Kids and Chaos

 One of the Beautiful things I get to be apart of here in Kona Hawaii is a program called Kona Kids Outreach. This was originally started as an after school tutoring program for Marshallese kids, living in subsidies housing here in Kona, and has grown into a Monday afternoon- evening program providing dinner and games and crafts and of corse bible study. 

Every Monday I take a group of Bible Students to go and play and run with these rowdy kiddos. With the busy schedule the students are apart of, often times they go into the night already tiered and maybe not wanting to go. Luckily, there is a secret not many people know about being involved with kids ministry and that is that it always ends up giving you life! 

Over the spring break our students had 6 days off where they had no requirements. During this break three students volunteered their time to still go and serve at Kona Kids Outreach! This was an extremely humbling moment, seeing how service was beginning to change and form my students. Local Outreach was a two fold vision. First being that We would see our community here in Kona Hawaii be served and served well by our staff and students. While Ywam is International, we are also committed to our neighbors. The second half was to get our students out of their homework and out in the community putting into practice the foundational truths that they were discovering in the word. 

Often times I am tiered come 3:30 on Monday, but soon my joy and energy is renewed by getting to spend time with the amazing kiddos at Kona Kids Outreach. while it may be sheer chaos at times it is so so worth it. I have had many mini moments with the kids talking about Jesus and how he calls us to love him and love others. Many moments of discovering the kids earnest desire to go all over the world so everyone would know that Jesus loves them. 

Because of the connection I have been lucky enough to make with this amazing program, I am dreaming about taking a kids team over seas for their next spring break! Please partner with me in prayer on where to take the kiddos, and that we would be able to find a way to make it possible for them seeing as most of them have never left the island. 

in the meantime, it is an honor to put back on my old Camp Firwood hat, and play with kids. No matter where I go in life I think I will always be marked by the joy of doing ministry with kids and chaos.