Exodus

annnnd the story begins... and what a story it is.

so it all began saturday night when we were told that bright and early at 5am on sunday morning we would be leaving on an "exodus".. we were only allowed to bring the following things. (this includes what we were already wearing).

1 tshirt.

1 sweatshirt.

2 pairs of underwear.

1 pair of shorts/pants.

1 sleeping bag.

backpack.

bible.

notebook.

camera.



and thats it. wait. no toothbrush, no showers, no pillow? yah thats right.

so sunday morning comes and we get ready to go on this exodus. oh and did i tell you we didnt even know where we were going or for how long it would be?

so we get into groups of 5 and begin the morning by doing a camera scavenger hunt around Paia and Kahului. yeah that was fun at least. after the scavenger hunt we had to hitch into kahului and then into Iao Valley (which was beautiful). when we finally got a ride in the back of a pickup truck the rain started pouring and we got soaked, (it was fun though).

so then we all get into the vans once all the teams met up in Iao Valley and we get driven into the middle of nowhere. we were gonna be camping out about 100 yards away from the beautiful ocean (still we dont know how long). were sleeping on the ground under the stars with just a sleeping bag. we ate ramen noodles for lunch and dinner everynight, and for breakfast we had plain dry oats. oh and did i mention that we had to use the same styrofoam bowl and chopsticks for each meal? (yes now i know how to use chopsticks!)

oh annnd for the toilets we dug a hole in the ground and thats what we used for three days. No showers, no deoderant, no toothpaste,the same clothes we had for three days, nothing for three days! it was disgusting, dirty and uncomfortable.

yeah. so on tuesday we were stil there and they told us to pack up so we could go to our next destination. I was like "wow" my birthday just isnt going very well today. im stuck in the middle of nowhere, i dont know when im going home, i just wanna talk to my family, take a shower, eat some normal food, and just get outta here cuz its alreay been so long.

Well we thought that we were going somewhere else to camp out. it turns out that we were taken to this church where we were met with all of the YWAM staff where they were cheering for us. We were like "what"???

it turns out they had prepared this amazing candlelit feast for all of us. we couldnt believe it.

we were being all ecstatic and jumping up and down because it was finally the end of exodus! Ive never seen anyone filled with so much joy as I did that night.

so as we are eating, the staff begins to tell us how they are here to serve us and how Jesus washed the disciples feet, now they were all going to wash our feet.

so after dinner all of the DTS staff served us by washing our feet. it was a very amazing and humbling experience. then we had an amazing time of worship.

Already God is begining to open my eyes and give me a little bit of understanding of His love for me. I am so excited about what God has already done and what he will do in the next six months!