On Christmas Eve I had a KILLER day alone at the beach. I went to Frederiksted and walked a LONG stetch of beach. Taking some time about an hour into it to do devotions and play in the sand writing messages. Then I slowly walked in total from where I started back only about 6 miles.... YIKES! That is a lot!!! It was fun, taking pictures in creative ways and just listening to music all day long. It was such a nice day I really enjoyed it. When i lived in Hawaii I would do a lot of bike riding or walking in my free time. Walk to the beach park and read a book, walk along the beach and just enjoy the sun. It felt like I was there again. WHAT AN AMAZING FEELING!! Ah I miss Hawaii so much, I constantly find myself comparing St. Croix to Hawaii and in all reality there isn't anything to compare. They are 2 different places. I miss the city, the skyscrapers of Honolulu the hotels of Waikiki. I miss the language, I find myself still speaking hawaiian words here and when i get funny looks it sucks. The water doesn't seem to be much different.

Other than the fact the waves to my knowledge. I have yet to see any waves close enough to the shore here that I would be able to surf. As I walked along the beach obviously I had a lot of time to think to myself yesterday because I was gone for 8 hours. It was just so relaxing, to just be me. It was truly a GREAT Christmas Eve. We had a Christmas party last night after I got home and had snack food and then a gift exchange! It was fun. The students are all missing home a little bit. How can you not at a time like this. When you are used to being somewhere for the holidays no matter how hard you try and make it seem like Christmas there is always something missing. For me the things that are missing of course is family, COLD, SNOW. When I walk around down here and see Christmas lights and trees and hear the music and hear the salvation army person ringing their bell I just have to laugh and remind myself again it is that time of the year.

It is just a strange feeling around this time of year trying to figure out new ways to celebrate a holiday that you are so use to having things a certain way. Yesterday sure was a splendid day, I can't even express how great it was to get away from everything and just be myself. AHHHH so great, I had some amazing laughs at moments and my head was full of thoughts all day. As I walked I prayed for anyone that came to mind and just had a nice day hanging out with God. As you can see from some of these pictures God was making the day special for me. A rainbow at the very beginning of my journey and then waves, sun, the water turning multiple colors and man it was incredible!!! It was a good day and even though I am away from my family and friends I was still able to find some joy and excitement!
Today for Christmas we are just hanging out watching movies and playing games. We had a nice breakfast this morning and dinner will be this evening. Turkey and all that good stuff!! Tomorrow Jonas my swiss student and I will be going Jet Skiing to celebrate Christmas! I'm so excited for that because I haven't done that since the very last day I was in Hawaii SO LONG AGO.... So it will be a nice reminder of my Home! I want to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS, MELE KALIKIMAKA in Hawaiian! Be blessed!

World View........

This week is a great week! We have our base director giving the weekly teachings! It is a great topic: Biblical Worldview. It is very interesting to hear what the other religions and people groups around the world believe and how much the world around us can effect us. Before the teaching last year I never considered my worldview, and now as I sit through the teaching again I am challenged with what I actually believe and why. Am I living for myself? Am I reading the bible and applying it to my everyday life or am I like a good portion of people not walking out what I talk. I don't want to be conformed to this world. I want when people look at me and observe my life for them to be encouraged and challenged. For them to recognize that I am doing everything in my power to see God glorified. I want people to know me for who I am and not put on a "sunday show" for them. I want the man that I am in church to be the man I am during the week. And the man I am during the week to be the same man I am in church. NO DIFFERENCE. Over the last couple weeks I have really been challenged in my position here. I have been doing a lot of thinking and searching as to what my role is in this community and ministry. I have challenged myself to do everything in my power to make relationships in the community, to partner with churches and offer our service and anything else. To get the students involved in the culture through attending other churches and really build a solid team to reach the island.

We bought our tickets to Nicaragua and Costa Rica last night!!! I'm so excited to go back overseas and see what ministry opportunities God has for us there. It will be so great! I'm looking forward to being back in Spanish culture, even though I don't speak it well I can understand it sort of!

This morning we went to a place called Grassy Point and watched the sun rise.
IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! We had breakfast and then
did a little worship time and then came back in time for class at 10. Man I loved it! It was such an awesome place and it really reminded me how creative God is. To sit and watch the sky turn pink, orange, yellow is just awesome. I love it, each and everyday is a different sunrise and sunset, they are never the same and that boggles my mind. That God cares so much for us that everywhere we look its a reminder of his love. In all things. I love creation and I can't get enough of God's amazing power!

This week has been a good week. Things seem a bit slow now because we are just back into the old schedule. Last weeks speaker was incredible, talking about The Cost of Being a Disciple!! You can find it in Luke 14:25-33. It is a HUGE challenge to live up to that but we as Christ-followers must! Ministry is great, the students are being challenged and changed and it is VERY noticeable. In just 2 full months of lecture and a 10 day outreach you can see in each of them a greater desire for God. A greater desire to serve one another and others. It is so fun to be able to lead them through this transforming stage of their life!! We have had a little bit of complication is connecting with our contact in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, therefore I don't have much to report upon that. We are planning to leave here Jan. 13ish and come back Feb. 27 where we will go first is unknown, how long we'll be in each place is unknown. SO PLEASE PRAY WITH US! We need our contacts to respond to us!

Our lecture this week is about Relationships, we unfortunately have to have videos. The videos are pretty funny though made about 15 years ago, which doesn't seem long but when you see the clothes and stuff it is!! So after this week we will all know how to relate better to everyone! This weekend our childrens ministry is putting on a Christmas party for about 60-70 kids. WE are going to be swamped. It will be kinda like a mini carnival type party with different activities and stations with games! Should be fun, we are officially decorated for Christmas as well. Last night after class we all got together and had Hot Chocolate WITH CANDY CANES, Ginger snaps, and decorated our tree!!! It doesn't feel like Christmas, it never does in the tropical islands no matter how much you try but I'm pretending. As you can all imagine Christmas time is a hard time for students and staff, because most of us can't go home. So we try to make it as normal as possible!! As for me, it won't be normal but I'm thinking the best way to enjoy Christmas is the beach. It really is a treat to get to the beach believe it or not. So my plans are going to the beach as much as possible for the holidays!!!

Here is Our team from Haiti!! With YWAM Haiti staff also!

Well, as I sit here and reflect upon the 6 days that I have been back from Haiti i am amazed. I still can't get over the amazing time and experience that it was. I loved being in Haiti and I really felt free. Free to show the love of God to everyone I encountered. I loved it. It has actually taken some adjustment to get back into the comforts of life here. I have found myself frustrated numerous times as I observe people in the community and their obsession with STUFF! I have to tell you that it is even a different feeling walking down the street and not seeing piles of garbage. I got so used to seeing that, that it's a good feeling to not see it but honestly sorta weird. This week has been a great week back in the lectures! We have yet another speaker that was here last year in my school that was absolutely my favorite. So I am loving this week, the topic is Giving up our rights. The cost of being a Disciple. It is such a great reminder to myself of what I'm actually called to as a Christ Follower. Now as a missionary I have even more of an understanding of what my life is meant to be. I am not my own person, God has given me the life I live and he requires me to surrender to him in ALL areas of my life. I have spent a lot of time this week in prayer asking God to show me the areas that I still need to surrender to him. I know that until I surrender to His plan and His purpose I'm not fully experiencing Him.

We are having an event tonight called Giving Night. Where it is a time where we spend time asking God if there is anything he wants us to give. Generosity is such an important characteristic in a Christ Followers life and God is constantly asking us to give but how many times do we actually come to God asking if he wants us to give anything? It is a time where we can bless the people here on the base. Last year in my experience I prayed and asked God if there was anything he wanted me to give. He gave me the people in my mind and asked me to give them some money. I asked how much, and with that he said "how much can you give?" I was like hmmmm well $300 and I felt good about that, it was a good chunk of change you know. Then as I prayed the next day I felt God poking at that number asking "Is that all you can give?" I was like umm well maybe I can give $500 but that is a lot!! Then I felt God ask me one last time, "TJ what would be to much for you to give?" At that I was like WOW ok $1000 is the limit, I can't give that much that is too much, that's why I said $500. Then in that moment I felt him say "I want you to give $1000 tonight." I was like ummm ok right!!! Not really I struggled, I looked at my bank account, my bills, and guess what! Nothing added up, I couldn't pay my bills let alone give someone $1000!! As the day progressed I really didn't feel good about that night, I knew God was asking me to do something but I didn't see it possible. That night the only option I had was to write a check for $1000 out of my money I was saving for my upcoming outreach. HALF OF MY TRIP MONEY that in a week I'd be required to pay. I did what was asked and honestly I don't know how it happened but as I wrote the check my heart was SO HAPPY, I was filled with complete Joy. It was honestly AMAZING. I found out that night that the people I had given the money to had just had a conversation a few days before saying they had absolutely no free funds for Christmas. They had 2 daughters and they couldn't provide a Christmas for them that year. My check for $1000 had an attached note to it that I felt God told me to write. It said $500 of this is for YOU, to do with whatever you want and the other $500 if you wish can be used for your ministry fees. BUT YOU MUST LAY ASIDE $500 for yourself and your family! It was Awesome. I didn't receive all my funds for my outreach until 2 days before we left, I was $740.60 short. A team member of mine came to me one afternoon after I had just talked about knowing that i'm suppose to go to Peru and telling me that they had overpaid for DTS in the beginning and wanted to give me the amount they overpaid. She said I'm not sure how much you need but I have $741.00 to give you. I was like, OH WOW!!! God is amazing!

So as we as staff and students ask God what it is we can give I also challenge ya'll to do the same and see if there is anything God might want you to give up and bless someone with! 2 Corinthians 8:12