March Update: Hawaii & Florida

While in language school in Peru, we were contacted by a pastor in Hawaii.  He asked us if we would be willing to come to the Big Island for a missions emphasis Sunday.  He told us that the churches in Hawaii do not have missionaries come very often due to the cost of traveling to the islands.  Rodney told the pastor that he would call some of the other churches and try to schedule some additional meetings.  After calling, Rodney was able to schedule meetings in seven different churches.  So we spent March 1 - 21 in Hawaii.  We were able to present our ministry in all seven churches, and Rodney preached in 6 of the churches.

We were on the Big Island for the tsunami after the earthquake in Japan.  We were evacuated from our hotel and had to spend the night in our rental car in a school parking lot.  At about 2 AM Hawaii time (7 AM EST) our cell phone began to ring.  As our family & friends woke up and heard the news of the earthquake in Japan and the tsunami headed for Hawaii, they began to call and check on us.  What a blessing to know that so many people were back home praying for us as the tsunami was headed our way.  At about 8 AM Hawaii time the following morning, we were able to get back into our room, and we were able to see some of the damage from the tsunami waters.  There was some debris and sand in the streets, and many of the restaurants and shops right on the coast were flooded.  We did hear of two houses that were washed out into one of the bays, but we did not see them.  We are thankful that the damage was minimal, and no one was hurt.

Four days after returning home from Hawaii, we left for a missions emphasis Sunday at a church in Jacksonville, FL.  We were very excited to hear that this church is going to partner with us in the ministry.