Winter Wonderland

This year will truly be a white Christmas I think.  The powder seems to have inundated everywhere, and everything I own.  An unfortunate side effect of playing in the snow too much.    I have been enjoying the opportunity to climb and snowshoe a little.  the youth group is done meeting for the Christmas season, but continue to pray that God would be growing relationships during this time.  Pray for me as I am having a hard time being motivated to get done what needs to be done each day, and as I’m sure is the case for each of you, the holidays can be a very busy time.

Back in the groove

Well, it took me a week to get things sorted out when i returned but now things are moving again.  This past week I got a lot of rest.  Life has been busy with ministry, family, wedding plans, and relationships.  God has done some great things in my heart these past weeks regarding patience and humility.   Christmas is coming way faster than i thought and i have not taken nearly as many pictures as i want to.

I am getting LASIK on thursday this week.  PRay that i am back at it quickly, and nothing goes wrong with the surgery.  I’m blessed to have a portion of this surgery paid for,  and be able to not worry about contacts anymore (with camping and photography, they have become quite bothersome.)

Back Home

The last bit of my time in Okinawa was nothing short of phenomenal.  The Jr High retreat was a great getaway and awesome opportunity to connect with the students.  I was sad to leave them, (and Andrea )

I flew back to the states last thursday and hit the ground running, but had the next few days to rest.   Along with working i am hoping ot get back to the mountains as often as i can in the next few months.

Engagement!

That’s right!  Who’d have thought, but I’m getting married.  She’s real no less, and a beautiful woman of God.  The time here in Okinawa has been great so far.  It’s been so good to be with Andrea, and preparing to do ministry here, now together!  Monday night I proposed, and she said yes of course.  It took a little coaxing, maybe even begging, but in the end, it was a yes!  I’m so lucky to have her in my life, and am better for it.

Here is the story of the engagement from Andrea’s perspective….

Alright…here is the longer version of David and my engagement.

On Monday after a pretty busy day, David and I decided to drive north about a half an hour to go watch the sunset on the beach. Honestly, I was pretty stressed out about some stuff, so I wasn’t the most pleasant person to be with. We had gone to that beach a couple days before to go snorkeling with some friends.

We arrived about 30 minutes before the sun was about to set, so we walked around a bit and explored. The beach is surrounded by “jungle” and right off the beach is a bunch of lava rocks sticking outside the water. David kept telling me to walk through the water with him and explore the rocks. A couple times, I thought, why is he being so bossy. =)

After walking around a bit he asked me to dance with him in the water. After dancing for a bit, he told me he had a question for me. He told me later, that when he said that my entire body tensed up. =) Right as he was about to ask me a question, he blurted out that he had dropped something in the water. So for about 3 minutes he had me leaning over looking for something in the water. I kept saying, no you didn’t and finally asked him if he dropped my car keys. He said, no it was something smaller. I kept thinking about my dad who lost his first wedding band in the ocean. When I looked up after not seeing anything in the water, he was down on one knee and askew me to marry him. I hugged and kissed him and then realized, I hadn’t given him an answer. I said, yes of course. =)

After talking for a few minutes he asked if I wanted to see our photographer. Chris Cohoon, my co-worker had been taking pictures the entire time. That’s why David kept telling me to go here and there because he didn’t want me to see Chris.
What an amazing woman of the Lord.  I am so blessed to have her in my life.  I’m definitely getting the good side of the deal.    Now begins all the crazy planning which will be fun with her here in Japan.  We definitely would love your ever increasing prayers in this area of our lives.

Much love to all of you,

Dave

Okinawa Visit

As you all know, I was set to go on a trip to Okinawa to see the Island and talk about the possibilities of future ministry here.  Well here I am!  I flew into Okinawa on Tuesday.  I had become quite sick before I left on my flight.  The trip here was pretty hard on me and it has taken the last 3 days to recover and get over being sick.  Please pray for health through the rest of this trip.

 

As I spent the first few days recovering, I have not done much yet.  I have met the local youth workers and spent time with Andrea.  It has been so good to see her and experience the ministry here with her.  Buddy and Jen Rathmell and Chris Cohoon are the other youth workers on the Island.  We had the chance to spend the night together at an army retreat center and get to know each other better and talk about life and ministry on the island.  They have all been here since August and God is using them in powerful ways in the lives of students already, Please be praying for their continued ministry here.

 

On Thursday I took a tour of the marine bases with Chaplain Wood.  He  has been a chaplain here for 5 years and has a heart and vision for dynamic ministry here on the Island.  Chaplain Wood is doing much of the work to see me come to the Island to do ministry.   He showed me each of the housing areas and chapels of 6 different bases.  There are so many dependants on these bases and a need for ministry on each one.  It is an exciting and ripe harvest field here.  However, the downside is that I am finding that each chaplain has their own interest in me to work on their base.  The opportunity for ministry is huge.  The downside is that it will be hard to come to an agreement that I will do ministry primarily on Foster, even though it is the largest, and central base.  Pray for wisdom as we navigate this maze of interests and opportunities to provide effective youth ministry to the marine dependents.

A bit of traveling

Sorry I haven’t updated recently.  I have been to Chicago twice, and have had the opportunity to visit the wonderful community of LaVeta in southern Colorado.  I haven’t had much internet for a few weeks, which has been good and bad as you can imagine.

I spent the better part of the last 2 weeks in Chicago.  The first week was for a recruiting trip in Chicago.  The second week I got to see the wonderful Andrea, which was amazing because it had been almost 2 months since I had last seen her.  Sadly, we were there for her Grandmothers funeral.  Continue to pray for the encouragement and healing of the Kohl and Landreth Families after this loss.

I spent this weekend  in LaVeta, Colorado.  What a blessing to see a young Christian camp out there and worship with the community there.  They are truly a blessing and encouragement.  I loved hiking around in the mountains.  Worshipping around the bonfire, and sharing my heart, and God’s leading with the body of believers there.  I am very refreshed and encouraged after that time.

Mountains and Good Friends

I’ve spent this last week doing ministry and climbing with Todd.  It’s a been a great time, with the kids, and on top of mountains.  The altitude was a bit much for him at first, but that subsided, and we finished with some beautiful views, fall colors, and trout fishing.  We’ve had a chance to talk about the important things of life, like a sense of purpose.  Why do I do the things I do?  Am I glorifying God with my talents?  How can I determine God’s voice amidst all the others?  Great conversations about the glory of God, and passion to serve Him no matter what circumstance we are in, whether an artist in Chicago, a transient, a businessman, a youth pastor……whatever!

I’m getting ready for my trip to Chicago this next weekend.

Here’s some pictures from the trip.  Hope you enjoy them!

Okinawa!

Some exciting news has come up in the last week.  I am officially slotted to go to Okinawa!  This is a huge answer to prayer for direction and solidifies some other things as well.  Thanks for your prayers.   Begin praying for the youth on Foster Marine Base, that God would be preparing their hearts (and mine).  Other than that, I just shot a video that explains about the mission of Malachi Youth Ministry, and my heart.  Just a few minutes long, but it should be pretty good.

My friend Todd is in town from Chicago, and I’m glad he’s here, we’re going to get some good mountaineering in this next week.  I can’t wait.  Pray for safety and a lot of fun and good pictures.

For Starters

Welcome to what I pray will be a more than weekly update of events and work of God in my life.

This past week has been an exceptionally busy one and i am feeling tired. A lot of things have happened. As most of you know, while I raise support to work with Malachi Ministries in Japan, I am working with Crosspointe church in Firestone, CO. I am the worship and youth director, and am having a blast getting to know so many new friends here. God is taking us through some new times with the youth, and a lot of growing with the worship team. Pray that God would work in our hearts and minds, and give us a glimpse of Himself each week to share with the congregation as we celebrate His holiness and mighty works.

Here’s the picture of the week.

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