"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed"
by Hudson Taylor
Dear Family & Friends,
Happy New Year!! Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement as we serve God here at the University of the Nations. Our family is truly grateful to all of you for believing in us as we said "Yes, Lord" and made the move to Kona, HI last April 2013. Wow, can't believe it's been almost a year! We are especially grateful to our home church, NCFC, for sending us out and for your continued prayers and financial support for us. We are truly thankful to our church leadership and to all our friends and family and prayer partners.
We hope you all had a blessed Christmas! We had the chance to celebrate at a joint Christmas Eve service with our Korean friends and their English congregation (almost felt like we were back at our home church!) and then Christmas morning w/some new friends, one even left for her outreach that afternoon! One of the biggest challenges we face here is that many "friends" we make end up being called away - we're still trying to get use to the "transient" friendships. Praise God for "old" and "new" friends here that have been called for long term (by that, we mean at least two years)!
We humbly admit that we are terrible with our updates and we realize that it's been a long time since our last one, so please forgive us. Sitting down and trying to put into words all that God is doing in our lives has been a challenge for us, with both of us serving full time and many commitments through out the week. We wish we can share that everything has been amazing since moving here and becoming staff, but that is not yet the reality. Instead, we have faced disappointments, some challenges and even trials, but we trust that God is in full control and that He doesn't need any of us to do His work, but that He allows us to be a part of His blessing while working in us and by drawing us closer to Him and one another in the process when He called us; for that, our family is forever grateful to Him. As we shared in one of our previous updates, both Nicholas & Makayla are learning Korean as a foreign language requirement. Well, being that we're surrounded by 25% of Koreans on this campus, we too decided to take Korean classes being offered by the staff at the Learning Center in the evenings to read and write fluently starting next month. Our schedules are becoming even fuller. Here is our brief individual updates:
Alex:
Went out to Seoul, Korea for the first time since immigrating to the States 40+ years ago for the third IT missions tour last October. He was invited to go and how timely it was for him!! His back healed before the trip and he came back refreshed and w/better understanding of YWAM. He had a blessed time hearing Loren Cunningham's sermons, visions and witnessing God's blessings upon Korea from the previous generations prayers and the next generation's calling on the youth. He would love to share more details in person when he gets the chance (hopefully this coming summer)! With the help of several mission builders, Alex finished up one of the campus's condo buildings that have been left incomplete for at least a year. He literally finished this project with his group of mission builders’ on their last work day! Many of the missionaries who reside in this building were immensely blessed by the completion of this project!! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!! God is teaching Alex to quietly obey Him, seeking to "build" w/excellence and stay steadfast in the process while training up the inexperienced volunteers and mission builders and waiting on God to bring in the finances to build and renovate other projects.
Pam:
I have been given an office manager title, but I think it's only b/c I am not a teacher and supporting staff is what I do best ;). All joking aside, it's been a privilege and an honor to serve w/some of these amazing, fearless ladies who love God w/all their hearts, minds and souls. They have sacrificed comfort, steady income and being near their family and friends to come and educate, influence in a godly manner and serve the missionaries children so these children may enter the spheres of influence w/God's truth. Student enrollments are growing, which means God is bringing more families to serve full-time here, but we continue to face challenges in the area of teachers saying "yes" to missions. Would you please pray for teachers to hear God and obey Him by serving full-time so we can continue to bring up and educate missionaries’ children here? Our school/community has been rampant with the flu virus. Most of you may be thinking that's crazy here in HI, but we just started a new quarter and many people arrived from the mainland as well as internationally, so many viruses have been brought in as well as experiencing very chilly weather last week. Makayla has been sick at home with the flu so Alex and I have had to take turns being home with her. Truly miss the family support during these times.
Nicholas & Makayla:
They are going deep into His word and learning to exercise their spiritual gifts and encourage others in the process. They are busy w/lots of school work and learning to thrive here. As much as they miss family and friends, they are adjusting a lot better than we are. Drama class is a requirement, so right before they ended for their Christmas break; the upper grades (4th-8th graders) performed a Christmas play with a modern twist in the Mauka Theater in front of their families and guests. Nicholas played the role of one of the shepherds in full attire with a hand drawn beard and Makayla refused a speaking role, so she played an adorable donkey to Mary and Joseph!! Thank goodness my mother-in-law (MIL) and sister-in-law (SIL) came to visit us during Thanksgiving for two weeks!! As my MIL is an amazing seamstress, she and my SIL were able to put together Nicholas's shepherd's outfit and Makayla's donkey ears and tails!! Talk about perfect timing b/c God knows I can't even sew on a button!! All students performed outstandingly!! They received a standing ovation!! As much as I would love to share w/all of you the recorded video, my kids would probably be very upset with me so I'll only share some pics. They too are having to say "goodbye" to some of their "friends" due to visa situations (common here w/international students & staff) or being called back to their home or to another country to serve. It's very hard for them as they have had to say "goodbye" to all of you last year and now they are having to do so again. One of the sad realities of living in a transient/missions community.
Prayer Requests:
· That our family would continue to grow and flourish in our relationship with the Lord and our love for one another and to extend that love to others
· That we would learn to continually rejoice in the Lord regardless of our challenges or circumstances
· Pray for more teachers for the Learning Center
· For the "Joy of the Lord" to be our strength (Neh 8:10)
· Health of our family
· Learn to wait on God and look to Him for all the answers
· More wisdom and to be steadfast in the work of the Lord (1 Cor 15:58)
(PICTURES are from their Christmas play; with Alex's mother when she
came for a visit during Thanksgiving; and when they received their
Christmas package from the Timothy group from our home church)!
With love and blessings,
Im Family (Alex, Pam, Nicholas & Makayla)
If you would like to partner with us financially, you can MAIL: payable to UofN, Mission Account #5856 (on the memo line) and mail to 75-5851 Kuakini Hwy #256 Kailua Kona, HI 96740.
