Closing and opening doors

We are coming to the end of not the week but the end of the lecture phase of the Awaken DTS.  I can't believe that three months of my life have passed by so quickly.  Most of the teams are en route to their outreach locations and I am currently sitting in the Seattle airport as I write this blogpost.  


Coming home is such a strange feeling and a mix of emotions flood me.  People have been asking me if I'm excited to return home but Kona has been home for me in the past 2 years.  I didn't realize how much of an impact leaving would have until now and even now it hasn't quite hit me yet.  I'm going to miss the campus, the Banyan tree cafe, the prayer room, the pavilion, building 4, Ohana court meetings, Monday morning worship, and especially the people I  have been in community with.  


Leaving Kona has been a tough process but I know that there are new opportunities for me as I head back to Maryland.  I don't know what this transition all entails but I know God know's what he is doing and I believe he's the one guiding me still.

Happy birthday to me.

My birthday was this past Saturday and I am now officially 22.  I don't know what I expected for my birthday but there was a bit of confusion for me because our schedule was a little different than usual.  But I was still able to celebrate with my friends and the people who have become like family here.  It has been strange in some ways but in other ways it was a weekend of celebrating instead of just one day.

This past weekend wasn't just my birthday but Heidi Baker, from Iris ministries, was here speaking at the campus on Friday and Saturday night.  She told stories and testimonies of Jesus' favor and miraculous things that would happen like food multiplying, deaf being healed, blind being healed, limbs growing back, miraculous provision and more.  She challenged us to live from a heavenly perspective.  We are seated in heavenly places with the Lord and we as believers do not live life according to our circumstances but through what the Lord tells us.

On the first night, she told us that there had been riots in Mozambique over the rise in the price of bread.  She said she wanted to rush back home to be with her family.  During that same time the airplane that they owned also crash landed and they couldn't find their pilot.  So before she started speaking we prayed for Mozambique and for the pilot to be found and alive.  Even though the circumstances were not in her favor she felt the Lord told her to stay and continue to speak for the two days.  On the second night, before Heidi spoke, she told us that the pilot and the plane was found.  The plane was completely destroyed but the pilot only suffered minor injuries.  I believe she said that it was a minor cut on his chin.  It never ceases to amaze me that the Lord really does hear our prayers and how quickly he goes to work on what we ask for.

What a way to celebrate a birthday.

Future plans

DTS is going really well.  I couldn't have asked a better group of staff to run with this quarter in the sense of unity and seeking similar things in our relationship with the Lord.  The students have been amazing with how they receive teaching and discipleship, and they are all hungry to know more of this God we serve.  In a little less than a month this group of young men and women will go out in 8 different teams into the nations to minister to people around the world that the Lord  is crazy about but I will not be joining them at this time.

As of now, my plans are to go home and be with my family in Frederick, Maryland.  I have been praying for my next step and I feel that the Lord has told me to go home for at least the next 3 months to spend some time with my family, invest in a local church, reconnect with supporters and work to raise funds to go out into the field again. 

I'm not sure what the Lord has for this next period of time but I do know that it is better for me to obey than for me to plan out my own future.  God loves us and he is for us so I don't have to worry about what tomorrow might bring although it does feel a little strange for me to come home for a longer period of time.

This does not mean that I will be done with missions and it does not mean that I'm through with this "phase" of my life and I'm coming back to "normal" life.  It simply means that the Lord has other plans right now and I'm just following him.


I'd love to meet with you once I'm in the continental United States, so please let me know if you would like to and we can arrange a time.  I'll be flying back on Sept 23 and arriving in Maryland on Sept 24. You can e-mail me at schoi19@gmail.com and we can schedule a time.