Finally Home

This is Guam, my home. I have been away from it since August of last year. I'm glad to anounce to everybody that I'm going home.

College has been a great experience for me, and I am so glad I have experienced it. I've learned so much; I'm going to miss all the friends I've made. I'm going to miss everything: the church that I attended this last semester, the people I've met, and the experiences that I've had.

Ironically, I haven't been homesick every since I left for school. This is truly God's grace. It's God's grace to lead me through my first year of college and His grace to lead me back to Guam. To my classmates, be not discouraged; I shall return. The Lord is good to us. To those at church, I shall see you soon, for God has led me to you for a reason. And lastly, to the faculty of Northland Baptist Bible College, I will pray for you, especially you, Dr. Horn, and your family. May God bless and keep you in His will and in His love.

Mom and Dad, see you in a bit!

Spring Break

Spring Break was relaxing, fun, exciting, and unforgettable. My brother, sister, and I, along with a couple of friends, drove all the way down to South Carolina with a couple pitstops. The first was my brother's girlfriend's house. We got lost in Chicago and needed a place to stay. After that, we headed to Kentucky to visit a former youth pastor and his family. His eldest, Jeffrey, is pictured with me here at the bottom of the pictures. His younger brothers, Nicolas(top) and Logan(middle) are with me above. Great kids! We were having a blast just taking funny photos. I love that family and miss them tremendously. Our final destination was Greenville, South Carolina. There, we toured Bob Jones University and the facilities and met up with some friends who are also from Guam. It was such a good time of fellowship. I was able to catch up with so many friends, one of which I haven't seen since 5th grade! A couple days in Greenville became our limit in order to return to school. We returned to our last checkpoint in Kentucky and stayed the night with our good friend and his family. WE also met up with another former youth pastor at a coffee shop. We were able to catch up with him and see his son, whom his wife was still pregnant with when they left. That day we left for Chicago. In our time there, we went ice skating and played the Nintendo Wii. God is so good. We didn't get into any accidents. Our time was so refreshing, seeing old friends and just relaxing and having fun.

Much to Learn, I Still Have...

I've learned so much from a man that I've known for so short of a time. Art Coats was the grandfather that I wish I had: godly. I remember what he said when we first had dinner as Kampus Kids. He said that he had never had a sickness that was so bad in all his years in the ministry... "So I questioned God..." I remember those words exactly. When I found out of his passing just a week before our Spring Break, my heart broke. I couldn't believe that he had passed from this world into a land that is fairer than day. But he didn't die questioning God; I know that for sure. He didn't end his testimony of God's working in his life like that. I remember him saying that trusted God with his whole being. He had no regrets. He knew he could trust God completely and that God would be good to him; not because he came up with ideas of what God is, but because he searched for God and learned to know God personally and intimately.

God's Gift

I have been hoping and wishing and praying that I get a laptop. What you see here on the right is what my dad ordered for me! It's my birthday present to me! I'm so happy! Anyways, I was extremely joyous to get the email tonight that it would come in a week. God is so good! God has blessed, and I must give Him due praise. I know it's not a Macbook, and neither is it a Toshiba, Alan! But this is what God gave. Praise be to the King! Praise be to God on high! Every good and perfect gift is a gift from heaven! May God be blessed through this gift!

School

I call Northland Baptist Bible college "Narnia" for this very reason, which is plainly seen on the right. Last night(2/25), I went to the tubing hill and decided to have some fun. Everybody had a tube available to slide down the hill, and we built a ramp. We built a pretty big ramp, too. A classmate of mine, Chris, flew a good 6 feet in the air and landed an even better 20 feet away from the ramp. My crazy sister, Des, tried a smaller jump and landed on her neck. That's going to hurt in the morning! Her attempt at the larger jump landed 15 feet from the ramp and knocked all the wind out of her petit structure. Good job, loser. Anyways, we're all smiles, especially Des, and she wanted to go again after she couldn't breathe 2 minutes of her life. Smart. At least, she had fun. That's all I could say. Stay tuned for another exciting adventure on . . . Justin's Daily!

Dear Journal

So this is my first post and my first time actually blogging with my own website. I've used Facebook and that's about it. If you don't know who I am, I'm Justin Bendo. I'm from Guam. I've lived there my whole life. I just started my college career at Northland Baptist Bible College in August of 2006. It's a long story of how I got here. Perhaps I will disclose it in the near future, when I find enough time... For now, I'm just going to experiment a little. College life is such an experience for me. I met new people, I learned lessons, and most importantly, I'm growing up. In Bible college, I'm learning a lot more than just life; I'm learning about the Creator of it, how He has brought His own children in and out of peril for their sakes, how He is bringing me in and out of peril for my sake. God is a God of love, a jealous God, and a God of wisdom. Contradictory? No, you probably won't understand unless you really know Him. I don't fully comprehend it myself, but He's teaching me.