Dear family and friends of Anneke and Jackson,
From July 21st till August 11th my boyfriend Lars and I visited Anneke and Jackson in Kailua-Kona Hawaii. It was not just fun to see Anneke, Jackson and Hope again, but it was also impressing to see where they are living. Life on campus is very different than what I had imagined. Therefore I would love to share my experience with you.
When Anneke and Jackson were in the Netherlands they invited Lars and myself to come to the campus in Hawaii. We took this invitation serious as we were already considering doing studies at Youth With A Mission. After a lot of prayer we made the decision to go to Hawaii with two weeks’ notice.Anneke and Jackson also showed us the town where they live.
We could volunteer in a YWAM project called Kona Summer Surge. Because of giving our time to the Summer Surge we got room and board for free and we also got the opportunity to meet a lot of people.
We have seen wat Kona looks like and what life is like on the campus in Hawaii. The first thing I noticed is that everything is either uphill or downhill. The reason for this is, that Hawaii is an island built out of 5 volcanos. So the entire islands is mountains and hills. The coast is the lowest point of the island the rest is all uphill. So, on the campus if I would walk from my room (the highest point of the campus) to Anneke’s office (the lowest point of the campus) that would take me 10 minutes down hill. But the way back would be 5 minutes longer because it’s uphill.
The first week we were in Kona we didn’t leave the campus. This wasn’t necessary since we had all basic needs met: our work, food a place to sleep and a Coffee Café. But after a week we did want to
See more of the surroundings and we visited the town Kailua. Soon we realized that transportation is a lot of different here than in Europe. We saw a man running wildly and shouting “stop the bus, stop the bus!” My first thought was that he could wait till the next bus. But later I thought differently. There is only 1 bus and nobody knows how late the bus goes and it goes about two times a day. It is the only public transport.
Walking from Campus to town (along the highway, there is no curb or cycle path), takes about 20 minutes. In the town it is very touristic so that means mostly restaurants and souvenir shops.
The closest supermarket is a 40 minute walk. First down hill then a long distance uphill. Walking back with groceries is really not an option. I asked Anneke and Jackson how they do this? She explained that they borrow the car of their friends on the campus. But after two years it gets more and more difficult to ask them every time, so they only do shopping when it is really necessary.
Now that I have seen what the transportation is like on the island, I understood that Jackson and Anneke strongly desire to have a car. They pray for this fervently, but need a financial miracle. I want to encourage you to pray for this. And if you receive an impression on your heart to give a special donation, then make a specification on the donation that it is for the car.
Anneke and Jackson’s apartment is very cozy. They have 1 room with a kitchen, bathroom with a toilet and shower and a loft. The loft is a small space under the roof. You cannot stand upright and the space is currently used as a storage area for their friends, but as soon as they have collected their items, Jackson and Anneke will move their bed upstairs and then the room downstairs will be a real living room. Hope’s “room” is now the space beneath the staircase.
The food on the campus is carefully selected, but after a week I could start to recognize the pattern well. It always tastes good, but this pattern does start to bore after some time and it is really nice to cook your own meal once in a while. Cooking on gass is not allowed, so Anneke and Jackson have two electric pots and a rice cooker. This is very useful. Especially for cooking Hope’s food.
The food is always early for me as a Duthc person. If you are late, the food is finished, so you have to be on time and it is very hard to avoid the crowd. There is only one dining space on the campus and everyone has to eat at the same time. So you can imagine that when 900 people try to get food at the same time, it is quite busy. Some people therefore choose to eat in their room. On the other hand it is also unique to be eating with so many people. You can always chat with someone and don’t have to sit alone. This way I have met a lot of people.
Anneke told me that, especially with Hope, she loves to eat her dinner in the house with her family after a busy working day.
Lars and I have seen the work places of Anneke and Jackson. Jackson took Lars to the Foodmachine, Anneke invited me to her office.
In February’s newsletter there was a piece about the Foodmachine:
It concerns a technology where there is agriculture on water beds, whereby the water comes from the fish tank. The fish fertilize the water and because of this the vegetables grow faster. It is all natural and no chemicals are needed.
Seeing this machine has inspired Lars to join Jackson to Nigeria in January.
Anneke has her own office. This is ideal because she can take Hope Shekinah to the office with her and does not need a nanny. Anneke is the Kona Assistant to Darlene Cunningham, but also, since recently Loren’s Assistant. They are the founders of YWAM.
Anneke introduced me to Darlene who told her story at one of the teachings during Summer Surge. It was impressive how she started out as a nurse, married Loren who had the dream in which waves of young people spread over the world to preach the gospel, and now they are at the head of a worldwide organization. YWAM is currently in more than 180 countries and has more than 18.000 full time volunteer staff, students not included.
I really enjoyed the Ndechecks. What touches me the most is that the lvoe of God shines through them. They love God and each other so much. Hope is the shining example of that. She is very joyful and a real adventurer just like her parents. She grows so fast. Whilst we were there we saw her walk independently behind her push cart. She also has her way of saying I love you. She looks at the person smiling then puts her ear on her shoulder thus bending her head sideways. If Mama or Dada says I love you, then Hope responds in her own way.
Now that I am back in Europe, I notice how different life is on the campus. Everyone on the campus is a Christian and wants to know more about God and a living relationship with Him. People talk about it all the time and pray for each other publicly. When I had a good conversation with someone, the other could suddenly say, that is something to pray for, let’s do that now. When we were leaving the people we had built a relationship with wanted to pray for us. That really felt like a goodbye present. In the plane I felt so blessed!
It was very encouraging for me to see how enthusiastic everyone is for God in the campus. That God is a living God, who wants a relationship with me. He wants me to pray. He wants to know His children, He wants to be known. I have learnt that prayer works. Also I got a special confirmation. Lars and I had gone to the beach one evening. I was standing with my feet in the ocean and prayed to Jesus. I prayed full fire that I want to know Him and at the moment where I felt I was bursting with desire, there, right in front of me at about 2 meters distance, a fish jumped out of the ocean, higher than my length and landed at the same spot. I was a little frightened, but experienced it as a sign. A sign that my prayer was being heard. I hope to encourage you with this also.
I want to ask you to continue to pray for Anneke, Jackson and Hope Shekinah and their work.
If you have questions after reading this message, then please feel free to contact the homefront, or the Ndecheck family themselves.
Fleur (homefront committee)
Hawaii:
“Hawaï or Hawaii is the 50th state of the United States. The capital is Honolulu. The state consists of 137 volcanic islands (most of them are small and uninhabited) in the middle of the Pacific ocean. The most important islands are an archipelago of 19 Islands. There are 8 big islands; from west to east: Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kaho’olawe, Maui en Hawaii (the biggest island).” (source: Wikipedia)
Anneke and Jackson live on the biggest island, also known as ‘the big island’. The area is called Kona, the city is Kailua Kona.
Summer Surge:
Because of the rapid growth of the campus new buildings need to be built. Everyone at YWAM is a volunteer, thus the building projects depend on volunteers, financial and material donations. The Summer Surgers receive free room and board in exchange for their work.
A working week is 4 x 12 hour days. Then there are activities that are organized for Surgers such as day trips on the islands and mission focused studies and testimonies.
YWAM Kona needs a lot of volunteers to complete these buildings for the short term. If you are interested, I would reccomend you to take a look at the website: www.konasummersurge.com
Summer Surge Promotion movie