God's Goodness

I am so blessed today, Mission Builders is such a rewarding ministry! Some might wonder why I would call a volunteer program a ministry, well let me tell you why. We have hundreds of people coming to serve the University by volunteering their time to cover our basic needs area like the kitchen or construction and maintenance, all of which bless us as a campus greatly. But the true joy for me is seeing these people come and be transformed for God. Let me give you an example. Tuesday we had our weekly goodbyes where those returning home, give a little testimony of their time here with us. One young man shared that he was returning home to go back to university and then he adds to pray for him because God has called him to start a House of Prayer in his city! Isn't that amazing? Never have I heard a young college age guy say that he needs pray because he is going home to start a house of prayer in his city. God is so good!

Another one that shared tonight told how much her life had changed and how when she came she was under all sorts of lies of Satan, but now she knew the truth and she wasn't going to believe them anymore. She has decided that she is going to take the next year off of school to study the Bible because she doesn't know it well and knows that its important. She is only 18! It truly is amazing to watch these young (and older) people come to this program, serve 8 hour days, five days a week and leave sharing the testimonies of all that God is doing in their lives. It is a privilege to be a part of this change and to see the work of God in the lives of those who serve us so faithfully. We are truly blessed to be able to lead and direct this program. 

I just wanted to do a little update on our fun times so far this year! So here are some pictures from Ezekiel's 2nd Birthday party and just some fun around campus. I hope you enjoy!

                                The Mission Builder Dodgeball team!

Ezekiel enjoying a day at the Beach

This is all of the staff here in Kona Hawaii. Good luck finding us in the mass but I am wearing a black shirt in the picture :)Our little Ezekiel isn't so small anymore and he loves the beach!

Andrea & Steph enjoying Ice Cream after a hard day of cleaning around Hale Ola where we live.

All of our Mission Builders crew during our BBQ after a hard day of cleaning.

It is almost the holidays and it’s been a great year. We are now working with the Mission Builders program on campus and it has been an amazing reward. Mission Builders are all such amazing people who desire to come and serve with no expectation for personal gain but simply to be blessing. We have been amazed to work with all of these wonderful men and women and of course our staff too! We have three ladies who are on staff with us and they are great, without them we could never lead this ministry. They cover all the bases from pastoral care to caring for our facilities and prayer and worship. It’s been a learning experience in leadership and in what we need to be doing to be good leaders. It has also been a learning process to make sure that we are also doing what we need to be doing in order to be good parents too! God has been so faithful to us through and we are completely astonished by God in this season.


Recently we had a wonderful woman of God come to our base and spoke for three days to us. Her name is Landa Cope; you may have heard her before but if you haven’t you should. Her teaching style could be described as being in your face in order to make you think, or as she herself put it, “hurt you in order that you may be healed.” One thing that she talked on was unconscious incompetence. Basically if I could put it in just a few words, it was that we are all incompetent in our knowledge of God and righteousness. We really don’t understand how much of God we don’t understand and that we often make the most mistakes because we think that we understand Him when we really do not. Surprising as it is to write, upon hearing that word, I realized that God was already working that same idea in my own head. Often times, I think that I understand who God is and I think that I am starting to “get it” but then just like that, I realize that I don’t truly “get it” I am totally and completely off the mark. This has been even more so since beginning our journey in Mission Builders. I realize that although we are doing well and things are all being taken care of, I am still not “there” yet. However, the best thing now, is that I know I am not there yet, and I can just move towards God the best I know how, and be confident that He will continue to show me how I am progressing and where I need to do it more. It sure is good to work with God.

Our time here...

It is already midterm here in Kona for this last quarter of the year. Time has flown by very quickly and we are amazed as we look on the calender as Thanksgiving is only three weeks away. Ezekiel has flourished here in this tropical weather, growing an inch each month and putting on the pounds even faster. We have seen God do some great and mighty things among us here on campus. Week after week, we have seen God challenge us as a campus as well as the entire body of believers, to live a life of purity and righteousness before him. We are so excited about being apart of this base, just this last week, there has been great things happening. To mention a few, there was a team who went out into the community to prayer for some locals and one of them ended up requesting to come back here to our coffee shop on campus with a friend of his to learn more about God, and that night they both gave the hearts to God. Its awesome to see that we aren't just sending people out to other places to do this work but we are being apart of reaching out to this community here in Kona. Another amazing testimony is that Monday morning during a prayer time for one of the classes, they were praying for an older gentleman who was so hard of hearing he had to wear hearing aids, and during that prayer time, God completely restored his hearing after 18 years of being hard of hearing! We do serve a God that heals us!!! So these are just some of the stories we are apart of by serving and working here and you are apart of them too as our friends and supports. So thank you and rejoice in the work of the Lord.

Confessions of the Soul

Recently, I read in a book that there is no addiction so powerful as self-addiction. This statement hit my heart with a sledgehammer, see I have always prided myself in the idea that I am not an addictive person. Yes, I have my habits but I do not become addicted. But when I read this statement, God convicted me so strong, it became tangible. I felt it surround my heart and mind, suddenly realizing that I am an addict; I am addicted to myself. Philippians 2:3,4 has become my prayer, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." I have found the grace of God and have been encouraged to change. Daily I work to lose a part of this selfish addiction. I lay down my rights to myself, and everytime I want to complain or have a selfish thought, I stop and thank God for something I have. I have found that cultivating a heart of gratefulness in all that I have, looses the grip of selfishness in my heart. Everyday, I let go of spending time the way I want to spend it and instead let God chose the best use of my time. Here is another thing God has told me, in order to truly love others, you have to be willing to sacrifce your time. In America, we have a saying that time is money, which is true, it is the strongest currency we have, so my challenge to myself is where have I have been spending that currency. For Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, "Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be." Time is a treasure so where am I spending that treasure, on things that matter, which for me I have come to know that all that matters are people. This is my confession and I hope that it challenges and encourages you today.

Safely in Hawaii

I am sitting here amid half-empty suitcases and half-full cupboards, yes, we made it to Hawaii and it has been an interesting ride. We left Colorado a week ago today and traveled to Sin City which we left quickly and made our way towards the ocean, California to be exact, where we spent several days with my Grandfather who is not only aged but also been afflicted by numerous illnesses which could claim him at any moment. It was wonderful to spend a few days with him, acquainting him with Ezekiel who took very kindly towards him. We then travelled back to Sin City where we once again made our escape this time our destination would be this Island Paradise. Our travel time from getting on the airplane in Las Vegas until we landed in Kona was nine and a half hours. Despite the many hours, Ezekiel did wonderful and was the lest tried. We did have some of an adventure after landing, as it seemed that we landed in a third world nation instead of the famous paradise island. See there was some miscommunication and we did not have a room to stay in when we first arrived so the first empty room found became our temporary home. Additionally, there have been electricity problems on base since the day of our arrival with multiple power outages and therefore a lack of hot water. Needless to say, it has been a test of our patience and expectations. However, we have since been moved to our semi-permanent room, which I will say was worth waiting for as it has a small tub perfect size for Ezekiel's baths as well as a walk in closet, (nothing like what most of you are imagining but great for YWAM standards). So there is nothing to complain about and we are excited to be apart of the campus here as there are great things happening. The Greek School is expecting five students for sure with one student wanting to come but uncertain due to visa issues, so you can keep him in your prayers.
God was amazingly gracious to us and provide us with enough for our immediate needs here and we are trusting him for the coming months.
Ezekiel is already eating us out of everything we have, his appetite surprises me every meal. He is already the talk of the campus as we have many strangers telling us how adorable he is and how they have told their friends about him, already Mr. Popular.
Thank you all for the great support you have given to us and for all of the prayers you have prayed on our behalf, they have been answered in might ways.
As you continue to pray for us, please would you consider these needs? We are still without any form of transportation and that has become quite difficult when trying to keep up on diapers and formula for an actively growing boy. So if you could please pray that God would provide us with a vehicle that is easy to maintain and cheap. Also we are hoping to find a church here that we will be able to be active in and enjoy and so will you pray with us that God leads us to the Church he desires for us to be at. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and for us continued relationship with us. We would love to hear from you all, we will place our new address at the end of this update and our cell phone numbers have not changed so please feel free to call us anytime.
Thanks for taking time to read this and staying updated on our life!

Joseph and Meleah Ouedraogo
University of the Nations
75-5851 Kuakini Hwy #15
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-2199