Aloha!

(Originally written October 8th)

Aloha from the Shelpers.

It has been an amazing journey getting to YWAM Kona. God has moved mountains and has parted the sea for us to be here and His blessing continues to pour into our family. It is my hope that for all of those who are supporting us either through prayer or finances that the Lord’s blessing flows to you as well. Truly He is source of all things, and in Him is an abundant life. May the Lord keep you and may you choose to abide in Him so that His blessings may dwell in you richly.

Our schedules here are full on. I (Greg) have decided to partake in the DTS as much as possible. Originally I was unsure of how I was going to spend my time, but the Lord has made it abundantly clear to attend as many of the lectures as I can. Caroline and I absolutely love it here, we are truly thriving. It's as if our family has become something entirely new; we are the Sheplers 2.0.

It's not just us though. Ellis is flourishing in ways we never imagined. From day one he has met his new best friend, Jed, who is also his age. They are two peas in a pod. In fact a few days ago we were walking by the playground when Jed saw Ellis and exclaimed "There's our other family!"- and it really is like that; our families have become one heart. Two doors down from us is another couple with two daughters. Ironically both of these families have the same last name, Spencer. So we roll with both Spencer families quite regularly.

Right outside our front door is a playground. It officially opens at 7:00am, and without fail Ellis is chomping at the bit to get some play time in before he starts school.

It's only been a few days but miracles are happening left and right. Just the other evening during one of our ministry nights, a young man who was caught in patterns of self harm, who had self-inflicted scars all over his arms received true deliverance from his lifestyle of death. The scars on his arms have completely vanished. His skin is totally new and there is no evidence of his cuts. Another young adult who has suffered from scoliosis most her life was completely healed and her spine is now in proper alignment. These are only a few of the miracles that have already happened on this DTS, and we expecting even more. Peoples lives are being radically changed and it's only week one.

In the interest of keeping this to a manageable reading length, I will end writing for now. It is a true joy and honor to be here. It is also our joy to share with you this journey that we are on. It is our hope that you will find encouragement in our writings. That you will find hope being restored to your souls, and that ultimately God will stir in your own heart a desire to fall deeper in love with Jesus. We will do our best to categorize our blog posts, so you can find what you're looking for. Some will be updates for our supporters back home, others will be musings that we have, or quick Bible Studies. Whatever brought you to our site, we pray that you will leave feeling encouraged.

Until next time, Aloha.

-- The Sheplers