into all nations

Project Ethiopia

2008-09-26T21:34:00.004+02:00

This is a photopresentation I made for a school in Holland, where my father-in-law teaches. This and some posters that I made are being used to inspire the students to raise a lot of money for the projects that are mentioned in the video. I'm thinking of translating it into english also. If you'd like me to do that, drop a comment.

BTW: a lot of things have happened since the last post. It's been crazy. From Karine being in the hospital in Switzerland to having a baby in Holland, I'll post this later. It's one of those things you know, where you know you should tell people about it and then more happens and more and the story becomes longer and longer and you keep postponing the emailing and blogging. Well... euhm... yeah soon, probably... I'll write some more.

are we there yet?

2008-07-13T20:35:00.002+02:00

Yes, we are here. Burtigny, Switzerland. Reunited with our own pillows and duvet, our guitar, our room... we are happy.. and tired. We had a good trip from Le Gault la Foret to here. As always on long drives we played our travelversion of Trivial Pursuit music from the nineties till now. Even though Johnny still wins, Karine is getting better and better. Maria Elisabeth slept a lot. The only bad part was that a certain road was closed and we had to follow a deviation that took like an hour extra. The scenery was nice though, it was just before we crossed the border to Switzerland.

So, we're here and there's a lot of unpacking to do, painting, furnishing, etc, but it will be in the place where we will stay for at least three years! What a thrill after all the traveling we have done.

Finally Burtigny

2008-07-09T16:29:00.002+02:00

Still no visa, but yes, according to our leaders in Burtigny, there is a new law or something, that enables us to come to Switzerland. We'll have to report our presence at the local commune office within 8 days, that's all.

So, after finishing up, cleaning etc. here we will leave for Switzerland next tuesday! We are looking forward to settling down in our own place, finally creating a home for the next years.

At the same time we're a little sad about leaving this place here. It's been a good time and a good place to rest, work and learn French. Karine's parents have been spending a few days of their vacation with us here. With them watching Maria Elisabeth for a day, we had the opportunity to visit Paris again, this time as lovers in the city of love. We had a great day. Romance was in the air. It was a while after midnight that we came home, Maria Elisabeth was sleeping with Karine's parents. We will miss Paris a lot, one of our absolute favorite cities.

So, for now, let's trade Paris for Geneva and move to Switzerland.

hanging in there

2008-06-30T10:02:00.002+02:00

Yep, we are still in France.

We had a good weekend during the 30th anniversary of YWAM France. It was still difficult though to speak french. It takes a lot of time to learn a language well enough that you can have conversations. After the weekend we had two friends from Holland visiting, Jeftha en Pieter, who were on their way to the south of France. We all went into Paris on tuesday and had a good time. On the way back I got to practice my french again, since I got us a little lost. Getting into Paris without a map is one thing, but then getting out (and trying to take a faster road) is another. And I have to say, asking directions in french went pretty good, even though we still didn't get onto the right road untill I bought a map...

We're still waiting, hoping, praying that our visa will come soon. No news yet.

Time for languagestudy,

later,

Johnny

Vive de la France

2008-06-17T22:55:00.002+02:00

Well,

we have arrived in France, Le Gault - La Foret. Close to Sezanne, not too far from Paris. We continue to wait for our visa. This afternoon we sat in the grass behind the building here, studying french, playing with Maria Elisabeth on the swings. This weekend is the 30th anniversary of YWAM France, here at this very base. I will be making photos, while another guy will be shooting video-footage.

I, Johnny, made my wife a very nice meal tonight. A salad consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and chicken. Some extra grilled/baked chicken and potatoes with cream and cheese from the oven. Why am I telling you this? Well... so you know I'm taking care of my beautiful wife. Where was Maria Elisabeth? Sleeping in her stroller. When she woke up she only wanted to eat some bread. We ate the whole meal outside, enjoying the nice weather and tall trees that surround our old French building.

Tonight, we tried to watch the Holland-Romenia soccergame. At the same time France played Italy. Which pretty much means that every TV in the whole freakin' country is showing that game. Since there is no TV around here that has a satelite connected, to get us the right game, we tried to watch it on the internet. Not very succesfull either. The Dutch website that shows the game recognised us trying to watch from France and didn't allow it. So we tried to listen to the radio and eventually found some weird website that showed the game. It was heavily pixelated and behind, a minute or something. In the meantime Maria Elisabeth was giving us a hardtime, not wanting to sleep, but also not wanting to enjoy this game with us. Pfff.. what an evening. At least the Dutch boys did good and scored twice against the Romenians.

Italy won from France, so we are not really surrounded by verry happy people here.

It's time for me to join my wife and child in bed.

Later, tater,

Johnny

breaking the silence

2008-06-15T17:59:00.002+02:00

Allright,

after a few months of silence I want to give you a quick overview:

- I finished the school of photography. It was great.

- end of March we traded Hawaii for Holland, and with that warm for cold weather

- we were all sick for three weeks out of exhaustion

- we said goodbye to church, friends and family and then found out the day before that our visa still hadn't arrived

- we've been waiting for weeks now, living with my inlaws, frustration has grown to a new level

- we will continue to wait for our visa in France, on a YWAM-base called "Le Gault - La Foret", do some volunteering and work on our french

- we leave tomorrowmorning

- from now on the blogging wil continue and not stop!

Johnny

Maria Elisabeth

2008-03-18T08:40:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago Johnny went on a 2-day fieldtrip. While he was gone, Karine made a little movie clip of Maria Elisabeth so Johnny could see what she'd been doing. We thought the grandparents might like it to...

Good news...

2008-03-16T06:33:00.005+01:00

The school of photography is so good, Hawaii is beautiful and Maria Elisabeth is going to be a great big sister. Yes, I (Karine) am pregnant! We are very happy and excited about it. So far we think that he/she will be born in October.

At the moment it's extremely busy here. Johnny is working on the 'final project' for which he has to take 40 color photos and 20 black/white. The assignment is due thuesday and friday the school will have an exhibition where all the students are going to show some of their best pictures.

We'll keep you posted,

Karine

around the island

2008-02-29T20:48:00.005+01:00

Today is the 29th of february, that doesn't happen a lot, so let's use this occasion to blog. Last tuesday and wednesday all students and staff were packed into two big vans to drive around the island and shoot (a lot of) pictures. Drive for 30 minutes, get out and shoot for 30 minutes, drive 60 minutes, shoot 20 minutes, drive, shoot, drive, shoot, etc. On www.flickr.com/photos/johnnykoster I posted some of my favorites of this trip. I'll put one pic on here also, just to brighten the place up a little after posting those scary bald guy photos.

Johnny

before - after

2008-02-25T20:25:00.004+01:00

Dolphinjourneys

2008-02-19T04:41:00.007+01:00

Hi there,

it's been awhile, my bad.. To make it up: some photos!! For a photojournalistic assignment I joined a swimming-with-dolphins-out-on-the-ocean-ship. Actually, it's a long story.. how God provided, how I threw up, how film developed and was blank, how I came back to shoot again, how amazing it to conquer your secret fear of the deep blue sea, and how cool dolphins are, but.. I gotta spend some time with my wife and kid now. First things first right? So if you are really interested I can do some storytime later, but for now I'll refer to www.flickr.com/photos/johnnykoster where you can see some more pics in this series. Enjoy,

Johnny

Ps God is good!

we are staying!!!

2008-02-02T02:43:00.000+01:00

Yes, we are staying and I'm finishing the School of Photography! God is good. He provided for us to stay. Partly, through donated money and partly through getting the fees down. A couple from my class came to us yesterday telling that there was an opportunity for Karine to work for the Preschool, 10 hours a week, cleaning and stuff like that. This means that we pay a lot less. The remaining money we owed got paid through supporters and a fundraiser we had last night with our class. After the weekly " Gathering " we sold brownies with icecream to raise funds for those who were still lacking. So, God provided and we can stay, isn't that great? There is still one prayerpoint. Karine is teaching/tutoring a Dutch girl, daughter of friends of us who are doing a CDTS on the base right now. I think we've mentioned that before. She does it in the morning, during foundation school, and usually also in the afternoon. The job is also in the afternoon though. We deeply regret that Karine can not teach Kimberly (that's her name) in the afternoon anymore. On the other side, if we had to leave Kona, she couldn't teach her at all anymore. So, if God wants Karine continue to keep teaching in the afternoon, He needs to provide for at least 2300 during this weekend. So pray for us and the situation, esspecially for Kimberly and her parents, that if it is Gods plan for Karine to work as staff at the preschool, that He will also take care of them and show them His plans and purposes.

God is so good, faithful and true. He is alive and powerful!

Johnny

p.s. Today we had the assignment to go out and shoot a photo based on a word we got. Mine was "power". This is the result:

Countdown!

2008-01-31T20:20:00.000+01:00

In 6 hours and 9 minutes the finances office will close (3.30pm) That is when the rest of the schoolfees are due. God has provided for a lot of money allready. We still need 3150 dollar though!!! So, if you read this in time, please pray with us for miracles. If we don't have the money, I cannot continue the school, and we have to be gone by monday (!). That is what we have been told.

But... we know God called us here and that He is has provided so far. We also know that He is faithful and has all the power to do even beyond what we can imagine. So, get involved in this mircle and pray with us!!

If anyone of you have recently send us a cheque (to Kona) or will send one, please let us know by email so we can proof to the finance dept. if any money is coming.

Strangely, I'm not really in panicmode, I'm actually quite peaceful. I just cannot imagine that I won't this school. I am learning so much and God keeps confirming the things I will/can do on the missionfield with all of this.

By the way: We are now working on assignment 5 & 6, but we just got ass. 3 back (1&2 were writing assignments, so this was the first photo-ass.) and I had 18 out of the possible 18 points, 100%!! That hardly ever happened in highschool or college...

I'll report back to you tomorrow (or sooner). Thanks for praying!

Johnny

2008-01-28T07:53:00.000+01:00

Hi there,

Days are passing fast, real fast. We're getting more assignments in the school and we're still learning a lot. One of the assignment was to shoot a picture of one of the fruits of the Spirit. I chose patience and shot the photo on the right. A guy is patiently waiting to go up the stairs to the foodline, while people are passing him by. Later on I decided that the result was not good enough for the assignment so I used a different photo. I did like the result though, esspecially after editing it in Lightroom. The photo is taken with a slow shutterspeed and high aperture, to create a movement and deep Depth-of-Field. I'm pretty proud of this picture actually. You will soon be able to see the other photo, that I did turn in, on www.flickr.com/photos/johnnykoster

Talk to you later,

Johnny

panning

2008-01-25T10:50:00.001+01:00

panning, originally uploaded by johnnykoster.

For an assignment we had to shoot motion photos, like blurred, frozen or, in this case, panned. The camera is following Maria Elisabeth down the slide. Isn't she cute?

The Hammer, starring: Johnny Koster

2008-01-22T20:26:00.001+01:00

This movie is made by our friend Paulo as an assignment for the school of digital communications in Burtigny.

2008-01-21T20:30:00.000+01:00

Ok, as we are now in our third week in this school, we're getting past the basics and tasting a little bit of the advanced stuff. For me at least it's getting harder. We learned some stuff about the history of photography, composition (which was really good for me, I learned a lot), aperture, shutterspeed, etc. Now we're getting taught about using your camera to meter light and then use what you learn about the amount of light to set the camera in manual instead of using automatic lightmetering and shutterpriority or apenturepriority. We're also changing the customsettings of our camera so we get more control. I'm not sure if I'm totally on track with everything, but I'll consult some more-experienced fellow students, see if they can explain some more.

It feels good to be in a school. I like learning and being in a creative environment, it's stimulating. At the same time I do realise I have to keep my focus. It's really different to be in school, while having a wife and kid, trying to get some excercise, build some relationships with the people around you, you need to be focused and set priorities. So that's what I'm doing. But don't worry, I'm still enjoying myself.

Johnny

new flickraccount

2008-01-18T09:04:00.000+01:00

Check out my latest pictures on:

www.flickr.com/photos/johnnykoster/

blog you later,

Johnny

(I did not make this photo!)

2008-01-09T22:03:00.000+01:00

One of the first assignments for S.O.P. was to get two pictures that you think are really great.

The one above is one of my choices. A powerful photograph of a lone Jewish woman defying Israeli security forces as they remove illegal settlers in the West Bank. (Made by Oded Balilty of Associated Press. It won the Pulitzer price in 2007 for Breaking News Photography)

Photo of the day

2008-01-09T08:26:00.000+01:00

From now one I will post pictures that I take here, under the title "Photo of the day". Not everyday, but often.

This first one was shot tonight at the Ohana-court on base. This place functions as a basketballcourt, skate-area, gatheringplace, classroom or whatever, depending on which evening of the week it is. Me and some classmates were walking around, trying to get some good shots.

It would be great if you could give me some feedback. On this one and on the futere ones. Thanks!

Day one

2008-01-08T08:54:00.001+01:00

So, day one is over. A lot of introductionstuff and some teaching about the risks that your cameragear faces. Some funny stories about what people experienced with things that went wrong, well, not so funny when it happens to you.

Also not so funny: at dinnertime today we were sitting with another student and her husband and child. She had some red hot sauce on her plate. At a certain point we got distracted and Maria Elisabeth used the opportunity to put some of the sauce in her mouth. When we noticed she was screaming and red stuff was coming out of her mouth, aaahhh!!! It scared us to death. After a few seconds we realised that it was not blood but sauce and tried washing her mouth out with water. In the meantime, I, Johnny, was holding her while she was puking all over me, screaming and crying offcourse. Both Maria Elisabeth and me were covered in all that she just had eaten. Not so funny, and also kinda sad for her.

By the way, I worked in the kitchen all weekend. A lot of work, but at least I can focus on school and other things for the coming days, without workduty. The kitchen, at least in the weekend, is run by a Hawaiian, named Sam. He is a big guy, has got long black hair and a great personality. He has a ukelele, which he and another kitchenguy both play. After work I played a little bit on it and yesterday Sam lend it to me to use for this time. He only needs it when he has a concert. Sweet!! So now I'm jamming away, and I'm not that bad. Well, it is an easy instrument, that helps.

In the picture you see Karine standing on the walkway next to our door. In the distance you can see a little glimpse of the ocean. As you can see, there is a parkinglot on that side of our building. On the other side we have a balcony, looking out over a central area between the buildings, with the diningarea on the side. It's nice, real nice and we feel very privileged and happy with our balcony. In Holland we would say it's " gezellig". I made a picture of this side too but I can't seem to upload it.

Today I got interviewed too! University of the Nations Kona (where we are) has a quarterly magazine called Transformations. There will be a piece about a few international students in the next issue. So, more attention for me, haha. With the help of Karine I took my own picture which will be posted with the article. So that kinda means that that will be my first photo appearing in a magazine! Or is it Karines photo (eventhough I framed it and adjusted the settings, she pushed the button)? Well, all glory to God anyway. Speaking of God; He is so good to us. I never chose this school for the place/setting. The fact of it being in Hawaii only made it harder to raise support (which we still need a lot, but I'll write more about that later, if I have the boldness). But now that I'm here I do have to admit that I like it a lot. The heat and humidity are not my favourites, but the blue skies, the palmtrees, the oceanview and the general relaxed atmosphere are. So thank You God, You go above and beyond to bless us and You are faithfull, to give and supply according to what you call us for, and even further, loving on us. All glory to You, the One that we love so much.

Johnny

Hawaii

2008-01-06T08:35:00.000+01:00

Aloha

We made it! After the hotel in L.A. we got back to the airport. Since we were on standby for the 9.00am flight we had to be there on time. Just before 8.00 am we discovered there was an incredible line to go through security! Ahh!! A slow moving line I might say, so we prayed if God could do some sort of miracle. A few minutes later a securityguy told all us people in line that there was another place to go through security downstairs (I had allready found out that one was crowded too), with the result that 3 out of every 4 people left to go downstairs. So suddenly we had our miracle!! After that we got into the 9.00am flight to Kona, which was actually overbooked and had several people on standby, another miracle. Glory to God!

Arriving in Hawaii was nice, real nice. We got a ride from somebody picking up a student from another YWAM-school. On the base we were immediately sucked into registration and only had time for a 1-minute-shower before I had my first meeting with the S.O.P.-class. In the evening we unpacked our suitcases. A few hours later, at 5.20am (!!) I had to start workduty. 13 out of the 16 people of my class are working every other weekend in the kitchen, serving food to the hundreds of people here. Breakfast, sacklunchstuff, diner, it pretty much keeps us busy a large amount of the day. Tomorrow same routine, so you're lucky I even took the time to write this. But then again; I'm lucky you are taking the time to read it... so you're welcome and thanks!

There are a lot of gecko's around here, you can see one in the picture. A lot of ants too. If you leave any food anywhere they find it within minutes (or seconds?...), so I hung a bag on the wall to fool them. Didn't work, we discovered a trail of ants going up one wall, crossing the ceiling, down the other wall, straight to the bag. So I killed all of them with a desinfectant spray (don't ask).

I'm excited for this week!! I'll keep you posted.

Later,

Johnny

stranded

2008-01-04T07:40:00.000+01:00

Holiday Inn, L.A. That's where it's at... Or, that's where we are. Flying from Kansas City to Denver onto Los Angeles. That last flight got delayed an hour, not a really big deal. However... we only had 30 min. to switch planes, you do the math...

So, they put us in this hotel, not really bad. It beats sleeping at the airport. There's no guarantee that we'll get a flight tomorrow, but we're standbye for the 9.00am flight to Kona, so let's pray we'll get in (originally we got bumped up to Economy Plus, let's hope God will extend that blessing to tomorrow. It's been tough traveling with Maria Elisabeth, without an extra chair or extra space, esspecially since she's been feverish). Who knows, we might even taste the sweet life in First or Business Class (if you're believing/praying for grace and favour, why not go all the way?).

Too bad we're missing some stuff tomorrow like base orientation.

See ya,

Johnny

ps Here's a picture of the Onethingconference. I guess some pictures now and then will do this place good.

another packingsession

2008-01-03T06:18:00.000+01:00

it's time to go again. Tomorrow morning we will be flying to Hawaii to the School of Photography. We're flying through Denver and L.A. and will arive in Kona at 8.14pm. Somehow all three of us are kinda sick. Maria Elisabeth even has a bit of a fever, so sad.

Real strange, after all the stress and business, I still can't believe we will be in Hawaii... I tried to look forward to it, but the money we'll have to pay and the unrealness of the whole situation is not really helping. Not that I'm not excited, I think I am, but it's just strange.

Being sick and very tried hasn't helped with writing this post, as you can read it's all kinda vague. Sorry. Hopefully the future will bring some clarity.

We'll miss our friends here in Kansas City. Besides the Masseys, with whom we were staying, we also met with the de Zwaans, a family from the Netherlands. Egbert & Henny de Zwaan work with YWAM in Central Asia. Their daughters Nathalie & Jessica work here at the International House of Prayer. Just after we got married we lived in a place owned by Egbert & Henny, before leaving to Kansas City ourselves. It's been fun to see them again here.

I really have to go and sleep now. Bye,

Johnny

Well, I guess "happy newyear!" would be the only option for a title right now, so: "happy newyear"

2008-01-02T06:41:00.001+01:00

Yes, may your year be blessed and full of crazy adventures.

A little update might be in place;

A few weeks ago we left Switerland, by plane since our car had passed away, and spent a few days in Holland. We celebrated Maria Elisabeths birthday with our families, had Christmas with the Kosters, Christmas with the Schuijns, connected with some friends, and were mostly busy and stressed with the many things we had to accomplish, those few days between Switzerland and Hawaii. I have to admit, I did not get everything on my list done. Blogging was one of them, as you might have noticed. But we're back and here to stay!

Right now, we're staying with friends in Kansas City, USA, to get over the jetlag a little, rest, have some fun with our friends and we also visited IHOP's Onethingconference (www.ihop.org). The last day, 31st of December, from 12.30 to 2008 was filled by The Call (www.thecall.com). Praying, wailing, crying, worshipping, it was intense. Because of Maria Elisabeth we could only be there for a few hours. Too bad, esspecially cause they had Jason Upton playing during the last hour, bringing in the new year with amazing worship. We watched and listened to it online though, while relaxing at home while Maria Elisabeth slept.

Well, I'll save some stuff for tomorrow. The average blogreader is known not to be very crazy about long blogs.. or not?

See you tomorrow!

Johnny

YWAM Burtigny christmasplay

2007-12-13T17:22:00.000+01:00

As promised a few pictures of the nativityplay we recently had on the base. As we read the christmasstory we also played it out. Pretty much everybody was involved, and so were we. As you might see in the picture Johnny was one of the "wise men", Karine was one of the angels (very natural) and little Maria Elisabeth was chosen to play the lead. Offcourse, since she played the most important part, Maria Elisabeth made sure that everybody knew she was there, all the time! Like a little princess, she walked back and forth through the middle of the room, makin sounds and waving at people.

birthday girl

2007-12-08T17:16:00.000+01:00

Last tuesday was Maria Elisabeths first birthday! Since we are in Switserland, far away from our family we're gonna celebrate it when were back in Holland next week. We did buy a little chocolatecake though and some balloons and partyhats. She loved it!

Everyday is a party for this girl. She loves to be the centre of attention! We'll post some pics of the nativityplay we did on the base when we celebrated (early) Christmas. Maria Elisabeth played a wellknow baby, but didn't act like a newborn, as she was walking around the room during the whole thing.

First blog in english!

2007-12-06T11:50:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody (whoever that is)

Welcome on our brandnew international blog! For a while now we've been posting pics and stories on intothenations.blog.com but since we have a growing network of international friends we felt it was time to keep them updated on a more regular base too. So here it is! Please feel free to comment, we like to interact with you.

That's it for now, we'll make sure to post some recent photos soon.

Love, Johnny & Karine (& Maria Elisabeth)