after checking in and showering, i went back to the lobby to wait for my team until they arrived- got to see some friends from last year while i was waiting, like my friend Joel and a couple other teams i'd met last year. i ended up dozing off on the couch and was awakened about 1 am to see Katie and the rest of my team around me. it was such a sweet reunion- i could hardly believe i was finally seeing them again for the first time since AUGUST. it was pretty exciting to say the least, but we didn't catch up too much since we were all exhausted. the next morning we all had breakfast together and we got to see sam, a KCCC STINTer who was STINTing in Osaka. he's so fun- it was great seeing him. after breakfast i gave everyone Japanese headbands that said "Fighting Spirit" in kanji. we all wore them to the first meeting and made a grand entrance. it was kind of awesome. after the meeting we got our first team picture since briefing. matt mikalatos, one of our speakers Midyear, joined in our picture because he secretly wishes he were on our team. 
at the main session i got to see cassie, a girl from USC STINTing in EA, and jared, a guy from USC STINTing in north africa. it was so fun seeing them after so long. 
after every main session, we got to have quiet time on the beach. after 4 extremely busy, stressful, emotional, tense months, it was kind of awesome to just be able to sit and chill with God on the beach. after quiet time, we had "men's and women's time," where we talked about resting (definitely what i needed to hear) after that we had lunch and free time. we had a team meeting as well. then we had a meeting about finances where i almost fell asleep, then main session with candice, one of my favorite Cru speakers. she's so wise but also entertaining. after main meeting we had dinner with our region- PSW (Pacific Southwest). i sat with michelle (my old teammate from last year now STINTing in EA) and a couple guys from Cal Poly SLO named zach and james - it was fun catching up with michelle and also meeting new people. tuesday our morning meeting speaker was krista mikalatos (matt mikalatos' wife) who talked about Ephesians 2 and 4 and unity in the Spirit. during my quiet time, i realized that even though my goal for 2012 was to rest more, i really had no idea how to rest at all. after quiet time we had another speaker named dan higgins who talked about religion vs. the gospel message. then i had a one-on-one lunch time with our coach, laura, where i got to vent out everything from this past year and she gave me some practical ways to process the past few months, learn how to rest and move forward so i could start well in hawaii. i then went and had some alone time on the beach until snack time. then we had our main session meeting and team dinner, where i got to share my life story with the team. wednesday was our day off, so we got to sleep in some and hang out on the beach. a bunch of us got together and played boys vs. girls "flamingo football" - where the boys tie their feet together so they have to hop around. in theory it would be a handicap, but since we were playing on the beach, and it wasn't a ton of running room anyway, and most of the boys had played football at some point before, the girls still lost. which was a bummer, but it was still fun playing and i got to meet a lot of people.
thursday we had our main session meeting with krista mikalatos, who talked about how every person is worth sharing the gospel with and how Jesus promises us that we will do even greater works that He did. after that we had quiet time, and i wrote this down, not hearing it audibly from God, but the words just flowed through my pen:
"look to the ocean and see its vast expanse. I AM greater. look at the sand, too innumerable to count. I AM greater. now look how the waves cover the sand and crash over them and change their shape. so I AM for your sins, your mistakes, your cares and worries. but I AM even more powerful than the waves. now look to the sky. it is the same wherever you go in the world. so I AM. wherever I call you, I AM with you. surely I AM with you always, even to the end of the ages. you must always be ready to go where I call you. but do not fear, for I have great plans for you. rest now in My presence, and learn to wait. put down your yoke, and pick up mine. I love you with an everlasting love, and you are Mine. My greatest gift to you is rest. cease from striving and be with Me. I AM greater than your schedule, greater than your plans; seek My peace, and you shall be glorified. seek My heart, and you shall be sanctified. seek My presence, and you shall be satisfied. seek ye first My kingdom, and My righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. surrender and receive."
after quiet time, matt mikalatos talked about Matthew 13 and what does the soil look like in your culture. that afternoon, we had our second team time where we talked about what it looks like to have a safe STINT environment. then i had a counseling appointment with one of the counselors just to process more of this past year. after that was our main session meeting, where we got to share about Japan/Hawaii on stage, then there was a talk from andy, the national director in EA. afterwards, they had fancy buffet dinner for us at the hotel, and a bunch of us tried to have a dance party for the 2nd year in a row that ended up failing b/c the hotel worker turned the music off on us. sigh. thai people just don't like dance parties apparently. friday's morning session was led by matt mikalatos who went through the book of John and how much God loves us. then we had regional time with the PSW region. that afternoon i played beach volleyball with some of the EA people for the afternoon, and then katie, david, james and i played cards until it was time for meeting. our last evening meeting was mostly worship and prayer, super sweet. then my team, michelle's team and another guy named chris (who is from dallas and STINTing with Athletes in Action in EA) went to the night market for a bit. 
afterward katie, david, james, albert, kylan and i went to the beach to see if we could see the phosphorescent algae like last year. it definitely wasn't as bright as last year but we could still see it. saturday morning i woke up early to see the sunrise on the beach and see off the East Asia teams- michelle's team, jared's team, cassie's team and the SLO team were leaving early, so i said goodbye to them. it was really sad to realize that i didn't know the next time i would see michelle again, unless we both join staff. sam was also there seeing off the other KCCC STINTers, so afterward we went and had breakfast together (twice- in two different locations...we were hungry). then we went and finished packing, then got massages on the beach. it was amazing. then headed back to the hotel and took shuttles to the Bangkok Airport, where we had about a 6 hour wait...definitely reminiscent of last year, where our team spent 12 hours in the airport before our flight.
Midyear was kind of bittersweet- not as restful as i had wished, but a good start for learning how to rest. it was great to finally be reunited with my team, and really fun to see people again from last year and meet new people, but there was definitely a heaviness knowing that it was probably my last Midyear Conference, and after i left Thailand, i would be entering into a completely new phase of life, a new phase of ministry in a completely new location- i wasn't going back to Japan. but before we would go to Hawaii, we would have a 14 hour layover in Korea...that adventure, next!
in order to combine Japan and Hawaii, we started calling ourselves Pacific Islands STINT
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