#Ywammaui2k16 

Mahalo friends and family,
I have had a pretty busy and amazing first week here in Maui.  I was so excited to finally arrive. It was dark so I couldn’t really see anything, but it was warm, I was in Hawaii, and that’s all that mattered. I walked to baggage and while waiting  someone came up to me from my plane and asked if I was doing YWAM DTS. I said yes and she said her name was Emmy. Emmy was my first friend and she is from Stockholm, Sweden. After about 5 minutes I saw someone who I found on Facebook and talked on the phone with a few times, Rachel. She ran towards us and gave us each a hug and offered us a Krispy Kreme. I had never been so excited to eat a donut in my life. We all sat and talked and waited for a few others to get off their plane. Once  we were all together we were directed to a big white van that would be our means of transportation throughout the rest our time in Maui.
Some of us were hungry so we stopped to get a bite to eat.  We sat around the table at McDonald’s and discussed  how we heard about YWAM Maui.

We finally arrived at the base/house (my new home) and I was exhausted after my 19 hour day. The house is located in a little town called Haiku. I met some of the girls and decided I wasn’t ready for bed. My bunkmates name is Katie. Katie is from Winnipeg, Manitoba which is in Canada. I’ve actually learned ALOT about Canada this past week.  There are 11 girls that share my room. The room is made up of bunk beds and I have a bottom bunk.  There is also a second room for the girls.  Lots of girls on this mission.

I’ve never gotten along with so many girls so soon. I knew I was going to like it here.

The next two days we sat around and waited for the other students to come. There are 26 of us altogether.

Saturday night we had orientation. Here is where my mom blogged about the exodus.  We walked into a church and had a time of worship and the director came and talked for a bit. Then at the end said that at 7am we had to be ready for our adventure…Exodus. We had a list of things to bring with us. The clothes we were wearing, some under garments and swimsuit.   No bathroom stuff:  deodorant, toothbrush or face wash. We weren’t going to be taking showers…Yikes!   This was to prepare us for outreach when we go overseas. For me it was more of a bonding time with my new family.

We arrived at a field and got into 6 groups to start a scavenger hunt throughout Maui. In my group was Kassidy from California, Alethea from Texas, and Gabe from California. We had to walk everywhere or hitchhike a ride from someone which is totally legal here so it was super weird to do. We started at 8:00 and ended at 12:30. We ended up not being able to get a ride and had to call for someone to come and get us, so to those who say it’s easy to hitch a ride…it’s not! Haha

Later that night we pitched our tents. the view was amazing.  We could see the volcano named Haleakalā and of course the ocean was in full view as well. At some point I hope to hike Haleakala. Later that night we filled our stomachs with ramon noodles and some of us shared our testimonies.

The next day we swam in the ocean. We also went cliff diving. IT WAS SO COOL!

Over the next few days God was very present to me. We had a time set aside for some quiet  bible/prayer time and later everyone got to share their testimonies.  We played games, broke bread together and laughed and talked a lot.  It was truly a time of bonding and I loved every minute of each day.  After 3 days we returned to the church where we were the night before we started. Staff and other SBFM members who did not participate in the ‘exodus’ were all dressed up and cheering for us as we entered (dirty and smelling pretty nasty).   Everyone prayed for us and I had the honor of having Anna wash my feet and pray for me. It was awesome!

The next day the staff gave us the names of 4 countries: Bangladesh, Philippians, Thailand, and Indonesia and we had to let them know which one we felt we wanted to spend our 3 months serving in.  We were given time to pray about our choice.  I still have no idea. Wherever they send me I’ll be fine with it knowing that is where I am suppose to be. I am so excited to begin this journey.

I have a prayer request:  I don’t know what my plans are after my DTS program but please pray God will continue to guide my decisions.

If you would like to send me a letter or anything my address is…
Rachel Byham

PO Box 790237

Paia, HI 96779
I would LOVE to hear from you ❤️

I love you all thank you so much for your support. It means a lot to me!!

Rachel