“Today was an amazing day. We welcomed a rad married couple, two kids, eighteen single dudes, and twelve single girls into Call2All DTS, ushering them in to a radical new season of life in Christ Jesus. And we get to walk with them in it.
It was an interesting feeling today, welcoming all these people who we’ve talked to and prayed for over the last few months. Some of them have come with the fire of Jesus burning in their eyes and a passion in their hearts that spills over into even the first conversations I had with them. Others have come hoping for healing, calling, direction. Still others have come with nothing more than expectation to meet with God. Others don’t even know what they’re stepping into in fullness, only that Jesus sounds good and they want to meet him. The Father wants to know them all. Jesus has made a way. The Holy Spirit will empower them. We are all going to fall in love with him, some for the first time, some for the 50th or 500th, but all of us will be drawn deeper into his heart.
I was pondering this today when the realization began to dawn on me all over again that one day we’re actually going to see Jesus face to face. Actually really. Face to face. He’ll be riding a white horse. His name is Faithful and True. And these students will be standing there with us. Face to face. The worship and adoration will be endless because the elation and affection will be (insert superlative here). If you take a minute to just stop and think about it, it’s life-transforming. Seriously though, what a crazy thought.
It makes me want to run well. It makes me want to simply bring them to this Man. Introduce them to my Lover, Savior, Friend. It makes me want to weep and laugh, all at once. This is what we were created for, and this is what they were created for – worshipping the Man, Jesus.
So, let’s be bold, and let’s do it. The Kingdom of Heaven is forcefully advancing!”

Here are a couple fun shots Sharis took of the Gillespies! Enjoy!

Sharis, thank you so much for doing this for us! We love the photos.

Here’s something worth reading if you want to hear a little more about what we’re up to next here in Kona and how some of that unfolded.

So, this April we’re leading a DTS (Discipleship Training School…you can go to www.uofnkona.edu to find out more!) and in Kona each DTS typically has a “focus,” meaning some sort of particular emphasis on a skill, or a geographical region, or maybe a cause. For example, there is a “PhotoGenX DTS” that focuses on developing photography skills and teaches students to use those skills in missions work. Last spring, when Johnny and I were approached to lead a DTS in Kona, we were originally scheduled to lead a “Classic DTS.” Which isn’t exactly a focus. Which sort of makes the above information seem unimportant. Anyhow, we were really quite excited to run a Classic DTS, without a particular focus, because there is so much a DTS offers in and of itself!!

Then at the beginning of this year we had a little surprise come our way. We were asked to lead the “Call2All DTS” instead of the Classic DTS we had been planning on leading. After prayer and a few discussions, we felt led to accept the challenge. It has been a journey, but it is with excitement that we count down the days until April 8th, the Arrival Day for our DTS. Just barely over a week until our students get here! So crazy!

Some people might be curious about what the Call2All focus actually means and what that will look like in our DTS. I could write a ton of stuff about it, but I think for now I’ll just sum it up with a quick piece from their website: “Call2all is a partnership of hundreds of the top missions agencies, denominations, and organizations in the world, including tens of thousands of Christian leaders, all working together and strategizing to complete the Great Commission in our generation. Working together we accomplish what could not be finished if we all act alone.” Call2All was started as a means of networking different organizations to find out exactly what the body of Christ is doing across the nations. It’s a movement that will help us find out more about unreached, unengaged people groups, and help everyone work together to see the entire earth reached with the Gospel. So as we look at doing a Call2All DTS, we’ll be emphasizing a lot of the principles that are used by Call2All. A great resource to find out more is www.call2all.org and you can also just call us up and ask us if you want to know more about what we’re a part of! We’d love that!

Our staff have now arrived (and a few were already here in Kona) and we are all working hard to prepare the school. Welcome baskets, phone calls to students, school binders, door tags, staff meetings… even the menial tasks are thrilling when we think of the lives that will be changed in the months ahead (including our own!). It is an incredible privilege and we look forward to this opportunity with great excitement. Please please please keep us in your prayers. Basically, you could pray anything and we would be blessed. And if you’re the type of person that likes to know specific prayer requests you can read a few below (but it’s most definitely not an exhaustive list)… Thank you everyone for your continued encouragement! We are very blessed!

Please pray…
1) that we would have great faith as we step into this quarter!
2) that the Lord would give us so much wisdom
3) that the students would come, ready to fully engage in every part of DTS
4) for finances…for everyone, our staff and our students. Pray for God’s miraculous provision, but also that we would all be good stewards of the things He provides us with
5) that we would all have good rest leading up to the Student Arrival Day
6) for excellent health in this season!!
7) that all our international students would get the Visas they need to come here!!!

↓ See what I mean??

Ever since John left on Tuesday night for a short trip, she has found opportunity each day to ask me, “Where’s Johnny?” But I think it’s necessary to spell out her phrase phonetically so you can imagine sweet Hadassah asking this question. What she actually says is,”Wayuhz Jawneee?” It’s absolutely, positively, perfectly delightful. And each time I answer her by saying, “He’s in Ohio.” Then she responds by making her best attempt to repeat the name of this state, as she says, “High-ohhh.” This little “Where’s Johnny,” exchange has become my favorite question right now, at least until John returns home on Sunday evening.

As I get ready to climb into bed tonight, I find myself looking forward to tomorrow morning when Hadassah greets me at the breakfast table and asks again, “Wayuhz Jawneee?”

Goodnight everyone!

I just wanted to write about how thankful I am. God has been so good, so faithful, so unchanging. All the good things in my life have come from Him. I am so blessed! I’m thankful for my husband who loves me. I’m thankful for the sun…I love being warm. I’m thankful for Hayashi’s Sushi. I’m thankful for our car here- it’s amazing to have a car. I’m thankful for random unexpected surprises that happen. I’m thankful for the beach at Kua Bay. I’m thankful for Real Simple magazine. I’m thankful for Jeff and Beth and Carter and Elijah who are here in Kona. I’m thankful for washing machines. I’m thankful for grace that has been given to me so generously. I’m thankful for the movie Nacho Libre. I’m thankful for MacBooks. I’m thankful for crisp mornings. I’m thankful for the Bible. I’m thankful for Mexican food. I’m thankful for friendships. I’m thankful for laughter. I’m thankful for family that comes to see us in the airport, even just for a short visit while we have a layover. I’m thankful for God’s faithfulness, His relentless desire to be in relationship with us. I’m thankful for the U.S. Postal Service. I’m thankful for Loren and Darlene Cunningham. I’m thankful for good music. I’m thankful for the DTS Office, where I’m sitting as I write this. I’m thankful for everyone who reads this!

Love to you all!

←Here is a little picture of John in a meeting discussing the Kona DTS department. He’s working hard, along with other leaders, to make important improvements to the DTS program in Kona.

Another photo of John, leading a worship time in the prayer room today.→

Please pray for us when you think of it. There is so much we feel we need to prepare before the DTS we’re leading starts in April, and we need to have wisdom in how to use our time and efforts. And we are also feeling a bit of meeting-overload this week (great things are getting done, but we’re really thankful that not every week is so packed with meetings)!

We love you, and thank you for being part of our everyday lives!

A fun part of our journey home was our layover in San Francisco. Some of our family came and visited us in the airport during a short layover on our way back to Kona, and so of course we had a fantastic picnic lunch in a corner of the United terminal. Mom, Grandma, and our cousin Melissa along with her litle twins Dylan and Samara, brought us In-N-Out for lunch! This was a special occasion for us, because In-N-Out burger does not exist in our remote chain of Hawaiian Islands. It’s tragic. And my husband has been deprived of In-N-Out for most of his life, because he grew up in England. So we take advantage of any opportunity we have to eat In-N-Out. And John simply destroys an animal-style double-double cheeseburger! My dad also came to see us at SFO, and he treated us to Starbucks and brought us a bag of Hershey’s candies. He knows me too well! We had such a great visit with everyone who came to see us, and felt honored that people would make the trip to San Francisco to come hang out with two weary travelers for a little bit!

Now that we’re back it’s full speed ahead! We’ve got a lot to do to get ready for the April DTS we’re leading. Pray for us when you think of it, and stay tuned for more!

Throughout our short time in Colorado, I had been seeing these hideous/crazy/hysterical/HUGE white Valentine’s Day stuffed bears, holding a big red heart, being sold on the side of the road in honor of the holiday. Now, to be silly, I kept telling John that I really desired one of these “adorable” creatures. He and I joked back and forth about it for a couple days…but then I awoke on the morning of Valentine’s Day…to be greeted by the “Gorilla of Love,” as Johnny called it! Ha! Check out the picture below…

Mr. Gorilla is pictured beside another primate, who was purchased by Juan-Pablo for his wife, Sofia (one of the couples we stayed with while we were in Colorado).

Nothing says “I love you,” like an oversized stuffed animal, right? I have a very funny, very wonderful husband. Now, it is important to mention that he did write me a really amazing, encouraging, loving card, and we went out for a delicious dinner that night. It was really a fun Valentine’s Day. And a little silly, which I appreciate!

We hope all of you found fun ways to spend Valentine’s Day with people you love. I’d like to hear if anyone got a gift that they think can beat my “Gorilla of Love”…? Probably not.

Earlier today we also got to visit the Denver YWAM base and see our friends Temp and Christina. They were previously on staff with us in Kona and we haven’t seen them since 2008. Now they work with YWAM in Denver and have a little one-year-old son that we got to meet today. So wonderful how God continues to bring us opportunities to go deeper into relationship with friends, despite distances.

Tomorrow sometime we’ll head to Vail to see Pablo and Sophia for a couple days. They are both native mexicans, so we’re holding tight to their promise that they’ll make delicious mexican food for us when we get there. I know Johnny will be dreaming about tacos tonight!!

We are really loving this trip. I’ll write more about our time in England soon and post some photos too, but basically it was a fantastic time to reconnect with our british pals.

Well, I’m going to sign off for now, but sleep well everyone and dream of good mexican food tonight!

Love, jenni

Our last visit to England was in September/October 2008, just after our dear friends Liam and Rachel were married in Scotland. We had a few days in England and then we flew back to Kona just a few weeks before our own wedding. All that to say, this will be our first time in England as Mr. & Mrs. John and Jenni Gillespie! (But to be truthful, my passport still says my maiden name, Larsen…we definitely need to get that changed soon!)

Hope you are all well, and if you’re in England we’ll be seeing you soon!

Love,

J & j