Just days after our HIM Marriage Conference ended, Feb. 5th exactly, we were on a plane to the west to speak for the Calvary Chapel of Red Bluff’s (CCRB) first-ever marriage conference. Robert and Abbey Kovacs, who serve on pastoral staff at CCRB, put feet on the vision they had for this conference and pulled it off Feb. 6-8, at Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds (where we will be hosting Family Camp this summer, June 16–20!). The Kovacs did a great job putting together a well-designed program, which included worship, teaching, recreation, and even a game show. Both fun and inspirational, the feedback from the couples was very positive. Hopefully it’s the first of many!
We experienced the beauty of God both in the people and in the majestic redwood forest which hosts this great retreat center. A great start to a long journey!
The conference was sold out and the couples, ranging from young marrieds to older marrieds and everything in between, enjoyed the time of fellowship in this beautiful, set-apart place.
The pastoral staff from Calvary Chapel of Red Bluff were fully supportive and were fully involved in the conference.
Robert and Abbey’s little guy Henry was the youngest attendee of the weekend.
The game show was a huge success . . . even though the men did defeat the women in an unusual outcome of the always rigged score keeping.
We managed a quick cookie decorating session with our grandchildren in Oakland before flying to Oregon for part two of this six-week trip.
The purpose of the trip to Oregon was two-fold: to spend some time with our dear friends and partners-in-ministry, Earl and Sandy Wilson, and to hang out with my sister Melissa and her crew . . . and happily, we were successful on both counts.
Earl and Sandy are co-authors with us and the Paulsons on the book Restoring the Fallen, which proposes the model of forming a “spiritual care team” around a couple whose marriage needs restoring after a major moral failure has happened. The book has been in circulation for almost 30 years now and continues to be a great tool for equipping those who would walk with those committed to redemption. Their marriage was the proving grounds for the concept of spiritual care teams and over thirty years later, their marriage continues to thrive and to be a beacon of hope for many.
Our visit with them didn’t turn out quite as we expected when Sandy received a call from her doctor soon after our arrival, directing her to go to the ER, based on lab work which revealed sodium levels out of range. It was a follow-up to her hospital stay earlier that week, so Paul immediately whisked her off to the hospital and I spent the next several hours visiting with Earl. In the end, we did get to catch up with them, very unconventionally. They both are experiencing health challenges not uncommon for 85-year-olds, but we’re so thankful they’re “still kicking” and God is still using them.
Of course I wanted a photo before Paul and Sandy took off for the hospital, so though awkward positionally and not a great outcome, it serves the purpose, I guess.
A two-hour drive after leaving the Wilsons, we joined my sister Melissa and her son and family in Otis, OR. Corey and Claire are the parents of 8 children, 7 of whom are at home (the oldest is married and mother of two). Corey serves as the pastor of Calvary Chapel of Lincoln City, and Claire is a full-time home-schooling mom. They all love and serve Jesus and it was a true joy to be with them. Our two days with Melissa went by far too quickly, but we managed to get a good walk in Depoe Bay, to visit Corey at his day job, and to visit with the whole family. We thoroughly enjoyed getting a peak into their lives and to fellowshipping with family with whom our hearts beat in sync.
Corey and Claire and their 7, along with my sister Melissa, were consummate hosts to us during our short stay in Otis, OR.
We left chilly Oregon the 13th of February, and our next stop was Kona, HI. Bring on the palm trees!
Aaahh . . . the hypnotizing beauty of the sights and smells of this wonderful place washes over you the moment you step off the plane.
This was the beginning of 4.5 weeks in the Hawaiian islands, as we managed to string together speaking invitations on three islands.
I’m not exactly sure why I feel a need to affirm that we do a lot of work while we’re in the islands, but we do. :) Honest.
I’ll also admit that it would be hard to find a more lovely place in which to work, and the “non-working” times are very vacationesque.
Our every day five-mile walks either happen very early in the morning, or during sunset. We’ll never get tired of these views.
Living Stones Church, Mokuaikaua Church, and Calvary Community Church collaborated and hosted a Valentine’s Marriage Conference, Feb. 14-15. The event started with dinner Friday night, followed by worship and a talk, and continued Saturday morning with breakfast and several talks. Calvary Community Church provided the space on their beautiful grounds and the sold-out, first-of-its-kind event was very successful on all levels. We were very thankful for the joint effort and hope there will be more in the future.
Bill and Pine Barley, who lead Living Stones Church, launched the evening by introducing us. We love partnering with them.
Calvary Community Church has a great facility which worked really well for the event.
The next two weeks on Kona were filled with counseling (about 40 hours for Living Stones and another 10 for HIM), meeting up with friends who have become Ohana, hiking about 100 miles, and keeping our eyes glued to the ocean for humpback whale sightings. Unfortunately for us, when we were watching, they weren’t performing, but we were grateful to see some turtles, monk seals, and a few spouts.
Linda Bartel Dismukes works with YWAM on Kona and we always love connecting with her. She and I were colleagues in college at San Diego State and Paul was our campus minister. That’s a lot of history!!
Our dear friends Gregg and Dina Anderson were vacationing on Kona while were were there, and besides going to church, we enjoyed hiking along the Kohala Coast with them. What a treat to have this serendipitous time with them!
We always have a standing date with this couple we’ve grown to love over the years we’ve been partnering with Living Stones. Bill and Jeanne Fountain are “salt of the earth” servant leaders who are modeling how to make “the second half count” for the kingdom. We are always inspired by them!
Our dear friend Mike Field graciously took us out whale hunting on his sail canoe and I’m not sure there’s a more peaceful way to experience the water. We had a wonderful time and actually did see a few off-in-the-distance whales.
We were invited to give a brief message for Aaron and Bridget’s island wedding reception, hosted by their small group. It’s been a joy to be a part of this small group for several years now and we were very impressed with how they honored this sweet young couple.
Bob and Debi Cary have been hosting us in their Airbnb for several years now and we always love to hang out with them. They are also “salt of the earth”, servant-hearted, very generous people of God and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.
Our time on Kona came to a close on March 1 and we flew over to Oahu to spend a week partnering with the Bible Institute of Hawaii. Rodney Wong is the director of BIH, and we’ve known him and his wife Miki since 1998 when they took our Christian Marriage and Family class at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. What a honor to continue this important relationship and to see how God is using them so powerfully on this island.
Our first evening in Oahu was spent at the Wongs’ home, where they hosted a group of about 30 to have an informal question and answer time on marriage issues. It was a great launch into our time on this island.
Danny and Kyoung-hee Han were at the Wongs’ evening, much to our delight. We became friends with them last year here and it was a joy to reconnect.
The informal evening at the Wongs’ home provided an opportunity to address marriage and family issues.
Sunday, March 2, we were privileged to speak at the Kalihi Union Church. Pastored by Jonathan Steeper, and assisted by Kendal Fong, pastor of connections, we loved being back at this church for the second year in a row. We spoke at all three morning services: a very traditional service at 7:15, an interactive service at 9 (we spoke for 20 minutes and then answered questions texted in for the next 20 minutes!), and a family service at 10:45. All three services were well attended and very responsive.
This church may be the most well-used facility we’ve seen. At least 13 different church bodies use the facility: a Tongan fellowship came in after our last service and a Japanese group at another time. A preschool, a Christian school, various Bible studies, recovery groups, etc., all use this place. On an average Sunday, 1500 people will come to a service at Kalihi Union Church. A very happening place.
Pastor Kendal Fong and Pastor Jonathan Steeper provide godly leadership for KUC.
We had a special evening out with Rodney and Miki Wong and spent hours solving the world’s problems over Korean bbq.
We loved speaking on relationships to the Navigators group from U of H Manoa on Wednesday night. After we presented for about 45 minutes, this great group of students texted in thoughtful questions about this very important area. It was pure joy to be with them for the evening.
A time of worship preceded our talk on relationships.
After many had left, we grabbed this photo with the “remnant."
Ron and Jean Kam lead the Navigators group at University of Hawaii at Manoa and provide godly wisdom for these seeking students.
Friday night and Saturday we did a marriage conference at KUC. Though uncommon, 40% of those attending were single! Most encouraging to us was that of the singles, many of them were college students (invited by Rodney and Miki’s son Josiah!)…all stated they wanted to learn about how to prepare for a Christ-centered marriage. Yes!!
Friday night’s start of the marriage conference. A wide variety of ages and stages, and a whopping 40% were singles!
We’re pictured here with a portion of the single college-aged students who attended the marriage conference—and sat in the front row!!
At the end of the marriage conference, the group prayed over us. What a meaningful way to send us off! So blessed.
And off we were, for the 10th year in a row, to partner with the Kalaheo Missionary Church on Kauai. This annual event is underwritten by Global Algae Innovations (GAI), whose founder and CEO is Dr. Dave Hazlebeck, longtime friend through years of shared family camps. KMC generously hosts the event and invites us to fill the pulpit when we come.
We landed in Kauai Saturday night, March 8, and taught at church on Sunday morning. The congregation has truly become Ohana to us and we were warmly welcome by many familiar, friendly faces.
We were also greeted by our daughter Lisa, who was on spring break from her teaching schedule. The Hazlebecks graciously and generously included Lisa in our accommodations and events throughout the week.
This long six-week trip ended with this “lighter load” week, which included teaching at church, doing a day of counseling, putting on a “Game Show” event for Global Algae Innovations’ staff, and speaking for a marriage and parenting conference on the final Friday and Saturday.
In between, we did lots of hiking, turtle spotting, whale watching, and eating yummy food.
Dave and Debbie Hazlebeck are dear chosen family and make this event happen annually.
We spent a wet morning hiking with our dear friends, Bill and Susan Gates, and were happy that Lisa and Debbie Hazlebeck joined us.
We hiked several more early mornings with Lisa.
The game show at GAI was a big hit!
The competition was between the “Lab” and the “Farm” and the “Lab” came up with the win.
We had a delightful early morning breakfast with our new friend, Sharon, who has spent her life serving others on the missions field. Brought together by our mutual friend, Becky Manley Pippert Molenhouse, we were so happy to have this first time with Sharon.
The Hazlebeck crew put on the marriage and parenting conference and as always, did a fabulous job.
The marriage conference at Kalaheo Missionary Church was well-attended and encouraging.
We love reconnecting with this sweet family every year. Five years ago, they had just come to Christ and were living together unmarried and pregnant with their third child (Jonah, standing in front of his dad). At that time, they believed that marriage was unnecessary, but as new believers, they asked why it sounded like it was important to be married. We had a long conversation with them that evening and they decided to get married the next month. Every year, their growth in Christ is unmistakable and such a great affirmation of the goodness of God. And every year, Sweden makes us the most beautiful leis.
Poipu Beach hosted a record number of sea turtles on this night at sunset—we counted 45!!
We wrapped up on Oahu Saturday the 15th at 1 pm and caught a flight back to Kona for one last hurrah. Kahu Kealoha Kaupua of Calvary Community Church invited us to teach at their Sunday service after we did the marriage conference at his church weeks before and we were delighted to accept the invitation.
And we’re so glad we did. It was a wonderful ending to an amazing 4.5 weeks in the islands, worshiping with a vibrant body of Christ at this church. The time of worship was alive and the time of teaching was as well. The congregation “talks back” and we love that.
Kahu Kealoha and his beautiful wife, Taimane Kaupua, faithfully lead this body with fully surrendered hearts. So grateful for this new partnership.
At the end of that rich time with Calvary Community Church, we were off to the airport for our long flights home. Our tired bodies were lifted by the joy of having seen God work in ways only He can at every one of these opportunities we’ve had these past six weeks. Our hearts are full of gratitude for His faithfulness. We’ve met with a number of couples who, in the midst of struggling and seemingly hopeless marriages, have been met by God who has given them hope. We’ve had dozens of conversations with couples who were encouraged by the conference content and are committed to applying what they have heard. We have prayed with many, that God would give them the breakthrough they need.
From the majestic redwoods, to the swaying palm trees, we have experienced the power and beauty of God. How blessed we are. All praise is His.
