Week 2 Update!

Aloha wonderful blog followers!

Wow, week two has passed so quickly!  Sometime I don’t even seem to know the day of the week!  We are in such a swirl here, working during the week and having way too much fun on the weekends, and I’m thinking to myself, “Can this really be our new home?”

I’ve been asked to help with some Summer Surge social networking stuff (primarily Facebook) and I need your help!  Please go to Kona Summer Surge Facebook, like and then share with your friends!  Summer Surge is still in need of many skilled labors to come help out on the build, so if you know anyone… J  This campus trains thousands of missionaries each year to reach the nations and facilities here are crowded.  “Help us help more.” Kona Summer Surge

 

Esther, Josh and Corina had fun at Kids Camp this week and even went on a field trip to some pretty awesome lave tubes.  Bibi and Janey are still helping out with kids camp.

The rest of us have taken on training the Grassroots News Grasshoppers (young reporters, age 6-15).  We had our first class on Thursday, teaching them to do interviews with their ipads or cellphones.  Josh enjoyed being the grasshopper mascot.

On Wednesday night, some dear friends from Spokane arrived for Summer Surge, follow their journey here: (Lachnits in Kona) – We are so excited that they are here!

On Friday, four of us Lienaus, and friends Rachael Burns and Naomi Spezza joined a group of other Summer Surgers on a trip to the active Kailauea Volcano, which ended up being an island tour.  We stopped at South Point (the southernmost point in the USA), a yummy bakery, Black Sands Beach (where we saw turtles), the volcano (which included a hike in the rainforest, lava tubes and lava flats), all that in one day!  We were gone for 10 hours, but most of that time spent in the vans driving!

 

The next day, Jacob, Anna, Bibi, Joseph and Janey and a group of other students here went cliff jumping at a beautiful place called “End of the World”.  It was so much fun leaping from 15-40 feet and and snorkeling.  I am still amazed that the Lord is allowing us to live here!  But tomorrow we head back to work J  I love working hard during the week and then being able to play hard on the weekends, perfect transition for us.

Today, our whole family went to Living Stones Church www.livingstones.us  -great teaching and worship right next to the beach.

                              

                             

Week One Update!

Aloha!


This past week has been amazing!  You may be wondering, "What would life look like for the Lienau Family in Kona for Summer Surge?"  The schedules vary depending on what we are doing, but this should give you a good general picture. 

Here is what a “typical” Monday looks like :)

6:00 AM - It's a Monday morning after a beautiful and restful weekend spent at the beach. I wake up, to the lovely sound of birds chirping joyfully outside our dorm room window (and the sound of 10 other people waking up), and the yellow sunlight begins to fill our room. I climb out of bed, hop in the shower and get dressed, trying to stay out of the way of the other family members vying for space.  Things get crowded in the mornings with everyone scrambling to get a shower in before breakfast, but we love each other and we make it work.

Esther doing devotions in the Prayer Room

6:30AM - Breakfast - I wait in the breakfast line chatting to some friends I have made around campus.  One of the great things about living on the base here in Kona is that you get to meet so many different people, especially during meal times when other Summer Surgers, YWAM staff and students from all of the different DTS classes and second-level schools enjoy eating together. Breakfast is the same most mornings, with a selection of cereals, yogurt, granola, hard boiled eggs and fresh fruit to choose from (papaya is amazing). I grab a cup of coffee and find a space at one of the many tables in the outside cafeteria, sitting with friends or family J

7:30AM – Mom usually calls a family meeting most mornings.  We share what God has been speaking to us, talk though any issues, worship together and discuss the plans for the day.

8:00AM – After our family meeting, we all head to the community-wide worship in the Ohana Court. Everyone on base gets together for worship every Monday morning, and it is one of the highlights of my week. People do more than sing here. They really worship, and the presence of the Holy Spirit is so evident during these times. Not to mention the fact that we have some incredibly gifted musicians on campus!

Mom sharing at the Voice for the Voiceless DTS

9:00AM-12:00noon – This time is spent doing various things.   Josh, Esther and Corina go to Summer Surge Kids Camp Monday-Wednesday, Bibi and Janey go with them to serve at the camp.  The rest of us go to different meetings with GrassRoots News, Global Virtual Studio, The Film Institute (TFI) or help out with IT stuff.

12:00-1:00PM - Lunch is usually the best meal of the day. The food served for lunch really varies. Since so many cultures are represented on this campus, they aim to serve foods that reflect this diversity. Some days you will love it and some days you will skip it altogether. In their great wisdom the kitchen staff always provides bread, peanut butter, and jelly - just in case. 

Prayer Room (becoming one of my favorite spots)

1:00-2:00PM – Off to the prayer room! Dad and Mom have asked us all to try to spend 1-2hrs in the Prayer Room here on campus everyday.  I have begun to love these times that I get to go and have some alone time with Jesus.  It is open 24/7, but don’t have enough musicians/worship leaders to always have live music, but there is always worship music on.  Different ones of us might have meetings or job assignments to do too.  It is one of the only air- conditioned rooms on campus, so I like to go in the heat of the day.

2:00-5:00PM – Our daily training time with “Voice for the Voiceless” DTS.  This group of students is preparing for outreach to India and Africa and have come to learn skills in Media Advocacy.  They are photographers and writers and filmmakers who want to tell stories and bring awareness to those who can’t speak out and we get to help train them how to shoot and edit and encourage them in their adventures.  Dad, Mom, Jacob, Joseph, Tatsi and I have been plugging into this.

5:30PM - Dinner time. We try to do dinners as a family, which can sometimes be difficult with everyone spread out!

6:30PM – Sometimes some of us will walk down to the water (only a 5 minute walk!) where there are lots of shops. Depending on the night, we might go to the theater on campus, where they show different films.  Thursday Night is Media Advocacy night, where they show a justice related film or documentary, Friday is Culture Shaping Films (current “trendy” films, then we have a discussion about it at the end) and Saturday night is family movie night. 

9:00PM – A couple of nights, I’ve been able to Skype with friends on my laptop or read a book and start the process of settling down for the night. 

10:00PM –Campus-wide lights out… and hopefully I will be sleeping soon, as morning comes early for us!  We have a dorm right above the kitchen, so hear the cheerful meal workers early in the morning :)

Awesome beach (that I got burnt at :)

Not all of our days here in Kona will be easy or perfect. Some days my siblings will annoy me. Some days I will be especially tired and feel overwhelmed. Or sometimes your perfect day snorkeling at the beach may leave you with a painful sunburn (as some of us experienced yesterday!). Living in Kona is amazing so far, I feel so welcomed by so many people and can’t wait to see how God uses this time in Kona in my life and with the whole family!  (there’s a really cool Performing Arts/Dance DTS starting in April…) 

Blessings and Aloha!

Did I mention the coffee shop? Yep, yummy!

Anna 

Hike!  So awesome to have my friends,
Rachael Burns here for a few months!

Beauty in Hawaii

Aloha!  Here are two pictures I took today while at the "beach" (its more rocks then sand :)

Photo Credit: Anna Lienau

Photo Credit: Anna Lienau

A Tour of our new Kona Home!

Watch a tour of our campus housing my Mama Shari :)

Weekend in Kona!

Today is a very special day, it is my Dad's (Michael) birthday!  So we celebrated by going to the local farmers marker (which we got 9 papaya for only $2!! ) and then off to snorkel for a few hours and lay on the beach.  Today was mostly overcast, with a slight breeze and mid 80's.... Yeah, I think I'm going to love it here!!

I think the plan for tomorrow is to go to another beach! Monday we will hit it hard working with Kona Summer Surge (which they still need lots of volunteers!!!), we will mostly working with the Film Institute- more to come on that all later :)

Here is a snapshot of our day!
~ Anna

Lienaus Made it to KONA!!

Thank you all for praying for safe travels for the Lienau family!  We all made it (and so did our 36 checked in luggage!)  It was a fairly easy travel from Seattle to Kona and we were picked up by some wonderful YWAM staff members!  We were given a tour of the University of the Nations campus and then it was time for dinner.  Everyone on campus eats together in a cafeteria style, not bad food :)

After dinner, they have their Thursday night worship and teaching (like EGS for my IHOP friends :)  It was really awesome!  I feel so blessed to be able to be here!

Off to breakfast (PS, our room is directly above the commons/cafeteria!  So its a little noisy)

Below are some photos from travel day :)

We Made it!

and so did our luggage!

Our view!

Plaza of the Nations

Lienau Family Move to Kona!

Hello All!

A few people have asked us if we would be documenting our transition from Washington to Kona, Hawaii to work with Youth with A Mission- So, here is our family blog!  

We leave for Kona on July 12th! Only 4 days from today!

Below is more info about our transition/move from a newsletter that Mom (Shari) sent out!

Off to sleep-

Anna

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello friends & family-

It's official ...  As some of you have heard by now -  Just as the Lienau family was happily proceeding with a July move to Kansas City, we were abruptly re-routed in a new direction.

While recently celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in Kona, Hawaii, we had  some unplanned visits with YWAM/ University of Nations, and over the past 4 weeks, to our surprise, delight and sadness, we've heard the whisper of the Lord to become part of the work at UofN's Film Institute for the next season.

This redirection is not really surprising with our 30-year YWAM roots and our clear calling to be working in feature film (not to mention Michael's attraction to volcanoes), but we have really wrestled with letting go our plan to be a part of the IHOP community, The Daniel Academy and close to family and good friends in KC.  

At the point of most confusion about the change of direction, we were fasting and praying and received this word:
Resist the temptation to get into condemnation when things don't turn out as you expected they would.  Those things that you perceive as being mistakes serve to set the boundaries of your spiritual flow.  I would have you pay attention to those boundaries and rejoice in receiving course corrections.  I am with you to keep you on the narrow path to your destiny, says the Lord. 

Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction. (SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND/MARSHA BURNS)

Our family, friends and trusted intercessors have confirmed what the Lord has been showing us...  The uprooting piece was right, the timing was right, we just got the direction wrong...  Kona is our next destination!

YWAM currently has a surge of young people entering their media and film schools and Michael is very excited to be a part of training students and interns with Grassroots News, Global Virtual Studio and the work of Lokahi Studios, much like we sought to do with our Justice Film Intensive internship.  

Another big draw for us is the opportunity to be involved in the production of a world-class feature film, DAY OF WAR, and the other film projects that follow David Cunningham's mandate to bring the Bible into popular culture through trans-media applications.

We are uncertain how all this will come together, but hope to be in Hawaii early July and are currently praying for renters for our farm on Camano Island.  Details of how all will be covered financially is a matter of prayer and trusting Father, but we know He will provide every thing we need to obey Him in this assignment.   We've been asked to make a two year commitment -

If you are interested in a summer “Vacation with a Mission" - They are looking for construction or IT work to help build out the 30,000 sq ft Global Virtual Studio, Summer Surge You get yourself there, work 4 days/wk and they provide room and board and Island activities for the family.  (min 2 -weeks)

So, while our hearts are partly in KC, our feet will go from Camano to another island, and we hope to be part of the exciting move of the Lord bridging the prayer movement with the missions movement, and our specific mission, Family and the Media/Entertainment mountain.

 Would love your prayer for:
- Purging and packing
- Rental of house/cabin
- Housing in Kona for family by Sept.
- School resources for younger Kiddos
- School provision for older Kiddos
- Wisdom for transition of business
- Continued peace and excitement for kids

Mostly Loving the Adventure:)

~ The Lienau Family