What Christmas In Hawaii Looks Like (For Me)

(Taken from picturesofwinter.net)

There’s only one drawback to living in Hawaii.

Christmas never really feels like Christmas.

This is my second Christmas vacation spent in Hawaii, and no matter how longingly I stare at the sky every morning no fluffy white snowflakes ever fall.

The landscape has not been transformed by a brilliant blanket of white, the sky doesn’t bite at you with its fangs of gnawing, clawing cold, and wearing a coat and scarf is only going to make you faint of heatstroke.

Being mainlander at heart, and Canadian by upbringing, this sad lack of snow, and yes, cold, hurts me to my snow-loving heart.

I miss digging tunnels into the snowbanks, throwing snowballs at random people, sledding down snowhills, and yes, even shoveling my driveway.

Soccer’s eating up most of my time. I had four games already this week, and since they’re not home games, the entire day is devoured by soccer.

On one hand, I like the regularity the practices give my life. On the other, there are other things I would rather do during all this glorious free time.

Like heading towards the beach.

Speaking of soccer, I’m writing this at my iPod touch, on a bus traveling back from a soccer game against Pahoa. And my fingers are cramping left and right.

Dedication.

When I don’t have a soccer game, I have soccer practice. Starting nine o’clock in the morning.

Only days off are Christmas and Christmas Eve.

After practice, I tend to chill out (not literally of course) on the YWAM base for most of the day. I’ve been playing a lot of the make-it-take-it, no-range-no-change sport: basketball. Hanging out also with a couple other guys on the base (Micah Jackson, Isaac and Noah Han, Josh Kirbo, Ariel and Michael Lima, et cetera).

Watched Inception two nights ago and am hoping to watch the Hobbit sometime. I’m also busy reading the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.

Once I get home I’m usually as busy as an overcaffeinated lawyer in setting up this new custom site and making sure it looks as spiffy and professional as possible.

(Notice the snow falling at the top?)

Wednesday, I chilled out with my mentor, Johnny Gillespie, talking about putting Jesus into every moment in life. And praying crazy prayers. I played tennis on Friday after the short soccer practice, then went to a party on the campus,

So.

That’s pretty much what my vacation looks like and I’m liking it.

Cold and all.

And I hope you have just as happy a holiday season and a very merry Christmas!

(Assuming the world doesn’t end first obviously.)

John's Missionary Journey
My first encounter with missionaries was at Sussex Christian School.
The school sponsored a couple doing missionary work in Chile. The
missionaries would visit the school it seemed like once every two
years and share with us how God is working in the country of Chile.
They shared about how this exotic Spanish speaking country was in need
of hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Some where along the way it was planted in me that I wanted everyone
to know Jesus. I envisioned implementing this goal by going up and
down the street from our home, Route 23, knocking on doors and giving
away my little bible story books. It brought joy to my heart that
Jesus would enter those homes to bring life and destroy the work of
the devil.
As a teenager, I took a trip to Urbana, Illinois to attend a Student
Missions Conference hosted by InterVarsity/USA & Canada. This
conference meets every three years with the emphasis on world
evangelization at the University of Champagne. This huge event caught
my imagination that collectively we are working to share the Good News
of Jesus Christ around the world and students are being targeted to
carry this work forward.
The heavenly salt shaker continued to pour over me creating in me a
thirst to know God. This thirst was filled by reading the Bible and
books that opened up a deeper understanding of God. I was also
privileged to attend a Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids,
Michigan for one year giving me a richer understanding of God's Word.
My mission journey took me into the market place, where I started a
feed and pet store. The store gave me contact with people and
situations where I could communicate the love of Jesus and make him
known. My untaught way of evangelism was that others will know that
we are Christians by our love. My approached changed as I heard Jesus
say "For whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall
the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in
his Father's, and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:26). I was not ashamed
of Jesus and began speaking of my Savior and Lord.
In time, I observed my passion was to know where people were at
spiritually while selling them feed or pet supplies was secondary.
This resulted in my desire to be full time in ministry to make Jesus
known. As I followed my passion, it resulted in me returning to
school for more theological training. This training brought me to
Jerusalem, Israel, Pasadena, California and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
After my training, a door opened up for me to be a pastor in Blyth,
Ontario to be pastor of Blyth Christian Reformed Church.
Leading the congregation in Blyth was a privilege and honor. This
was our home and community. I was privileged to meditate on God's
Word during the week and share with the congregation what I heard from
God for us as a community. Then I sensed God releasing me from Blyth
CRC, while being unsure what our next step was.
We eased into a transition by doing a Crossroads Discipleship
Training School with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in 2010 with an
outreach to India. As we went through the school, we were trained to
expect people to be saved and people would be healed as we prayed for
them. On our outreach, we implemented what we were taught with the
greatest reward was our ministry to the temple prostitutes.
A wonderful testimony we share is God's provision. God clearly spoke
to me before I left Blyth that his arm had not grown weak even though
the cost of doing the school was about $60,000. We had to borrow
$21,000 to do the outreach, yet God promised provision. The
provisions came through when we returned to Blyth in the summer of
2011, and received tax money, donations and sale of some of our
household stuff, we had more than $21,000 to repay the entire debt.
God was faithful to his promise.
What I discovered is that God's revelation that his arm is strong
continues to be true. As we returned to YWAM to serve on staff, God
continues to provide. We have entered a new level of trusting him as
our cost have increased by renting a house, tuition cost and all the
other living cost. We are over our heads and this brings us to our
knees seeking God's help.
My inspiration is from the greatest missionary of all time, Jesus.
His mission was to bring heaven to earth, which resulted in healing of
the sick, raising of the dead and casting out of demons. He came to
seek and save the lost and destroy the work of the devil. Jesus meets
with his disciples in the last days of his life and said "I tell you
the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.
He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the
Father" (John 14:12).
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Kuperus family

Items for prayer:
-Thanks for Jesus meeting students in a powerful way bringing transformation.
-Thanks for God giving us a house in Kona for our home.
-That the fire of God deposited in the hearts of students may continue
to burn in the nations of the world where they are sent.
-For Helen and Alisha as they are on a trip to India.
-Continued direction in our lives and with the mission.

Testimonies

Testimonies 2012

The Kuperus family have been such a blessing to me during my time in
Kona! Everywhere I would go around campus, it seems like one of the
kids would see me, say "Hi," or offer a hug. The whole family is so
hospitable. Now that I'm leaving Kona, it's friends like John, Helen,
and the gang that I'll cherish the most from this experience! Travis
Peterson

John
I wanted to tell you that Kendra and I have really appreciated your
being part of Crossroads DTS leadership. You are a gentle and humble
man, full of compassion—so much of Jesus I see in you. You are always
there when prayer is needed and you pray with faith, believing God to
do what is needed. Your gentle voice and a hand on our shoulders as
you pray for us, we feel safe and loved. You speak words of
encouragement and truth, leaves us feeling welcome—we know you care
and that you are sincere. You have been a blessing this past 2.5
months, to both of us. And you still have time to take care of your
family's needs also. Thank you for the love and truth spoken. You
are an honorable man. We have been blessed by you. God bless, Gordon
& Kendra

What I Think About Goalkeeping

My name made it into the newspapers the other day.

Not like the headline news or anything, but nonetheless, my name, Joshua Kuperus, has found its way onto the printed page of West Hawaii Today. Twice actually. It’s also in the Sports Section for cross country. My one friend, Bronston Kosso, makes it in the papers like every three weeks, but we’re not talking about that.

So how, exactly, did my name attract enough attention to achieve newspaper-worthy status?

One word. Goalkeeping.

So far, I haven’t been scored on at all during game-time. Shutout. Sure, I’ve got a killer defense, and sure, I haven’t had a serious shot on me yet, and sure, maybe I’ve only played in the second half (unless it’s a team that’s truly horrendous), but this shall join Bronston Kosso in the list of untalked about subjects.

I started soccer reluctantly enough, and goalkeeping even more so.

Yet, enough pressure can change a coal into a diamond, and enough pressure was applied to me from the team captain and the coach and the school and my mom, that I decided (insert coughing fit here) to join soccer.

taken from: http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/apttone/apttone1010/apttone101000002/7924781-diamond-on-black-background.jpg

I still remember that fateful day I walked into the office and announced that I was going to join soccer, and that fateful moment when I signed my name beside slot number ten.

I still remember both the principle and the secretary thanking me profusely and assuring me that, I was now “the most popular guy in school”.

Since it was early in the morning, and there were like three kids at school, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true.

Anyway, what do I think about being goalie? Stressful. Very stressful.

At least at first.

When you’re a player on the field, you make dozens of small mistakes. But when you’re in net, every mistake is scarily public. And if you make that one tragic mistake, the mistake all goalies fear, the mistake all good goalies have nightmares about, there isn’t anyway to redeem yourself.

It didn’t help my paranoia to learn that in order for the black-and-white patched ball to be barreling down the field towards me, it had to have gone through ten other players. Not a mote.

My fears endured until one day, about two weeks into the season, the coach pulled me from the net and told me to relax. Chill out. Have fun being in net.

That changed my whole outlook.

I’ve learned to enjoy diving and not worry about hurting my sides (I think the black-and-blue splotches on my hips are permanent now. They’re kind of like weird tattoos).

I’ve learned to enjoy blocking hard shots, make some sweet saves, catch a toe-poke shot to the upper-left corner like it was a two-year old baby girl’s kick.

It’s helped me to think of myself as being a mother with a baby in my net, and all those players bolting down the field at me as trying to kill my baby. That, to me, mirrors the desperation I need to have to save the ball.

One quick word of advice to all the aspiring goalies out there: make sure that you invest in some decent goalie gloves. In the past, I used my friend’s old ones and they looked like this:

Right now I use Nike GK JR. Grip Size 7 (I have kind of small hands. Here’s a link to learn more about them:  Nike GK Junior Grip White/Yellow/Black Goalkeeping Gloves) They’re pretty cheap (for gloves) and are working out really well for me.

So, to sum up: what do I think about goalkeeping? Now that I’ve been training awhile, have the rudiments rudimentarily learned, gained more confidence in net, I’ve begun enjoying the position.

I like it. Quite a bit.

Everything except for the bruised hips.

P.S. Three of my cousins, my sister and my mom have all played goalie. Talk about genetics.

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa!

 It's 12/12/12 as of today, the last repeating digits for the next century or so, the world's probably going to end soon and the Mayans are going to laugh at us in their graves, and it also happens to be my Grandparents' 50th anniversary.

I sent a letter to them on a bit back, and I'm not sure if it made it to them. I wrote aforementioned letter in my most formal of formal prose, and looking back, I might have over did it just a bit. Still, I wrote it to honor them, and in that way I believe I succeeded.

Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa! We send you our love from here in Hawaii, and wish we could be opening Christmas presents with you! God bless you specially today!


 Joshua Kuperus
 (Content here removed by administrator.)

 http://kuperusfamilyblog.blogspot.com

To be read December 12, 2012

Dear Grandpa and Grandma,

With the one of every two marriages ending in divorce and divorce rates steadily climbing, staying together fifty years is an incredible accomplishment, a marvelous feat, an extraordinary achievement. (You have my heartfelt permission to congratulate yourselves enthusiastically and loudly.)

I am honored to have you as grandparents and I treasure the few times that we have been together, the too few memories we share. I remember and thank you for always having held out your arms to welcome us back to New Jersey. I remember Grandpa setting up that basketball hoop in my driveway in Canada just for me, when he was on vacation, no less, and that shows me once again just how much love the two of you share.

I scored a lot of three pointers, and won a lot of 'horse' games with that net.

You have blessed us so much. Grandma’s food in particular was fantastic. Grandpa’s jokes and stories always make me laugh, and cheer me up.

Fifty years together is a long, long time, yet I’m sure that today you’re looking back into the photo album of your life together and wondering where the time flew.

You have braved some ups and downs, some mountain peaks and valley lows in your roller coaster life, and yet you two stayed together through good times and bad, in health and in sickness, for richer or for poorer. You stayed together, bound by your marriage vows, strengthened by love and God’s grace, and for that I do love you, praise you, admire you.

In a world shattered by divorces, darkened with the increasing fragility of marriage vows, you two stand together like a beacon of light, an example that it can be done.

I pray now every night that your love for each other will ripen with age, just like good wine. I pray that God will bless you with even more years in each other’s arms, I pray that the last years of your marriage will be even better than the first.

I could go on much longer, but now that my space is drawing to a close, I am forced to conclude: If my marriage were to be nothing more than a half’s half as long and strong as yours, I would consider myself highly blessed. Your footprints guide the next generation, and without you, we wouldn’t be here. Thank you for leading us along a way that takes us deeper into the blessings and grace of God.

May the LORD bless you, and keep you, may the LORD turn His face towards you, and grant you His peace,
Your loving grandson,



Joshua Kuperus

December for Me

'Tis the season to be jolly ...

The season is now upon us, the time of jolly tipsy Christmas carolers, candy canes, prayers to St. Nicholas, church-going, stockings and fireplaces, hot chocolate, presents, gifts, cards, gift-giving, Charles Dickens, pine trees, and snow — well, for some of us anyway.

(Picture taken from Wikipedia.)

Where I live, snow is about as abundant as honest politicians.

I'm not going to talk much about Christmas, since holidays never meant much more to me than a few days off of school. (I went to a goalkeeping practice on Thanksgiving Day. That should tell you something.)

I'm also not going to apologize for my long hiatus (think Mt. Everest stacked on Mt. Kangchenjunga long), because by now you should realize, dear long-term reader, that oftentimes my posts are as few and far between as warm socks in wintertime.

 I mostly decided to write this little post in order to let you all know that I am not getting high of Dropjes still and because my good friend Mr. X (don't know if he wants his name on the internet) berated me, as only Mr. X could, on my FaceBook wall for my abusing the relationship between me and you.

(Thanks for the motivation, Mr. X! I appreciate the feedback [and comments on this blog, hint, hint] as much as I like Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat buffet after a cross country race.)

Beginning of the season. My thighs got tanner as the season progressed. And I got smarter. I started wearing my spandex UnderArmour.

Life has been going fantastically well. Even with thighs that glow in the dark.

Cross country season ended and soccer season began. I'm the goalkeeper for the team, and my goal for each practice is to get my shirt as dirty as possible. Diving into Old A's wonderful soccer field is as awesome as Halo 1's graphics. My washing machine loves the business also.

By the way, I made it to states in cross country, which was my goal, originally missing the slot by one place, and managed to make 100th place in all of Hawaii. Yay.

I got a letter in the mail letting me know that I was selected for a state team going to Australia, and wondering if I had the money to go. Well, after my stint at construction over the summer, yes, yes, I do have the money to go, but I would rather it in the bank than in a torn airplane ticket. 

Life is also as busy as a mouse in a wheel, but in all honesty, that's how I like life best. Life's a legal midget if you ask me, way too short to not be busy. If I'm not having a soccer game on the weekend, or doing a hill workout with James Whalen, or an hour long run with James Whalen or doing goalkeeper extra practice with the coach and James Whalen, then I'm at a sophomore beach party with my class, catching some waves.

Side note: As I'm writing this, salt water has begun dripping out of my nose onto the floor. Cheers.

Another side note: Fortunately for me, I seem to have figured out that I am a white kid with thighs as white as snow, and the purpose of sunscreen, so I'm only slightly burnt.  Definition of slightly burnt: I'm not going to have half my body peeling off like an orange tomorrow.

Last side note: Since I've looked like Harvey Dent after the majority of my beach trips, this was an improvement for me. Think Apple OS X over Microsoft MS-DOS type of improvement and you'll come close.

November was as crazy as I am, with the soccer season starting and writing a novel in a month for my English honours class. I was only supposed to do 40, 000 words, but my end result was only 400 off of 50, 000. Oh, the joys of over-outlining.

I'm busy reading Of Mice and Men, and The Old Man and the Sea for English class, and for the assignment due for both of them on Monday. Or would be, if I weren't at the family computer, chewing on my fingernail and wondering what I should write next.

Sundays are dedicated to going to church at Solid Rock (9 o'clock service, you should go too), and attempting to take a nice run home at a five minute mile pace.

Five minute miles are about as easy as unstudied-for exams in my opinion, (I'm not even sure if I've even done one) and if you're unfit: impossible to do without having a heart attack.

(By the way, Ryan Hall's Running With Joy is a good book if you know anyone who runs and can't think up a Christmas present.)

I've started training for the next cross country season, and my goal is to be able to run six miles at a five and a half minute pace beside the road and not be killed by some drunken local coming back from the beach in the meantime.

(Taken from http://www.kiheirentacar.com/jeeps_trucks.html)

I would appreciate you mentioning me in your prayers before bed each night.

Exams start next week Tuesday, and those are always fun. Three cheers for cramming!

Christmas holidays begin the week after exams, and I've always enjoyed going into the holidays with dark bags under my eyes.

Sum ego, consummavi.

Finis.

Meet the Family

Rubik's Cubing and Flagpoling

School's started (fun, fun) and I'm getting back into the routine of waking up at six after a long night of doing English homework, eating breakfast (oats and milk), performing the necessary morning ablutions (teeth brushing, showering, etc.), and heading off for school, lunch bag in hand, backpack on back, and heavy heart in chest.

But it's too early into the school year to be posting about all this dull stuff.

You see, what I really wanted to talk about is a few of the interests that I've picked up to add to my already sizable repertoire of cross country running, dodge ball, front flips, Ultimate Frisbee, reading, writing ... the list goes on and on.

Just to get this out of the way: NO! I don't pick up interests just because I have too much time on my hands.

(Don't lie. You were thinking that.)

I'm actually very busy getting A's in school, running cross country afterward, and doing my best to survive my Honours and AP homework.

But I digress.

(Just kidding about the AP classes by the way. I really do have a life.)

So, without further ado I am proud to announce my new interest:

RUBIK'S CUBING!

And yes. Really. Rubik's cubing. That same thing that took you five months to solve the first layer, the same thing you spent hours, days, weeks stressing over, the thing you eventually quit 'cause you didn't want to lose any more hair.

That thing.

Guess what? It only took me two and a half days to figure it out.

So maybe I did use YouTube to figure it out. And so maybe it takes me an average of three minutes to solve it. So what? It's still fun and I only got it a week ago.

So. That pretty much wraps up my life right now. School, homework, cross country ... and rubik's cubing.

Oh... and yes, in the beginning of the post I did say I've pick up "a couple new interests". You see, my other major interest right now is flag poling. The full-on flagpole too. Not the wimpy, half flagpole, cheat thing. The. Real. Full. Flagpole.

So far I can only hold it for 0.0009 seconds (the photo is faked). But I'm learning. I'm getting there. And sometime in the future I plan on beating the world record of 39 seconds, and get myself titled world's most jacked man in the meantime.

But that's still a long way down the road.

And --  man, I look so white in these pictures. Really need to start on a new interest.

The beach.

Cross Country Running

The end of summer is looming, and the days of freedom are counting down.

Seven. Days. Left.

For me, at least, that means the beginning of the cross country season -- which looks like it shall blossom into my new interest.

My first practice will be in about a half an hour, which both excites me and scares me. Excites me, because I like to run. I like being in shape, I like not being able to bury my finger within my belly button, I like stepping on a scale and not having springs pop out, or, worse, having a message that comes up "One person only please".

And scared, because I must confess to not having run long distance all summer long. (I work in construction for heaven's sake.) Sure, I did quite a bit of Ultimate Frisbee playing to stay in respectable shape, and while Ultimate Frisbee has a good deal of sprinting, and you have to run all game long (I usually play about an hour and a half) it's not quite the same as dedicating yourself to jogging down a track for a few hours.

Being a competitive guy, my lack of fitness bothers me since I like to be the best at what I do. And -- unless the other guys did the same thing as me this summer -- I'm going to have a tough time coming in even second to last place.

Oh, boy.

But that will change. My construction job, while fantastic at building my upper body strength, didn't do so much for me aerobically.

But it ended last Friday. And there's nothing holding me back from running all out now.

Wish me luck!

Fourth of July

Hope all you guys had an awesome Fourth of July!We sure did.

Some highlights include
- sleeping in (it's a big deal when I wake up at six every morning for work)

- going to the beach and getting majorly sun burnt
- going to a parade downtown Kona

- watching fireworks from behind a palm tree

Update

Kuperus update from Hawaii:

            We continue to enjoy living on an island with 201,000 other people where the weather is an average of 25 C (77 F).  Our island receives 1.5 million visitors each year to visit the world’s most active volcano and the green, black and white sand beaches.  We were visited by my cousin and his wife, who are from Marathon, New York.  They found our place by coming to the University, driving on campus until he found our van and located our residence by the Canadian and American flags in the window of Alisha’s bedroom. 

           

YWAM updates and some testimonies

            I, John, continue to staff Crossroads Discipleship Training School.  Our quarter is coming to an end and our teams will be going to Papua New Guinea and Cambodia.  I am always amazed at how lives are transformed as students come hungry for God and then go out to make his Name known to the nations.  My work on campus is mostly pastoral, where my responsibility is to equip, disciple, encourage and challenge our students to be missionaries to nations.   

           

            Following are three testimonies of men that I have mentored this quarter.  This is shared with their permission.

Roland is married with two small children from California.  When they arrived, their marriage was falling apart.  Their relationship had deteriorated to the point they were not even talking to each other and divorce papers had been made up.  They had reached out for help to counselors, psychologist and pastors, and their relationship was still a wreck.  They missed their Friday flight because his wife was having second thoughts about coming to YWAM, although they managed to arrive on Sunday.  He confessed sins, broke a vow and went to a couples’ seminar, which began their road to recovery.  By God’s grace, their marriage is restored.

            These are his words:  “Although I made the plane reservation, put all our possessions in storage, rented our house out, put my business on hold, paid the tuition, made sure had money in the bank, bought health insurance, and a list of many other things, what healed my marriage wasn’t me but God working through things and people.  Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing could have redeemed me, or my wife, and my marriage except for the love of God.  John, my small group leader, was one such vessel of God’s love.  He welcomed us with open arms literally because he was in charge of hospitality.  The love of God emanating from this man gave me confidence to stick through even when it was tough in the first few weeks on this blessed campus, when I wanted to leave.  Thank you, John.  Thank you, God.  All glory is his and we are just privileged to be a part of his plan.  This realization is the hope those in John’s life experience whether in ministry, in personal matters or business will know.”  

            Michael is 29 years old and comes from Atlanta, Georgia.  He had made some bad choices in life and was struggling with anger, negative thoughts and addictions.  He experienced major transformation by repenting and confessing sins, forgiving others, rebuking the enemy and acknowledging the lordship of Jesus in his life.  He also experienced a partial back healing. 

            He shares: “Dear John, I want to thank you for all the private sessions we had together.  You R mature in Christ.  I learned a lot from you.  I am glad I broke all those vows I made about not getting married.  I really told you a lot of my secrets that other people don’t know.  Also, thanks for the hospital ride and all the labor you provided for me and the group.  You are truly a dedicated disciple.  I am glad u were my small group leader.”

           

Jay and his wife are here with two of their children from the state of Washington.  He grew up on a farm and was a pastor of two churches.  He is at a crossroads in life and was looking to go deeper with Jesus. 

            He shares, “John, thank you for being a great leader.  Thanks for taking time to listen and to speak into my life.  I enjoyed most our Sunday night chats.  You helped me to think through difficult circumstances in my life and offered good advice.  Thanks also for the outings to coffee plantations, ocean beaches and Japanese garden.  I enjoyed getting off base if only briefly.  Keep pouring yourself into people’s lives.  You do make a difference.  God bless you and your family!  Love, Jay”

YWAM is about sending people to the nations.  Helen and I connected with a couple from Switzerland who are missionaries in Mali, West Africa.  They came here for a nine month sabbatical and now they have returned to Mali.  YWAM Mali is purchasing property from the Christian Reformed World Missions, where they intend on building a base. 

Family Celebrations:

            We celebrated Brianna’s 8^th grade graduation from the International Christian School (ICS) at the King’s Mansion.  She was recognized for her kindness, being responsible and intellectual.  We are so proud of her. 

           

Brianna, Nicole, Alisha and Karissa have come to the end of their softball season.  Our girls stood out from the darker skinned and black haired Hawaiians, so our girls were nicknamed, blondies.  Nicole made it on to the Gold Coast All-Star Little League team and she will be traveling with her team to the island of Oahu for state play offs.  Go Nicole!

Prayer concerns for the family

Joshua and Brianna will be attending Makua Lani Christian High School, which is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from the campus.  Nicole, Alisha and Karissa will be changing from the International Christian School (ICS) and joining Anneke at the Learning Center next school year.  We had a good experience at the collective home school, ICS, and being a part of that community, but Helen and I are taking a break from teaching responsibilities so that we can concentrate on our other responsibilities.  Caleb will continue to attend the University of the Nations Preschool.  Next years tuition cost will be about $20,000 and pray that the Lord will release funds for us to pay for the education. 

 

We continue to live on campus, where our housing cost is $1400/month and our food is free.  We are looking to move off campus and have our own home.  This will increase our living cost because to rent a house with four bedrooms, two bathrooms is roughly between $1800-2000 a month plus the other cost.  We would love to own a house and are looking at that option too. 

           

In August, I will be traveling back to visit Ontario and New Jersey where I am looking forward to making some visits and celebrating our company Farmside Supplirs 25^th anniversary and attending my nephew’s wedding. 

I am working on writing the Today Devotion for the month of May 2013.  I have 30 written and I enjoy writing them.  A lot of thought goes into writing one day, so I have a new appreciation for the other writers. 

           

            We are self-employed missionaries.  Our work is possible only through outside support.  We are amazed by God’s provisions and are thankful for your support.  We need to raise additional support, so would you consider supporting us on a monthly basis?  Let us know if you are interested.  Our contact information is pastorjohn@tcc.on.ca or helenkuperus@gmail.com or 808.339.0048.  All to God’s glory and the advancement of his kingdom.   

SUMMER

School's winding down and the magical day of June 8, 2012, (the day summer vacation starts) is drawing nearer every day.

In other words, I'm PUMPED.

Every day that passes is a day closer to summer vacation and freedom. Two more days, and I can walk out of my classroom a free man.

Two. More. Days.

Due to a series of unfortunate events, I had no summer vacation last year. (It was spent cramming. Horrible experience. If you can help it NEVER spent your summer vacation homeschooling.) And the summer vacation before was devoted to moving. Which means: I have not had a proper summer vacation for two years.

Two. Years.

Can you feel my pain?

Yes, I got to have awesome experiences in all kinds of crazy places like India, Hawaii, and two road trips across America. But all that moving and all that flying has some side effects. Like jet lag for instance. Or a good many nights trying to doze off in an upright position.

(Someone told me they could never sleep in an airplane, car, or hotel room. Were he me, I would have circles under my eyes the size of Saturn's rings, my hair would be standing shock upright, and I'd be an incoherent, blathering mess.)

Or way too many fast food meals. (McDonalds. My stomach hates you.) And you know how hard it is to invest in long-term friendships when you don't know where you are going to live in the next month or so? Trauma.

But that's all in the buried past now and that said, I've got a problem. What am I going to do with my few months of freedom? After all, this is the first summer vacation in two years. I better do something good.

I've come up with a few solutions to my problem.

1. Beach. If Hawaii were good for only one thing, sorry all you hula dancers, my vote would be on the beach. With an average temperature of 80 degrees all year round, the beach is the place to go. Since there is no reason for me to retain the paleness of a computer programmer, I plan to visit the beach more often this summer.

2. Weight room. Fortunately for me, I live on a university campus that allows me the option of lifting weights. Of course, it's rather ghettoish for a gym, and I'm pretty unmotivated at getting huge biceps, but since it's free of charge I'll take it. "When life gives you lemons ... be happy you received something."

Of course, I can't be in the weight room all the time (hey, a guy's body can only take so much pain), but it's something to do.

Being on a university base has some definite advantages.  When there are students around, there's usually something exciting going on. There's baskeball on Mondays, hip hop/ break dancing Tuesdays, volleyball Wednesdays, Ohana Court worship sessions Thursday night, and Ultimate Frisbee Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Sundays are church-going days at Solid Rock, and I used to play competitive ping-pong in the afternoon. The table broke a leg, so I haven't played for awhile.

3. Surfing. That's right: surfing. Although the university campus is fantastic, it's nice to get away every now and then. I'm planning to buy a surfboard from a friend for about sixty bucks (it cost him twice that). Since I've only surfed the astounding number of four times, I'd like to spend some time this summer surfing.

(I was looking at the other camera. Just so you know.)

4. Football Preseason. Synonymous with hell, preseason training has got to be the worst thing I've ever involved myself in. (Well, maybe not the worst...) I keep telling my body it's all for its own betterment, but it sure doesn't think so. Star pushups, bear crawling across the field, jumping squats, sprints, crunches, crab walking, backpedaling, running for thirty minutes straight -- all part of the torture program. Pain. Excruciating pain.

Photos from Makelapa Valley

 

Well, today I'm feeling lazy. No humorous anecdotes. No beguiling tales of the challenges of living in Hawaii.  No action-packed recountings of my (exciting) life.

Just a couple of photos. From a hiking trip. With some spectacular scenery.

Instagram anyone?

Photo Credits: Jean-Jacques Perrin, Brianna Kuperus, Helen Kuperus, Joshua Kuperus

Magrete's Testimony (By Josh Kuperus)

(Another version of this can be found at http://icskona.com/ )

Grassroots News Report

Can you imagine not being able to walk without crutches for twelve years, then waking up one day to go and run with your husband in the evening? 

An event similar to this happened to Magrete Stensby, a staff worker on the University of the Nations. Magrete's problems began in 1988 when doctors diagnosed her with multiple sclerosis, an incurable disease causing damage to the spine and brain and resulting in physical and mental disability. Over the years, her condition worsened, as she went from walking around in crutches to sitting in a wheelchair. Many days she did nothing but lay in bed since she did not have the capability to do anything else. Twelve years passed like this and her condition grew worse and worse.

Just before the year 2000, Magrete, along with her husband Thor and her family, came to Kona, Hawaii, to do a Crossroads DTS (Discipleship Training School).  As part of the training, each student in the DTS had the requirement to journal weekly. Magrete, with no thought to the symbolism or clue as to what would happen in the next year, chose the theme "Step by Step Into the Year 2000" for her title page, simply because it sounded nice. For a woman who could not walk without crutches, the idea of "Step by Step" represented more of a spiritual statement to her than a physical statement.

At least that was what she thought.

"On the  day before the millennium," Thor Stensby, Magrete's husband says, "she was having her quiet time. Six o’clock in the morning. She was sitting in the bathroom, because that was the only place you could have a light on without waking up our kids. And God told her that ‘Today you’re going to put your crutches away’. And this was the day before millennium. So it was literally “Step by Step Into the Year 2000.”

She stood up, got out of the bathroom, and walked to the University’s kitchen area to get breakfast. When Thor came back home from his work duty, he said “she had been walking to breakfast, and had gotten the breakfast. That evening we went for a three mile run together. That was the first time in twelve years she could move without crutches or wheelchair. And she was totally okay.”

In conclusion, Magrete Stensby’s story is a wonderful testimony as to the healing power of God. Even now, twelve years later after being healed, she still has MS (Multiple Sclerosis). However, she can walk perfectly fine.

Josh's Rugby Season

The other day I received a letter from my aunt and uncle in Holland where I was posed several questions about rugby. When did you start? Why did you start?

Instead of writing a letter back, and making them wait the year or two it would take my letter to find them over in Holland, I decided to write a blog post instead. I type out my answer, click the little orange Publish button on my screen, and three seconds later, their eyeballs can read my words. Simple, easy, and no required purchase of a postage stamp.


Let me rephrase their question as I see it. What would possess a skinny white boy like you, weighing under 150 pounds, to want to play rugby: a sport known for no pads, full contact, and big boys? When did you take leave of your reason? Were you trying to commit suicide?

Of course, when call myself "skinny" I'm not the those-aren't-abs-those-are-ribs skinny or the poke-me-and-you'll-cut-a-finger type of skinny, but nonetheless, I'm pretty skinny. My body's built more for dribbling a ball around a court than for slamming into a bunch of other bodies.

 My reason?

Well, it all started on a bright sunshiny day ...

But before that, I need to give you a little background.

My family first came to Hawaii in September 2010. Since that (historic) date, I had not played a single sport.

Not one.

Well, that isn't entirely true. I did play a few games here and there: a soccer game in Foundation School, a basketball game, or two, or three ... or four, with my cousin, David Amels, and one memorable game of volleyball in India, with brown teenagers most of whom knew no more English than 'hi' and 'bye' and 'thank-you' ... we had great conversations together, me and them.

(Later we all stripped and jumped in a dirty, scummy well to cool off and show off our flips, but that's another story.)

But the fact is, a game played here and there is not the same as being part of a team, with official uniforms, and games scheduled every Saturday. It may not sound like a big deal to some of you who haven't touched a baseball in years, but for a teenage guy, not playing sports, not being part of a team, that was tough.

The bottom line is:

I liked sports.

And I wasn't playing any.

So back to paragraph number ten:

It all started on a bright sunshiny day.  I was on my way to class when I saw Ben Nonoa, a big Samoan guy, sitting down at one of the picnic tables near my school, talking with two of my classmates.

"Hey Josh," Ben said, "We've just been talking about these guys joining my rugby team. Wanna join?"

Picture the past events of last year flashing through my brain at this moment. The sad lack of sports. My obsessive need to do something athletic again.  My countless petitions to my parents to sign me up for something, anything.

Rugby is a sport, right?

"Sure," I said.

After that my fate was sealed. I started to attend practices. Got to know the team (Hawaiian guys). Figure out how the game of rugby worked.

You see, I didn't know the first thing about rugby. Literally.

My first game came around. I still didn't know the fine details of the game. Basically all I knew about rugby was, "Get on the field and jump on people."

And that's what I did.

As the season progressed I became better at jumping on people and learned more about the game. I learned what in the world a scrum was, how "hooker" on the rugby field was a position and not a prostitute, how the back players ran their plays, how the forwards plowed theirs, and generally learned how not to make a fool of myself on the field.



It worked. (I think.)

In the end I learned that sometimes the best thing to do on the rugby field is just to stand there and act like you know what's going on.

 

I also started to work out in the weight room to build muscle. Not bodybuilding status weightlifting, mind you, but enough to keep my arms and legs from being ripped off by some burly Samoan.


My team, the Kona bulls, won the first game we played. And then we won the second. And then the third. In fact, we never lost once until the very end of the season when Waimea beat us in one brutal game. But, since they had several players over the age of fifteen they lost by forfeit.

And then if you want to get technical, two games we had played against Hilo and won were counted as forfeits on a technicality.

But we prefer to say that it was an undefeated season.

It sounds better.

Of course, when I say that we had an undefeated season, you need to know that only three Under 15 rugby teams exist on the Big Island: Kona, Hilo, and Waimea. When the tournament came around, these were the only teams we had to play to win state championships. And we had been playing them, and beating them, all season long. 

The tournament for state champions came around, and so I found myself one early Friday morning in a car heading for Hilo where the tournament would be held. My team needed to play, and win, two games, to go on to the state's championship game on Saturday.

Hilo is notorious for rain. Friday afternoon, the sky decided it wanted to be a shower nozzle. Soon, the bright green field transformed into a dull brown muddy mess. Puddles the size of Lake Michigan formed. The grass disappeared. The player became so muddy from tackling each other into the mud, their uniforms were indistinguishable from the other teams. 

 After and Before.

Buuut ... we still played the two games. And we won them both.

Saturday morning opened with a light drizzle. The field was still brown from the night before, and someone had to repaint the white boundary lines over the mud. Our game was scheduled in the afternoon, so my team spent the day watching other teams play, passing around and playing a beat-up ukelele and attempting to not eat too much junk food.

The time for the game came.

Coach Ben Nonoa led the team onto the field for warm-ups. We did a few passing drills, a few suicides, and then all joined hands for a brief prayer. (Dear God, let us win this thing. Amen.)

The team did a jog around the field, bowed twice to the spectators on each side, shook hands with our opponents, and got into position on the field.

The whistle blew.

The ball was kicked.

And the game was on.

Within minutes, there wasn't a clean uniform on the field. (Sorry Mom.)

Our tackles were more of flops. In the mud. On the other person. (With the exception of the beast tackle in the picture above of course.)

 
We played hard. We hit hard. And we won the 2012 State Championships!

In conclusion: the rugby season is now over. I have survived.

The trophy