Goodbye is bittersweet

Last Saturday was a sad day as Andrew and I took our amazing friends Ryan & Kara to the airport. They have left Kona having been fab members of the staff team here for years.

                      
Saying goodbye is always so bittersweet. We are sad to see them leave, but so excited about what they are heading out to do. The are flew to join the new YWAM Kona team that is pioneering a new DTS in Harrisburg, PA. This team is being led by some of my other closest friends, Natalie & Jeremy Bardwell. They and their adorable twins shipped out a few weeks ago.

Why is it that so many of my sweetest friends are leaving. I love YWAM and the life we lead, but I hate the constant goodbyes, when people are obedient to the Lord leading them to somewhere else but here in Kona. 

The school they are pioneering is part of the Fire and Fragrance ministry here in Kona. Harrisburg as a city has just been declared bankrupt, which means it is ripe for a move of God to sweep through with fire and call the city to dedication to God. I'm so excited to see what God does through the team of radicals.

God is moving through YWAM in a new, deeper way, calling us to greater faith in who he is and what he can and desires to do. To heal, deliver, minister and transform lives. By using people who say they are willing to lay down everything to see God change a nation. I love the wildness and fire I see in the eyes of my friends, to whom the power of God is not just an idea or something we read about in the Bible, but a VERY real reality for right now. The F&F Harrisburg DTS will be focusing its ministry into the Ivy League Universities of the USA. What better place to set people ablaze with the fire and reality of God than in the places where future world leaders, business moguls and people of influence are being trained. 

                                              
My friends the Listers are 2 of those people who keep things moving and happening without most people knowing. They have faithfully served in so many areas behind the scenes, being dependable and diligent. I know God will use them as foundational strength for the PA team. But my strongest connection with them is not answering the crazy questions that come our way, or chasing logistical info together ... no it is LOST. We partnered through all 6 seasons together this year... missing them already.