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.)