PYC 2010 - Empowered - Day #1

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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...

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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