I'm sorry to those who actually read this. I stopped updating about halfway through my DTS journey. I have loved going back and reading the old posts. Was that really only a few months ago?
I will give more insight into what God did in me and on Outreach. But, for now, I mourn having left Australia. I am back in the States, preparing for what is next.... which includes a tiring job hunt. I know I am called to full time, long term missions. Researching and looking into what capacity that will look like and the shape it will take.
Until then, I will use this ground, here in Boise as my mission field and try to remember I am here for a reason. I am back in the waiting season that I hate but will endure because I know everything God has planned for me is worth the wait!
p.s. I miss Australia so much. Completely fell in love with that country and those people!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Australia Outreach Photos
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| Katie's 19th Birthday (in Burdekin Baptist Church where we stayed) |
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| Sam prying open a coconut. |
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| Chappy Scott teaching some boxing moves. |
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| Our guys with the Home Hill Boxing Club. |
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| After school program in Home Hill. |
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| YWAM Base in Airlie Beach. |
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| Rachel and I in Airlie Beach. |
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| Hannah and I on the ship headed out to the Whitsundays to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. |
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| Whitsundays. |
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| Chelsea about to eat a green ant. (taste like lime) |
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| More Whitsundays. |
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| My Outreach leaders, Chelsea and Maddie, super excited about the Whitsundays. |
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| Most of my Outreach team. (me, Chels, Sam, Maddie, Fanny, Ben. Front: Hannah, Rach, and Court) |
Airlie Beach (Australia Outreach part II)
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....
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Ayer (Aussie Outreach part 1)
The first e-mail is about the first place we went on Outreach. Ayr, Queensland. It is about an hour south of here. It has about 8000 people and is a farming community. Picture Nebraska but with sugar cane about 8 ft tall rather than corn. People in Ayr were super friendly. In fact, so friendly, we were severely over-fed. Everyone wanted to get us dinner or bring us snacks. I think I gained about 10 lbs in Ayr.
Our first night we were taken up a huge hill to have a BBQ. Our van (which we named Bruce) stalled out and started to roll backward on the last push of the hill; it was so steep it was almost straight up. Maddie (one of my leaders) was driving and after throwing on the E-Brake we all jumped out. Sam (one of the guys on my team) turns out is an incredible driver and hopped in, got the van up the hill.... we finished by walking. We have christened this hill "Mozzie Hill" because the mosquitoes were beyond horrible, we were covered from head to toe. (They call mosquitoes "mozzies" out here.)
We mostly did school programs and went to churches/youth groups. Our second night our team was split between two churches. We prayed about where we should go and who should speak. We ended up at this tiny church with pretty much everyone over 60 (that's being generous with age).... it looked like a retirement home from the early 90's.... pastels everywhere! Our 3 quietest people felt called to speak, so they gave their testimonies. They did great! The church was really encouraged to have young people there and really had a heart for enlarging their church and bringing younger people in but weren't sure how to do it.
We did a lot of school programs. In Australia the schools have chaplains and religious educations classes. Unfortunately the need for teachers greatly out-weighs the amount of students enrolled, so a lot of schools are lacking the chaplains and teachers. We also ate lunch with kids at the schools, played with them at recess, and did yard work. We had a blast and the kiddos really loved having us around. We also did after school programs that were specifically Christian. It was really cool to openly talk about God in the public schools.
My favorite kiddo was Sharnie. She was about 7 or 8.... slightly chubby island girl with short curly black hair. She had the biggest smile and was precious. She was eating alone at lunch and when asked said that no one ever wanted to sit with her. She followed Maddie and I around everywhere and always wanted to hold our hands. She was glowing every time we came to the school and saw her.
Youth group was really cool too. I felt called to speak on the closeness and intimacy of God and what He has done in my life. One of the girls started crying part way through my talk. I got to talk to her later and found out her parents were separated and hated each other. Her dad has had cancer for a year and her mom didn't seem to care and her brother was too little to understand. She felt like no one cared and she had to carry it all on her own. We prayed for her, encouraged her to continue to seek God through this, and challenged the other girls in the youth group to walk with her through this. The other girls were really awesome and stepped up.
Otherwise, there is way too much detail to go into. I appreciate all of my work at the Pursuit serving with kids because it has come in really handy for Outreach. I have taught hundreds of kids now songs and dances that we did in Xtreme Life... and they loved it!
To wrap up, just wanted to tell about one of my Outreach leaders. She was my absolute joy on Outreach! Her name is Maddie (Madeline), she is 20 and from England. She has such a gift for uniting people and bringing out the humor in everything. We pretty much experienced 2 of the 10 plagues of Egypt in Ayr.... flies and frogs/toads. We were infested with bugs of all shapes and sizes for half the time.... not exaggerating, they were falling from the ceilings and crawling all over us. The frogs showed up shortly after.... king toads and tropical frogs of every color and size.... oh, and we had a mouse run out of one of the girls bags one night. It was really frustrating and every time someone screamed or got angry about it, Maddie would just laugh. She just has joy bubbling up in her... and when she prays, things happen. I've rarely seen anyone so in-tune with hearing God's voice.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
God's Provision
Typed: March 15, 2011
We had an evening of giving. We were told to go pray about what God would like us to say to people (words of encouragement or Bible verses), as well as items and money. God called me to give my spending money to a few people who still needed Outreach funds, as well as a few other items.
When we got there, they had all of the people who still needed funds to stand up at the front. They wrote out how much each person needed and totaled it for both DTSs (mine and the Not For Sale). It was $10,664 and some change. Then they asked us to pray for them. Those called to contribute to them to give them the financial gifts. After about 20 minutes of this, we added how much everyone got. There was less than $3000 left in need. Then, they asked for those who hadn't given but now felt like God was calling them to contribute to also give. After about 5 minutes everyone had their full funds!!! All of this was given sacrificially from other poor students, not outside funds. It was amazing how God just multiplied and provided huge amounts of money! You wouldn't have believed it unless you were there! It was so cool.
Then, we had a time of communion and committed to each other through prayer. I have really felt drawn to a certain girl. She is an Aussie, 21 years old. She lost her mom to cancer when she was 16 and she is the oldest in her family. Her dad remarried almost immediately and she moved out on her own soon after. She has experienced some abuse. She was very much a loner when we first got out here. Anyway, I prayed about it and have really been seeking a friendship with her from the beginning. I just felt like I needed to commit to being a big sister to her and hold her accountable and pray for her regularly. It was really cool to just spend time in prayer with her and commit to walking with her through life, no matter where we are at. She was cute and finished by telling me she feels like deep down I am really Australian and belong here.... prophetic? We'll see. She is one of about five Aussies who has told me they think I am secretly an Australian posing as an American. I do get along with them the best.
Anyway, then we had a time of giving gifts and items to each other. During Lordship week, I had given away some books I really liked to people who I felt needed them more. Well, my darling Brit, Laurie, gave me two books without knowing I had given away my books. They are 2 books written by journalists about the middle east and central asia.... which is the area I've been reading about lately. They look incredible and I can't wait to start reading. It was just a huge blessing to see how God spoke to people to give up things and all of the things they gave were items the person who received them had really needed or wanted.
We had an evening of giving. We were told to go pray about what God would like us to say to people (words of encouragement or Bible verses), as well as items and money. God called me to give my spending money to a few people who still needed Outreach funds, as well as a few other items.
When we got there, they had all of the people who still needed funds to stand up at the front. They wrote out how much each person needed and totaled it for both DTSs (mine and the Not For Sale). It was $10,664 and some change. Then they asked us to pray for them. Those called to contribute to them to give them the financial gifts. After about 20 minutes of this, we added how much everyone got. There was less than $3000 left in need. Then, they asked for those who hadn't given but now felt like God was calling them to contribute to also give. After about 5 minutes everyone had their full funds!!! All of this was given sacrificially from other poor students, not outside funds. It was amazing how God just multiplied and provided huge amounts of money! You wouldn't have believed it unless you were there! It was so cool.
Then, we had a time of communion and committed to each other through prayer. I have really felt drawn to a certain girl. She is an Aussie, 21 years old. She lost her mom to cancer when she was 16 and she is the oldest in her family. Her dad remarried almost immediately and she moved out on her own soon after. She has experienced some abuse. She was very much a loner when we first got out here. Anyway, I prayed about it and have really been seeking a friendship with her from the beginning. I just felt like I needed to commit to being a big sister to her and hold her accountable and pray for her regularly. It was really cool to just spend time in prayer with her and commit to walking with her through life, no matter where we are at. She was cute and finished by telling me she feels like deep down I am really Australian and belong here.... prophetic? We'll see. She is one of about five Aussies who has told me they think I am secretly an Australian posing as an American. I do get along with them the best.
Anyway, then we had a time of giving gifts and items to each other. During Lordship week, I had given away some books I really liked to people who I felt needed them more. Well, my darling Brit, Laurie, gave me two books without knowing I had given away my books. They are 2 books written by journalists about the middle east and central asia.... which is the area I've been reading about lately. They look incredible and I can't wait to start reading. It was just a huge blessing to see how God spoke to people to give up things and all of the things they gave were items the person who received them had really needed or wanted.
Biblical Studies Lecture
Typed: March 10, 2011
This has been a great week back. It has pretty much not stopped raining and I am so thankful that I am no longer sleeping in a tent. My clothes smell good, not like campfire and moldy tent. I am ready for some sun. Hopefully we will get some this weekend since we leave next weekend for Ayer... the beginning of our Australia Outreach.
This week we have been doing a lecture on Biblical studies. Learning how to read and study the Bible. They really encourage us knowing the Word. I really enjoyed it. We took the book of Philemon and did chapter titles and then highlighted things like the who, where, repeated words, and then we went through the text and discussed what was known from reading it. Then we further delved into the culture and region at the time to gain a better understanding of the people involved in the letter. Then, we discussed not just knowing but applying the text to our lives. (This was one of my favorite lectures so far!)
A few more highlights from camping: not only did we get to hike some really amazing scenery but one of the girls found a wounded wallaby (small kangaroo like animal) and its baby. Roger (the "Aussie bloke" in my class) ended up having to kill the wallaby since it was paralyzed but he saved the baby.... I will post photos as soon as I can. He put the baby in his hat and everyone passed it around and cuddled it. He and Ben (our Aussie leader) got up every hour of the night to give it water. The next day they transported it to a wildlife refuge and it was saved! We also got invaded at nights by paddy melons (small marsupials that look like giant mice... I enclosed a photo I took offline).
Outside of lectures, we spent the week getting ready for our first Outreach. We learned a really great skit/dance to an Underoath song.... great band. We are also putting together teachings and activities to do. Our Aussie outreach is in a week. We go to Ayr, Bowen, and Whitsunday. In Ayr we'll be working in schools (you can teach religion in schools here), Bowen mostly with churches and backpackers, and Whitsunday we'll be doing more building, cleaning communities and meeting with backpackers since it's a huge tourist area.
This has been a great week back. It has pretty much not stopped raining and I am so thankful that I am no longer sleeping in a tent. My clothes smell good, not like campfire and moldy tent. I am ready for some sun. Hopefully we will get some this weekend since we leave next weekend for Ayer... the beginning of our Australia Outreach.
This week we have been doing a lecture on Biblical studies. Learning how to read and study the Bible. They really encourage us knowing the Word. I really enjoyed it. We took the book of Philemon and did chapter titles and then highlighted things like the who, where, repeated words, and then we went through the text and discussed what was known from reading it. Then we further delved into the culture and region at the time to gain a better understanding of the people involved in the letter. Then, we discussed not just knowing but applying the text to our lives. (This was one of my favorite lectures so far!)
A few more highlights from camping: not only did we get to hike some really amazing scenery but one of the girls found a wounded wallaby (small kangaroo like animal) and its baby. Roger (the "Aussie bloke" in my class) ended up having to kill the wallaby since it was paralyzed but he saved the baby.... I will post photos as soon as I can. He put the baby in his hat and everyone passed it around and cuddled it. He and Ben (our Aussie leader) got up every hour of the night to give it water. The next day they transported it to a wildlife refuge and it was saved! We also got invaded at nights by paddy melons (small marsupials that look like giant mice... I enclosed a photo I took offline).
Outside of lectures, we spent the week getting ready for our first Outreach. We learned a really great skit/dance to an Underoath song.... great band. We are also putting together teachings and activities to do. Our Aussie outreach is in a week. We go to Ayr, Bowen, and Whitsunday. In Ayr we'll be working in schools (you can teach religion in schools here), Bowen mostly with churches and backpackers, and Whitsunday we'll be doing more building, cleaning communities and meeting with backpackers since it's a huge tourist area.
CAMPING and LIFE
Typed: March 6, 2011
This afternoon we returned from "Hidden Valley" Queensland. It was an interesting time of camping and lectures. I am exhausted and smelly.
First day there I got heat stroke. Then, it pretty much proceeded to rain for almost the whole 2 weeks. My tent was flooded. We readjusted, set up tarps, then had another hard rain and flooded again. Finally moved our tent out of the swamp our campsite became and it still got wet but not nearly as much. I also got a cold due to being wet all the time. So, it was fairly miserable in a lot of ways but also really good. Most of the time it was just our DTS and the Not For Sale DTS, so about 60 of us total. No phones, no internet, no cars, noooooo anything so we got to spend a lot of time together and in nature (despite the rain, we played).
Lectures our first week there were the most intense so far. It was on Lordship (making sure God is the first thing in our life in every area). Our speaker was this hyper Kiwi man, Mark Parker. And when I say hyper..... I mean really hyper. He would end most of his sentences with "SHUT UP! You're not the center of the world!" He was hilarious, but also a very powerful speaker. I'm still processing through a lot of it. Recognizing how much crap is in our lives that keep us from fulling living for God and to the potential we are called to. God revealed a lot in my life.... especially pride. (Learning that pride isn't just thinking you are better than others, but involves a whole lot of other aspects).
I cannot get over how pretty Australia is. Yesterday we hiked to these ridiculous falls and rivers in a gorge. And when I say hiked, it was an adventure..... don't let Aussies tell you it's just an easy walk over a hill. We had to swim across 4 rivers and creeks, climb rocky hills, and then came to miles of these large rocks with waterfalls and pools everywhere. We climbed over so much stuff, swam another river after hiking across rocky ridges. I couldn't take my camera due to the conditions (it would have gotten destroyed). It was the most beautiful scene. I am cut up and sore but it was really fun. We did a talent show last night. It was hilarious! It was pretty much everyone doing skits making fun of everyone else. The best talent was when Aleski (a tall, 18 year old, really stereotypical Canadian guy) got up and told us he found verses in the Bible that really spoke to him and he was going to do interpretive music with it. He started reading some laws in the Old Testament like "do not boil a baby goat in it's mother's milk" and he played a recorder really obnoxiously after each law. I laughed so hard I almost stopped breathing. He was super serious the whole time.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Pre-Camping
Currently in my 4th week of lectures (5th week in Australia) and preparing for 2 weeks of camping.
Life is flying by in an exciting and amazing blur. Lectures have all been so intense. I know God is moving in me and building me up, I just pray that this isn't one of those temporary changes. I want this to be a lifetime change. To live deeper in His grace daily.
This week we are learning about intimacy and fear of God. How God longs for a relationship with us. One that is deeper than this distant creator but one that is close. Isaiah 62:5 ... as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you...." Our relationship with God needs to be less about discipline and more about striving to know God on a deeper level. Read the Bible like a love letter from God rather than a strick set of rules and regulations. If we love Him, we will obey His commands because we want to serve Him.
Life has been awesome living in constant intercession and prayer. One of the things I love most about this place is that we are always living in prayer. In all that we do, we bring it to God. He is revealing Himself in ways I never knew He could.
On another note, had an amazing weekend. Youth Street on Saturday was Nerd themed. We (the Jan DTS) carried it to a whole other level of nerdiness. Seems like us leaders have more fun than the crew do half the time.
Sunday was "Fun-day" and we had pancakes for breakfast at one of our leader's houses. I don't think I've laughed so much in my life. We literally were just sitting in a group making faces. It's amazing how something so simple and childish can bring absolute joy. Then, I went with two of the Aussies in my class to Crystal Creek which is about an hour from here. It was beautiful. I will include photos.
Sunday-Funday with my Aussie friend, Emma, and Aussie leader, Dave.
What a bunch of Nerds! (Vianee "Ger", Laurie "UK", Chelsea "USA", Hannah "Den", Me)
Life is flying by in an exciting and amazing blur. Lectures have all been so intense. I know God is moving in me and building me up, I just pray that this isn't one of those temporary changes. I want this to be a lifetime change. To live deeper in His grace daily.
This week we are learning about intimacy and fear of God. How God longs for a relationship with us. One that is deeper than this distant creator but one that is close. Isaiah 62:5 ... as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you...." Our relationship with God needs to be less about discipline and more about striving to know God on a deeper level. Read the Bible like a love letter from God rather than a strick set of rules and regulations. If we love Him, we will obey His commands because we want to serve Him.
Life has been awesome living in constant intercession and prayer. One of the things I love most about this place is that we are always living in prayer. In all that we do, we bring it to God. He is revealing Himself in ways I never knew He could.
On another note, had an amazing weekend. Youth Street on Saturday was Nerd themed. We (the Jan DTS) carried it to a whole other level of nerdiness. Seems like us leaders have more fun than the crew do half the time.
Sunday was "Fun-day" and we had pancakes for breakfast at one of our leader's houses. I don't think I've laughed so much in my life. We literally were just sitting in a group making faces. It's amazing how something so simple and childish can bring absolute joy. Then, I went with two of the Aussies in my class to Crystal Creek which is about an hour from here. It was beautiful. I will include photos.
Sunday-Funday with my Aussie friend, Emma, and Aussie leader, Dave.
What a bunch of Nerds! (Vianee "Ger", Laurie "UK", Chelsea "USA", Hannah "Den", Me)
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
A Glimpse of My Day
5:15 am I get up. By 5:30 am I am running or hiking up the huge hill here with a group of my peers. The sun comes up around this time, so it's beautiful to sit at the top and stare out at the ocean. Then we hike back down.
Breakfast is at 6:45 am. We have quiet time to pray and read our Bibles for about an hour after that, then we either have worship or prayer time in groups for an hour or so.
We have lectures until 12:30 pm and then lunch. Lectures are pretty in depth, intense Christian and Bible teaching.
Then, we all have chores (I clean our flat which 9 girls live in).
We usually have an hour or so of free time (I usually swim or read), then dinner. Depending on the evening, we have free time or Outreach Prep and sometimes more lectures.
Saturdays we do "Youth Street" which starts at 1 pm. About 100 of the local teenagers come and spend time with us. I am on the Dance Team, so we teach and learn dances. We'll be performing in a few weeks.
Sundays are usually free days. We usually walk to the beach, swim, and play games. There are stingers (jellyfish) and tiger sharks here, so we can only swim within special nets set up.
Breakfast is at 6:45 am. We have quiet time to pray and read our Bibles for about an hour after that, then we either have worship or prayer time in groups for an hour or so.
We have lectures until 12:30 pm and then lunch. Lectures are pretty in depth, intense Christian and Bible teaching.
Then, we all have chores (I clean our flat which 9 girls live in).
We usually have an hour or so of free time (I usually swim or read), then dinner. Depending on the evening, we have free time or Outreach Prep and sometimes more lectures.
Saturdays we do "Youth Street" which starts at 1 pm. About 100 of the local teenagers come and spend time with us. I am on the Dance Team, so we teach and learn dances. We'll be performing in a few weeks.
Sundays are usually free days. We usually walk to the beach, swim, and play games. There are stingers (jellyfish) and tiger sharks here, so we can only swim within special nets set up.
Cockroaches, Cyclones, Sunburns, oh my!
Life is a giant whirlwind.... possibly a cyclone.
Speaking of cyclones, I just went through my first hurricane. Category 5, one of the worst in Australian history. Yay, welcome to "Down Under."
We are into our fourth week of DTS. It is intense. My processing is going to take a long time. Just like when I returned from Nicaragua, I don't think half of this will hit me for months if not years.
Our first week of lectures was on our identity in Christ. Powerful stuff. Learning that we are co-heirs and conquerors through Christ. Why do we fear, what holds us back? Knowing that the God who created the universe is our advocate, we should stand in righteousness and truth. I wish I could give you a glimpse into what God did/is doing in me but am not sure if words are sufficient. I cannot live in the fullness of Christ, if I do not completely believe I am loved and made new through God. I started to realize this and refuse to let fear or anything else bring down what God has done for me and what He plans on doing in me.
The second week of lectures was on Confession/Repentance. Although we are new creations in Christ, in order to live for Him, we need to make sure we have a right heart and clear conscious before Him. If our thinking and actions are convoluted with sin, we allow things into our lives that are not in direct relationship in our service to Him. It is not just important to confess our sins to God, but sometimes we need to confess to others and be reconciled. Ken Mulligan, our base director, gave these lectures and really challenged us in our relationship with God, along with our knowledge of the Word.
We are now in our 3rd week of lectures and it is on relationships. So far, we are learning to have a right, healthy relationship with God. All of our other relationships are a reflection of our walk with God and our maturity in this area.
So far, I have really loved all of our lectures. But, it's not just about learning. If I can't take this knowledge and apply it, then it is useless. Pray my pride is broken and I am open to the fullness of what God wants to do in me. My friend (and staff leader), Maddie, had a word for me the first week. It was "Refinement". God wants to mold and refine me. I pray I am eager and willing.
What I'm saying here is a very pale, simple description of what we are learning. There is so much more depth to it. If you have more questions, feel free to ask.
As far as life goes, we had a blast celebrating Australia Day, a few weeks ago. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!
Then, Australia week was followed by a cyclone which wreaked havoc on Townsville up to Cairnes. Thankfully, there was no loss of life that I know of. Lots of big trees blown over. We waited it out in our powerless, dark, hot, leaking flat. We had a bit of flooding, but otherwise, no real damage to our place. It was interesting running around in the middle of the night with a headlamp, winds blowing outside, trying to find pots, bowls, and buckets for the leaking ceiling.
More on life later. I know this is a really brief synopsis, but my brain is ready to explode so I'm going to go.
With love from Aus, Erin!
Speaking of cyclones, I just went through my first hurricane. Category 5, one of the worst in Australian history. Yay, welcome to "Down Under."
We are into our fourth week of DTS. It is intense. My processing is going to take a long time. Just like when I returned from Nicaragua, I don't think half of this will hit me for months if not years.
Our first week of lectures was on our identity in Christ. Powerful stuff. Learning that we are co-heirs and conquerors through Christ. Why do we fear, what holds us back? Knowing that the God who created the universe is our advocate, we should stand in righteousness and truth. I wish I could give you a glimpse into what God did/is doing in me but am not sure if words are sufficient. I cannot live in the fullness of Christ, if I do not completely believe I am loved and made new through God. I started to realize this and refuse to let fear or anything else bring down what God has done for me and what He plans on doing in me.
The second week of lectures was on Confession/Repentance. Although we are new creations in Christ, in order to live for Him, we need to make sure we have a right heart and clear conscious before Him. If our thinking and actions are convoluted with sin, we allow things into our lives that are not in direct relationship in our service to Him. It is not just important to confess our sins to God, but sometimes we need to confess to others and be reconciled. Ken Mulligan, our base director, gave these lectures and really challenged us in our relationship with God, along with our knowledge of the Word.
We are now in our 3rd week of lectures and it is on relationships. So far, we are learning to have a right, healthy relationship with God. All of our other relationships are a reflection of our walk with God and our maturity in this area.
So far, I have really loved all of our lectures. But, it's not just about learning. If I can't take this knowledge and apply it, then it is useless. Pray my pride is broken and I am open to the fullness of what God wants to do in me. My friend (and staff leader), Maddie, had a word for me the first week. It was "Refinement". God wants to mold and refine me. I pray I am eager and willing.
What I'm saying here is a very pale, simple description of what we are learning. There is so much more depth to it. If you have more questions, feel free to ask.
As far as life goes, we had a blast celebrating Australia Day, a few weeks ago. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!
Then, Australia week was followed by a cyclone which wreaked havoc on Townsville up to Cairnes. Thankfully, there was no loss of life that I know of. Lots of big trees blown over. We waited it out in our powerless, dark, hot, leaking flat. We had a bit of flooding, but otherwise, no real damage to our place. It was interesting running around in the middle of the night with a headlamp, winds blowing outside, trying to find pots, bowls, and buckets for the leaking ceiling.
More on life later. I know this is a really brief synopsis, but my brain is ready to explode so I'm going to go.
With love from Aus, Erin!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
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