The Life of Jason & Janelle Shives, 2 = 1

PYC 2010 - Empowered - Day #1

2010-12-18T11:47:00.001-08:00

PYC 2010. Here are just a few highlight photos for this year's conference on the first day. It is a beautiful place and you can definitely feel the Spirit of God in this place.

The beauty of the campus of Adventist University of the Philippines

Young people taking a stand for King Jesus.

A 12 year old gives his testimony of how God is working in his life...it was amazing!

David preaches on being a plastic bottle for Jesus

Sabbath morning during the Philippine Youth for Christ conference

First Preventative Intubation

2010-11-26T23:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I hit a milestone today. I intubated my first patient for preventative measures today as an attending emergency physician. Basically, this means I passed a tube down the patient's trachea to secure his airway because there was a high chance he would go into respiratory failure. He was a young teenager with symptoms of stroke and he was rapidly declining. We needed to get him to an ICU at another hospital fast and helicopter was the mode of transport chosen. I have intubated plenty of people, but most of the time they were unconscious, code situations, and it was a life-saving maneuver. This time, I was taking the patient from a fairly stable (currently) situation and paralyzing him (taking away his ability to breathe on his own), to passed the tube in.

It was a scary feeling, knowing that he could die in front of me, and I had no other MD in the hospital for back up in case something went wrong let alone an attending doc to ask questions...I was it. Whoa, the adrenaline was pumping, my arms were shaking, and as the nurses prepared the induction medications and the RT prepared the vent and intubation kit, I slipped away to my computer and prayed to God for guidance. I knew it was going to be difficult because the family insisted on staying for the procedure (added pressure) and the boy was over 300lbs (difficult to maneuver his neck).

After the meds were in, I positioned the head, inserted my mac blade and searched for the vocal cords, which I barely saw after about 10 seconds of readjusting. For some reason the endotracheal tube wasn't wanting to pass through the cords as they spasmed with each contact. After about 45 seconds of trying, the pt's O2 sats started to decline, so we bag-masked him for about 1.5 minutes to get his O2 sat back up and to get a smaller tube to try to pass. On second attempt, instead of trying to jam the tube pass the cords, I twisted the tube as it touched the cords and waited for the cords to relax and slowly passed the tube...SUCCESS! what a great feeling. My nurse and RT confirmed the positioning, secured the tube and worked effortlessly to get his parameters to the right levels. The life-flight crew was present within 10-mins of the intubation, packed him up and he was on his way. The adrenaline slowly started to dissipate as the situation stabilized.

What did I learn today...trust your team, trust your skills, and trust that God is in charge. I started my day with a prayer today that God would give me the ability to accomplish the things he would place before me today. Prayer answered. Time to get some sleep...until the next patient.

Farewell to Derek and Bodil Morris!

2010-11-19T17:18:00.000-08:00

God speed to Derek and Bodil Morris! Great team that will be hard to replace, but we know that God will use them mightily at the GC. My prayer is for the FLC as they seek to find someone lead their church who seeks to place Christ first and foremost (as the Morris's strived to do). Jason & Janelle

A Home of Our Own

2009-04-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

Jason, Janelle, Daisy, & Deuteronomy Shives' new home
(click pics to see bigger).

Story at the end. It is long , but very interesting!

Living room
Master Bed looking out to lake

Master bath

Dining

Kitchen

Family room

another bedroom

2nd bath

the view =)

I think we will cut down that tree that is covering the house.

God has blessed with a home of our own, and at an amazing deal too! Good things come to those who wait. When we first were going to move to Orlando (April 2007) we had signed on the dotted line to purchase a 800 sq ft 2/1 condo with no covered parking for just over $150,000. Praise the Lord we backed out because the monthly payment was too high, and it was not close to Jason's work. So we rented for 1.5 years and continued to look here and there for homes, as prices continued to fall.

Then in April of 2008 we almost bought again, and this time in a much higher price bracket, since we were both making good money. But Priase the Lord we didnt buy then, because Janelle took a significant pay cut in Aug 08, and we would probably be another foreclosure statistic right now. It is funny that we told our then real estate agent, Heather, that we would be willing to drive further to work if we could be on a lake, she basically laughed and said that would have to be our second home, after we were making more money (at this point we were looking at houses over $300,000 too!).

Then in Nov 2008 we found a 3/2 house that was "waterfront" (retension pond) for only $100,000. Although it was spoken for by the time we called the next morning, it sparked in us a drive to find something we could own for not much more than rent.

Almost every Sunday from Nov to Jan 18 we looked at homes. We made offers on 3 of them, but thankfully did not have them accepted.

Then Jan 19th happened. after having seen everything in our price bracket and location, and as we were going that afternoon to look at ones we had skipped over, Janelle decided to check back on a house that we hadnt seen inside, because of tenants. This one was located on a canal, and was priced at $145k. So I typed in the street name into orlandoreo.com and low and behold there was another house on the same street for a little more money ($159,900). After a little invetigation, I discovered that this house was not on the canal, but on the lake itself! and the pictures of the inside were georgeous! and it had a 2 car garage! So i immediatelly added it to the list of ones i wanted to see and sent it to our real estate agent, Martina. Then almost as immediately called Jason and simply told him, "PRAY, I just found a house on a lake for $159,900." he agreed to and then i proceeded to tell our friends Tim & Sunny Arakawa (Tim was interviewing at Florida Hospital) about the house.

So the afternoon come and Martina took us to see some more houses, but we were eagerly waiting for the lake house. Then the moment arrived and we pulled in the driveway. The outside looked like many homes we had looked at so far, but then we stepped inside...

It was more beautiful than the pictures, completely remodeled inside with cherry wood floors and a never been used before kitchen (the owners manuals were still in the appliances). And then we saw the view! it is not a huge lake, but a skiable one, and the best part was that there are no home on the opposite side! so we looked out at the lake and the beautiful nature around it!

So we immediately told Martina to call to make sure it was still available, she told us not to be heart broken if it wasnt. She called the listing agent, but got no response. The home was a short sale, which means it could take months for the bank to accept your offer, and during the whole time can accept other offers too, this is usually very discouraging, but for the lake house it said the 159900 was a preapproved price, and that was good news. But Martina found out the preapproved price was actually $179900, but that the buyers had backed out because it took too long. We were ready to pay $179900 for the house, because we liked it so much, but God didnt want us to have to do that.

EIther that night or the following night Martina called us with good news. She said that yes the preapproved price was 179900, but that was months ago and the bank was fully aware that the listing agent, Billy, had dropped the list price to 159900, and even better that if we offered the full list price that the listing agent would put the house as "sale pending" so no other offers could be made!! We jumped at the opportunity and we had a signed offer to martina that night.

Then came the waiting. Billy told us that he would have the seller's signature in 2 days, and the banks in 2 weeks. I checked with our loan officer, Matt what the rates were that morning and he said 4.875 with a 1% fee! I wanted to lock in that rate so badly, but couldnt without a contract. So we waited. The seller took 5 days to sign the contract, because he wanted to make sure that we were willing to pay an extra $3000 at closing, if needed and because we had put that we wouldn't pay higher than a rate of 5.5% and he changed it to say "prevailing rate." we agreed, but in our hearts did not want to pay the extra money or higher rate, and so the contract went to the bank. It took the seller 5 days, instead of 2, so I was afraid the bank would take 5 weeks instead of 2!

Since we technically had a contract, so on Jan 26th we could have locked our rate in (which had risen to 5%), but would have had to close in 30 days. Martina advised us against doing that because the bank did not have to accept our offer, and then we would have a mortgage and no house. So i listened to her and waited patiently.

So week number 2 came and went, and we heard nothing and interest rates continued to rise. Week 3 came and went and we heard nothing.

Then on Feb 18th some bookshelves for the new house arrived on our door (that janelle had ordered without asking jason, sorry babe). Jason gets upset, and janelle promises to take them back if they dont get the house. So Jason goes back to work and I have the daunting task of getting 3 large boxes into the garage. while i was doing this i left my phone in the house. So i finally get them in and check my phone to find that Martina had called twice and send a text message to call her ASAP. So i did and she asked if Jason was home (it is always something important when she asks that) and then she says "do you want the good news or bad news first?" I said the bad news. She almost yells, "there is no bad news, they accepted your offer!" I of course get very excited, thanked God, and called jason.

The next call was to Matt at our bank, and guess what rate we were able to lock in? 4.875 with 1% fee, the exact rate I had told God I would be ecstatic with, maybe i should have said lower! So we had 30 days to close and Matt said the bank needed 3weeks (Mar 16). We wanted to close even earlier so we got everything in very quick and they agreed to move it up 5 days to the 11th. So everything was set except for the appraisal.

At our CREATION health study on Friday night the 6th we excitedly told our friends we were closing on Wed and the lovely and talented Nadine gave us beautifully embroidered towels as a house warming gift. Little did we know what was waiting for us on the answering machine... so we finally listened to our messages pretty late Sat night and heard Matt tell us that the house had only appraised for 147900 and to let him know if he could help in any way. I didnt know what our options were at that point, and decided to call Martina right after witness 4 fitness in the morning. I had bad dreams that night.

In the morning Martina ranted and raved about how bad a job the appraiser did, and that there was no reason for it not to have appraised for the sale price. So she, bless her heart, spent 3 hours on Sunday preparing a document that showed the errors the appraiser had made and comparable sales for houses that were waterf/lake front. the appraiser had even underestimated the square footage.

Monday morning Martina sent that document to the bank, who sent it to the appraisal company. We went back to waiting, and waiting. We missed our 11th and 16th closing dates waiting to see if they would change the price, and our contract on the house expired the 18th. Martina let us know that there were back up offers on the house, so i dared not think of asking the bank to accept a sales price of $147k. So on the 16th I took matters into my own hands. the problem with the appraisal was that our bank would only fund 95% of the appraised price, leaving us with a difference of $12,250. So i went where all good children go when they need money - Mommy. Mommy reluctantly agreed to let us borrow the extra money and we rushed to get the money wired into our bank account. We just had to close by the 18th. Later that day Matt informs me that the appraiser did not budge a single dollar! We were all shocked.

So 2 scenarios are now running through my mind. 1. this is God's way of lowering our monthly payments by taking an extra (interest free) loan from my mom. 2. this is God's way of telling us not to buy this house. This is right when 2 other Advent HOPE leadership couples had also had problems closing on their houses. how were we to know which it was? well we did much more praying and later that night Martina said the unthinkable. She wanted to ask the bank for an extension on the contract of 1 week AND that they take $147,000 for the house. I told her to go ahead and try, but i did not tell Matt, in my mind we were still closing on Wed with mom's money. Tues went by, no word from the bank. Now it is the 18th our last day under contract. I get a call from Martina while jason is completing his motorcycle class. She begins by saying, "I have bad news...

...no! there is no bad news, you are going to have your dream house at $147,000!!! and they extended the contract for 7 days." Of course there was more screaming,excitment, praising God, and calling Jason.

Martina said the title company would need 2 days to close, but our rate was going to expire after the 19th and rates had gone up significantly, so we would have to pay a couple hundred dollars to extend it. That's nothing compared to the $12,900 that Martina had just saved us, but money is money. So Matt went to work and said he taught on his end that we could close tomorrow, the 19th. I asked Martina to see if the title company could be ready as well.

We closed on the 19th at 4 pm!

What a miracle how it all came together at the last minute. Thank you God! And because the purchase price was less, the down payment/closing costs were less, the monthly payment was less, and that extra $3000 never showed up. Mom was grateful to get her money back as well =)

Everyone at the closing was so excited for us, the listing agent even came by to congratulate us and tell us that we MUST be at the bottom of the market for the deal we got and that he would have bought the house if we didnt!

Martina gave us a gift card to Home Depot, and reminded us how we almost went with a different agent because Martina was not part of a program that wouldve given us $600 cash back. At that time she promised us that we would not be sorry for using her, and she was right! and you know what is amazing? Martina got less commission because she stuck her neck out for us, isnt that awesome? selfless. reminds me of Someone else.

So now we have a 4/2, 1680 sq ft, 2 car garage house, on a Lake for LESS money than we wouldve paid for the condo in 2007. Did I mention that the man we bought it from paid $410,000 in 2006 before remodeling it! So friends, come visit us, we have an extra room for you =)

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

New additions

2009-04-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

Introducing (Officially) Daisy & Deuteronomy

We adopted them from the Orange county animal shelter in Nov and we have been pleasantly surprised at how well behaved they are and how they get along.

Don't breed or buy while shelter pets die!

Nigeria & Tchad 7/13 - 8/22

2008-11-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

Here is the mission spotlight we did at Advent HOPE FL in Sept. We enjoyed our time in Africa, and are excited to see how/where God will lead us back full time when Jason finishes residency.

Europe 2008

2008-09-13T20:16:00.004-07:00

I may never get all of our great Europe pics on here, but i hate when things are not in chronological order, so here is an incomplete post. i will add pics soon.

After flying in from Tchad to Paris we spent 2.5 days in Paris. We saw Notre Dame, the arc de triump, the louve, the eiffel tower, the gardens of versailles, and ate delicious falafels! We took a evening boat tour of the city and watched with surprised as the eiffel tower turned a beautiful blinking blue. This video is better than ours, so enjoy:

After missing the train out and getting ripped off by this restaruant that promised wi-fi, we then took a train through the french countryside to Milano(Milan), Italy. We got in very late, but God protected us.

We spent the rest of our time exploring Italy's western coast. We first went to these cute seaside towns called the cinque terre, where we swam and jumped off big rocks, hiked beautiful vineyard trails, walked the "via del amore," and took a really relaxing and scenic boat ride. While we were there some other guests in the home we stayed in highly suggested a town called Priano on the Amalfi coast.

we then took the overnight train all the way to Napoli (Naples) and went in search of Priano. We had actually reserved a room ahead of time, unfortunately by the time we got to Napoli they had given away our ocean view room, and then by the time we took the Circumvesuvian train and a tour bus along skinny roads that on 1 side was the cliff and the other a 1000 ft drop to the ocean (awesome ride btw), they had given away our 2nd night at the hotel!! And this was Friday and we really didnt want to change hotels on Sabbath. So we made some calls and then rented a scooter to find another hotel (thankfully almost everyone in Italy speaks English ). We finally found one and they allowed us to move our stuff in, but not pay until after sundown.

The views in both places were awesome!

On Sabbath we had breakfast with a view and then studied the lesson quarterly in a swing on the patio, then Jason suggested we continue our study at the top of the mountain. So we had a great hike with breathtaking views and just happened to find a pinic table to finsh reading the Bible. We also found blackberries and figs to eat right off the vine/tree. It was awesome!!

We then left Priano and headed back to Sorrento where we stayed in a campground with a tiny cabin. We wished we had found more places like it, cause we spent way more money than expected on hotels. We took a day trip to the island of Capri and went into the blue grotto. very cool, highly recommended.

We discovered our new favorite dessert while in Italy--sorbetto (sorbet)!! Our very favorite here in the states is Haggen Daaz's coconut sorbet, but there it was cantaloupe.

We also spent a half day exploring Pompeii and the archeological museum.

We then went to our final destination--Roma(Rome). We only had 2 days, so we did a open bus tour where you can hop on and off at your leisure. We saw the coliseum, forum, julius ceasar's tomb, the Marmartine prison that housed peter and paul in the new testament, st.peter's basilica, etc.

Then back to the good old USA, and God was so good to us. Even though we missed some trains, we didnt have anything stolen, or harmed in any way.

Bye bye hair! May 2008

2008-09-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

After growing my hair out for 2 years, I decided to donate it to the cancer center here at Florida Hospital. Estela-mom came with me and Jason popped in for a little bit.

It was about 14 inches, curly!

She straightened my hair (which Jason really liked), and I havent done since (sorry babe).

Janelle's Grandma will be in the first resurrection (Not to play God, but i am pretty sure)

2008-09-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

I also didnt mention in Feb my Grandma Baptist (maternal) passed away. She had colon cancer and thankfully my mother (along with all her 7 siblings) got to take care of her and say there goodbyes through the months before she died. I am also greatful to God and Jason that we took the time on our trip from CA to FL to spend 1 night with them in MO, it was the last time i saw her alive, although i spoke to her on the phone many times after. She just kept saying that Jesus's second coming was soon and i believe her! She is resting now, but she was a wonderful Christian woman that loved telling people about Jesus. She and my Grandpa even though in their upper eighties still would get out and hand out Christian literature to those in their town of Lebanon, MO. Here is one of my favorite pics of all time:

I think it is too cute that Jason is wearing the t-shirt from the last Baptist family reunion!

Jason's High School Reunion

2008-09-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

Oops i forgot to mention we went to Bass Memorial Academy in Lumberton, MS in March for Jason's 10 year reunion. It was very nice to get to meet some of his classmates, although some of his closest friends didnt show up! C'mon people go to your high school reunions, there are people that want to see you.

It was a nice weekend. I did get to meet Pastor David Hartman who was the pastor that gave the evangelistic series in Pensacola, FL in which Jason's family joined the Seventh-day Adventist movement!

Jason got reaquinted with his old gymnastics coach Bernie Culpepper, who is now boy's dean. We found out we have a lot in common with he and his wife, and they are really trying to make a difference in the lives of the young people there. Praise God for the men and women that are being good examples in our church schools!

We are really bad at this...

2008-05-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

So what has happened to the Shives in the last oh almost 6 months? Let's see... Here's some in no particular order:

Jason took Step 3, and will soon receive his score. I know he will pass! Almost a licensed physician =)

Jason has been doing Bible studies with a young man that was demon possessed!! The demon even talked to Jason during one of the first Bible studies. Jason kept thinking about the story in Acts 19 where the demon says, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Since then the young man has made some major changes in his life (especially in MUSIC!!) and has been free of possession.

We were looking to buy a house because the economy is so bad, and house prices keep falling, but God intervened and showed us he didnt want us to be tied down to Orlando with a house.

Speaking of not being tied down, we received a letter from the General Conference of SDA's stating that we had been assigned to serve in West Central Africa after Jason's residency. Janelle is very excited because she has been saying for years that they should go to a French speaking country, since God divinely orchestrated (she believes) both Shives to take French in high school and college.

Since neither of us have been to Africa, we are going to go check it out in July & August (sorry Tim & Sunny). We will be going to Ile Ife in Nigeria and Bere in Tchad. Jason is doing a month medical elective and Janelle will be doing... umm... Learning the language and cooking Afro food! Actually Ile Ife does have a nursing school, so maybe I'll be teaching some more A&P. More on this once we go.

Janelle spent 2 weeks in Loma Linda working on the ever so illusive thesis. It was all work except for Sabbaths. It was really wonderful to be back at the "other" Advent HOPE and see all my beloved friends! The very last Sabbath I was there Brad, Amber, Fanny, and myself spent the afternoon at the beach. It was beautiful and relaxing, complete with gray whales migrating and a pod of dolphins (and of course HERMIT CRABS)!

The tide kept coming in on us, almost stranding us on some rocks, and Brad was anxiously waiting for a wave to get me while I was looking into the tide pools, but it never got me! hahaha. After sundown we began the new week with some delicious vegetarian Philipino food before they took me to LAX to fly back to my Babycakes!

The picture was taken by a lady that Fanny boldy offered 3 Christian booklets too! She was very receptive, good job Fanny!

Advent HOPE Florida is such a blessing! Our little group has seen awesome changes in the lives of the attendees. I got tears in my eyes when one Sabbath afternoon recently a group of us were sharing our testimonies and 2 different people included Advent HOPE Florida as part of their testimony of coming to know Christ!

Our small groups are going really well. From 1 original group, we have split into 5! Jason & I have one on Friday nights. We have an awesome group! I will do a whole post dedicated to our group soon. And that is just our Friday night study, then Jason has that men's one on Tues night (with the demon possessed guy), I have one on Tues night with my very sweet neighbor Norma, and I (Jason is usually there too) have one on Thurs night with an awesome lady named Estela. She is Cuban, goes to Catholic mass, but doesnt agree with everything they teach, she doesnt agree with us on everything either, but despite that she has become our adopted mother. Here we are jumping on our trampoline.

Pray that we can keep up with all that God wants us to do here!

P.S. Janelle apologizes for switching between 1st and 3rd person. I am sure that will bother someone.

GYC Wrap-Up

2007-12-26T07:46:00.000-08:00

The Advent HOPE Florida team plus those sponsored (missing Yudelis and Carol).

GYC days 2-5 were just as excellent. Here's a quick rundown:

Day 2 - Pastor Conway started the day with a message on the importance of Christ's sacrifice. After breakfast (which was excellent), we hit the seminars, which were 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. This year's seminar options were probably the best yet. Andrea Oliver gave her testimony at the noon hour, and it was powerful. David Shin ended the day with the importance of a prayer life as evinced by the life of Daniel.

Day 3 - Was very similar to Day 2 except only 2 seminars in the morning. At noon Steve Kasperbauer gave his testimony on being faithful to God in the area of business and sabbathkeeping. You must listen to this one! In the afternoon, we had networking sessions, and I led out in the AMEN session. We had about 50 people show up and had a good round table discussion. A group led by Mark Finley went to anoint Alistair at the hospital who by this point was on a ventilator and not responsive.

Day 4 - Sabbath! Steve Conway gave a powerful message on what it means to be BE. Next, Pastor Finley gave a charge for the importance of evangelism and led the auditorium in a season of prayer for Alistair. Then a round table discussion with Eugene Prewitt, Steve Conway, Staci Osterman, Allison Waters, and Alan Parker on the importance of 1888 in Minneapolis. Pastor Ratsara gave a rousing challenge to finish the work by working with Christ and giving personal testimony to Jesus leading his division (Southern Africa - Indian Ocean Division).

For lunch, the Advent HOPE leaders of each coast met:

Then we had outreach - about 1200 people attended. Almost 500 Bible study cards were returned, plus more were accepted by homes. We knocked on 13,000 doors. It was cold and at one point, Janelle and I couldn't feel our toes or open our cell phones with our fingers. But the Lord blessed. Back at home, David Shin's last message was on the tipping point of revival and explained how 1 person can change the world if they have a radical prayer life, ie: Martin Luther, John Wesley, etc.

Day 5 - After the morning devotional and breakfast, we attended the dedication of the new GYC officers. There were alot of changes, and more women were added to the team. Justin McNelius accepted the challenge made by Dr. Pippim after some tears and trepidation. The final message was by Jeff Rosario which was well worth waiting for.

In the evening, my brother Tim, Janelle, and myself went to visit Al in the hospital. He was extubated, able to talk, and able to move all extremities somewhat. This was a vast improvement and we were glad to see our prayers at work!

All in all, this GYC was truly a blessing. I left feeling the urge to do something great for God. To do the ordinary things in life in an extraordinary fashion. God bless and keep the GYC spirit with you!

And remember, all the seminars and main sessions are available at:

www.Audioverse.org

www.Hopevideo.org

GYC day #1

2007-12-19T20:44:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

I just want to write a summary for those that may not be able to attend and for my remembrance:

Minnesota is cold and has snow on the ground. We registered at the convention center and much to Janelle's liking, there are enclosed catwalks that connect each of the buildings in the downtown Minneapolis area to protect us from the snow. The main auditorium is beautiful and and looks like an extremely large opera house with a ornate wooden stage and plush seats with a high rising back seat section.

After song service, the seminar presenters were introduced, and left many people wondering where they should go with so many good options. I think Jay Gallimore's series on Christian Leadership and Mark Finely's Last Day Events peaked my interest the most. But all the options seemed so good! We next got a report on some teenagers that have recently led out in preaching their own evangelistic series. Powerful!

Andrea Oliver gave a touching introduction for Israel Ramos' opening talk. After an excellent special music by Jessica Hess, Israel took the stage. He had the look of a tired solider giving his last message to his troops before the last battle. He spent time recounting the early years of GYC and the faith and sacrifice of the early team. His main point was that we need to remember what our identity is, or we will never realize our ultimate destiny, which is to hasten the Lord's return. He used the illustration of Luke 4 and 5 how Jesus doesn't need people that fish, he needs fisherman! Check out the sermons at www.3abn.org. Also, all these sermons will be on www.Audioverse.org, so you can enjoy them as well.

Afterwards, I hit the booths. So many friends that I have not seen in a while. Aside from the powerful spiritual emphasis, GYC is also a truly great place to reconnect and meet new people.

Final note, please keep Alistair Huong in your prayers. He is in critical condition suffering from a Neurological condition at the local hospital. He is a powerful man of God and good friend, I truly believe that God will prevail.

Til tomorrow, this is Jason reporting from GYC!

GYC is a coming!

2007-10-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

Have you registered yet? What are you waiting for? Invite a friend and get to Minneapolis, MN for the next installment of GYC.

To learn more & register: www.gycweb.org

Praise the Lord! By God's grace, interest and knowledge about GYC is starting to grow here in Florida. When we first arrived, hardly anyone we were meeting had heard of it. God has opened up several opportunities to make announcements in various churches and the interest is rising.

Please pray! We have more people needing scholarships to attend than we have money to offer. I know the Lord will provide, He always does, but still we must pray.

Hope to see you all at GYC 2007: Be (converted)

Jason & Janelle

Mrs. Shives the Professor

2007-09-30T04:07:00.000-07:00

God is so good friends! I have been totally blessed to have been given a job! I am teaching full time at Florida Hopital College of Health Sciences. If you know anything about teaching college, you know how hard it is to get a full time job with just a Master's degree (actually I am still writing my thesis), and with no teaching experience!

I am teaching 3 sections of A&P 1 with about 50 students in each section. So I have about 150 students that I am having a direct influence on! It is such a huge responsibilty; Pray for me friends!

I know this is God's plan, because if you remember I took A&P just last year thinking God wanted me to do PA school (there was no reason for me to take that class for my M.S.) But apparently He wanted me to teach A&P! Cool huh?

It is sooo time consuming though. I have never gotten so little sleep. Other than Jason's overnight calls, I am just as busy as my Intern hubby. But I know God will get both of us though.

Advent HOPE Florida's 1st class!

2007-09-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

The first Advent HOPE Florida meeting took place yesterday. We met outside in the gazebo because there was no room in any of the buildings. We had 13 people attend, plus 2 visitors stopped to listen to Eli's sermon for about 15 minutes. It was a small start, but it was a start.

In the afternoon, we had potluck at Allan and Laura's new place and then returned to Forest Lake Church for Susie's baptism. It was a great experience and on the drive home there was a beautiful rainbow. In the evening we went to 07 Revive at the Kress Memorial Church.
God is good!

Some prayer needs for AHF:
1. An optimal venue at an optimal time
2. A way to get the word out
3. A way to attract more people
4. Wanting to do a week of prayer with Asscherick that includes FLA.
5. FYI - Florida Youth Initiative (local GYC type conference)

Jason

Operation Global Rain results

2007-07-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

Praise God for Operation Global Rain (OGR)! What a boost to our prayer life and powerful experience. God truly was victorious. Here are some cool local results:

1. Janelle and I found a group of young adults to work with for ministry purposes. They were the ones leading out in the OGR series at the Forest Lake Church. This is an on fire group of 8-12 young people that are committed to the Word and want to see a revival in the other young adults here in the Orlando area.

2. At prayer meeting yesterday, Pastor Derek Morris just got word that Pastor Mark Finley will be doing NET 2008 at the Forest Lake Church (our new church in Orlando). Plans fell through with the planning in Minneapolis, so now God has called on the Forest Lake Church to rise to the occasion. Just 2 days prior, 12 of us young people were praying that God would show us His plans for revival in the Orlando area. Prayer answered.

3. Pastor Derek Morris wants us to start an Advent HOPE type Sabbath School at the Forest Lake church. It looks like there will be some major events happening that God has been planning that He is now just letting us in on.

4. More to come... God is not done yet!

Medical School Graduation

2007-06-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

This pic is from Sabbath Morning at Advent HOPE during the SOM graduation weekend. My family and friends from out of town joined us for a picture.

Here is a picture of me in mid-speech because I don't have any good pics of me preaching. Although I did not have much time to prepare the week before graduation, God blessed the sermon and lives were touched and challenged. If you want to listen to it, visit www.audioverse.org, the sermon was called "A Purpose Driven Life."

The three graduates! Eli took Miso up to get his diploma and drew some attention. They told him that they will not allow dogs to receive degrees next year. Looks like Miso MD will be the first and last non-human physician graduate from LLU.

It was a nice day, about 78 degrees and a day I won't soon forget! I have so many other pics with my friends from AH, but I am still figuring a way to put my pics online. Any suggestions, let me know.

Jason

Out of the Frying Pan & into the Steam Cooker!

2007-03-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it is official, Janelle and I will be leaving for Florida for the next 3 years. Although it is hot and humid in Orlando (hence the post title), we believe that the gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit has led us and will comfort us during the summer months. The residency program and hospital have visions that we are excited about, plus Janelle was born in Florida Hospital (an Amazing Fact).

We received the news this past Thursday morning. All the medical schools around the nation gather their 4th year students together at 8am on the 15th of March for Match day. It is a time to see people we haven't seen in a while and catch up. At 9am Pacific Time, we are each called up individually to receive an envelope that has our residency destination. We each exchange a $1 bill for our envelope and the last person to receive their envelope gets the pot. One cool fact, Loma Linda had 19% of its graduates match into Family Medicine (#1 for our class) while nationwide, only 12% of graduates go into family medicine.

It was an exciting day, and most of my classmates got either their first or second choices. Janelle and I are happy because we will be going with friends such as Eli and Susie Kim, Enrique and Estrella Vega, Evan and Leslie Inman, and others. Lord willing, we hope to start up a "GYC" type group in the area. Please pray for us.

We will definitely miss Loma Linda, especially all our friends at Advent HOPE. Advent HOPE's ministry has been a huge influence in our lives and we know it will continue to be a powerful movement here on LLU's campus. Of course we are not leaving until June though, so no tears yet! Congrats to all the other medical students that matched this week. May God be your guide as you seek to make Man Whole!

Old Navy, New Army

2007-02-27T20:17:00.001-08:00

Just received word today that I have been officially granted approval for separation from the Navy. What a huge burden that has been lifted! Until today, Janelle and I had been making plans for residency and signing up for the DMA (Deferred Missions Appointee) program in faith that God would get us out of the military. God is good.
For those that may think that I am anti-American, anti-freedom, or an anarchist that has a chip against President Bush or the US Military, hear me out. I believe that there are sincere and loving people in the military that are sacrificing much to serve our country. These people deserve our respect for their willingness to put themselves on the line. I appreciate the freedoms of this country, but I cannot condone the use of killing to achieve that goal. I don't have all the answers for what God allows and does not allow when it comes to the issue of killing, all I know is that as a Christian, Jesus is calling us to a higher standard. Here are some texts to support this point:

Matt. 5: 9 - Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Matt. 5:21-22 - Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Matt. 5:38-41 - Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Matt. 26:52 - Then said Jesus unto him [Peter], Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Rev. 13:10 - He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Well, now that I am free from the Navy, I will be enlisting into the ranks of the DMA program, serving in the Lord's Army. Janelle and I have had a burden to spend time in the mission field. Although it seems that the USA is becoming more and more a mission field, there are still some nooks and crannies untouched with the gospel outside of this country. We truly want to experience a life lived out on faith, totally supported by God.

Thanks for all the prayers! J&J

2006 wrap-up and 2007 update

2007-02-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

Long time no post. Here's what's been happening the last few months:

1. Interviewed at 9 residencies - It was good to see what different programs had to offer. We have narrowed our list down to 3 programs, and are asking the Lord daily where He would have us go. Stay tuned to the March 15th match day post.

2. Attended General Youth Conference - The 5th annual GYC was held in baltimore. This was the 3rd time that Janelle and I got to go, and it was a tremendous blessing. We think that it was the best one so far. Jason's brothers, cousin Broc, and parents came along as well as some family friends: Raistlin, Laney, and Fanny. We had a great time and pray this army of young people shares the blessings of the conference with their homes. Here are some of the videos from GYC: http://gospelministry.org/blog/?page_id=5

3. Creator's Call - In between working in the ER or studying ECG's, Jason has been involved in a new ministry called Creators Call. For more info, check out: www.creatorscall.org

4. Finishing Research - Janelle is putting extra hours in work to get her research done. She is working on creating a lactic acid standard which she hopes to compare with her hermit crab corpses. It is a tedious process, but hopefully she sees a light at the end of the tunnel.

That's the highlights for now. God Bless, and keep us in your prayers as many major decisions will be made over the next month! ~Jason & Janelle

Final Notes on India NOW trip

2006-11-28T03:17:00.000-08:00

Rest of trip in a nutshell:

1. Week 1 & 2 see previous 2 posts.

2. Week 2 & 3: From the medical side: Our medical team conducted 10 village clinics. We saw close to 1600 patients. Combined with the other 6 medical teams, we saw over 12,000 patients. Not too many serious cases; many I feel came out just to be seen by American doctors. We got the chance to pray for a lot of people, hand out the book Desire of Ages, and invite them to the meetings.

3. Week 2 & 3: From the evangelistic side: Thanks to all the prayers, the rain stopped and the attendance rose as the meetings progressed. One bad note, we had to cancel our final Saturday night meeting b/c the Hindu government was starting to get anxious with all the talk about Christian meetings. Another church group (Lutheran) was holding an evangelistic meeting in a nearby town, and he was doing too much Advertising for Hindu comfort. When you can’t walk 10 feet without seeing 50 posters of a white man smiling with a cross symbol, you are bound to stir up opposition. Well, we had to resort having our final meeting on Friday night, and John Carter, who was having another meeting 300km away was also asked to leave. I hope the door is not closing in Southern India yet!!

4. Week 4: James, Shallena, and I spent our last week in India at Mattison Memorial Hospital working with the Rao Family. It was great to see how a mission hospital runs and we made some friends that will last a lifetime.

Well the trip was great. I really missed having my wife with me, but at least I got to speak to her almost everyday for a few minutes. It was a great trip, but there is no place like home (aka: where Janelle is)!!

~Jason

Pics from India

2006-11-17T21:49:00.000-08:00

God has been really blessing the effort in India. Here are some pics (yes that is Jason wih Doug Batchelor).

Jason had his 26th bday there on the 14th! (None of these pics are from Jason's bday) Nothing like spending your bday calling people to a commitment to Jesus!!

The evangelistic teams had to deal with some resistance, and last night was the last meeting. Please pray that those that made commitments remain and continue to grow in their faith.

I miss my Babycakes, but I am doing pretty well. Trying to get lots of things done. I can't wait until we do a mission trip together!

India NOW - Week #1 Report

2006-11-12T03:12:00.000-08:00

Several Advent HOPE members are in India as we speak: Grace, Keila, Rohini, Jason, Nancy, Lois, Susy, and Sunny. Here are some of the highlights thus far:

Day #1 (10/30) - Leave for LAX. Meet other missionaries from West Coast USA. East Coast missionaries flew out of Chicago to Germany to India. We flew from LAX to Hong Kong to India.

Day #2 (10/31) - In the air. 14.5 hour flight to Hong Kong. I fell asleep 4 different times and they served us 4 meals. I had to skip some of the food. The one positive is that because we crossed the international dateline, halloween was only 1.5 hours long!! Amen!

Day #3 (11/1) - Arrive in Hong Kong, China then New Delhi, India where we meet up with the East Coast missionaries. A mixture of jet-lag and excitement keep us awake.

Day #4 (11/2) - Arrive in Rajamundry, our homebase. We have orientation and go shopping for Indian clothing.

Days #5-7 - All 14 teams head out to the villages and do visitations. The drive to the villages from our hotel is approx 1-3 hours depending on which village you are heading to. Our team visited 2 villages each day on Friday, Sabbath, and Sunday, encouraging them to come to the evangelistic meetings that would begin Sunday night.

Days #7 - 11 - Starting on Monday (1 week following our departure from LAX), we set up our first clinic. Clinics are either in a tent, outside, abandon building, or the village school house (that has been vacated with teacher permission for our use). Because of the distance to the villages, clinics start at 11am and go til 4-5pm. We are seeing about 130 - 175 patients each day. With 7 medical teams, we saw over 1400 patients last Thursday. The villagers love it, and most of them are not in horrible health, but just want to be examined by doctors from USA. Here is a list of the most common complaints and how we are treating them (on top of healthy lifestyle education):

1. Generalized Pain - Tylenol (or NSAIDs)
2. Weakness - Multivitamin (many feel cured after the first dose!!)
3. Anorexia/worms - Antiparisitic and cyproheptadine (appetite stimulator)
4. Fever (2/2 Chicken Gunia Infection) - Anti-pyretics
5. GERD, abd pain - PPI's and pillow angle elevation
6. Anemia - Iron supplementation
7. UTI - Abx
8. Cold - Supportative

We end our clinics with a village health talk on NEWSTART type principles and teach Christian songs to the village children. It is an exhausting day, but very rewarding!

At 7pm, our evangelistic meetings are well attended. An entire village voted to join our church right before we arrived to visit them!! There have been over 4,000 baptisms since we have arrived, and more are expected before we leave. Please pray for us, here are some of the obstacles:

1. Rain, Rain, Rain
2. Catholic priests offering 1,000 rupees ($25) for people not to attend our meetings
3. Baptist ministers offering clothes to keep people from attending
4. The culture of the area is saturated with Hinduism and traces of it remain as people join the church.

Well I hope you enjoyed this report. It is only a drop in the bucket of what has been happening thus far. Please keep us in prayer as we seek to uplift Jesus and the Bible to this area starving for a better option in life!!

Jason

The road to residency #1 Oct 5, 2006

2006-10-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

Jason turned in his application for residency in family medicine on Oct 3rd. He was waiting for his seperation from the Navy to be complete, but found out it could take 90 more days. So he sent the application in faith that God was leading us out of the Navy. The very next day Jason got 2 interviews!! One to Glasgow, KY and the other to South Bend, IN. Then today he got another to Billings, MT. This is exciting stuff! but we really want to spend the next 3 years where God wishes us to be. We are wrestling with issues like:

Should we be in a more rural setting?

Should we stay in the SDA system, so that our programs are not filled with nonSDAs and nonChristians?

Should we be salt and light somewhere else?

Should we go somewhere that has high monetary benefits so we can be debt-free and in the mission field sooner?

What will Janelle do (teach biology, become a Physician Assistant)?

We are seriously considering staying in Loma Linda, but it would be a HUGE monetary sacrifice if we did so. Not just that the pay is lower, but also the cost of living is really high, and we found a program in ID where Janelle could go to PA school with free tuition!

If you are reading this, please say a prayer that God would lead us in this big decision. And any advice is much appreciated, thanks =)

July 2006

2006-10-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

So sorry we didn't update this blog all summer long! Here is the main events of the summer.

July:
Jason and Janelle have 2nd Anniversary on the 4th. Janelle makes a delicious breakfast complete with ketchup "I love you."

The Shives visit the Nelsons in Sacramento (for pictures see Eric and Rachels blog). Had a wonderful Sabbath.

Sunday the Shives head to PUC for the Baptist Family Reunion
It was really fun being with so much family! my mom has 7 siblings, and I have 20 cousins on that side of the family. Some were meeting Jason for the first time, and they loved him of course.

There was a newlywed game with Jason and Janelle (married 2 years), Dalena and Bennett (married 1 year), and Jeff and Megan (married 1 month). Dont we look confident? lol. We did get the most points, by answering questions like "what is Jason's dream car?" and "what time of the day does Janelle read her Bible, morning or night?" Do you know the answers?

The theme of the reunion was Psalm 23 "the Lord is my Shepherd." Each Baptist sibling did a devotion on a half a verse.

Being good country folk the Baptist family reunion included a hayride, bubble gum blowing, sackraces, lots of singing, and sharing photos. It was a blessing!!

God blesses in Dominican Republic!

2006-07-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

I am back after 2.5 weeks in the Dominican Republic. It was a great experience. Our group consisted of a dental team of 6, 2 physicians, 2 photographers, and 7 evangelists (one of which brought his wife and 2 boys). We arrived Friday afternoon June 9th, began preaching that night, and continued every night and Sabbath morning from then until June 24! A total of 18 Bible messages. Thankfully there was nothing planned for the speakers during the days, so we used every minute preparing for that night's sermon.

This is my church, Los Jardines del Norte SDA Church on Sabbath morning. It is one of over 300 SDA churches just in the city of Santo Domingo!

It holds about 100 people in the pews, and on many nights all seats were taken and there were people standing outside looking in the windows just to hear God's Word! "Cristo Viene" means "Christ is Coming."

The DR is a beautiful country (as seen from our hotel room), I just wish the people took better care of it and didnt litter!

These were urgent messages. Jesus is coming soon! Are you ready? I hope so friends =)

Every night somewhere in my sermon I would say, "If it is in the Bible...I believe it. If it is not in the Bible...I don't believe it." By the 2nd or 3rd time the people would finish the phrase when I started it. Near the end of the conference I didnt even have to be translated for them to answer, "I believe it" or "I dont believe it." This was important to show that everything I was preaching is straight out of the Holy Bible, not my opinion!

This is Carlos and Jose-Luis. The young people ran the meetings. Praise God for committed young people! This was my favorite part of the meetings (besides the sermon), these guys did scripture and prayer and then asked the audience questions about the previous night's message. Someone almost always got the right answer, which made me excited that they were paying attention!

After each meeting my translator Raphael and I would greet everyone as they leave. I really enjoyed that part, because I could get to know the people better. Sparkles in the ears (or anywhere else) is a dead giveaway for a non-Adventist. Too bad it is not that easy to tell in the U.S.

There was a good-bye party for the Pastor (he's becoming conference secretary) Saturday night. It was on the roof of the church! It was a perfect opportunity for me to say my good-byes too (and get photos).

Here is just a few of my new friends:
Mayeli, Nicolas, Vimary, Moises, and Nora.

See next blog for more...

God blesses in Dominican Republic #2!

2006-07-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the non-youth that helped with the conference: Juana, Onyx, Pastor Mejia, another nice lady, me, Mrs. Mejia, Dorka, Raphael (my translator). Dorka made me the dress I am wearing. The people there are so giving!

This is the SDA restaurant next to the Conference office. "Raices" means "Roots," so they are calling people back to God's original diet! They had many Adventist and non-Adventist customers, and the food was so good and cheap!! The posters on the walls have one of the 8 laws of health on them: Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine, Temperance, Air, Rest, Trust in God (NEWSTART). What a great witnessing tool, we should have one in every city.

I made 3 calls for people to come forward to make a decision for Jesus. The first was on my bday when I preached on the "good news" of Christ's saving grace. What an awesome bday gift to have people accepting Jesus as their saviour. Then I made another call when speaking on baptism, and even though everything went wrong (late at night, and decision cards were a mess), about 10 precious souls still came forward for baptism! Praise the Lord! Then my last call was my very last night of preaching (Fri). I preached on the Holy Spirit's role and how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Since it was the last meeting, I decided to do another call for baptism, and this time the cards were ready to be distributed correctly. So at the end of the message the audience stood for prayer and I proceeded to ask them to respond to Jesus by coming forward for baptism into the remnant church of Revelation 12. No one came. Then I asked about rebaptism. No one came. Then I asked if anyone wanted special prayer for a specific sin they were struggling with. No one came. Without trying to sound too disappointed I had prayer and invited them all to church the following day. Then walked out to greet everyone as they left. I wanted to cry, but Raphael reminded me that it was okay that no one came forward, that we were doing God's awesome work and planting many seeds. Of course he was right! So I felt much better (I also had a couple people tell me they would've come forward, but didnt for various reasons). Sabbath service went well, but very long! I didnt even start preaching until after 12:30. So kept it short and sweet and to the point. A beautiful sermon on the promise of heaven. I told the people that I had no plans right now to return to the Dominican, so they had better be in heaven so we could see eachother again!

The perfect end to a powerful conference!!! Carmen, Julio, and Juan-Paulo were baptized Sabbath June 24th in the afternoon. It was an amazing experience to watch people that had come out to hear little ol' me preach God's Word make a lifelong (hopefully) commitment to Him. After the 3 were baptized the Pastor called for anyone else that wanted to be baptized...and they came! I dont know why they didnt come the night before, butPraise God they came! I was so excited! I took a picture of them. Most of the children are probably too young for baptism, but praise the Lord they want to follow Him. The Pastor called me up to say something to them, so I told them that they were making the best decision of their lives, one they would never regret! Even though I was leaving my heart is with them, and that the church members have the most important job of loving these people and helping them to keep growing toward Jesus. Then I had prayer for them and shook the hand of each one with an Amen or Gloria a Dios. The woman in white's husband does not want her to get baptized, so pray for her family, please.

This was one of the best days of my life! If you are a Christian, and you have never brought anyone to know Christ, I would ask, "why not?" Christ did everything for you, why don't you go out and share with others the love God has for them?

SWYC in less than 2 months!

2006-06-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

Tell your friends, registration has begun online!

www.swyouthconference.org

This is bound to be powerful!

Jason

Janelle Leaves for Dominican Republic to Preach!

2006-06-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Jason misses his wife already, 2 more weeks to go. Also, today is Janelle's birthday, big 24!

God is using Janelle to win souls by sharing the Bible on a Mission Trip with LLUSA, so it's okay. For other husband's missing their wives, please see Eric Nelson's blog at the link to the Right.

Jason

Friends Move On

2006-06-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to devote one page to the fact that friends move on. Janelle and I have been so priviledged to be a part of Advent HOPE and the ministries in Loma Linda. The urge and desire to share the gospel with our friends and strangers is the driving force of our day. I wonder what heaven will be like without the feeling of urgency to spread the 3 Angels' Messages! I know that heaven will be awesome, maybe our Advent HOPE meetings/seminars will be flight lessons! It is going to be great to meet back up with friends in heaven. It is a good motivation to keep preaching the WORD and hasten Jesus' Return!

Our friend Debbie, now in Indonesia

Eric and Rachel, now in Sacramento

Kole (pictured) took his parents Yamil and Lana to Louisiana
We'll miss you guys, GOD BLESS!

Shives #4, Becomes 24...

2006-05-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

On May 1st 2006, the day that many illegal-immigrants went on strike, Timothy Shives was flying thru the clouds in his helicopter (which if you talk to Tim, you should know about) celebrating his 24th birthday. Although born in the Philippines, Tim could not celebrate with the protesters because he came to the US by following the rules.

Some facts about Tim you may not know:

1. Fastest runner of the Shives' family
2. Avid student of world and US history (if it happenend, he probably knows it)
3. Only Shives member to read all the "Conflict of the Ages" series
4. Was the first Filipino-American to play "Jesus" at the Sonrise Pageant, giving another option to the 2 main views of Christ's skin tone (Victorian and African)
5. 2nd Shives boy to buy a Ford (lured into the trap of cheap price, aha!)
6. Makes friends easily. If you meet him, he is now your friend
7. Is no respecter of person. Has always reached out to those that had less friends even though he was pretty popular
8. First Shives boy to preach a sermon
9. Current record holder for funniest Shives boy

We at the Loma Linda Chapter of the Shives family wish to express our joy and love to Tim on this day. We are proud of Tim and know that he will make a very good 24 year old. Although he has 1 more year to be able to rent a car (penalty free), he can take you on a ride through the sky!
GOD BLESS YOU THIS YEAR TIM!

The New "Prince of the Air"-- Jesus

2006-04-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

On LLUSA's trip to the Adventist Intercollegiate Association (AIA) convention this last week, several of us had the opportunity to minister on our flights. Here is the breakdown:

Outgoing: Jason and Janelle meet Iola, a beautiful newly-wedded woman just off her honeymoon. Topics discussed: Sabbath, State of the Dead, Second Coming, 10 commandments, Hell, Heaven. Follow-up: Since she lives in Atlanta, my dad will be keeping in contact with her. Lovely, godly woman that is definitely searching for Truth.

Returning Flight: Jason and Janelle meet Dustin, a passionate young fashion designer relocating to the LA area. Topics discussed: Sabbath, Daniel 2,7,8 (including little horn characteristics), Health Message of the Bible, 10 commandments, Reading the Bible in 1 year Plan. Follow-up: He is an exciting gentlemen that wants to keep studying the Bible and Janelle and I are glad to have met him and become friends with him.

Returning Flight: Richard Barnes meets a non-denominational minister who is wanting to know more Bible truth. Topics discussed: Second Coming, Sabbath Follow-up: Richard is going to be contacting her and she is very interested to find out whether or not the "Left Behind" scenario is Biblical or not.

As you can see, the Lord has blessed!! We would have been glad to have met one person that would have wanted to study the WORD, but 3+ was beyond our expectations. Richard, Janelle, and I thank the ministries in Loma Linda, CA (ie: Advent HOPE, Restoration, MIP, etc) for helping us learn so we can help others learn the truths of God's Word. The Lord is good and we believe that He truly has reclaimed "the AIR" as part of His kingdom :)

Roaring Lion Strikes Our Home Again!!

2006-04-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

2nd Stolen Bike in Less than One Year!!!

Even with the abudance of goodness that Loma Linda University upholds, sin can and does abound. Janelle and Jason realized that with full-force this morning when on starting the day, Jason's bike was missing. The abundance of evidence suggests that someone with either strong intent (or hands/teeth) did the dirty work.

It is so sad to see people forfeit salvation for something so trivial. Oh how I long for the place where bike locks will not be needed! This once again brings me to the realization that this world is not my home and I am not a citizen of this secular kingdom.

I pray that justice will be abound and I pray that this person has to come to grips with the consequences of their actions. I also pray that I do my best to make sure that I am always on the RIGHT side of God's justice in all that I do.

Officer Champin loads the bike that probably was the thief's original vehicle. I guess he/she wanted an upgrade.

Friends, you can't be too careful. I think Janelle and I will start placing are bikes in our house!

MOTHER FROM GEORGIA LIVES ONE MORE YEAR!!!

2006-04-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

NEPHLEN SHIVES TURNS 49!!! ONE MORE YEAR ON THIS SIDE OF 100 YEARS OLD!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ENERGY BEHIND THE SHIVES FAMILY.

The Shives run in the LA Marathon...

2006-03-21T21:02:00.000-08:00

Our sister Jennifer completed her first marathon!! She started the day smiling, but ended the day exhausted.

Jason and Janelle ran the 5K while waiting to cheer Jennifer to the finish.

Jason ran the last mile with Jen to give her encouragement. He even got her to sprint to the finish line.

Friends that ran on Sunday:

5K- Thomas Williams, Augustine Torres, Janelle Shives 5K - 34:58, Jason Shives 5K -

28:57

26.2M- Ken Lim - 5:49:26, Julie Farmer - 6:32:32, David Lee - 5:35:38, Neeta Abraham - 4:50:52, Janie Lee - 5:49:46, Jennifer Shives - 5:17:38

Many of us have taken on running/walking as a "Fitness through Witness", as we seek to glorify God through the bodies He has given us by living healthy lives. As Jason was running his 5K, he was feeling tired and was going to start walking. Then along came a stranger running up behind him. He held out his closed hand and said, "come on man, you can do it!" Jason hit his fist, and was filled with encouragement to keep going.

The spiritual application is obvious, we need each other, to uplift each other in Christ! This race taught us all a lesson about the race of life, where the Bible speaks of patience, and teamwork:

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us... Hebrews 12:1

Next year, Jason and Janelle aim for the big one! 26.2M, looks like we will be joining Stunners!

The votes are in--Jason wins SA presidency!!

2006-03-21T20:39:00.000-08:00

On March 10 the LLU senators voted on next year's LLUSA executive officers. Jason was running against a Pharmacy student for the office of President. As Executive Vice President for the past 2 years, Jason was ready for the next step up. The sentors knew Jason had the experience and the passion for Jesus to do a good job.

Introducing the 2006-2007 LLUSA Executive Officers:
Pres: Jason Shives
EVP: Gwen Hubbell
FVP: Seth Lukens
RVP: Eli Kim and Tricia Loo
SVP: Richard Barnes and Erdal Pascu
CVP: Aaron Sartin
Secretary: Andy Park
PR Officer: Janelle Shives
Newspaper: Undecided

We are so excited to be able to work with such a great group of people next year. It seems that all of them are very committed to the Lord, so I know He will bless our efforts to "Connect students to eachother and Christ."

Study-bike Completed

2006-02-20T14:56:00.000-08:00

On Saturday evening, Feb. 11, 2006, Dr. du Preez stated that he could fold and iron clothes, write sermons, read books, and get a solid workout on his excercise bike all at the same time! Inspired by Dr. Ron du Preez (and the lack of exercise in Jason's recent life), the first part of the Shives-head decided to take on the task of constructing an excercise station that could serve as a study area simoultaneously. On Monday afternoon, Feb 20, 2006, The HMS Study-bike was conceived! Total Price: $125.

Recipe for Study-bike:
1. Cycle trainer: $69.99 + $20 S/H on ebay

2. Trek 820 (retail $249.99): $25.00 barely used thru Trading Post

3. Slick tire for rear wheel: $9.27 Wal-Mart

4. Desk and wood for leg extensions/bracing: FREE, thanks to ladies at The Little White House.

Some cool miracles to show the Lord's hand leading in the Creation of the Study-bike:

1. We happened to find a VERY cheaply priced Trek mountain bike to replace Janelle's stolen bike. Also, we were able to invite Jenny, the lady that sold us the bike, to Restoration2006! She sounded very interested.

2. We saved probably $70-100 in lumber by stopping by the Little White House. Margaret, the volunteer in charge, was more than happy to be part of the creation of the Study-bike.

What does the future hold? No one knows, but remember, the current Health recommendations call for 60-90 minutes of moderate intensity excercise everyday! We at the Shives home hope to be better witnesses for Christ through fitness for Christ! Feel free to stop by and try out the HMS Study-bike!!

RESTORATION 2006 has begun!

2006-02-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

After sweat, tears, and yes, even blood (I seem to cut myself on office equipment easily!) the PR work for Restoration 2006: Prepare Me was done. Restoration began 2/14/06 with approximately 200 people at both the noon and evening meetings! God is good. I know we didn't do as much as we could have to get the word out about Restoration, but God won't let our shortcomings keep someone from hearing His word!

Our speaker this year is Dr. Ron du Preez. He is a genuinely nice, Godly man, and very easy to talk to! We have enjoyed his messages. Our favorite so far was "A Trip into the Trinity." In it Dr. du Preez went into the enormity of God Himself, and we really gained an appreciation for the almighty power, and yet personal love that God has. We are looking forward to hearing how he explains the deep truths of the Bible that many Christians have forgotten about. Dr. du Preez says, "you never want to give offense, but unfortuately some people will still take offense." I know this series of meetings will turn many hearts to God, just like Restoration 2004 did for Jason and I!!

jason is making me do this

2006-01-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

i am glad i know how to do this now :)

Don't Give Up On Books Yet!

2006-01-28T22:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we are followers (Positive peer pressure is good ~ Emmanuel Baek). But we agree that it is a good idea to show others what we are reading. It helps to see what type of manna you are thinking on throughout the day.

Janelle's Books:
1. Bible, by God
2. Speciation, by Coyne and Orr

Jason's Books:
1. Bible, by God (Amazing Facts Reading Plan)
2. Early Writings, by Ellen White
3. Great Controversy, by Ellen White
4. Board Review Series OB & GYN, by Sakala
5. Reclaiming Lost Members, by Jim Ayer
6. NMS for USMLE Step 2, by LWW

Together Books:
1. Adventist Home, by Ellen White
2. Mission Pilot (David Gates Story), by Eileene Lantry (Just Finished)

You can tell that Janelle has an easier time of staying focused on one topic. I hope the pronouncement of our book list will serve as a motivator to complete our readings sooner. Both Janelle and I have yet to read the Bible through completely, so that is our number one goal right now. Two posts in one day, this is a record for us!

Which Sabbath is Holy?

2006-01-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Those that take the Bible literally and logically have to come to grips with the fact that Jesus kept the seventh day Sabbath holy. Many Christians today deny observation of this fourth commandment of the decalogue by convocating on the first day of the week, or Sunday. Is there a Biblical basis for this divergence from not only the written commandment of God, but also the example set forth by the Son of God while here on this Earth? I say no, and the church (Catholic) that made the Sabbath day change in the years to follow Christ's ascension agree to it. Don't believe it, check out this website that gives the popular view on Sunday observance from the horse's mouth! The Seventh-day Adventist Church is thankful the free PR given by the Catholic Church.

St. Catherine Catholic Church Proclamation

Sanctuary Comes to Loma Linda, Nov. 4-19th

2005-11-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

...Thy way oh Lord is in the Sanctuary Ps 77:13

This Old Testament tool for relaying the gospel is drawing crowds from across all different Christian denominations. Janelle and I want to thank our PR team for an awesome job of getting the word out. Thousands have come out to see the sanctuary, and many have been blessed.

Mr. Leinneweber, director of the exhibit, poses in the Most Holy Place during an interview with a reporter from the Press Enterprise. To read the article, Click here or do a search at www.pe.com for the article, "Exhibit Faithful to the Bible"

Our 2005 Summer Vacation

2005-07-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

After studying for USMLE Step I, Janelle and I decided to take our belated honeymoon vacation to the island of Oahu. It was a very relaxing experience. We got some sun, went diving, went on a couple hikes, and met some wonderful Adventists at church. We also got to go to Pali Lookout where Ellen White declared it the closest place on earth to heaven's beauty.

This is Pali Lookout June 2005 & the past.

Sabbath Afternoon with friends we met at Monoa road SDA church. Also, we met Carlos & Dafne Moretta there. This is Sunset Beach at the North Shore of Oahu.

Jason gets to visit his old elementary school. Back after 19 years.

Janelle shows the way from Diamond Head to Waikiki. Hiked the volcano in record time.

Jason & Janelle relaxing after catching mini-waves at Kailuha Beach on the East Shore of Oahu. This beach is minutes from Ken Lim's home.

We also got to see Eli & Susie exchange their vows! The wedding was centered on Jesus and His love. It was awesome.