there.
My work duty (2 hours we serve each day on base outside of our school) I am in the registration office doing filing, etc, which has been such a blessing, as most of my class is on dish duty. I don't know why I got so blessed as to be able to work in the office instead..but im not complaining! The registration people are so fun and it is so nice to get to know some new people outside of class.
Oh, and today they served pumpkin pie, only for the Canadians...missing my family a lot today.
So,happy thanksgiving to all my Canadian loved ones!
I'll keep you guys posted on the happs around here..
heres some photos and Kangaroo videos just for my favorite boys, Benji and Seth...because they couldn't come with me.. at least they could see them on video :)

a little bit of Tauranga life...

Here's a few photos of Tauranga so far. I got to teach Inductive Bible Study to a group of dts ers, and it was so much fun! I've never experienced a group of students before who caught on to the method so quickly...We were using the book of Philemon and they were pulling out all these amazing interpretations and application points...I was so impressed! The experience really re affirmed to me how much I love Bible teaching, and really pray that God will continue to use me in this area...I left that night so full of joy and was so blessed by the whole experience. It's amazing how when you give out, you totally get blessed in return so much...I feel like I got way more blessed than I ever could have blessed them! After I finished teaching, the whole group of students and staff gathered around me and prayed blessings over my life and my next step, going to Perth to study. Lately there've been some days when I've been a bit discouraged over a few things about being in missions, and I feel that God really used this experience to remind me how much I truly love YWAM and am so privileged to be a part of it...I really needed this this week and so it was really great timing.
In other news- Canada beat Tonga in the Rugby World Cup this week!!! Last month I didn't even know we had a Rugby team..ha ha, so it's pretty shocking how proud I am of our boys now that they've beaten Tonga! :)
Tonight I'm doing a 'spa night' fundraiser to raise funds for my next step...praying it goes well.
Other than that, it's my last weekend in Tauranga before heading off to Auckland to visit my friend Alana..and then... PERTH! I'm so excited!!!

teaching tomorroww.....

So tomorrow I teach Inductive Bible Study here in Tauranga at the Marine Reach base. Please pray for me, I'm very nervous! and pray for them....for open hearts and being receptive to learning this method of Bible study. I love that I get the privilege of teaching a method that i'm so passionate about...but I always hate getting up in front of people! Thankfully His strength is made perfect in my weakness.
Thanks for the prayers....much love

outreach = over.

So, its with mixed emotions that I inform you that our Pacific outreach is completed. We had a great time...many ups and downs but mostly ups :) I learned SO much as it was my first time leading a team, and was definetely thankful to have a great co-leader! We were sent off with such a warm farewell on the base, and it was pretty sad. Before I left for the airport, I finally got to see someone from my DTS 8 years ago! Kelly, my dts mama, met me in town and we got to catch up before I left...so nice to see her! We flew out of Samoa, and all went our seperate ways. 2 full years with SBS are now over. Can hardly believe it but am so ready for whats next...Foundations in Counseling school in Perth! But first- i'm here in NZ with my friends and it is SO nice. God obviously knew I'd need a rest and He is so good to let me have a whole month off. I will be doing some teaching in the Marine Reach DTS here on Inductive Bible Study, likely in 2 weeks, but I'm really looking forward to that too! Teaching doesn't feel like work anymore, it's so much fun to be able to give out this method that changed my life so much. Been getting extremely attached to Holly and Reuben, age 7 and 9. I miss my neices and nephews every day so it's been so nice to be around some kids, and they even call me "aunty Rachel" which warms my heart! and their little kiwi accents are about the cutest thing ever. Well, I'm off to the doctor- the staph is back. argggg. pray for me!

Update from Samoa :)

Talofa lava from Samoa!

Our team arrived here in Samoa about 2 weeks ago. I haven’t updated until know because, quite frankly, there wasn’t much to say that would’ve been positive and I didn’t want to be a downer. Our first week was pretty rough, as the students experienced some serious culture shock. The Samoan culture the most legalistic culture I’ve ever experienced, and it just sometimes seems like a lot of rules! I can relate to how they felt because I had a hard time back in 2003 when I first spent time here.  And, honestly, even having been here before, the culture shock definitely hit me too. However, we’ve all prayed through it a lot and God is definitely giving us a heart for this place and the people in it.  So, that was the first few days and then at that point I came down with an ugly/painful/nasty staph infection that spread rapidly, even to my face. I won’t go into more detail, because trust me, you’ll get grossed out…The good news is, I’m healing up and feeling much better (Praise the Lord), and I’ve now become the team joke as the boys are quite amused by the whole thing… it’s like having 2 little brothers I tell you!

Ministry on this island has generally been awesome….well, with one exception ;) Yesterday we were all teaching at a church on the inductive Bible study method using the book of Philemon. The pastor of the church had already interrupted us once to tell us we were leaving things out, when meanwhile we were only on the first step and just hadn’t got to that part yet! So, I got up to teach my portion, and before I could start he announced to us all that most of the people in the church had already been through Bible training and so just go through it quickly and don’t let them ask questions, they know everything already….I was like, ok, so why am I about to teach?! ;) ha ha, but I put a smile on and kept going, and by the end the pastor was so thrilled with our inductive Bible study method, that he invited us back, and arranged for us to teach in another village. I don’t know why this experience was so hilarious to me, but it really was! Basically every church we’ve taught at, we’ve focused on teaching them the Bible study method. My friend Adam in SBS always talks about how teaching people the method is like teaching them to fish, not just feeding them once. So even though we have quite a few books of the Bible to teach, we really feel we are to focus on teaching them how to study the Bible for themselves, so they can continue to do it after we are gone. It’s been really exciting to see the responses of the crowds. God is really at work on this island, so even though we had a rough start, it’s turning out to be a really awesome learning experience.

            In other news, I’ve finally made a decision on my next step. For the last couple months I’ve been applying for and praying about taking a school called Foundations in Counseling Ministries (F.C.M), in Perth, Australia. God has layed counseling on my heart for years now, and I’m so excited to finally be able to begin my training. I know God has called me to some type of ministry, and I know that counseling is a part of in, along with the Bible teaching, but am still curious as to how He will place it all together! The school is very outreach focused, and very involved in the community, which I’m really excited about! So I’ll be doing 3 months of training in Perth, and then another 3 months of outreach, to practice our counseling training, in a location unknown as of now. It’s taken me quite a while to make the final decision about whether or not to do this school, and so I hadn’t sent off my visa application until 2 days ago. At this point, I thought it may have been too late to get my visa, as it often takes a while. But, the very next morning, I check my email, and there was my visa acceptance! It’s really unheard of for the visa to be processed and accepted in this short of time, so I was so excited, and really took this as a promise from God that He’s taking care of the details. Since He had put this school on my heart, I kept telling Him that I was very willing to do it, but He would have to provide and take care of the details because I can only do what I can humanly do. Last week, I was having second thoughts and considering pushing the school off until next year, which would give me some time to work and save up for it. However, God was really clear with me the He wants to show me how He can take care of it, how He always takes care of me and how He always will. I was really convicted and definitely had to repent of trying to do things my own way. So, even though I still have some fear and it’s hard to admit that I don’t have all the finances for this school, I know my God is a God who provides. And so, the worry has pretty much gone away, and I’m excited to see how He will do it.

So, here’s how it will look. Straight after outreach is over on August 27, I’ll be flying to Taraunga, New Zealand to meet up with my Kiwi (aka New Zealand) family, Jacqui and Lester and their 2 adorable kids, Holly and Reuben. I met them on my backpacking trip through NZ 3 years ago and it was one of those times in life where you just instantly bond and feel like family. Since then, they’ve always said I’m welcome to come stay with them and use their spare room. So I finally am getting a chance to take them up on this, although a month may have been more than they bargained for! J I’ll be with them for 4 weeks, just being part of their family life, and enjoying some time of rest. I’m also hoping to help out at Marine Reach (a ministry of YWAM) with whatever areas of need they may have, Bible teaching or otherwise. Taraunga is pretty much my favorite city in the world, and I’m so excited to be so blessed as to get to spend a whole month there! Then I’ll spend my 5^th and final week in NZ in Auckland, at my friend Alana’s, before I fly out to Perth on October 3 to start my school!

So that’s the latest on me. Thanks for reading and please continue to pray for team unity and open hearts. Outreach will be over before we know it.

If you would like to be a part of my ministry, I’d love to have you partner with me. If you feel in your heart to give towards my next step, here’s where to go:

To make a donation:

Rachel Hennan HR10

YWAM Project Funding PO Box 51700

Vancouver, BC

V5K 1ZO

Phone # 604-436-4433

Fax # 604-436-4406

Email-donorservices@shaw.ca

Much Love <3

1 week left in Fiji!

thanks for all the prayers, things are going good here in fiji. we moved to Suva which is a bigger city. we have been so blessed by the people here (and fed very well :) lots of teaching, and thats been really fun. I got to teach a Bible study on 2 Peter 2 nights ago to a bunch of Fijian people and we had such a great time. They have us booked solid here with preaching/teaching/visiting etc. I can't believe we leave for Samoa in 1 week, finally returning to the homeland after 8 years! im soooo excited. I'll put up a more detailed update tomorrow hopefully! missing home and the fam so much these days, you're all in my prayers. thank you for ALL the support and love to all reading, a lot of you have made this experience possible for me. Much love

Team Pacifica Update!!

We arrived in Fiji last Monday and were welcomed by the current leaders of YWAM Vunayasi which is about 10 to 15 minutes away from the city of Nadi. We had a warm welcome from the Vunayasi staff, who waited for our arrival dressed in traditional Fijian attire and welcomed us with a traditional song. It was quite a welcome as it continued into our dinner and they performed several mekes (dances) for us.

Our first week staying at YWAM Vunayasi we spent our time getting to know the staff and preparing our teachings for the following week. However we also engaged in the base activities during our preparation times. We attended the weekly bible study, where Catherine (who is from Fiji) spoke the word of the Lord to the staff and several visitors from the Fijian bible college. We also attended the base intercession time, which was fruitful for both our team and the staff and visitors. Later the same day we also joined the base staff in their Kid’s Club where local children from the surrounding farms and houses come to the base to sing songs, learn about the Lord, and play games. Jillian, the team leader led the kids in numerous songs and taught them the story of the Lost sheep using “Inductive Storying.” The following day our team led a time of worship for the base and later joined the staff at Babakula, a piece of land given to Loren Cunningham. The men on our team went along with the staff men and learned how to plant cassava while the women on the team went with the staff women to pray in the building they hope to turn into a prayer house for Fiji. On our first Sunday we attended two church services. The first of which was a small house church where Catherine lead the pre-service bible study. Later we attended an evening service at a large church where we would be teaching the women’s ministry the following week.

                Our first week at YWAM Vunayasi has been very relational. The team has connected with the staff and their visitors in some pretty incredible ways. Cultural barriers were non-existent thanks to God and the kind, generous, and compassionate hearts of those at the Vunayasi base.

                This Monday thru Wednesday the C-SBS team were given the privilege of teaching the women’s ministry at a local church a bible overview. We were able to reveal the Lord’s character to them on a broader scale and also build relationship with them as well. We were truly blessed by their hospitality and love. We were also given an opportunity to share our personal testimonies to a group of AOG Bible College Graduates who are staying on the YWAM base, telling them of how the Lord brought us from our DTSs to SBS to Fiji. We have also been given an opportunity to teach Jonah, James, and Colossians to the staff and another local church. It is a real blessing to teach these Christians as well as learning from them.

                So far Fiji has been ministering to our team indirectly in amazing ways. It has been an encouraging and inspiring thing to see the faith of the natives as well as their joy even in the midst of struggles for provision, which is biblically inspiring as well. In the week to come we will be leaving Vunayasi and going to a church in Suva about three hours away. This is the home church of Catherine Chander, who was born and raised in Fiji and was living in Reiwaqa, Suva prior to her schooling in DTS and C-SBS. We will be teaching Inductive Bible Study Seminars as well as a few books from the Old and New testament. After we have spent a week there we will be heading off to Samoa to teach the word there.

                Thank you all for prayers and support. This has been an amazing experience and we have the faith that the Lord will use this experience to strengthen and disciple us even more than he already has.

Personally- amazed at all God is doing, but homesick for both Kona and Manitoba at the moment...

Thanks for reading guys and God bless you

let the teaching begin...

So today i taught 'Bible Overview' for the first time to the most precious group of Fijian women at a church on the top of the most beautiful mountain. God's presense was so strong and that made the teaching so incredible.  It s been really hard to get internet out here so i haven't been able to upload any photos but I'll try to as soon as i can. Getting adjusted to life here, its had ups and downs but in general learning a lot. please pray for team unity!! thanks for all your prayers and support, will write more soon!

Fiji :)

So I'm here!! don't have long but just wanted to update that I arrived here safe and sound. We are staying at a very random village in the middle of nowhere with a pet goat...it is extremely random. So far this week we are prepping all of our Bible teaching. which has been going really well.  The base leader here has really challenged us to get to know the staff here and pour out what we have learned and take the opportunity to bless them. This morning one of my students, Catherine, spoke on the life of Nehemiah and learning to live by faith. It was SO challenging, the presence of God was sooo strong, so many tears were shed in the room. Tomorrow we will run a day for kids in the community and teach them Bible stories. This weekend we get introduced to the churches which we will be teaching at next week...so exciting. There is 1 other American girl here (the rest of the staff are Fijian), and I've been so blessed by getting to know her....she is here teaching the Fijians to raise/butcher there own chickens so they can not only feed themselves, but have a business so that they can sustain themselves. I have been SO shocked and convicted by how little these people have, and how much I never even realize I take for granted...God is teaching me what it means to be generous and love people and what it really means.  It sure has given me a whole new perspective on everything.
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers- please continue to pray for team unity. also, finances for one of my students, Catherine. We are still believing for money to come in for her to be able to come with us to Samoa in 3 weeks.
Bula Vinaka!