Barefooted Gypsy: July Update

Hello everyone!
It is hard to believe it has been seven weeks since DTS ended!
Asked to join Kona's staff team by my school leaders, I have seen wonderful changes to my life already this summer. The first two weeks of July brought over five hundred people from more than 30 nations- such as Fiji, Honduras, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Switzerland.... well, the list goes on and on!

After graduating my Discipleship Training School, I transitioned to serving the campus in numerous ways, specifically the hospitality department. Andrew and Faith Dutton, the school leaders of my DTS, helped run "Impartation," a global leadership development course, with Darlene Cunningham and David Hamilton, esteemed YWAMers for over 50 years!

Praise God, the turn out was incredible, and I was able to sit in on quite a few seminars between serving.
Impartation hosted one speaker named Brian Molitar, whom I had the privilege to meet personally. Hearing the vision closest to his heart was a true blessing; Brian taught and lived out his mission statement, inspired by Malachi 4:6 ("And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers...") Set out to bridge the "generational gap", Brian is committed to seeing broken people everywhere once again be part of a 'family.'
There were many ideas Brian shared that I was able to immediately apply to my life. A quote I wrote down in my journal reads, "Irrational fear is your best guess at the worst case of what might happen.. sometime in the future." I was honored to be a part of such an unforgettable experience and will forever treasure the lessons learned.

Prior to Impartation, the University of the Nations walked the Independence Day Parade on July 4th. A beautiful festivity, we had maybe fifty people walk, flags in hand, behind a float by Island Breeze (a member of the family of ministries of Youth With A Mission). Celebrating my own heritage, I chose the Norwegian flag and danced with my friends to sweet Hawaiian melodies.