*Searching for True Love*

We had a Sr.Girls retreat weekend at the PIC- Pacific Islands Club. It was a resort Hotel, that was absolutely beautiful, not lacking with things to do. During our time, we did a devotional with the girls, and watched a series of videos by Joshua Harris- "Searching for True Love." They were on True Love, Purity, and Trust. It helped us to focus on God's desire for our lives, how to live a life of purity and making the purity of others a priority, and to continue seeking our first True Love- God. It also spoke on trusting God- by being patient and obedient, being content in every circumstance, and recognizing the truth that God is our hope and refuge. God wants to be part of every aspect of our lives, if we only let Him and learn to trust Him. It was a very powerful series that I feel was very beneficial and encouraging. We went out for a "Rotic" dinner at a nice restaraunt. It was Rotic, because we took the man out of romantic. We had a lot of fun, and ate really yummy pasta! Yep, we walked out of there stuffed! :) The Hotel had a waterpark- which is indescribable. In this waterpark there was Kayaking (you could go under a waterfall), Basketball courts, Volleyball courts, squash, archery, tennis, pool and ping-pong tables, waterslides, water jousting, hammocks, hula performances, windsurfing in this little pool-but it wasn't running when we were there, snorkeling, hot tubs, snack bars, etc. I mean they had everything. It was awesome, but at the same time almost teasing because you could only fit so much into one night/day! Sorry there are no pics of the waterpark, we had so much fun that no one out of our group remembered to take any pictures. Overall it was a great experience and something to remember. I loved it. Tagalog> "9 Maging tunay ang inyong pag-ibig. Kasuklaman ninyo ang masama, pakaibigin ang mabuti. 10 Mag-ibigan kayo na parang tunay na magkakapatid. Pahalagahan ninyo ang iba nang higit sa pagpapahalaga nila sa inyo. 11 Magpakasipag kayo at buong pusong maglingkod sa Panginoon. 12 Magalak kayo dahil sa inyong pag-asa. Magtiyaga kayo sa inyong kapighatian, at laging manalangin. 13 Tumulong kayo sa pangangailangan ng mga kapatid. Ibukas ninyong lagi ang inyong pinto sa mga taga-ibang lugar." (Romans 12:9-13)

English> Romans 12:9-13- "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality."

Have a great day, and be blessed!

Love Kalena

Trust...

*A person trusting God is making Him our source of hope and refuge.

~"This I declare, that He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I am trusting Him." -Psalm 91:2 (The Living Bible) ~

>>>Lord, may we all learn to trust you completely, and with everything we have! You are merciful, compassionate, loving and faithful!

~"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." -Psalm 61:5-8 ~

God Bless! Love Kalena

pIcTuReS...

For fun, some of the girls tried to get as many pencils as they could in his hair, without them falling out...haha anything to keep your mind off of going to sleep... This is a picture of some of the girls playing cards during free time...I royally sucked when I played! :) This is a pic of the beach we had the bonfire and games at... One of the relays we did was: one person at a time had to fill a cup of water, jump a skipping rope, then dump the cup of water into a jug, and the first one to fill the jug wins. The girls won :)
This is when we went on our hike and came to a spot where we were out of the jungle...less creepy.
This was another one of the Kangaroo court moments- he had to fill the cup- but he missed the cup quite a bit!~ This is our game of water balloon volleyball... This is Gary and I, our ripped towel, and sweat rags! Sleeping... :)"To see God's hand in everything makes life a great adventure."

Be Blessed, Love Kalena

Wake-A-Thon

The wake-a-thon turned out to be a lot of fun, and an excellent bonding experience! There were many laughs, giggles and yawns, which made it even more interesting...We had times of worship and devotionals, free time, some beach and water games, clean-up/service time, a movie... We played volleyball: staff vs. youth. It was a blast, and got to be fun and competitive. Then we upgraded, and played water volleyball with water balloons. Some of them had a hard time getting the water balloon to even leave the towel, where as some could launch it really high, no problem. Gary and I had a hilarious problem, that got the kids going even more. We were partners, and our towel that we were using was very old... We would try to launch it as high as we possibly could, and then rrriiiiiiiipppppppp! The part of the towel where Gary was holding, ripped right off of the towel. Then shortly after my side did the same thing. It was fun though, and we then had sweat rags to finish off our game! :) We later went down to the beach, had games, then hotdogs, marshmallows and a bonfire. My first one since I've been here- I was excited! We had the guitar and worshipped around the bonfire and watched the sunset. Beautiful! We also had a scavenger hunt planned at Kmart. We had the kids split up into teams and go around the store finding prices, etc. of certain objects. After that we had a Talatamona hike planned. We went on this hike at 4:00 in the morning- it was dark, and a few staff planned some scary things to scare the youth a bit. We had glow sticks that looked like eyes hiding in the jungle, and a white sheet attached to a string, so when you pulled it, they would catch a glimpse of something white in the distance moving... We hiked down to another beach where we had another devotional, and watched the sunrise. We went for breakfast, and some of them were so tired- Josh, one of the guys fell asleep spread out on one of the eating booths. From there on we slowly watched some of them give into their lack of sleep, and calling pew benches. :) One thing that I found the hardest was when we went to the Days Inn swimming pool at 2 in the afternoon. The sun was hot- not much shade, it was draining my energy... To end the wake-a-thon we had Kangaroo court. That is where the staff come together at the end, and discuss if there was any youth we had problems with, etc. There ended up only being a few, and then they would have to stand before a "jury"- made up of a few other youth, and they had to do something. One of the things was this guys had to put eggs in his sandals, and then step on them breaking the egg all over his feet and sandals. They were all good participants, and it was a nice closing to our 36 hour wake-a-thon! We had a turnout of 23 youth, and about 5-6 leaders. Thank you to everyone that supported us in this event. It was really appreciated! I have really been blessed throughout these times to hang out and get to know the youth better, and just be blessed by the people and my involvement here!
*Love Kalena*

Very cultural...

This past Saturday and Sunday, there was a Yap festival.
All the Yapese on Guam, along with a few others, came together to Celebrate "Yap days." They have many talents and traditions. As I walked around I saw women weaving with flowers, and weaving baskets, outfit pieces for the dances, and all kinds of things. They played games and had raft making contests, dancing, and food and music. This was very excting to watch and be part of this. After going to Yap in December, I have learned even more about their culture, and have come to really appreciate the Yapese and experiencing something like this, even more. Love Kalena
*Be Blessed!*