Saturday, Oct. 9 "Iron Man," "YWAM Base," "New Friends," Our Home and Room & a Famous artist "The Crazy Mural Lady"



Supporting his wife, the triathlete, with his two sons




Ed, the retired Pastor and my construction partner and his wife Ruth, on our night out. The are from Vancouver




This is Ron and Sharon, on our night out, they also are from Vancouver, funny couple





Sunset from our seaside restaurant, on our Mission Builders night out...




Finishing the Iron Man, wow, was this fun to watch




Finishing the race...amazing to watch, music, lights, the roar of the crowd, family yelling, priceless.

 Kona, Oct. 8 Day One “Traveling”

We started packing for our two month trip around 10:00 A.M. this morning, which was freaking out Aimee. Julie picked us up at 2:00 for LAX, we allowed more time because it was Friday afternoon traffic, it took less than an hour, plenty of time to start my reading. I brought six books to read, but saved the ”The Accidental Billionaires,” for the flight, it is the true story of the current move “The Social Network,” which is about the 20 year old billionaire who started “Facebook.” Interesting read, I finished the 256 page book 20 minutes before landing in Kona.

I’m trying to read more great authors to help me understand the rhythm of good writing, beside the social network book, I’ve brought Ernest Hemingway’s classic “A Movable Feast,” about his thoughts as he lived in Paris in 1921, it’s my first time to read Hemingway, who is considered one of America’s great authors, I will read Christine Houser’s  retirement party gift book, “The Book Thief,” it’s the New York Times #1 bestseller, about a German girl  who steels a book during Hitler’s book burning paranoia, I’ve also got “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” another New York best seller, a true story of how doctors stole this black women’s DNA cells and turned it into a billion dollar industry, all without her knowledge.

Kona, Oct. 9, Day Two “The Race, People, and Place”

Walking everywhere, it’s 1:11 P.M. and we have already logged 10 miles, another 4 to go to the movies, and then another 4 back, plus we will need to find diner, another mile or two.

We split a wonderful lunch, a huge plate of local fruit, and a egg and cheese burrito, had an amazingly interesting talk with a journalist from Germany who has come to the Iron Man 12 times and he covers them all over the world, had a wonderful talk with some Mission Builders, and we had a wonderful time with our dorm mates.

Carol will be serving in the mail room all day, I will be working on a huge construction project, all day, every day, and my work will be called “the leaning tower of WAM.” Well, God knows what he’s doing.  We are gearing up for a massive walk to the movies, I’m writing, Buckwheat is napping.

Our Street



A kiss for good luck



Standing room only

A beauty amidst the beautiful

Paradise, a little park by The Rock coffee shop

A real fisherman

Our Home

Some of our  new friends, and my construction boss John (the bearded one, red shirt)



The famous artist "The Crazy Mural Lady"



Our little home



Our little refrigerator



Our little table




The ever present boss, the Gecko



Friday, Oct. 8, The First Day of Our YWAM Mission Builders Service

Some facts about our YWAM Mission Builder Service:

(1) What the University of Nations YWAM base is and How it Started: The University of the Nations (U of N) is a Christian university providing coursework in over 50 languages at over 300 locations throughout the world. Its largest branch locations are in Kona, Hawaii (USA), Jeju, South Korea and Perth, Australia. The University of the Nations is part of the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) network.The late Howard Malmstadt, widely known as the "father of modern electronic and computerized instrumentation in chemistry", co-founded the Pacific and Asia Christian University (PACU) in Kona, Hawaii in 1978 with Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth with a Mission.

(2) What we won't be doing:
     (a) We won't be taking our golf clubs
     (b) We won't be renting a car
     (c) We won't be sightseeing
     (d) We won't be traveling to other Islands to see old friends

(3) What we will be doing:
     (a) We will be working (physical labor) 40hrs. a week
     (b) Each day we will be picked up at our Mission Builder house with other Mission Builders 6:00 A.M. to start each day with group devotions, and breakfast...(6:00-7:00)
     (c) All Mission Builders will then serve in kitchen duty from 7:00-9:00 each day, then we will all be assigned our individual duties for the day, some to build, some to cut lawns, some to serve in the hotel, kitchen, library, cafe, etc.
     (d) We will be off every day at 3:00 p.m.


The Magnificent Russian...a double agent?



     (e) All Mission Builders are required to attend every Monday morning all base worship service, every Tuesday night Mission Builder team meeting, as well as attending the bases Thursday night all base Worship/Seminar led by the founder Loren Cunningham (whom, by the way spoke in Russia this last month were our son-in-law Zhenya was his interrupter for the 50th anniversary of YWAM).

     (d)  We will walk...EVERYWHERE, except when being picked up every morning by the "short bus"."

     (e) We will be situating ourselves for spiritual renewal, not a vacation
     (f) We will be listening for God's voice for our future ministry direction.
     (g) We will be in our hearts home land, taking in God's beauty and having fun relaxing.
     (h) We will miss our family and our Stonecreek friends.

It's 8:00 A.M. on Friday, we leave in a few hours, we should start packing. I'll post tomorrow, in Kona, Saturday is the famous Iron Man Triathlon...it will fun to see and post about. We will start work on the 11th.

Aloha

10/6 Wednesday Morning...Speaking with our American/Russian daugther

Buckwheat and I were on Skype this morning with Heather talking story, she talk, we listen, humm, that's not unusual, this women's life is full of drama, where God is constantly having to rescue them, most often, at the last minute. I'm starting to think that God is forced to work harder with the Shulgins because of their ineptness, because apparently covering all the Shulgin bases means...two bases, instead of the four the rest of us would cover for ANY EVENT or ACTIVITY.

In the middle of our one-sided conversation with "the talker," the Vander Veen children ran in the room yelling, MOUSE, we caught a mouse, he's in the trap downstairs, come down and look at him Grandma and Grandpa, so Buckwheat had to man the Heather teleprompter while I ran downstairs to behold the rodent, what I saw was Holland jumping up and down near the mouse (alive in a glue trap) jumping up and down on the floor next to the trapped Mickey, her jumping up and down was causing the floor earthquake that kept the startled mouse jumping after each aftershock, Holland had the most joyful, gleeful, mischievous look on her face. Too funny, she takes after her bird kicking Aunt Julie.

Raining today, this is a set up for Hawaii where the weather will be 85 every day for two months, ahh, Hawaii.

The Stonecreek Beach Party

RETIREMENT: Mind Marshmellows...

Thinking of retirement was a sword fight between the two men within, the churchman-manager on the front lines wanted relief, the other man, the medic that wants to help people, felt youthful and needed. What to do, what to do, here I was with an angel on one shoulder, a demon on the other, each yelling heart messages in the inner ears, you know the spiritual ones we're suppose to hear God with. A four year vacillation brought Buckwheat and  I to this final glorious thought: Much more to do, so we decide to retire while we still have some skin left, and semi-youthful steps left in our stride.

But now, a week into it, what am I/we feeling...humm, how can I put this, "stupendouslydelicious."

Let's see, what do I feel about my retirement? I awake every morning like a bald man who's suddenly discovered he's grown hair in the night, youthful, full-headed, wavy, blond hair. Once I've bounded out of bed, I discover money, lots of money, strune all over the floor, at first I think it's leaves, but then Ulysses S. Grant's face is sticking to my feet, where did it come from, oh, that's right, I left the window open and it's blown in with the gentle breeze during my full nights, pleasant dream sleep.

I feel like I'm getting away with something, I look out the window often to see if the police are going to come and arrest me for stealing the tranquility and joy in my jar.  Hey, what's that sound, shh, I can't hear, shh..........................oh, listen, it's sweet Hawaiian music wafting over the trees from far, far, away. The song, "Coma Ona Ova To Da Sandy Shores."

Hey look, more money. Retirement is adult candy, it's SMORES, marshmallows for the mind.

A Great Day (all day) with the family at the Miramar Air Show

The air show was free, free parking, free entry, free program, and free fun all day with the family....PRICELESS!



Big noise for a little girl...



The future of America is in good hands...



Four really brave men hanging from a helicopter



Checking for bombs on the little misses...racial profiling at it's best...

 



Wyatt the riot sitting shotgun....



Do not mess with a mother with a gun...



The Cerovacs in the belly of the beast...



A band of brothers...



The closing event, THE WALL OF FIRE...really hot...



Really, really, really close flying, yikes!



The mother who started it all...




Have you seen my target, oops, I mean my brother?



                                                                                                 



A very cute chick



Looking for a plane to fit



Ready for combat

Dreaming a dream...

Gunner Captain Ryley "The Bean" Vander Veen

A great day with the whole family, parents, siblings, cousins, grandparents, these great memories are life changing in the hearts of God's little children...PRICELESS INDEED!