MAUNA KEA

Wow! Finally the time is here when we are going to Mauna Kea! Whoehoee! Right in time before I have my flight in two days. Mauna Kea is the highest mountain in the whole wide world! It doesn’t look that high or big though! That’s because they started measuring it from sea level.

We start our journey with John's amazing red 4x4 Jeep! It’s such a blessing that he wanted to take us! It’s pretty hard to get up the mountain cause you need a 4x4 wheel drive car and the rental stations in Hawaii don’t allow you to go up there with their 4x4 vehicles. So here we go heading to Mauna Kea! We took a short picknic break at the foot of the mountain! It was lovely to spend some time here with nice company and some good snacks!

After that we had to make one extra stop at the Mauna Kea station platform to get used to the height and the thin air. We walked a bit around and we were ready to goooo!! We were so excited to see the view from the top of the highest mountain!

Wow, was the first thing that came out of my mouth when we arrived! It’s so wonderful and peaceful above the clouds! It looks like another planet! It felt like I was on Mars for a few hours! We made some photos and enjoyed the stunning sunset! When It went totally dark we watched the wonderful universe with all the shining stars! John shared this Bible verse with us!

‘“To whom will you compare me, or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. Look up and see! Who created these? He brings out the stars by number; He calls all of them by name. Because of His great power and strength, not one of them is missing.’
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:25-26‬ ‭

What a great ending of this adventure and my time here in Hawaii!

BEST WEEKEND EVER!

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday DEAR BRITTANY! Happy birthday to you!!!!!!

Yes, it is Brittany's birthday and that means a big birthday bash camping weekend party! Starting at Polulu Valley! We rented two tents and cars! Off we go on our little roadtrip through Hawaii! Music on? check! Girls in our car? Check! Good vibes? Check! Music on it's loudest? Check check!! We danced and sing so loud in our car! The party has already started!!

☆

We arrived at Polulu Valley in the dark, so we had to hike down with flash lights! With all of our stuff, food, tents and sleeping bags! But hey, we are in a good mood and nothing can stop us now. So we went down happy as little kids and choose a nice place to set out our tents in the forrest nearby the beach! Yeah, we succeeded to set up two tents in the midst of the dark! All we need now is a bonfire!! Everybody went into the forrest looking for dry wood! It took some time, but we were determined and yes!! finally we got that fire started!! We grabbed the metal sticks and started to cook hotdogs!! Hmm what a delicious meal! But wait there is more, Britney brought SMORES!! The delicious marshmallow treat with two graham crackers and chocolate! What a perfect night! I was a bit tired so went to bed pretty early. The ground was very hard but despite that I slept really good! I woke up just before sunrise! Perfect to take some amazing photos! I have never experienced such a beautiful sunrise as this one! It was so peaceful to wake up like this. God the creator of it all is so good! I Praise Him for everything!

We couldn’t wait to fly through the forrest as little monkeys! So we all went to the swing that is hidden in the Polulu Forrest! You almost would think this day couldn’t get better! But.....Yes it did get better!! We had an amazing plan for the rest of the day.

We wanted to visit the forbidden nature water slide. We had to trespass someone’s property but then we came in a wonderful jungle! I enjoyed every step! I love nature and the beauty of it. We got by one of the most amazing look outs I have ever seen so far. A big waterfall on the other side of the mountain and a mega gap in between full with green!
We took a lot of pictures here!

When we continued our journey to the water slide we had to trespass a tunnel that was connected with another piece of the mountain. We walked over the tunnel or better said crawled over to the other side. You don’t want to risk that you will fall down!

I was full of excitement! We’re almost there! The last piece of the road we have to walk through dark tunnels in the mountain filled with water. Some took their mobile to use the flashlight to see where to walk. It takes about 3 of those tunnels and then we could finally say: Yeeewy, we made it! We needed to climb with a robe to the top of the water slide.

When I was at the top I was thinking woow this is way more high and Steep than I expected. But there is no way I would back down. Then just to slide. Okay Lizzy you can do this! Don’t think, just gooo!! WWWHHHAAAAAAA was all that came out of my mouth! I was screaming so loud! But it stops directly when I hit the freezing cold water at the bottom and was searching for my breath! Haha it was such an epic experience!! Thoroughly my best adventure weekend in Hawaii!

The Beauty of Hawaii

I really wanted to go to Makalawena beach! Everybody talked about how this is the most beautiful beach of Hawaii! I talked with Guy, one of the staff members, if it is an option to go there with the whole Kokua crew as a weekend trip! And his response was, "Yeah sure I can make that happen for you!" Yeeeey! I was so happy!!

So as he promised we went to Makalawena beach on the weekend! We got two vans full with people heading to the beach! It’s a 20 min drive from Hale ola and then we needed to walk for 30 min over the lava rocks to get there. But wow! What a view when we arrived! Super blue water and insane soft white sand! We took place on the beach and some did under a big tree to get some Shade.

We enjoyed the sun, the nice fresh water and each other’s company! I took a lot of photos of the girls and they also of me! This way we could keep memories for a lifetime. It was a dream come true! Totally worth the lava rock hike! Just a tip, bring enough water and food. I brought too little and was sooo thirsty and a little hangry, haha! 

Hilo Side

Hallo there!

Our next weekend adventure in Hawaii began! We’re heading to the Hilo side to see some waterfalls! Saulius and Simona rented a car from someone on the YWAM campus for the whole month! So we’re enjoying the car ride and the stunning view when suddenly we hear a very bad noise and smell! Oh NOOO we got a flat tire! We stopped at the side of the road to see how bad it was.. it was a disaster! The whole tire was totally loose! We were lucky there was an extra sos tire in the trunk! The guys changed it and we continued our trip to Hilo!
 

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We arrived at the rainbow waterfalls. An amazing waterfall in the jungle! Little bit disappointed that we didn’t saw the rainbows but it was a lovely view anyway! The guys climb all the way up in the large jungle trees. That was cool! After that we went to Narnia, some other waterfalls that needed a little hike. Bit scary to pass the river on the slippery rocks but with the guys helping it ain’t that hard. We could swim, jump of the smaller waterfall and enjoy the atmosphere!

It started to rain very hard! So we decided to head back to the car. On our way back we met some awesome people! They live here on the island and work for the military. They were very kind and open. We wanted to go to Mauna Kea to watch the sunset but they adviced us not to go when they saw our donut. They offered to pick us up another time and take us there with their pickup truck! How nice would that be!

This day was an awesome experience!

The little voice into my heart

Just like the sea refreshes, overflows and washes the coastline and the rocks again and again. That way I will also flood you, clean you, completely renew you, heal you and give back what has been taken away from you. You will be fully restored in my presence.

When God spoke this gently into my heart, it touched me. That is all I ever wanted! I’m a visual person, so when I saw this beautiful surrounding, with the beginning of sunset and the grace of the waves overflowing the rocks so peaceful, I could only long for God to do that in my life. I praise Him for His goodness and stunning creation!

I didn’t have a lot of one on one time with the Lord during the first three weeks here in Hawaii. But when I just sit there on the rocks watching over the sea, I can truly enjoy and come to rest in His presence. It’s lovely how God knows when to speak and in what way it fits every person. He is such a gentleman! He will never rush or push His ways upon you. He is always asking or revealing gently. Thank you Lord!

Turtle bay & Polulu Valley

This Sunday we left early to check out turtle beach! We drove a bit and then needed to walk 30 minutes to the right spot! I loved the view from this beach. I saw one turtle in the sand and three in the water! That was pretty cool and we stayed and chilled there for a while taking in the views. I took some amazing photos of the girls! I am working on building and enlarging my portfolio. Plus, I really love taking photos of people in stunning landscapes! It is amazing to edit the photos and see the smile on their faces when they receive it. I love it when people look at their photo and say that they look so beautiful. It's really special to get to show them a different side of their beauty and uniqueness!

After that, we went to one of my favorite places so far on the island: Polulu Valley! It’s on the other side of the mountain from Waipio Valley. It has an amazing view on top of the mountain and you need to hike a road down for 20 minutes to reach the bottom. It was very slippery because it had rained the day before and with my flip flops and camera in my bag, it was quite an adventure. I nearly slipped 20 times --you'll be very happy to know that I did NOT fall on my butt, yay!

Down there is a lovely black, soft sand beach with nice waves for surfing or body boarding! It’s in the middle of nature and you can also hike or camp there! Maybe we will do that another time. We enjoyed the view and stayed for a while to rest on our towels with our feet in the sand.
God created the world so beautifully! I love to enjoy it and take rest and peace in His creation. It fills my heart with joy and gladness. At the end we were blessed with a stunning rainbow!

It started to rain so we hiked back to our car and began our ride back home. During the ride home the sunset began to flash across the sky and it was one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen! We stopped the car on the side of the road and enjoyed the stunning sunset with the whole group! What an amazing ending to our day! I am looking forward to more weekends like this.

LAB RESULTS

Week two

I had to call the doctor for the lab results. The assistant told me the two moles are not dangerous! I was happy, but also shocked. What do you mean by two? I had three of them removed. She checked it one more time and saw that the one with the most question marks was still being tested at the lab, so I would need to call back the next day. I was so nervous and afraid that I needed to go back home for further research. 

That day, I went to the dance studio on the YWAM campus. unfortunately, it was closed but I could still look through the crack of the door. When I saw the place, the mirrors and the wooden floor, I really felt like God spoke to me. "You're going to dance here. This is were I want you to go and dance for me."

That evening, we had a great service with the whole campus. during worship, I felt so close to the Lord - even in my doubts, fear and anxiety of the unknown results, it gave me peace knowing that God is with me. 

The big moment of truth was here. I went into the living room of my building and a few girls were sitting there. I told them I was super nervous and needed to call the doctor. They were super kind and started directly praying during my phone call. I got the best news ever!!! EVERYTHING IS GOOD! I'm so amazed and thankful for this good news! I couldn't help crying happy tears. It was such a relief and a huge load had been lifted off my shoulders. The girls told me, "Now its time to finally enjoy your stay here! WELCOME to HAWAII" <3

a few days later, I felt a voice speaking to my heart, telling me to go back to the dance studio; this time it was open!! The leaders there gave me the dance schedule: On Monday, I can join urban, and on Wednesday, I can join ballet. On Tuesday, they have contemporary & jazz, which is one of my favourite dance classes. Unfortunately, I'm not able to join that class because of a weekly mandatory meeting we have, which runs at the same time as the class. I was a bit disappointed, but spending my time with the Lord is my main goal. It should not matter if it is through dance, singing songs or any other ways as long I can spend time with Him. 

first urban class 

I went on Monday to urban class! Even though It is beginners level, i enjoyed ever second of it! The teacher is super chill and has nice urban vibes and grooves, i love the music she uses! two boys and girls came to class this time, but I hyped up everyone from Kokua crew to join me next Monday! so next class there will be a lot more people to join! How cool is it to dance with so many people, have fun and praise the lord through urban dance!

First weekend on the Island

Aloha everyone! 

I would love to tell you more about my first weekend here on the big island! Everybody arrived on Thursday so we, as the new Kokua Crew, had a few days off before we started working on Monday. Welcome to my adventure!

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FRIDAY - DAY ONE

On the first day we had a meeting and got all the information we needed to know! One of the first things I learned is that Kokua is a Hawaiian word that means helper. Processing all of the information was a lot to take in, but in the afternoon we had some time off. With that time, I went back to the airport because Amsterdam gave me the tracking code so I wanted to fill in a report of my missing backpack. Unfortunately, they still couldn't help me because they were saying that the tracking code belongs to someone else. After that I went for some turbo shopping at Walmart to get some basic necessities to get me through the first few days. Directly after that we went out for dinner at the YWAM campus. 

We ended the evening with a special bonfire at a perfect location: The End of the World. On our way to this place I had to pee! Everybody who knows me, knows that I need to go to the toilet a lot and mostly when it's not an option to go. So we had to stop with two YWAM vans at the gas station. My bladder was so happy after! haha

When we arrived at the amazing cliff (End of the World) we enjoined taking in the stunning view. You could jump off of the cliff into the water but there was no ladder to climb out so you needed good climbing skills against the rocks. I want to do that another time! 

YWAM created an awesome bonfire where we could sit around and listen to the stories of the previous crew. They are leaving on Monday after serving 6 weeks as kokua crew. I loved hearing all of their stories! I am looking forward to my time here and what God will do through it. When the testimonies were finished we were able to eat S'mores (an American treat to eat around a fire), which is a marshmallow, a piece of chocolate and then graham crackers on the outside to make a small sandwich. It was a lovely evening! 

In the end, I needed to pee, yeah, again! i'm not a great outdoor pee kind of person. But the girls were cheering me on and supporting me to do it, which helped! I succeeded! Too much information? haha. I have to practice more often because a lot of nice places here don't have a toilet! So at the end of this trip I will be a pro outside pee-er! On the way back to the base we passed that gas station again and people made jokes like, "does anyone need to go to the toilet"? It was one of those typical Lizzy moments. 

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SATURDAY - DAY TWO

Whaaa! this day we went to Kua Bay, one of the greatest beaches in Kona! It was a lovely day to relax and chill at the beach. unfortunately, i wasn't able to swim. two days before my trip to hawai'i i had to remove some moles that could have been dangerous. because of the stitches, i'm not allowed to swim for two weeks. it was a little bit of a bummer, but that didn't take away the fun! All of the girls love taking photos of the beautiful places here in Hawai'i, so that is really nice! It's incredible how fast we are getting to know each other and how much closer we are already as a group of friends! 

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SUNDAY - DAY THREE

Kona has several local churches! On Sunday you can choose which church you'd like to visit. I chose to visit a church called Shorebreak church with a group of girls nearby the campus. My first expression was that it was a hip, fun and young church. You can check out their website for a better impression: http://www.shorebreakchurch.com/

The service was such a blessing. It was the first one I visited here on the island and the whole sermon was about the bible verses col 3:1-4. At first I couldn't believe it.. this is the exact bible verse my parents gave me as an encouragement for my whole year of travel. The pastor went through it word by word and taught us the original purpose of this verse from God and also how we could apply this in our daily lives. I felt so happy and blessed that God spoke so clearly to my heart and that He brought me to this church for that exact message! Of all the churches I could have chosen, He brought me to shorebreak to speak to me. God is good! 

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“Father God,
thank You for Your truth.
You are victorious.
I praise You because You give me the opportunity to overcome evil with good.
Thank You that you fight my battles.
Help me always remember that You are with me. Help me to show Christ’s light.
In Jesus’ name, Amen. ”

Off She Goes

“Off she goes.. Trusting the Lord will guide and protect her.”

Yaaay my adventure has finally started! Go click on the Aloha picture and check out my first video. you can subscribe on my youtube channel that way you can stay up to date about my journey and adventures.

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The alarm clock went off at 6:15 am. I Didn't sleep a lot and Mixed feelings were going through my body; Excitement, fear of the unknown, doing a 26 hour travel just by myself for the first time and saying goodbye to my family and love ones for such a long time. 

My parents wanted to pray and bless me before we were leaving to the airport. It was a precious moment with the three of us. They gave me the bible verses below for the upcoming year. 

it has been a hard last year so I’m really hoping this year will be a smoother one. However, if things don’t work out the way I suspected them to be, then I know I can still find my rest by Jesus. I know I can give it all to God and set my mind not on the earthly things but on the things that Jesus has already prepared for me in heaven. 

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“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, were Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 

Set your minds on the things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden in Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

— Colossians 3:1-4

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you wil find rest for your souls. 

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. ”

— Matthew 11: 28-29

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We left a little late to the airport and I had just made it in time. I had 4 minutes before the gate got closed to Manchester. Up in the air everything seemed great until the pilot started the landing and we were just about to hit the ground!!!! we were about 1 meter above it and suddenly He started to take off again. It was the most scary thing! He flew an extra round above and then tried again and... success! YEEEY! 

I landed Just in time to get the next flight to Seattle (an 8 hour flight) where I sat next to a young fellow. We talked a bit over our adventures and suddenly somebody behind us says: "HEY, Do I hear you say YWAM Kona?? I’ve been there a few years ago! You’re going to have the best time of your life!" This made me even more enthusiastic to hear his stories about kona! That moment was such a blessing! 

When I arrived in Seattle I had to go through passport control and pick up my luggage so I could check it in again for my final destination: Kona, Hawai'i. Unfortunately, my luggage didn’t arrived.. I wasn’t the only one; another 20 people where missing their luggage. They advised me to just fly to Kona hoping they already connected it. 

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Yes, I made it to Kona! I was so happy to finally be in hawai'i! I was very tired and feeling a bit of jet lag being so many timezones away from what i had been used to. With good hopes, i went to the baggage claim area. however, my baggage didn't come and i also lost my tracking code so the help desk couldn't do anything for me.

I came to the YWAM base without any clothes or toiletries but i'm blessed to have one of the best roommates Bianaca form Brazil! She let me borrow her things! its been quite a rough start but im Feeling super blessed and welcomed. I truly believe beautiful things will happen here.