The Kuperus Family New Year's Eve Hiking Trip

On New Year's Day, when all the rest of you were partying, the Kuperuses took a walk. A long walk. But it was a good walk.

Here are some pictures I took along the trail.

If you click on one of the photos you can view it full size.

Enjoy.

John Kuperus December Update

Kuperus Family Update

This has been a year full of adventure and travel.  We began this year on an outreach in India with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) where we arrived in Bangalore and traveled to Dharwad, Chichadurga, and Belgaum to name a few.  I will remember the people who treated us very well, sharing the gospel, and the monkey man who climbed walls at the Fort in Chitradurga (Google ‘monkey man of Chitradurga’ and you can see him on Youtube).  

Following our Discipleship Training School we returned to Redlands, California where our van was parked.  We drove across the country with Uncle Marv (my brother-in-law Jack Datema’s uncle) and made a few visits.  One of our visits was to Blyth Christian Reformed Church, where we were able to share with the congregation about our experience in India.  This was wonderful for us and I wanted to honour a request by Henry Exel, who specifically requested, “You need to come back and share with us your experience.”  Unfortunately, Henry was not with us physically.  He was in a tragic car accident while we were in India and died. 

We continued to travel on to New Jersey and spent some time with family and friends.  We were in a place of waiting and not sure what was next.  I applied to a number of churches for pastor position, which did not materialize.  While we were in that place of waiting, the leaders for the Crossroads Discipleship Training School, Bob and Carolyn Hopkins, were looking for staff.  I said, “We are available.”  They said, “Come.”  The Kuperus family was back on an airplane to Hawaii.  Our children filled this time by catching up on their home schooling work.

The three months of lecture phase were over and our school went on outreach, while our family returned to New Jersey and Ontario to spend the summer.  

In August we returned to Hawaii which will be our home for at least two years.  

After living on campus for three quarters, we are now in the process of finding housing off campus.  It is very convenient to have housing on campus, although it is good to have a break from YWAM.  In addition, the University is short of housing and is encouraging us to find housing off campus.  For me this search began by asking God for a house on Oni Oni Street on the left hand side going up the hill.  This was attractive to me because it is within walking distance of the campus. The back of these houses connects with a 65 acre undeveloped field that belongs to YWAM.    I figured if we could get one of those houses, we could cut a path across the over grown field.  This was my jogging route and so I paid close attention to those houses.  I discovered in time that one house had a van and a truck parked out front but they never moved.  I began to ask some questions to the neighbours and discovered who owned it.  The owner had a diving business and went bankrupt.  After some research, we discovered the bankruptcy officer, who asked us to make an offer on the house.   We have made an offer for the 3 bedroom/1 bath, 1307 square foot house.  This will be tight for our family, although the neighbor told us that it has an additional room that is not on the town’s records.  (Presently we are living in a 2,000 square foot, 4 bedroom/2 bath flat.)  The house is in the Hillcrest neighborhood with a unique clientele.  Please join us in prayer that God would open up housing for us and that the funds would be available.  

Our Family Trip to Waipio Valley

On Friday, December 23, 2011, my family visited Waipio Valley where some people say Jurassic Park was filmed. 

So now we've seen the site of the Jurassic Park film, and yet we've never seen Jurassic Park ... go figure.

This picture shows Waipio Valley from the look-out point, which any ordinary tourist can visit by car.

Boxing Day

I hope you all had a great Christmas yesterday. I know I did.

Some Christmas day highlights: going to church and attempting to sing "Silent Night" in Hawaiian, unwrapping presents around our Christmas tree, acting out the person we were Secret Santa for, watching Kung Fu Panda 2 (without having seen Kung Fu Panda 1 first) at a friend's house until 9:30, and then afterward roof hopping all over the university campus with some other friends until 11 o'clock.

Then coming home late after being near people roasting chestnuts and having my mom ask me if I had been smoking.

 (She's still suspicious.)

Back to unwrapping of presents around the tree:  my presents were new pajamas and shorts (thanks Grandma), the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides (thanks Brianna), Da Jesus Book which is the New Testament in Hawaiian pidgin and is absolutely hilarious (thanks Grandma), and best of all: a camera (thanks Abba).

There really is no comparison between the two by the way.

Here is the very first picture I took with my camera: a nice little picture of the back of our apartment. I snapped the picture a few moments before a small party we held started.

The lighted window to the right of the porch is the window of my room. The darkened window on the left is the window of my parent's room. The two glass doors beneath the porch lead into our living room where there are two sinks, a dining table, a couch, a refrigerator crammed with food, and two computers -- one of which I'm typing on right now.

Now since all the burglars know the layout of our house and where the computers are, I might as well tell you the location of the spare key. (Under the welcome rug.) Just kidding.

Anyway, have a great Boxing Day!

December 17: First Day of Christmas Vacation!

The first day of Christmas vacation has finally arrived. The day I've been waiting for since the beginning of the school year.

And I am bored stiff.

JUST KIDDING! (Picture me sticking my tongue out at the computer screen imagining all those people who actually believed that.)

(Albert Einstein at his best.)

I am the very opposite of bored. I'm pumped. Excited. Stoked. Wired, exhilarated, intoxicated (wait, skip that one), adrenalized, enthusiastic, and thrilled. In fact, in the time it is taking me to write this post, only half of it is spent typing.

The other half I'm jumping all over the place, pumping my hands in the air in victory.

Why am I so excited about Christmas this year? To make up for last year I guess.

Last year's Christmas was simply depressing. 

I was in India during the first few weeks of my outreach. My team was a few white souls surrounded by a sea of brown Indian people whose native dialect was several thousand languages other than English.  I was jet lagged from flying halfway around the world.

I was tired.

And there was no snow.

To sum my miseries up:

I think we had rice for supper. 

For a teenager whose heart is found in his stomach, this was a deeply traumatizing experience. 

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, they say.

(Taken from freeiconsweb.com.)

Christmas is not about those brightly coloured, gaudy decorations.

Or about that pine tree wilting needles in the corner of your living room.

Or the frenzied shopping done the midnight before.

Or even in the giving and getting of the presents.

The Christmas tree we all wish was ours

(Taken from rubberstamping.about.com)

For a teenage male, Christmas is all about the food.

And the fun.

And, umm, maybe the family too.

A December Update: House-hunting

A quick update so you know where our family is:

First of all, we're all in Hawaii.

(Just making sure we're all on the same page here.)

Our family spent our first Christmas in Hawaii yesterday with the unhappy absence of snow. However, as a Canadian, I am proud to announce that, believe it or not, the temperature chilled down. About 2 degrees anyway.

Anyway, the second quarter my parents have staffed has finished, and the DTS students have left for outreach. (I wonder how their Christmas went? Poor souls.) The staff people still left on campus (that's us!) are getting a short Christmas break before the next quarter starts on January 2nd.

In a desperate effort to make room, staff people living on campus (us again) are being asked to find some place off campus. By the first of February, we have to leave. Somehow. Some way.

Why?

Because the campus is rapidly walking out of room to put all the people. (I'm sorry: clichés always drove me insane ... )

Nonetheless, having too little room is a much better problem than having too much room.

Although I've liked living on campus (I can walk to my classroom, and break in in the middle of the night if I've forgotten any textbooks) my family knew we would leave the campus sometime. So it's not a shock.

THIS is a shock.

(Taken from Shockinglighters.net)

Right now, my family is leaving the campus to go house hunting.

Wish us luck!

Testimonial by Sasibai

This is a testimonial by Sasibai Kimis from Malaysia.  She attended our Crossroads Discipleship Training in April.  I share this on our blog to help give insight into what other people experience as they go through Crossroads.  

Sasi says:

Where do I start.........? I could say my desire to do something more for the Lord started perhaps 4 years ago while I was working in London. But now when I look back, I think my journey with the Lord began from the day I was conceived and most likely even before, just like in Psalms 139:15-16.

During my childhood, my father had taken us as a family to India during our holidays, and those days had brought about a sense of how blessed I was and am; in the sense that even the basic things I had were a luxury to many others on this earth. So even while I travelled the world to study, explore new cultures, or work; issues of social justice and giving back were often on my mind. I just had a keen sense that God has blessed me with so much, a wonderful family, friends, great education and opportunities to experience living and working all over the world. Was I going to keep all this for myself? When I moved back to Malaysia from London at the end of 2008, I knew that the desire to really spend some ‘real’ time with God and focus my time on him was coming soon. For everything that I had wanted to learn in my life, I pursued the best I could - studying at Wharton & Cambridge, working in Wall Street in New York etc; and I thought, why is that when it comes to God, I haven’t decided to pursue the best I can with God?, spend time with Him, learn about Him? My knowledge of the Bible was paltry and while I felt that God was my best friend, I had often veered away from Him in my actions and the decisions I had made in my life. I had grown up as a Christian, I was a born-again Christian, but I felt that my relationship with God should and could be like the way it was in the Bible. In my teenage years I used to think, “Lord, how come You don’t speak to us the way You did in the Old Testament or why wasn’t I born during a time when miracles and healings were commonplace like in the New Testament?”

I decided then that no job, money or circumstance should take me away from spending some time with my Maker and learning more about Him. Not just during my quiet time, not just in cell group, not just in church. That I should spend undistracted time with the God who died for me. I wanted God to use me. Use me. Use all of my experiences, my pain, my joy, my intelligence, all of me, for His purpose. And I didn’t think I was going to discover that purpose if I continued my life in the same trajectory of where I was. I decided in June 2010 that I was going to quit my job at Khazanah Nasional - I spoke to my bosses and informed them of my decision to pursue some time with God. They asked me to stay on to finish a transaction I had started, which I did and left Khazanah end of March 2011. I arrived in Hawaii on April 4 th, 2011. During the first few weeks of my Crossroads Discipleship Training course, I thought I had made a mistake of coming to Hawaii. I thought, “What else am I going to learn about God that I don’t already know? I have heard God speaking to me and I have a good relationship with Him”. I had no idea what God had in store for me.

Now when I look back at the last few months, I wish I had done this sooner. This has been the best decision I have made in my life thus far. I understand that as a Christian, miracles should be commonplace, because that is the authority that Christ has given to every Christian, Mark 16:17 “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

I have seen spirits driven out of people in Jesus’ name, I experienced physical healing personally and I saw my course mates being instantly healed. I had no idea of the power and authority that Christ has given to us as Christians. We can pray for and heal the sick. Spirit-filled born again believers can drive out demons!

We spent 11 weeks learning about: God’s love, hearing God’s voice, reversing the misunderstandings we have about God, getting into the right Plumbline with God, spiritual warfare, what the Kingdom of God really means, developing faith in God, missionary work, building simple churches, challenging cultures with love and the Holy Spirit.

My faith has increased in ways I never imagined. I realised how little I actually knew about God. And even now, with all that I know, someone told me this story: a man stood on a beach wondering what was left to know about God, God asked him to pick up a grain of sand and said to him, “Even this single grain of sand is more than what you know about me”. I realised how much I had underestimated God in my life and in my thinking.

God has spoken to me in ways I never imagined possible. I now understand who the Holy Spirit is. I now rely on the Holy Spirit in my life. I understand that God has been speaking to me through dreams and visions. I understand what spiritual warfare is. The list could go on and on.

I am a transformed person. Never can I live and I hope I never will, live my life with only a paltry taste of God. I look at life now with so much expectancy. Expectancy of God’s Hands in my life and the life of others.

God has placed desires in our hearts and my desire is to honour Him in all that I do, especially with my desire to start a business one day soon.

This verse motivates me, Acts 17:28 “For IN HIM we Live and Move and have our BEING”.

Christmas Dodgeball Tournament!

Music pounds. People cheer. Balls whiz through the air.

In some universities football is a religion.

In the University of the Nations, dodgeball is.

(Note: that may be an exaggeration.)

While this campus does not glorify the air they breathe, or treasure the sweat that drips off from their foreheads, or blood that falls (as some universities and high schools are known to do - if you don't believe me read John Grisham's Bleachers) there are a few famous people out there on the court, some somebodies every dodgeball fan should know. 

Kenny Jackson. Fondly named "the voice of dodgeball" a YWAM dodgeball tournament wouldn't be the same without this guy commentating.

David Jackson. His son. Easy to recognize because of his afro, David's known for his trademark spinning throw. Although a few people have caught it, the best thing to do is to stay out of the ball's way, as I learned the hard way.

Dwayne Klahr. Not as easy to recognize as other people mentioned here, Dwayne is a behind-the-scenes person. He's the organizer of the dodgeball tournaments, and makes the lists of which team should play another. He also sets up the chairs and tables before the event, and even referees every now and then.

Josh Kuperus. Not yet well known, Josh has great potential (and an ego to match it) and is known for a fairly hard throw and good dodging skills. Last seen playing with a white shirt and golden halo 'round his head in a team simply known as "Da Old Guys".

Anyway, yesterday night the first Christmas dodgeball tournament was held. The Ohana court had a few decorations, and instead of the usual rock and roll music, Christmas music was blasted over the speakers instead. Imagine "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" being sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks, and you have an idea what our night was like.

It was a good night though. Excitement was up. Hype was high. Adrenaline was runnin'. People were cheering themselves hoarse.

And, all in all, my team did well. We won two games, and lost two games to the teams that made it into the finals. A good night. And that's not too shabby because the same team didn't win a single game in the last tournament we played in. I'm convinced it's the name that did it. 

Those "Old Guys" decided to show them whippersnappers how it's done.

Anneke and Caleb, Alisha's Birthday, Anneke Lost Her First Front Tooth

What if?

What if you woke up one morning and all you had were the things you thanked God for yesterday?

A: always

S: say 

A: a

P: prayer

11/11/11

Today is the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of the twenty-first century.

But it's the day before today I want to talk about. (eg. yesterday). Because on that day, ten years ago, a baby girl was born.

Her name: Alisha Kuperus.

Her brother: Me.

So in honor of her birthday I decided to name three things that are true about her. Just three.

(Any more and those internet creepers would want to find out our address.)

Here goes:

Number # 1. 

She's purrrty.

Number # 2. 

She's artistic. 

Pretty sure she'll turn into a female version of Michelangelo when she grows up. If not, that is, for fact number three ...

Number # 3. 

She wants to be a scientist when she grows up.

We threw a little party. Food, cupcakes, candy, chips, screaming girls ... the works.

We went bowling also. The grand old American way. With ten pins and a bowling ball (that weighs just less than a small cannonball) to knock down 'em down with. As I am used to the Canadian five pins and bowling ball that weighs less than an anvil I did not distinguish myself. As in, perhaps I should have played with the railings up.

(Nah, just kidding, I wasn't that bad -- but I wasn't that good either.)

After bowling, we threw a little water balloon fight. Guess who all the ten year-old girls wanted to throw water balloons at?

You guessed it.

I was lucky to get out of there alive.

Capturing Sea Cucumbers

My class went to the beach today for school. Only in Hawaii.


It was for Marine Biology and we were supposed to capture invertebrates from Phyla we studied (Phylum Cnidarian, Phylum Porifera, Phylum Arthropoda, Phylum Gastropoda, Phylum Ctenophore -- see what a great student I am? David Amels laughs hysterically in the background).


During the hour our class had I succeeded in capturing a wild beast, mastering a primal force of nature etc. etc. It looked like this:

Disgusting? I think so.


Don't worry: it is even more disgusting in real life. 


Believe it or not these ridiculous looking things are not poisonous. In fact, apparently it is possible to pick it up with your bare hands. 


So guess what the class instructor told me to do?


Yep, you guessed it.


I had to pick up it up and put it into a bucket.


And, believe it or not, I did it. 


I must have had a mental relapse at that moment.


There's also this odd thing where they squirt out this purple coloured substance for self-defense called  cuvierian tubules. (See how educational these blog posts really are?) It looks like silly string, sticks like glue, and managed to get mangled up in my net (while I was attempting to capture another marine organism). 


I'll let you imagine the rest.

The Story of Jeff Rauwerdink

Jeff Rauwerdink:

            Jeff & his wife Felecia with their daughter Jadyn came to Kona for the Crossroads Discipleship Training School (CDTS) in April, 2011.  After their outreach, they returned to the base to serve on staff at the University.  I watched Jeff go through the DTS and noticed him struggling and tolerating the class.  Then the other day, I saw him working the lunch line and Jeff was just glowing.  I wanted to hear his story and share it with others on the condition that Jeff would give me permission.  He granted me permission.    

            Jeff stands out because he has an artificial foot.  On June 30,2010, Jeff was riding his motorcycle and he was broadsided by another vehicle.  As a result of the accident, he lost his left leg. 

            After two weeks in the hospital and one week in rehabilitation, Jeff returned home.  One day in late July, while he was watching Harvest Show on TV, he was inspired by Jan Conway as she shared about her work in missions.  Jeff promptly ordered her book on Amazon.  When Felecia came home from work, they watched the show together as they had it streamed on their computer.  Felecia noticed the advertisement for the book and asked Jeff “Are you going to order the book?”  He said “I already ordered it.”  Once it arrived, Jeff read the book once and Felecia read it twice.  Jeff says “That was our call from God to do a Crossroads DTS in Kona, Hawaii.”

             Felecia wanted to go out on medical missions and was looking for a field assignment.  She has been trained as a registered nurse and wanted to use her gifts on the mission field.  Crossroads appeared to be the door through which the Rauwerdinks could take to enter into missions.    

            They ordered plane tickets in November to do their Crossroads in Hawaii in April.  Then Jeff discovered that he would need to have his right hip joint replaced.  At first it was put off because of a yeast infection.  He was finally able to have the operation four weeks before their departure to Kona, Hawaii.  This caused a little stress in the Rauwedink home as to whether Jeff would be able to navigate a campus that is built on the side of a volcano.  By the grace of God, the Rauwedink’s living unit, the cafeteria, classroom and large gatherings were all close together.  They did not have to buy a scooter for Jeff to get around on the campus. 

            During the DTS, Jeff was uncomfortable sitting and would move around the classroom during the lectures.  He also struggled with doing his journal.  The assignment was to read books of the Bible and write two or three sentence summarizing each chapter.  Jeff, being a perfectionist by his own acknowledgement, found writing a two or three sentence summary as being very difficult.  With a little coaching from his staff person, Jeff forced himself to do the assignment as was expected.  Jeff enjoyed the DTS, but he was not glowing. 

            They went on outreach to Cambodia and their daughter Jadyn really shone.  Jeff described their experience as being very positive.    

            The question I asked Jeff was “Why are you glowing now?”  He responded by saying, “I am enjoying and sensing all that God is doing here with students and staff as they get to know God better.  It is exhilarating to see the people here from God’s point of view and reflect on what is happening in the spirit of the people.  I enjoy that part of the environment with lives being changed.  I am awed by awesomeness of what is happening in lives of people.  It is exhilarating!”

            Jeff was transformed and the transformation continues to go forward and it is exciting!  Thank you Father, Son and Holy Spirit! 

SURFING

Today I went surfing.

My goodness, I wish someone had a video camera.

It wasn't that I didn't catch any waves, and just sat out there lookin' cool on a surfboard, it was because I caught waves that made it a pity no one brought the video camera along.

Picture the scene. Josh Kuperus on a surfboard. (Lookin' pretty spiffy I might add.)

A few waves come by, nothing worth catching, and he still manages to stay in that ultra-cool position of being on top of a surfboard. A few more waves pass. Repeat in the ultra-cool position department. A few more waves ... you get the picture. And then the wave comes. The wave.

"Party wave!" a surfer calls. (For those poor people out there who prefer sitting on a sofa instead of a surfboard, a party wave means a wave everyone can catch.)

Josh starts paddlin' like crazy. Arms a' flyin', muscles a' workin', water a' splashin', and the wave creeps and creeps up on him. And then it catches him! The surfboard starts going all by itself! All you can hear is Josh yelling, "YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!" like a maniac. He gets to his knees. He's still on the board! He gets to his feet. HE GETS TO HIS FEET! For a split second his head is actually above the wave! And then, with a tremendous flop backwards, the surfboard springs forward without a surfer on board, and Josh Kuperus is officially down.

The same thing happened about every fourth good wave; the "YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!", the split second standing, and the final flop.

I had a few close calls with running over people but no one got hurt. At least that's what they said.

And yes, I have a few gnarly cuts from the reef to prove I actually did go out there. (Yeah, you wish you had those battle scars.)

Winning a Car ~ John Kuperus

One of the ways God has blessed us is with the winning of a car at the Bradley Caldwell show.  Every year this company has two trade shows where they treat their dealers royally.  This show we are served great food for the 2 ½ days and the entertainment was Sarah Evans, a country and western singer.  In addition, dealers are offered great prices from about 200 vendors displaying their products.  Collectively sales of about $15 million took place over 2 ½ days. 

            To add to the attraction of the show, prizes are awarded at the end of the show.  This year’s awards were a 2011 Chevy Avalanche SUV, 2011 Chevrolet convertible Camaro and an iPad.  As dealers place orders at different vendors, they were given tickets for every $100 worth of orders.  Dealers would tear the ticket in half and one half is entered into a plexi-glass tub that spins and the other half the dealer keeps.  Both halves have identical numbers so at the end of the show, when the tub is loaded with tickets; one ticket is drawn to determine who the winner of the prize is. 

            Our store manager, Wende Clausen, placed all the orders.  I was busy buying booths where vendors were selling their products at the show at exceptional prices.  Wende had her eye on the truck because that would be more practical for our business.  I suggested we spread them out between the different prizes.  As they drew out the ticket for the car, I heard “Wende Clausen” over the loud speaker.  We had won the 2011 yellow with black stripes, convertible; Chevrolet Camaro.  It was like one of those surreal moments that are too good to be true.  Wende first words to me were “God has blessed us” and I wholeheartedly agreed. 

            Wende’s daughter Erika was holding the winning ticket.  Then we had to address who was going to drive the car home.  I had the Farmside delivery truck, Wende had her vehicle and Erika was free.  Wende decided she was going to drive it home and Erika was going to drive her vehicle.  Later Wende told me that she drove white knuckled all the way to Seaside Heights, which is about 1 ½ hours away.  The next day she was able to enjoy the vehicle driving it in the sunshine to work. 

            Even though we enjoy the sports car, we decided to sell it.  We hope it finds a good home.  Wende will be rewarded and we are planning on using the cash in the business for improvements.  

September Update

It's bad. I know.

Failing to post a blog post for about a month is decidedly an all-time low for me. I even stopped visiting the blog to look at the page views. (A constant source of pride for me.)

I apologize.

Anyway ... here's how things have been going in the last month or so:

We took a little trip to the mainland  and tied up some loose ends and business matters there (remember The Yard Sale?). We got to hang out with our friends and family (David Amels - that would be you) for a while , and my dad preached in a few churches. Then we hopped aboard our twelve-seater van (which we fondly call 'the bus') and drove across the US.

After days of inaction and far too much McDonalds, after waving bye-bye to a six-pack, and having some roadside accidents (which I had planned to blog about but never got to), we finally pulled into Redlands, California, which was our destination.

From there we boarded a plane.

And here we are now in Hawaii. School has started and I'm pretty busy with class and should probably not be blogging at this moment. (I'm in high school now.) My parents are busy preparing the campus for the new students coming in. My sisters are supposed to be busy doing homework.

And I am very happy that I can finally settle down into the wonderful bliss of a normal life.

As that goes.

At the moment, I'm staring in several directions at once. I am, of course, staring blankly at the computer screen and wondering what else to say. I am looking inside my brain at the idea of spending the next two years in Hawaii -- and am grinning from ear to ear. I am, of course, definitely not looking in the direction of my geography homework.

Oh, and best of all -- OUR HOUSE IS NOT INFESTED BY TERMITES!! Man, am I pumped.

What low standards, you think.

I know. I know.

We are staying in one of the newer apartments on campus, which is furnished with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a nice big living space with a refrigerator, dinner table, sink -- and a lack of termites.

Finally, I have a room with a proper lock on the door, and I only have to share it with my brother.

It's beautiful.

The Road Trip By John Kuperus

Miracles:

Financial provisions: 

We did our Crossroads Discipleship Training School with the Outreach to India from September 2010 until February 2011.  The cost of this training for our family was $50,000.  This was a big number and I wrestled with God on how to move forward in this mission.  One morning I sensed God speaking to me and he said “Has my arm grown weak?”  I responded by saying “If your arm is not weak, I am willing to test your arm.” 

We moved forward and ventured off to Hawaii.  As we went through the training, we were so blessed.  Financially we were able to miraculously pay for the training by those who sponsored us and some of our own funds.  Then we needed to come up with another $25,000 for the outreach to India.  This is when we would be implementing what was taught.  The cost of outreach was $25,000 and we had to borrow $21,000. 

The outreach was very interesting in India. 

The challenge we faced is how do we repay this loan?  At first I thought I would have to add this to a mortgage we had, but God had other plans.  We returned to Ontario to visit, to share with our friends and to have a moving sale of our household goods.  We were so blessed in Canada with the Wiersmas providing their house as a place to stay, the Blyth CRC offering us a lot to have the moving sale and many offers of food. 

By God’s grace the money we received from supporters, tax return and money we received from the moving sale, we were able to pay back the $21,000 that we borrowed.   God’s arm is indeed strong. 

Miracle #2

We made a commitment to serve in missions with YWAM at the University of the Nations in Kone, Hawaii.  Hawaii is a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and we wanted to have our vehicle with us.  We were in Hawaii for six months without a vehicle and being we had made a long term commitment, we wanted to have a means of transportation on the island.    

We decided to ship our van to Hawaii.  We could have it picked up and delivered to a port, but I had decided we would deliver it to a port ourselves.  So we ventured on a cross country trip again. 

Helen returned to Hawaii to be part of the preparation for the schooling for our children.  They are enrolled in the International Christian School, which is a collective home school. 

I asked Uncle Marv if he would be willing to travel with us across the USA again.  Uncle Marv is my brother-in-law Jack Datema’s uncle and we met him when we came back from California in February.  Uncle Marv said “Yes.” 

We were traveling along and making good time.  Suddenly in the state of Utah, the van began to sway like it was out of control.  Uncle Marv pulled over and Brianna was the first to spot that we had a flat tire on the driver’s rear side.  Joshua and I proceeded to change the flat tire. 

We were able to jack up the van and get the tire off, but then we were unable to get the spare tire lose from underneath.  I thought we needed to turn the part in the center of the tire and it would come down.  I was hitting it with the wrench and it was moving slowly.  My arm got tired, so I decided to take a break and climbed out from underneath the van.  Just as I was out, the van began to move and fell off the jack.  I observed the place where I was laying and was in awe.  That would have crushed me and I would have been sent to the hospital with broken ribs or sent home in a coffin.  I came around to the front door and Uncle Marv said “Thank you Lord,” as he noticed I was unhurt. 

We were able to jack up the van again but still we were not able to get the tire out.  I called Tire King in Sussex, NJ to get advice on how to get the tire off.  We were still unsuccessful.  Finally I called 911 and ½ hour later a man with roadside service stopped by.  He too was unable to get the spare tire off, so he repaired the broken tire. 

Thank you Lord for sparing my life.  

The Link to the Videos For My Sisters ~ Movie Stars?

Remember that classic post My Sisters ~ Movie Stars? Click here to view the proof.

American Support Information

Address:

Kuperus Family

 75-5851 Kuakini Highway #289

 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

 96740-2199

Dear USA Supporter

Thank you for joining us in missions.  We have committed to serving the Lord for two years at the University of the Nations with Youth With A Mission in Kona, Hawaii.  We will be working with the Crossroads Discipleship Training School as staff.  Our work includes teaching, mentoring and walking alongside of students as they go through the school. 

We appreciate your prayer and financial support.  

We are now in a position to give our financial supporters receipts for their donations. 

Below I would like to outline the process for our American supporters.

·         Make checks out to UNKF, which is represents University of the Nations-Kona Foundation.

·         Do not put our name on the check, but attach a sticky note with our name and number.  Our number is 5662. 

·         Mail checks to:

            UNKF

            75-5851 Kuakini Highway #256

            Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

            96740-2199

If you have any questions about this process, please contact our Donor Processor, Julie Lucas at 808. 326. 4428 or donorprocessing@uofnkona.edu

We have automatic monthly withdrawal available and would love to have your consistent monthly support. 

Please follow our blog to keep updated and pray for us:

http://kuperusfamilyblog.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much for your support!

John for the Kuperus family

Canadian Supporters

Kuperus Family Support Information

Address:

Kuperus Family

 75-5851 Kuakini Highway #289

 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

 96740-2199

Dear Canadian Supporter

Thank you for joining us in missions.  We have committed to serving the Lord for two years at the University of the Nations with Youth With A Mission in Kona, Hawaii.  We will be working with the Crossroads Discipleship Training School as staff.  Our work includes teaching, mentoring and walking alongside of students as they go through the school. 

We appreciate your prayer and financial support.  

We are now in a position to give our financial supporters receipts for their donations. 

Below I would like to outline the process for our Canadian supporters.

·         Make cheques out to YWAM (which stands for Youth With A Mission).

·         Do not put our name on the cheque, but attach a sticky note with our name and number.  Our number is KJ14.

·         Mail cheques to:

YWAM

Project Funding Office

PO Box 57100

Vancouver  BC

V5K 1Z0

If you have any questions, contact 604.436.4433 or email donorservices@shaw.ca

We have automatic monthly withdrawal available and would love to have your consistent monthly support.  For automatic withdrawal, go to the web site    http://ywamcanada.org/donations.html

Please follow our blog to keep updated and pray for us:

http://kuperusfamilyblog.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much for your support!

John for the Kuperus family

The Moving Sale

It's like walking into a scene from a tornado movie.

Boxes are scattered crazily about, a few toys are piled here and there, a wardrobe happens to be standing upright, and you can even see the skeleton of a bunk bed.

It's called ... a yard sale.

More specifically, a (gigantic) moving sale.

A little background info: before we (the Kuperuses) moved to Hawaii, we put all our possessions in a tractor trailer in the hopes of never seeing it again. The day of opening that beast of a box was a day I looked forward to as I would  a horror movie. You would too: organizing, sorting, and getting rid of a mass of items gathered by nine (very active) people (during eight years) would be a nightmare for anyone.

Back to my point: we had a moving sale. In the hopes of getting rid of stuff and making a slight return in the meantime we put about half of that "mass of items" on tables near the Blyth Christian Reformed Church. (Y'know, the one my dad pastored for eight years?) And so my dear collection of Hardy Boy books was laid out in boxes for the eyes of the public to see.

If you want to check out our yard sale we'll be at the same spot tomorrow.

See you then.

Caleb putting Uncle Tom's glasses on BACKWARD?

At Auntie Anne's house.

Our family with Riley and Cole after hiking UPHILL for 1 1/2 hour and climbing 291 steps. We were so ready to go swimming!

Hospitality

Imagine that. Unloading. Two tons of wood pellets. By. Nine guests. (Twelve people.) All before supper.

That, my friends, is American hospitality: having your nine guests unload two tons of wood pellets before supper.

That, my friends, is the kind of hospitality you get at the Dickinson household.

Yeah, right.

The pellets were unloaded in a flash. In a jiffy. In a twinkling.

I can say all this about Uncle Tom and Aunt Dorothy's hospitality because I have absolutely no complaints it. Zip. Zero. Nada.

The food was excellent. The hospitality fantastic. The Harry Potter book collection complete. Uncle Tom's beard ... reminded me of Santa Claus.

So, what looked like a post making fun of hospitality is really about to thank it. Because really, it is a courageous breed that would allow nine people in their house and you definitely do deserve some thanks.

 Here we go: THANK YOU Uncle Tom and Aunt Dorothy for letting us stay at your house last night. Loved the food.

THANK YOU Beppe for allowing us to invade your home for a few nights. We really didn't break anything.

THANK YOU Millers for letting us stay at your guest house. Your salt water pool is awesome.

THANK YOU Sparlings for being able to stay at your house and play Mario Kart all day long.

THANKS also to Wiersmas, Amelses, Datemas, Vengas, Disches, Belgraves, and all those people whose names I don't remember and who probably don't read my blog anyway.

THANK YOU anyway.