ARME Bible Camp Commanders make a landing on the North Shore of Oahu...

…The Result was Revival and Reformation for the local Soldiers!

“Every man and woman who has enlisted in Christ’s army is a soldier…” Christian Service, p. 35

“How many of you came for a spiritual retreat?” Calvin Kim, ARME’s Vice President of Operations, asked on ARME’s opening night at Camp Mokule’ia. Many raised their hands. “Well you might be at the wrong place then! We are in God’s army and we are at war. We can’t take time for a retreat, but we are here to advance.” Many chuckled as they nodded their heads in agreement. And that’s just what ARME sought to do during the following Nov 2-6 camp that ministered to all age groups.

ARME, which stands for “Adventist Revival Movement for the Endtime,” was founded to give God’s people a renewed passion and love for the Word and for Prayer. Each morning at Camp Mokule’ia, the program began with about 45 minutes of united prayer as people joined together in praising God, humbling their hearts, and pleading for the Holy Spirit. Then, after a powerful devotional on the power of prayer, attendees headed for a scrumptious breakfast in the dining hall. After breakfast, the main Bible study Workshop began, hosted by Pastor Myers, the founder and president of ARME. During this time Myers led the group step by step in basic principles of Bible study, and showed them how to see Christ throughout the stories of scripture. At different points during the morning, they divided up for small group study, and then the attendees came back together to share what they had learned. There was much excitement and enthusiasm, by both the adults and youth, as they began to see the greater depth that is possible in Bible study, and many were competing for the microphone to share what they had learned.

 At the same time, ARME’s Heir Force Children’s program was underway, arming the younger soldiers with similar weapons for war – a love for the Word, for prayer, and principles in godly discipleship.

 While the adults continued on with Bible Study training in the afternoon, the youth and teens had their own special program. Then everyone joined together for the evening service of inspiration and worship. This was the general pattern followed throughout the four-day camp.

A unique part of ARME Hawaii was the all-encompassing spirit of prayer. Not only did they start the day with prayer, but they had a prayer meeting going all day long. During this prayer meeting, people joined together throughout the 4 days praying for the Bible study trainers which included: Myers, Taj Pacleb & Kaela Thompson (both native evangelist to the islands) as well as for speakers Martin Kim and Doug Batchelor. They also prayed unitedly for the salvation of struggling loved ones, and for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and for revival.

 Friday night, over 200 people took part in a all-night prayer meeting. Over the night, there was group prayer as well as time for individual prayer. The men and woman also divided several times, and there was time for specific intercession for individuals that were heavily burdened. Around 1am, Myers led a powerful Bible study, and then prayers of worship and praise continued. Many answered prayers were experienced during this time of united prayer; answers that included deliverance from addictions, from bitterness, from estrangement with loved ones, and most importantly, answers that included a renewed passion and love for God and for His Word. While many got no sleep that night, they reported the next day feeling a renewed energy and physical strength – something that was obviously a miracle from God.

One attendee, a backslidden SDA, who came just because one of his friends was a volunteer, told the ARME staff, “I have never experienced something like ARME in my whole life! This camp has renewed my faith in the Adventist church and my love for the Adventist message!”

Another young mother, Teri Salvador, who’d been looking forward to ARME being in Hawaii for months wrote, “It’s a huge commute for us as we’ll be driving from the south side of the Island, but we would swim there if we had to, just to get to be there.” Later, very impacted, she talked to the ARME staff: “How can I volunteer and be part of this ministry? I’ll do anything…”

Conference President Ralph Watts, who attended with his wife on Sabbath, later stated, “ARME is probably the closest thing Hawaii islander’s have seen to a real old-fashion camp meeting for many years! The tent was full on Sabbath, and many have shared with me how much they learned and experienced.” The ARME staff had prepared for about 300 attendees, but by the weekend there were between 500-600 present. Many churches on the island closed their services so that their congregations could attend ARME. The place was packed, and everyone was praising God for His blessing!   

One of the highlights of the packed weekend, which contained many powerful messages, was ARME’s authentic mock trial, where the soldiers-in-training had opportunity to practice defending their faith from the Bible. In the Great Controversy, God’s people are told that in the future they will have to stand on the Bible alone, so ARME focused throughout the camp on making this practical and real. The mock trial hit home to many as they realized how unprepared they really were.

Sabbath ended with good old “ARME Family Time,” as they called it; a time for testimonies and sharing. The Heir Force shared what they’d learned during the week, and many people came forward with tears in their eyes, sharing how ARME had changed their lives.

Sunday morning, after more prayer and a powerful consecration service, Pastor Eric Alindogan, from the sponsoring Waianae church, closed the service by asking the Elders to circle the ARME team and pray over them. Then, with gusto, everyone sang, “Jesus is Coming Soon,” ARME’s theme song, one more time.  There was hardly a dry eye.

It was time for the ARME soldiers to separate and head for their various posts of duty. However, equipped with new tools for Bible study and empowered by the Holy Spirit through much prayer, everyone said goodbye knowing that they will be together again soon – if not in Hawaii, in the Heavenly General’s paradise above.

The parting command: “Forward soldiers, march forward on your knees!”

[Author's endnotes: And so ended ARME Bible Camp 7! For pictures visit this link: ARME HAWAII PICS. Portions of this "news style article" will be featured in the upcoming Pacific Union Recorder, so if you read this again, don't be surprised! ;-) ARME Bible Camp number 8 is coming up in January 2012, so get registered if you want to come, or visit: www.armebiblecamp.com for more details!]

God's Miracle Dolphins…a fortaste of more miracles to come!

Our first morning on the island of Oahu Hawaii dawned bright and beautiful… the birds were singing sweetly in the trees, and I could smell the scent of the flowers outside our window. It was truly like waking up in paradise! It was the end of October (just a few weeks ago), and autumn's rainy season had already started to hit our own Portland Oregon. But in Hawaii, where we now were, of course, it was vibrant summer. 

Kim and I had gone over a day earlier than our ARME teammates so we could enjoy a little sunshine and quietness to ourselves before the crew arrived and we had to start setting up our ARME Bible Camp. I had no specific agenda items for the day, but had just gotten out of the shower and was dreaming about resting in the sunshine when Kim got off a phone call and excitedly asked me… "So, do you want to go swimming with Dolphins today????" This question wasn't a complete surprise, for we had talked about the possibility at one point long before we arrived in Hawaii. But I, naive of how the ocean world works and petrified of accidentally meeting a shark in the shallow paradise waters, had told Kim previously I wasn't really that interested in going swimming or snorkeling. So she'd not mentioned the idea again, and thus we'd made no reservations. Now the idea surfaced again, as she'd done some last minute calling and discovered a tour that only had 10 people booked and since it was last minute, we would get a BIG discount if we decided to go. I could tell she was very excited, and I didn't want to disappoint her, so I agreed. "Ok…I'll go! But we better not see any sharks!" (Looking back I have to laugh, but you have to understand this Ozark girl has NEVER done more then stick her toes in the Ocean before this trip, so this was really outside my comfort zone!) 

So, since we were booking for the Dolphin Excursion tour at the last minute, we had to hurry. It started in about an hour and a half. (So much for a day of laid back relaxation in the sun!) Off we rushed, trying to get to the harbor (which happened to be on the opposite side of the island) where we'd launch out into the deep looking for dolphins.



We got there in time…although we got lost a few times along the way as the signs weren't very good. I wasn't impressed and only wondered what the trip would have in store. Once we got with the team and got on our boat we headed off. The tour guide gave us our snorkels and fins and began to talk to us about dolphins. But he told us, as if trying to prepare us for dissappointment… "The only group of dolphins we know about are headed South right now and we aren't sure if we can catch up with them. But we'll do our best. If we don't see any dolphins though, remember you can come again on another excursion for FREE!" I laughed to myself… "Once is enough…just the fact that I'm out here is a miracle. If we don't see dolphins, maybe that will be good because I wont have to get in the water. And I'm not coming back. I'll have to wait for Heaven before I try again!"

However, my dear friend Kim was not to be discouraged. "Melody…" she whispered. "Let's pray! God knows where those dolphins are, and He created them for us to enjoy! Let's pray that we can find them." And so Kim prayed.

Not long after, out of the blue, we came upon an unexpected pod of dolphins, swimming gracefully along the coast line. The tour guide was ecstatic! "I don't know where these dolphins came from, but this is great! Get your gear on guys. Now is the time to get in!"

Excitedly and nervously I put on my fins and snorkel. "How do you use this thing?" I asked someone.  They looked at me in surprise. "You never snorkeled before?" "Nope!" I replied. With some simple instructions, I and my companions jumped into the clear blue waters. The dolphins were right below us, beside us, and all around us. I couldn't believe it…. it was amazing! Back and forth they swam, sometimes so close to us that you could have reached out and touched them if you tried. We must have been in the water with them for 45 minutes or more. The time seemed to go in slow motion as we swam alongside the pod. Our tour guide also happened to be a professional underwater photographer, so he took amazing photos for us. (As seen here!)

In the picture above, you can see Kim and I at the bottom corner. While she gazes in wonder, I'm frantically trying to take pictures with my underwater camera! ;-)

See how CLOSE they were at times to us! I could have reached out and touched them...

I love this picture of one of our comrades. It looks like he's almost going to pet the dolphins!

Here we all are again below… and this time, I think it is Kim that is trying to take the pictures. As you can see… they were sooo beautiful!

Finally when we pulled ourselves from the water… breathless and happy, Kim and I looked at each other with big smiles on our faces. The tour guide was shaking his head. As the boat turned around and headed up the coast to see the turtles, our guide told us, "This is probably the 5th best Dolphin sighting we've ever had. And we do tours every day with people!"

Kim was radiant! "God brought us those Dolphins Mel! They were His gift to us! He made them for us to enjoy!" I could only nod my head in agreement and wonder… God had worked a miracle for us. But why wouldn't He? He tells us in His Word that when we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart.

The joy of the excursion wasn't over, however. Not long and the boat stopped along another beautiful shore line, and we were told to get back in the water to see the turtles. And turtles we did see! Once again I was amazed and awestruck at the beauty and grandeur of the underwater world.

Once again, here is Kim and me (in picture above). While she tries to avoid crashing into Mr. Tortoise, I'm trying to take pictures!

"Truly…HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!!!"

And this was only a foretaste of what was to come during our time in Hawaii… not just in the enjoyment of the beauty of God's creation, but in the "fishes of men" that He would bring us at our 7th ARME Bible Camp where many more hearts were revived and many more decisions were made for God's Kingdom…decisions that mean we, along with many more, will get to spend all eternity in paradise!

So stay tuned… the best is yet to come!