Bethel visitor and movie set all in one weekend

Whew, what a busy week! Where do I begin? Well David and I had our first Bethel visitor *drum roll please* Joel Runyon come visit us Thursday night through Saturday night. And what fun we had! After work David and Joel went diving, and as the story goes they shot a puffer fish...why shoot a puffer fish you environmentalists ask? I don't know, you'll have to ask my husband. Friday after work I brought home pizza, and we just sat around and talked. I was about ready to talk them into going to go see a movie, when they came up with this brilliant and strange idea of camping and seeing the stars at the top of Mauna Kea. Well, I'll let you guess what we did between movie and camping/stars? Yep, you guessed it, camping and stars. We actually had a really great time. We got as close to Mauna Kea as we could and watched the stars for about 45 min in sub zero degree temperatures...ok...not that bad but super cold! Looking at the vast universe with the millions of stars led to some incredible conversation. God is so BIG and we are so small was our ultimate conclusion. It really was an incredible time. We then made our way down to Kona side where we parked and the three of us decided to camp in the back of our Ford explorer. It made for an interesting and cramped night. Saturday we went to the beach and snorkeled and threw the frisbee, watched the dophins, went grocery shopping at Cosco and spent way too much money, played tourist with Joel as our tour guide, and had a fabulous dinner (says the cook).
Sunday was a very busy day for us. We had youth group, our college/jr/sr small group and David went Noni picking and I went to Oahu. David and I felt that we haven't spent enough time away from each other that another weekend apart would be fantastic (please note the sarcasm). David and the students raised a lot of money in just one day for the Colorado trip...hurray! I went to Oahu to meet my dad since he was invited by Sony to be on set of a new film being made called Soul Surfer, a story about Bethany Hamilton's life. For those of you who don't know, Bethany Hamilton when she was 13 lost her arm in a shark attack while surfing. 3 weeks after the losing her arm, she was back in the water...surfing. She now, at age 20, is ranked the 14th best female pro surfer in the world. Pretty cool stuff. I had the privilege of hanging out with the producers, promotion guys, media experts, and the entire Hamilton family including her youth pastor, Sarah Hill, who had tremendous influence in Bethany's life. Meeting Sarah was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. She was genuine and so passionate for the Lord, I could see how the Holy Spirit has used her life to influence others. We exchanged phone numbers and hope to do some youth ministry together in the next few years. Oh, I almost forgot, I joined all the media-guys for an all expense paid surf lesson by instructors and Bethany Hamilton. Needless to say I am in so much pain today. I didn't know I had some muscle in my arm, shoulder, back, and neck...ouch!
Well it's back to work for both David and I (although he worked Monday as I took surfing lessons). We would ask that you join us in prayer for next week especially. David has planned a 3-day SPRING BREAK event, and we want to see new students come, old students come, fun, safety, and most importantly that the Holy Spirit would come in and radically transform and convict all of us in supernatural ways.

We are also having a big drug problem with our neighbors next door. I'm beginning to think that we need to move, and move in the next month. So God has to open up affordable and practical doors for us to move in Hilo and prefferably a house that allows us to have a pet.

We have 4 Bethel students coming this weekend to recruit for Bethel. Speaking of Bethel, I have a proposal out there to the VP of Bethel, and I've been praying God really opens some doors in the next year with this proposal.

Patience and endurance with my job. Love my client, but there are some things that are getting weary. I need the strength of God each and every day.

If you can't seem to comment on our blog...please email us at kelsey.poole09@yahoo.com or david.poole09@gmail.com

We are always in some need of encouragement and prayer!

David and Kelsey