2015 in Review

Aloha!

It’s hard to believe that a year has already come and gone! Looking back it astounds us with all that we have seen God do in our lives, and those around us.

As you know we spent 2014 and the first month of 2015 in Seattle being caregivers for Live’s mom who was in heart failure. A huge praise report is that Linda has had a valve replaced, a pace maker put in, and is back home in Sitka Alaska doing great! Thank you all for your support and prayers through that very difficult time.

In February 2015 we moved to Kailua Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. We knew we wanted get straight back into missions full time as soon as Live’s mom was able to care for herself, but we also knew that God had been speaking to us about being more available to family should the need for our help arise again. As we prayerfully considered our options we felt Hawaii was a happy medium. It is within the USA and one plane ride away from home, but it still has a ministry focus on the South Pacific. So we packed our suitcases and here we are.

Upon arrival I (Tessa) started working as the Registrar for all incoming students participating in one of our 5 training programs. I have since taken on the Visa desk assisting individuals obtain visas to travel to any of the 5 YWAM Ships operating locations. I have also started working as the Ministry Leader for the Gateway Ministry here at YWAM Ships. They handle all of the enquiries, emails, applications, record keeping, grading for volunteers / staff / students / visas for all 5 YWAM Ships operating locations. It’s quite the undertaking but going great!

In April we led the Discipleship Training School here, it is YWAMs entry level training course and a prerequisite to all the University of the Nations courses and degrees. We had 14 students from 8 different nations with an age range between 17-65. We had 3 months lectures here in Hawaii covering such topics as: Character of God, Hearing God, Holy Spirit, Evangelism, etc. The students also received sailing lessons to equip them to join the Ships ministry. Once the Lecture Phase was complete we sent 3 teams on a 2 month outreach to Panama, Marshall Islands and Amsterdam/Siberia. Live’ was able to go to Panama for 10 days to do a pastoral visit for the students. All in all, it was an amazing school and we saw God transform many lives. We will also be leading the April DTS in 2016! 

Currently Live’ is on the School of Navigation and Seamanship. He is learning all about water safety, basic engine mechanics, scuba certification, celestial navigation, charting courses, right-of-way and knotting. He has class Monday to Friday AM and sails every Friday afternoon. He is getting equipped to help crew vessels reach remote and isolated people, where the only way to reach them is by boat. One example is a team from our ministry sailed to a island that had not received any kind of medical supplies in over 10 years and were treated by our team with vaccinations, antibiotics and other medicines while bringing the Bible in their local language.

Mateo never ceases to amaze us! He is growing an at incredible rate! At 2 1/2 he already wears size 4 clothing! He is going to be tall. Every day he discovers a new word and is currently loving painting. Each morning right when he wakes up he runs to his craft area and says “paint, paint paint”. He loves to play outside for hours and hours on end. He has mastered counting to 10 and recognizing the numbers, so now we are on to the alphabet. He has also mastered drawing circles, we have moved on to squares.

We are currently waiting for Tessa’s green card to be processed and approved. We would really appreciate prayer for favor in this area. Our interview is in Honolulu on January 04, 2016.

Please also pray for safe travels, we will be in Alaska to enjoy Christmas with Live's Parents.

Love,

Live', Tessa and Mateo