Mele Kalikimaka

MELE KALIKIMAKA

Merry Christmas in Hawaiian :-)

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Can you believe that 2018 is almost over? Where did the time go? This was the first Christmas that I've been away from family and I did miss them. There was a few of us that weren't able to go home for the holiday's so we hung out  together and made a make-shift family, it was great.

Hula dancers at church

There was one evening Kona had a Christmas Parade downtown. The parade was almost 2 hours long!! I tried to take lots of pictures but as it got darker it made it harder to get clear pictures. However, I think I got a good variety of pictures … hope you enjoy.

Parade MC's, and some of the crowd

I was able to get a seat on a balcony so I had a birds eye view of the parade.

There was a cruise ship docked so the crowd got pretty large

I can't remember exactly how many floats there were, but for the event to last almost 2 hours there were a lot.

Opening banner.

The sun was just starting to set when the parade started so it was difficult to get pictures early on that weren't washed out by the bright light.

There was a short period of time that the lighting was just right for picture taking.

Everyone did a great job decorating their floats

The kids had so much fun, there was lots of candy given out.

As the sun went down the lights on the floats really showed up.

Even some of the church's participated

There was singing and dancing too

Lots to see, this next one was one of my favorites. Definitely in top 5.

This was a train, wish it was clearer

Then the Grand Finale … Santa Clause :-)

I couldn't get a good clear picture, but this set up was really cute. Santa and Mrs Clause even danced for us.

As always I appreciate all prayers and words of encouragement. I'm thankful to be able to follow the calling that God has placed on my life. If you would like to contribute towards either my schooling or a vehicle I have two easy ways to give. If you need a record of your giving for tax reasons you can give through my church by downloading the Givelify App on your phone. Once you have the app on your phone search churches, Orchard Church 763 Battlefield Pkwy. Ft Oglethorpe, GA 30742.

Once you register the church will have a link with my name on it just follow that and my church will forward the funds to me.

Another way is to give through PayPal, just follow this link PayPal.me/THittle

Remember giving through PayPal is not tax deductible.

Hawii's First Church

On the main road in downtown Kona there is a beautiful church, MoKuaiKaua Church, it was the first church in the Hawaiian islands. The church is open during the week for visitors to walk through and enjoy.

The congregation was established in 1820 and the building was erected in 1836.

Sign on the front door

There is a small cemetery in the yard. Family from the founding members are buried there.

The inside is peaceful, it's nice to go in on a hot day and enjoy the shade and peace.

This view is standing in the back looking toward the front

View from the front of the church looking toward the back

There are two stained glass windows, I was only able to get a picture of one because my phone couldn't zoom in close enough to get a clear picture. (have I mentioned that I miss my camera? LOL)

Stained glass window in the church

The vestibule has an area that tells the history of the church. There is a model of the ship that the first missionaries to Hawaii came in.

Thaddeus 

The original church was burned down so the government built a church that could last, the walls were built out of lava rock and are 4 feet thick.

It's hard to see from this picture, the walls are 4ft thick

This church is one of my favorite places to just sit and chill. It doesn't get very crowded and the people that come in are usually quiet and respectful. If I need a quiet place to just sit and talk to God without any distractions this is a great place for it.

As always I appreciate all prayers and words of encouragement. I'm thankful to be able to follow the calling that God has placed on my life. If you would like to contribute towards either my schooling or a vehicle I have two easy ways to give. If you need a record of your giving for tax reasons you can give through my church by downloading the Givelify App on your phone. Once you have the app on your phone search churches, Orchard Church 763 Battlefield Pkwy. Ft Oglethorpe, GA 30742.

Once you register the church will have a link with my name on it just follow that and my church will forward the funds to me.

Another way is to give through PayPal, just follow this link PayPal.me/THittle

Remember giving through PayPal is not tax deductible.

Holiday Season

Since we are in the middle of what most of us refer to as the holiday season I thought it would be fun to share some of my memories from holiday's in other countries. This post is going to be long, but it's mostly pictures.

Thanksgiving in The Bahamas:

Some dishes were "American style" but most were Bahamian 

A great turnout! With plenty of food.

The week of Thanksgiving there was a devastating fire in a Haitian neighborhood so we opened our dinner to anyone who wanted to come. We sent a bus to pick them up and had a really good turnout.

Some of our guests enjoying the food

The language is different but gathering to eat is universal.

Awesome friends and workers!!

Thanksgiving in Thailand

We had amazing cooks!

Thanksgiving is not a holiday that is typically celebrated in Thailand so we had some challenges with getting ingredients for some of our dishes. For instance, we didn't think we were going to be able to have mashed potatoes because we couldn't find potatoes (seriously). It turned into a joke, we sent word out and one family might have 3 and another had 5. We told everyone to bring their potatoes and there were enough gathered to have a huge pot.

No turkey, but it was still good :-) 

Another challenge ended up being meat, initially we couldn't find enough. Brian went on a quest and finally found a place that had 3 cooked chickens and some ham.

Story time for the kids

Missionary families networked together and we had a huge Thanksgiving feast.

Everybody is ready to eat.

Christmas in Thailand

I was able to go home for Christmas but I got to see a lot of the preparation. Most of my time there I was in Khon Kaen.

Decorations in Khon Kaen

Decoration outside of the mall in Khon Kaen

Creed is excited about Christmas

We were able to go to Korat for several days to visit friends there.

The mall there had a winter wonderland on the top floor, it had an ice skating ring and a snow area for the kids to play in. It was cool because they had a snow machine so "fresh snow" was falling.

This was the play area

Not a good view of the skating ring, but it's there

From there we visited friends in Bangkok.

The Garsee family tree

Families combined in Bangkok we had 10 kids to keep up with, so I didn't get many pictures at the mall. If you have a chance look up the mall in Bangkok, it was the biggest shopping mall I have ever been in.

After getting to visit with friends that I hadn't seen in years we headed back to Khon Kaen.

Part of our Christmas celebration was going to the movies

We had a mini (or pre) Christmas celebration before I headed back home, I love this family.

Marybeth and her beautiful daughters

I'm sure I have more pictures from other areas but these were the one's I could find. I've been to some amazing places and I'm thankful that the Lord has given me the opportunities to go. Everywhere I've been I have always been able to get back home for Christmas. Last year I didn't think I was going to make it but everything worked out and I was so grateful.

My first sight of the US, coming home from Thailand

This year will be my first time to be away from family on Christmas … I'm still processing that.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Cor. 12:9)

As always I appreciate all prayers and words of encouragement. I'm thankful to be able to follow the calling that God has placed on my life. If you would like to contribute towards either my schooling or a vehicle I have two easy ways to give. If you need a record of your giving for tax reasons you can give through my church by downloading the Givelify App on your phone. Once you have the app on your phone search churches, Orchard Church 763 Battlefield Pkwy. Ft Oglethorpe, GA 30742.

Once you register the church will have a link with my name on it just follow that and my church will forward the funds to me.

Another way is to give through PayPal, just follow this link PayPal.me/THittle

Remember giving through PayPal is not tax deductible.