Review of 2010 & Christmas in the sunshine

So another Christmas is here ... I feel this year has gone by so fast and has been so full.

Our tree is up and hung with ornaments from around the world I have gathered on my travels, and despite the heat and sunshine, the house is feeling very festive.

I will be doing my own version of the movie 'Four Christmases' on the 25th December, as instead of having the masses at my house, I am spending time at four different homes with groups of people I love. I am looking forward to spending time with some of my surrogate families here in Hawaii, as my blood family are so far away.

Life has certainly been so very busy this year, especially these past few months. But I am so thankful for the opportunities I have had and the people I have been able to serve alongside and learn from.

As a Kona YWAM campus in 2010 we have had over 1000 students, from 52 nations, and sent out over 80 outreach teams around the world.

The year was capped off here with the final YWAM 50th Jubilee celebration in November and December. We welcomed over 2000 extra guests onto the campus to celebrate God's goodness and faithfulness to YWAM. It was an incredible week of teaching, celebration, worship, talking story, reconnecting with friends from around the world and meeting new people. I am continuing to process what God was saying and what my response is, but we all sensed that it was a significant marker in YWAM's history and our individual lives. Click here to watch a brief video that was made by CBN TV including footage and interviews from the Kona 50th event. Also you can see more photos on the photos page.

So what else have I done in 2010?

I continued to serve Youth With A Mission in Kona, Hawaii ... still something that surprises me!

But that does not mean I have not jumped on a plane a few times.

So here is a month-by-month quick run-through of this past 12 months ...

January

I started the year by taking on an expanded role on the campus in serving our leadership. Some campus restructuring saw my leader, Andrew transition to being part of a Team3 to lead the whole base. I felt God ask me to give this year to serve him as an 'armour bearer', so I've found myself engaging with a broad scope of areas on the campus, from the finance office, kitchen, school leaders, grounds, students and mission builders.

February

I had planned to go to India in February, but then the horrific earthquake happened in Haiti and I was asked to go as part of first-response, so I took a team of staff from here in Kona. It was an incredible time and a privilege to support the long-term Haiti teams. Read more about our trip here and what has happened since here.

March

Following my trip to Haiti I was asked to co-author a 'state-of-the nation' report on Haiti and the development possibilities for YWAM's international leaders. A YWAM team of amazing development experts here in Kona and photo-journalists on the ground in Haiti worked around the clock literally to produce a document to present to a series of international meetings that happen here in March. Some days we barely left our work room for 22 hours straight, the transitioned into a few weeks of meetings where we had to sound like we knew what we were talking about ... there are good reasons why in Kona this month is affectionately called "March madness". I was involved in these meetings to talk about Haiti, but the benefit for me personally was that I got to spend time with many of our YWAM leaders from around the world and hear what God has been doing in their nations. It was inspiring and challenging to know how to engage and respond.

April

This was a less eventful month, but it also brought the start of a new quarter and so a new influx of students. I love meeting new staff and students, hearing who they are and wondering what God has put in them. From the broad-reaching role I have I get to see transformation in so many schools and lives.

May

Needing a little rest by this point in the year, I headed to Washington state for one of the best holiday's ever. I was able to stay with a number of different YWAM friends in the Seattle area and was so blessed by their generous hospitality. We talked, laughed, caught up on life, I got to meet new husbands and new babies, pray, hike in 11ft of snow in sandals, go to a real country rodeo, ride the Edmonds ferry, eat ice-cream,  ride horses, wander through markets, discover new cities and fall in love with Washington state!

June

After Seattle it was time to surprise my mum at 8am on a Thursday morning by turning up on her doorstep. I had a great two weeks in glorious England spending quality time with my family, friends, church and supporters. I hopped on and off trains around the country to see as many wonderful people as I could. Again there was lots of talking to do, to catch up on life together. There is no better way to find out how people are than with a cup of tea around the kitchen table. I love that people I have journeyed with for over a decade can ask me the tough questions about my life and I know it is because they love me and believe in me. We spent time eating strawberry's whilst laying in sunny fields, eating curry whilst watching the football world-cup, and having picnics under apple trees in my brother's garden. My times in the UK are never long-enough and every visit makes me more grateful for the people in my life. Lots of photos here and here.

July

Back in Kona, the boss was away, so I picked up the slack and tried to keep things running! So lots of liasing with our staff services department, the summer UofN schools, keeping the finance office ladies happy and somehow took on leading our student services/admissions office. It was a busy work month for sure but full of great opportunities to serve and lead.

August 

Was more of the same from July ... plugging away at the day-to-day work of supporting our schools and trouble-shooting.

September

The saw the arrival of our biggest Kona quarter in recent history, with around 500 students and nearly 100 children of students. I was co-ordinating arrival day and how to get them all registered and for some unknown reason I decided to experiment and trying a new way of doing this ... generally a great success, largely down to a great team who agreed to my slight co-ersion to help out! I also started to work with out Basic Leadership School - a staff leadership development track that staff can do alongside their regular role. I was mentoring a group of 6 incredible women from 4 nations who worked with primary health care schools, teaching english, DTS office management, student services/admission and our staff care department. It was an honour to walk alongside them these past 4 months.

October

Apart from being my birthday month and seeing the ultimate triathlon - the Kona Ironman - turning our little town into a sporting mecca for a week, I flew off on Air Pacific, via Fiji and Christmas Island to the beautiful land of the long white cloud - New Zealand. I had the blessing of joining the YWAM NZ team at their national gathering - hearing what God is doing in the nation and enjoying some great retreat time with Jesus. Lots of early morning misty walks at dawn were precious times. Then I headed to the south island to visit one of the YWAM bases and see how things work in another part of the YWAM family. Photos here.

November

All systems GO for the 50th jubilee celebrations here in Kona. I was responsible for housing for our visitors, but the whole community was mobilsed to transform our campus  ... we saw extensions to our cafe, an extreme tree house built in a banyan tree, a proper movie theater created from a maintenance hanger in 4 weeks, a high-tech innovations center developed, new building foundations poured and lots of flowers planted. Read a little of the first day highlights here or watch some video's here.

I also recorded a voice-over for the NotForSale campaign, for an online tutorial on how businesses can combat human trafficking. Oh I also was blessed by with the gift of a 2hr helicopter ride around the island - flying over the active volcanos, into the valleys giving amazing views of waterfalls and lava flow. 

December

Time to decompress after the 50th, a great camping trip with some visiting friends from New Zealand, decorate the house for Christmas, make truffles and oh plan and prepare for a DTS - so not much really! As well as continue with the BLS, lead the student services office, process DTS applications, help get schools onto outreach, serve my leaders, hang out with friends, celebrate students graduating and then STOP to reflect of the greatest gift ever ... Jesus, who was born on earth to draw us into relationship with our loving father God.

Once Christmas is over we will focus fully on the DTS 360 and all the amazing students God is bringing us. I am looking forward to sharing stories of who we have in the school and what God does in this next 6 months.

I am so blessed by my life and the people I get to do it with. Thank you for taking the time to catch-up with me! Please do pray for me as I go into 2011 and I would love to hear from you too.