Location: Cambodia

Its difficult to summarize the extent to which I've begun to change in my thoughts, heart and spirit while being here at YWAM. The teaching I'm getting here is absolutely phenomenal and the passion and love that underlies this whole organization is hard to explain in words. The desire to know God and share His love with others builds the foundation of everything that takes place. I sense very strongly that this is the place I am supposed to be for this season of my life to learn and experience things that will shape my life and my future from here on out. Thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me so I could be here.

Also, it has been finalized that Cambodia will be my home for three months starting in the middle of December! One DTS staff member, 11 other students and I will be doing outreach there as well as taking a 10 day side trip into Vietnam. Though the details regarding our outreach plans are not yet concrete, the focus of our ministry will likely be geared toward ministering to children who are at risk - those who live are in poor communities or orphanages, are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, or are involved in human trafficking. Other groups from my DTS will be traveling to Thailand, Philippines, India and Rwanda. 

God has really been taking me on quite the journey during this initial month here at YWAM. In many ways my ideas about who God is and my relationship to Him have been lovingly deconstructed and reconstructed that I might come to a fuller, truer understanding of His greatness and His goodness. I'm encouraged to explore and discover who I am and what I am passionate about doing. It is a privilege to be given the freedom to pursue what I feel called to do and be the person I feel I am called to be in this world. 

The scene at one of the local churches in Kona. 

Mailing Address

The reality that I am actually living in Hawaii is finally settling in now after being here for almost a month. My gratitude for this place and the people here grows with every day - its a place to learn, a place to grow and a place to be challenged. 

I realized that many may be wondering where it is that I am living - you can Google Earth the following address if you so desire...or you can always just mail something, too!

Lisa Noguchi

Compassion DTS Fall 2008

75-5851 Kuakini Hwy Box #432

Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

Here's a picture of the type of friends I live with here in Kona. Geckos are one of the many different species commonly seen here. Others include the mongoose (similar to the squirrel population in Seattle) and the sea turtle. On some days we're even lucky enough to have encounters with an insect we all love to see...the cockroach. 

Jesus Likes You

Do you know what? Jesus likes me. Jesus likes you. He sure loves us a lot - but he likes us, too. It might be easier to hear and say, "Jesus loves you" or "God loves you" than come to grips with the reality that He just likes to be with us wherever and whenever. His love is amazing, wonderful, powerful and greater than anything we could ever imagine and He likes us and wants to just be with us in whatever we're doing everyday. I like that. 

This fact that Jesus likes me was something that stuck out during class sessions with our speaker, Dan Baumann, this week. Dan is an inspiring speaker who encourages us to just love God and love people. He's traveled all around the world, has been imprisoned in Iran and has had guns pointed at his head but, amazingly, still manages to make every story he tells about his adventures, no matter how intense, very meaningful and usually really funny. I don't know how he does it but he does - I'd say that's a gift. He's full of the love and grace of God and lives with a joy in his heart that comes from just being intimate with God. No matter what He's gone through, God has been faithful. Go God!

The love of God and passion for Him and for the lost is written all over this campus. Everyday I am encouraged to spend time with God to know more about who He is and His heart for people. I'm learning about hearing the voice of God and being obedient to Him. I'm discovering more and more and more how good God really is when we open ourselves up to Him. God absolutely loves to surprise us with good things. He loves, loves, loves to bless those who love Him. What a good God. 

YWAM provides volunteers for the Ironman Triathlon in Kona every year. The picture up top is of me with some girls from my DTS with our official Ironman security shirts. I think we look pretty good in orange...

Could you imagine swimming 2.4 miles, biking for 112 miles, and then running a full marathon at 26.2 miles? The oldest competitor was 79 years old.

Swimmers awaiting the cannon fire signaling the start of the race at sunrise on Saturday morning. 

Thank you for your prayers and for your support. I will be discovering my outreach location soon - I'm excited! I'll be sure to keep everyone updated!

Not Perfect!

I'm so glad to know that I don't have to be perfect. No human is supposed to be perfect, yet sometimes (even unconsciously) we set these crazy standards for ourselves to be everything we think we're supposed to be and do everything we think we're supposed to do. I've put this type of pressure on myself on many occasions.

It is so encouraging everyday to walk into my classroom, which is actually just an outdoor pavilion, and see this sign made by one of my DTS staff members. Even from the very first day of classes here I felt like the Lord was telling me to just let down my guard and be free to just be me and to live in His love. I'm not required to do everything right all of the time or to be perfect in everything I do. Mistakes and failure are part of life - and its okay! The key is to keep seeking after the Lord, spending time with Him, and resting in His love. 

Here's a picture of the building I'm living in for the next three months. I'm in a room with five other girls. It only has one bathroom but its also has a great view!

You Can Do It

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your path straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

I arrived here just a week ago and it seems like it has been much, much, much longer. The richness of God and his amazing love has just steeped my Compassion DTS group in such a wonderful atmosphere of the Spirit of the Lord. Each day is SO FULL - not of things to do and facts to memorize - but of encounters with God that have changed our lives. Every single day our classes lead us deeper and deeper into the reality of who God is and I am realizing that I still have so much to discover about His love and goodness. I am so glad to be here to just soak up the love of God and be solely focused on learning how to grow in my relationship with Him. What a blessing it is to be here.

For the past few days, our classes (which are actually more like amazing encounters with God) have been focused on His love. Today, we moved to the theme of hearing God. Do you know that hearing from the Lord doesn't have to be hard or weird or awkward? He just loves us so much that he is has tons of stuff to tell us, not to make us feel bad or point a finger of accusation, but to encourage and uplift us and the people around us. Do you know that even you can hear God? My whole Compassion DTS group experienced it, I can do it, and you can do it too!

We did an exercise with the whole group, which consists of almost 50 students and 11 staff. Everyone in the group randomly picked a piece of paper with the name of a student or staff member. But here's the catch: the name of the person was written at the top of the page, folded over and taped so you could not see the name of the person you chose. We then spent the next 15 minutes praying and writing on that paper what we felt God wanted to share with the mystery person written at the top of the page. We came back together as a class and unsealed the tape on our pieces of paper, revealing the name of the person who would receive the word from the Lord. It was so cool...all it takes is to believe and to be obedient when hearing God. And as for the piece of paper with my name on the top - it was right on.

The verse at the top of this blog posting was one of the things written on the piece of paper I received with my name written at the top. This verse is the one that God has given me throughout my walk with him since the first time I asked him to be my Savior at the age of eight in second grade. Out of all of the thousands upon thousands of verses in the whole entirety of the Bible, the person who was getting a word from the Lord for me (without even knowing it was for me because my name was covered on the paper) heard from God that this is exactly what I needed to read on that little slip of paper. It was a great and gentle reminder of how wonderful it is to know such a loving, kind, all-knowing God and how I cannot rely on my own limited understanding to forge my way in life. I'm still on the journey of knowing him more and trusting Him more...oh, it is good to walk life with Him.

Current reading: Is That Really You, God? by Loren Cunningham. Its good.