After 10 days in Ayr, we went to the Whitsundays... the name for Airlie Beach and a series of islands off of there. It is a huge tourist/backpacker area. It rained a good portion of the time we were there, but it was still one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. We stayed at the YWAM base, which was a huge house on 5 acres of rain forest, built into the side of a huge hill.
There was a creek running through the driveway, which we spent a good number of hours building back up the driveway where it washed out and putting in drainage pipes under it. It was so much fun, getting muddy in the pouring rain and standing in the creek chucking rocks up onto the roadway.
Our first day there, a World Race team was staying with us. They were all Americans. Anyway, they were a wonderful group of people, traveling around 11 countries in 11 months doing missions. We got to have worship and prayer time with them. It was so great to be with another really passionate group of young Christians!
We went into the city on a daily basis and did street evangelism. We would pray that God would bring us to people and give us words to speak to them.... we pray all the time here and it is amazing how God moves when you are walking in that. Learning to listen to God in even the smallest things in life really prepares you for the big things. Now, I have no problem talking to strangers, but boldness to speak what God tells you to can be hard ("fear of man" struggle). We also prayed over the city and some of the strongholds we felt were there.
I went with a Kiwi girl, Courtney, on our first day. She is sweet and very quiet. But, she has shown herself as someone who hears God on everything she does. We passed a woman sitting on a bench at the beach. Both of us felt like God wanted us to talk to her. So we stopped. We prayed for God give us the right words to speak to her, then we approached her. Her name was Leanna, she was in her 40's and from Sweden.... backpacking up the coast with her daughter. We had a great conversation, learned that she quit her job of 20 years, sold her house because it had always been a dream of hers to travel around the world. She was not a Christian.
We told her about what we were doing and why God called us to Australia. As we talked, I felt we needed to be more bold, however. Despite the fact that she knew nothing about Christianity, I felt like she was pretty close to entering into a relationship with God. So, I asked her if I could pray for her. She said, "Yes." I sat down next to her and words from God just poured out. I prayed she would find God on her journey and that He would bless her with direction and a job when she returned home, etc... then we made it clear to her that when these things happened in her life, she needed to remember that it was God who did this for her because He loves her and sees her where she is at in life and wants to draw her close to Him. IT WAS SO COOL! I've never been so bold and I knew it was God completely directing me. I still pray for Leanna but really believe she will be a Christian soon!
We have more and more stories of instances like that. I couldn't get over how much God spoke through us to people from all over the world. We threw free BBQs and went around the main streets inviting people. We usually got about 75-90 people show up over the course of a few hours and we got to talk to them all. I met some amazing girls from Nepal, tons of French, German, and British. Pretty much none of them were Christian, but most were really open to hearing about God and what He's done for them and some were open to us praying for them. We never forced it on anyone, but were bold when we felt it was necessary.
We also had a free day and a family in Ayr gave us money to have fun with, so we took a boat out to the islands and went hiking and snorkeling. That's right, I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef!!! How cool is that?!? Despite my fear of fish, I wouldn't pass up the opportunity. We had to wear "stinger suits" because it is jellyfish season and they are deadly out here. I learned that I am not a mouth breather and really struggled with the snorkel. I met a guy from Mexico on the boat and got to talk to him about God. He quit his job and is traveling the world and wants to go into some form of humanitarian work.
Anyway, way more happened, but you all have already read way too much if you got to this point....
There was a creek running through the driveway, which we spent a good number of hours building back up the driveway where it washed out and putting in drainage pipes under it. It was so much fun, getting muddy in the pouring rain and standing in the creek chucking rocks up onto the roadway.
Our first day there, a World Race team was staying with us. They were all Americans. Anyway, they were a wonderful group of people, traveling around 11 countries in 11 months doing missions. We got to have worship and prayer time with them. It was so great to be with another really passionate group of young Christians!
We went into the city on a daily basis and did street evangelism. We would pray that God would bring us to people and give us words to speak to them.... we pray all the time here and it is amazing how God moves when you are walking in that. Learning to listen to God in even the smallest things in life really prepares you for the big things. Now, I have no problem talking to strangers, but boldness to speak what God tells you to can be hard ("fear of man" struggle). We also prayed over the city and some of the strongholds we felt were there.
I went with a Kiwi girl, Courtney, on our first day. She is sweet and very quiet. But, she has shown herself as someone who hears God on everything she does. We passed a woman sitting on a bench at the beach. Both of us felt like God wanted us to talk to her. So we stopped. We prayed for God give us the right words to speak to her, then we approached her. Her name was Leanna, she was in her 40's and from Sweden.... backpacking up the coast with her daughter. We had a great conversation, learned that she quit her job of 20 years, sold her house because it had always been a dream of hers to travel around the world. She was not a Christian.
We told her about what we were doing and why God called us to Australia. As we talked, I felt we needed to be more bold, however. Despite the fact that she knew nothing about Christianity, I felt like she was pretty close to entering into a relationship with God. So, I asked her if I could pray for her. She said, "Yes." I sat down next to her and words from God just poured out. I prayed she would find God on her journey and that He would bless her with direction and a job when she returned home, etc... then we made it clear to her that when these things happened in her life, she needed to remember that it was God who did this for her because He loves her and sees her where she is at in life and wants to draw her close to Him. IT WAS SO COOL! I've never been so bold and I knew it was God completely directing me. I still pray for Leanna but really believe she will be a Christian soon!
We have more and more stories of instances like that. I couldn't get over how much God spoke through us to people from all over the world. We threw free BBQs and went around the main streets inviting people. We usually got about 75-90 people show up over the course of a few hours and we got to talk to them all. I met some amazing girls from Nepal, tons of French, German, and British. Pretty much none of them were Christian, but most were really open to hearing about God and what He's done for them and some were open to us praying for them. We never forced it on anyone, but were bold when we felt it was necessary.
We also had a free day and a family in Ayr gave us money to have fun with, so we took a boat out to the islands and went hiking and snorkeling. That's right, I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef!!! How cool is that?!? Despite my fear of fish, I wouldn't pass up the opportunity. We had to wear "stinger suits" because it is jellyfish season and they are deadly out here. I learned that I am not a mouth breather and really struggled with the snorkel. I met a guy from Mexico on the boat and got to talk to him about God. He quit his job and is traveling the world and wants to go into some form of humanitarian work.
Anyway, way more happened, but you all have already read way too much if you got to this point....
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