On September 30th, I spent the majority of the day on an airplane (it was a veeerrryyyy long day). At around 8 p.m. I arrived safely and feeling very worn out at the Kona airport with the two other girls that I flew out with from MSP. We were then shuttled to campus for registration and got settled into our rooms that night! I am living in a dorm building with a view of the ocean from our window, as you can see below :)
The day after we arrived was a Friday, and our class of 60 people spent most of the day in meetings and doing orientation related things. On Saturday, our whole class went to Hapuna beach for a bbq, it was BEAUTIFUL. It was so much fun spending the day getting to know my new Ohana (Hawaiian for family) from all over the world! We swam and layed out in the sun and played beach soccer and football, and I even got to go cliff jumping into the ocean!
On Monday we started lectures, our speaker for the week was Don Stephens. He spoke on God's glory and His grace and he taught about the Kingdom of God and worldviews. He was sooo engaging and easy to listen to and he brought so many truths to light that I definitely needed to hear. It was a very eye-opening and informative first week for sure!!
Our speaker for week two was Andy Byrd. He talked about hearing the voice of God and intimacy with Jesus. He was by far one of the most captivating speakers I have ever listened to. He would go up in front of the class without any notes, only his Bible, and he would just talk without pausing for two hours straight. He put so much passion into his speaking and it was obvious that he truly believed every word he said. It was a completely different style from the teaching we had during week one, but they were both so great in their own ways! When Don taught, he had very elaborate powerpoint presentations and I was able to take very organized notes to look back on after the lectures to process what I had learned, and that was super helpful. When Andy spoke, I hardly took any notes because I had to just sit and process everything as I heard it to make sure I didnt miss anything! Having new speakers every week is awesome, and the change makes it easier to focus as we're getting deeper into the DTS.
Our speakers for the past week (week 3) were brothers, Tre and Trent Sheppard. They spoke about walking with Jesus. This week was a corporate week, which means that we met in the Ohana court (the large gathering area for the school) instead of the pavillion (our regular classroom) because we were joined with the other DTS's currently going on at the U of N. Once again it was a really interesting week! I just love everything we've been learning and I feel like I'm growing so much stronger in my relationship with God during lectures. I'm so blessed to be here!!
In general, life here is absolutely FABULOUS :) It's hard not to soak in all of God's glory and remember how great He is when I walk out of my door in the morning to palm trees and gorgeous weather every day! The campus is beautiful and it's in a prime location, we are in walking distance of a few beaches and lots of restaurants and shops down by the shore. A favorite place of mine downtown is Tropical Frozen Yogurt, it's a self serve fro-yo shop with every topping imaginable, and all U of N students get a discount there. I have 6 roomates, and they're all amazing! We get along great and they're some of my closest friends. All of the people in my class are awesome too, it's so great being surrounded by so many spectacular people who are so focused on God.
Mile 88 beach is probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life!:
On Monday we started lectures, our speaker for the week was Don Stephens. He spoke on God's glory and His grace and he taught about the Kingdom of God and worldviews. He was sooo engaging and easy to listen to and he brought so many truths to light that I definitely needed to hear. It was a very eye-opening and informative first week for sure!!
Our speaker for week two was Andy Byrd. He talked about hearing the voice of God and intimacy with Jesus. He was by far one of the most captivating speakers I have ever listened to. He would go up in front of the class without any notes, only his Bible, and he would just talk without pausing for two hours straight. He put so much passion into his speaking and it was obvious that he truly believed every word he said. It was a completely different style from the teaching we had during week one, but they were both so great in their own ways! When Don taught, he had very elaborate powerpoint presentations and I was able to take very organized notes to look back on after the lectures to process what I had learned, and that was super helpful. When Andy spoke, I hardly took any notes because I had to just sit and process everything as I heard it to make sure I didnt miss anything! Having new speakers every week is awesome, and the change makes it easier to focus as we're getting deeper into the DTS.
Our speakers for the past week (week 3) were brothers, Tre and Trent Sheppard. They spoke about walking with Jesus. This week was a corporate week, which means that we met in the Ohana court (the large gathering area for the school) instead of the pavillion (our regular classroom) because we were joined with the other DTS's currently going on at the U of N. Once again it was a really interesting week! I just love everything we've been learning and I feel like I'm growing so much stronger in my relationship with God during lectures. I'm so blessed to be here!!
In general, life here is absolutely FABULOUS :) It's hard not to soak in all of God's glory and remember how great He is when I walk out of my door in the morning to palm trees and gorgeous weather every day! The campus is beautiful and it's in a prime location, we are in walking distance of a few beaches and lots of restaurants and shops down by the shore. A favorite place of mine downtown is Tropical Frozen Yogurt, it's a self serve fro-yo shop with every topping imaginable, and all U of N students get a discount there. I have 6 roomates, and they're all amazing! We get along great and they're some of my closest friends. All of the people in my class are awesome too, it's so great being surrounded by so many spectacular people who are so focused on God.
Hanging out during the dodgeball tournament: 
This is right in front of our dorm room, 3 of my lovely roomates and I before going downtown for fro-yo:
Walking around in downtown Kona with some friends after a morning at the beach:
Mile 88 beach is probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life!: Girls Night!
We don't get very much free time during the week, but we have weekends open for the most part. I spend a lot of time at the beach every weekend! Sundays have definitely been good days for relaxing and catching up on reading assignments and journals for class. The first book we were asked to read was Is That Really You God by Loren Cunningham, and it was all about the vision for Youth With A Mission and how it became what it is today. The book we're reading now is Crazy Love by Francis Chan, which I'm SUPER excited about because I've read it once before and loved it! I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to enhance their walk with Christ and realize the depth of His love for us.
During the second week we were here, our whole school was able to participate in the Ironman Triathalon as security volunteers. That was such a fun experience! We worked the 6 to midnight shift and got to see the end of the race. It was another great time of bonding with our group! Here's a picture of our whole class before heading downtown for the triathalon:
On Tuesday of this past week we found out our outreach locations!!!! I was chosen for the Mozambique and South Africa team, I am SO excited. My team is so great! We will leave for outreach sometime between December 14th and 18th and be gone until beginning of March. I still don't know details about what exactly we will be doing or where we will be staying, but I'll try to update as soon as I know!
My outreach team:
There's plenty more that I could go into but I'm done writing for now and I want to go out and enjoy my free day! So please be praying for me on this incredible journey I'm on and feel free to e-mail me anytime (bri.quiggle@gmail.com). GOD IS SO GOOD!
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24
During the second week we were here, our whole school was able to participate in the Ironman Triathalon as security volunteers. That was such a fun experience! We worked the 6 to midnight shift and got to see the end of the race. It was another great time of bonding with our group! Here's a picture of our whole class before heading downtown for the triathalon:
On Tuesday of this past week we found out our outreach locations!!!! I was chosen for the Mozambique and South Africa team, I am SO excited. My team is so great! We will leave for outreach sometime between December 14th and 18th and be gone until beginning of March. I still don't know details about what exactly we will be doing or where we will be staying, but I'll try to update as soon as I know!
My outreach team:
There's plenty more that I could go into but I'm done writing for now and I want to go out and enjoy my free day! So please be praying for me on this incredible journey I'm on and feel free to e-mail me anytime (bri.quiggle@gmail.com). GOD IS SO GOOD!
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24
