Today, December 27th, means theres exactly one month until outreach. This is scary and exciting. There is still a decent amount of money that needs to come in, but God provides. It's faith that I need for God to somehow bring all of the money needed in. :) As of right now I don't feel super prepared for this 7 week outreach, but the outreach that I leave for tomorrow will give me practice with being bold and open with people.
Heres the official schedule for my overseas outreach:
In one month I will be going to Germany and the Czech Republic with three other students, and two leaders. In Germany we will be in Berlin for two and a half weeks, working with a YWAM base, doing youth group events and going to churches. After Berlin, we will be taking a train to the Czech Republic. First we will be going to Litvinov for a few days, doing street evangelism and working in schools. Following Litvinov, we'll go to Chomutor for a couple more days where we will be teaching English in schools and leading worship and prayer in churches. After those two cities, we'll go to Prague for two weeks, doing children's ministry, working with victims of human trafficking, and helping people that live on the street. We'll be staying in a hostel for the two weeks, and then we'll go back to Germany. In Stuttgart, we will be pioneering for a week and a half, which means no outreach team has been there before so we'll come up with what we're going to do there. For the last day of outreach, March 16th or 17th we'll be in Frankfort, debriefing and preparing to go back to Australia. We leave on January 27th and get back March 17th. About half of the funds for my trip is still needed. (The total is about 3500). The money will go towards the plane ticket, hostels, and food. Any amount would be greatly appreciated along with your prayers. Also we will have a Facebook page with updates during the outreach if you would like to stay updated with how our team is doing.
TOMORROW I leave for Byron Bay. We will basically be evangelizing on the streets and on the beach, and worshipping for the majority of the time. I also am hoping that I can get baptized in the ocean while we're there!! That would be so exciting :) (someone will record it and take pictures of course for people to see it back home) We will be there for a total of 8 days, staying in a local church. Our school was split in half by random so I'm excited to get to be with people that I normally don't get to talk to often!! I'm so ready to see what God has in store for me during this week away!
"As we begin the destination, the outcome is just as unknown as the unseen. You walk into the future backwards."
Thank you for your prayers..keep praying!! (safety and open hearts for the people I'll talk to in Byron Bay..Outreach money..etc.) :)
Love you guys..I hope you enjoy the rest of your break! Kari.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Running.
Hello Hello. Like usual, it's been too long since I've updated you all and like usual, theres a lot to say! We got back from the Pass It on Tour a little over a week ago. It was some of the best weeks of my life, and definitely the most challenging. Of course there were some hard parts.. the oatmeal every morning, the extreme heat, sharing sicknesses, walking to take a shower, the hard labor, the long days, the little breaks, the spiders and cockroaches, the sleeping on the floor, the early mornings, setting up the tent for 5+ hours, no internet, sharing a bathroom with like 30 girls, and the lack of energy. BUT all of that helped us grow in many areas of our character-especially our patience! We all came out of those 3 weeks closer to God and closer to our YWAM team.
The Pass It On Tour is going on for the next 3 years. My DTS was involved with 3 of the weeks, one track of the tour. The purpose of the tour is to carry on the wisdom of God throughout the Western world. Our track was only in Australia, but over the next 3 years they will travel across Europe, Canada, and America. And by carry- I mean actually RUN with a baton! We all had the opportunity to physically run from one town to the next. It was an act of intercession, or praying for the people of the land and pronouncing that land God's again. The total of the journey is 16,000 k, but we all ran in between 3k-8k.
Running was actually very fun! It was pretty hot since it's now summer in Australia, but the views were beautiful. The bus dropped me off, and I ran until I saw the bus again! And a lot of local people knew our mission or had talked to someone on our team so they would honk and wave to us as we ran.
During the tour we worked mainly in our outreach teams, which was a blessing because we could "practice" working together before actual outreach. So Team Germany went to the schools together, did projects outside, and in the tent after school for the kids after school program. We went to a lot of RE classes (Religious Education) in the Australian primary schools. In most schools, we talked about the real meaning of Christmas, and in others we just talked about God's love for them. We did some skits, some games, played some one direction, and answered a lot of questions about where we came from, and why we were there. The kids were very receptive and a lot of them came to our after school programs and tent events in the evenings.
In each town we got to build relationships with them and just love on them. After school activities for me meant either working at the art tables, being a ball girl, or being a playground for the kids. They literally would hug you, play with your hair, jump on you, want a piggy back ride, or just want you to talk to them. It was really hard being enthusiastic at this time each day (3-5 p) after doing service projects, or hanging out with kids during schools, or cooking at the base, or doing work at the tent. But every day we would ask God for strength and true joy, and he ALWAYS gave it to us.
The three towns were Beaudesert, Boonah, and Warwick. Each town was different, spiritually and physically, but the routine was a lot of the same things. We always went to churches and schools. We always had something to do each day. But Boonah really stood out to me for some reason, as to a lot of other people. The people were so incredibly welcoming and nice. We were in the mountains and the town was a few blocks away so it was so beautiful and peaceful. We were staying in a church, so we had a bathroom, a kitchen, and multiple rooms with an eating area and a sleeping area all in one area which was SO NICE. (In Beaudesert we had to walk about 20 minutes for breakfast and a shower) And in Warwick the boys had to canoe across the river to the tent sometimes, but I'm sure they didn't mine that.
As soon as we got to Boonah I felt that it was just very spiritually heavy. I lost my voice and was pretty sick when we arrived on Saturday night, but on Sunday I got to attend a Baptist Church. It was pretty old school- but still it was nice connecting with the older people that wanted a revival. This one lady, Cheryl, came up to Amanda and I and just started talking. She was a new Christian, and her family wasn't. She said her daughter was dealing with demons in her house, and whenever she went to pray, the daughter said the situation got worse. We encouraged her to KEEP praying because that meant that she obviously was affecting the dark spirits. We got to pray for her and she just cried and smiled and was so happy for someone to listen to her. She also said her family never came to church but she really wanted them to come to her baptism the next Sunday.
Later in the week, it was my teams turn to walk down different streets and hand out gift bags with a Bible and tea. Some people were receptive, some houses were pretty sketchy, and some were people that have heard of us or the Pass It On tour! I walked up to the one house and Cheryl opens the door! She told me to come in because it was scorching hot, and I got to talk to her for a little and invite her to the fire twirling that Island Breeze was doing in the tent. The next night- she came! AND she told me her daughters and sons surprised her and told her that they would come to her baptism! Wow. God let me pray for her and see the result too. I knew God answered prayers but it was awesome seeing that happen after one prayer for this one random lady.
It was awesome to see how I changed and also how other people at changed out of these challenging yet crucial weeks in our lives. God taught me how to trust him with everything- because we had no control of our schedule- of our circumstances- or the reactions of the people we talk to. But we chose to trust that whenever he tells us to do something- we do it because HE knows what's good for us, and what people need to hear. And most importantly it was SO COOL to see God work in peoples hearts- especially teenagers, and bring them to their knees. There were countless stories of kids coming to know Jesus during these tent events, especially the Youth Night. :)
God blessed me with such a great outreach team and I'm so thankful that He specifically picked each one of us out and put us together into a team. We've been getting so close- and even the hard times of arguing and disagreement have brought us together and made us stronger.
After we got back, we had one day to relax and do laundry and do homework. And then another week of lectures began. It was on Relationships. It was SO GOOD. Some review for me, some new revelations on relating to God and relating to people.
And this week- is Lordship. These past two days so far that we've had have been incredible. It's almost overwhelming with how much I've learned from the speaker, Mark Parker. He is SO funny and SO wise and SO easy to listen to. At first I was terrified, lets be honest. (He even said people don't usually like him at first) But by the end, I loved his teaching style, and his realness that he brings. His love for God just explodes and it's such a cool thing to see.
Some things that really stood out to me so far this week were--
"Whens the last time the world promised satisfaction and actually came through?"
"THE GOD YOU IMAGINE IS THE GOD YOU REFLECT." (If we can't accept God's love for us, how can we love others)
"We hear, We know a lot, but we are so slow to obey.."
"Stop 'working on yourself' and just follow Jesus." (Not focusing on religion or rules, but just doing what Jesus has for us)
"Laying our life down means we're involving God. We're not losing it, we're finding it. But that also means its not controlled by us or our emotions anymore, but God is in control of it."
"People that soak things in, and don't overflow are prideful."
The definition of God- "whatever we make supreme."
SO ITS CHRISTMAS. It's very hot over here, but with all the decorations and christmas music it's actually starting to feel like it is that time of year. We had a Christmas decorating party with the game Now you have it now you don't, and a lot of food, and the movie Elf. On Friday we had a Love Feast, which was a nice dinner served out of love from our amazing staff. Then we had Christmas dinner on Tuesday which was DELICIOUS. On Saturday, as a base we have presents for each other (Secret Santa), a brunch, and then we're all going to the BEACH. Crazy right. We're all going to the Sunshine Coast for the day, and in the evening we'll also have a Bbq.
On actual Christmas I will just be watching Christmas movies and relaxing, and then two day after I will be heading to Byron Bay for 10 days with half of the MAD school. I think there's about 15 of us? We will be doing beach evangelism and setting up a tent with free Chai, and connecting with the YWAM teams there. More details on that later, but this will be another mini outreach. I'm really looking forward to it!!
It was a little sad at first thinking about not being at home on Christmas, but then I realized that God gave me these wonderful people to enjoy fun things with, so I should enjoy every second of it. So what if i'm sweating all day and there's no snow! I'm so blessed to be able to experience God like I am, and to be able to be a part of an incredible YWAM family. :)
Thank you for reading this book I just wrote about the past few weeks. Prayers always accepted :) Love you guys!! -Kari.
ps. I DID SEE 15-20 KANGAROOS IN A FIELD ON THE WAY TO THE FIRST TOWN. YAY.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Blog Title.
Hi everyone! It's been too long, I know. So for those who don't know I am officially going to Germany and the Czech Republic :) We have a team of six- our leaders Brian (Arizona) and Kaeli (Canada) Laura and Will (Canada) and Jaeci from Texas. Here is what I know about my outreach so far:
-On January 27th we're going to Berlin, Germany. We're not sure exactly how long we'll be in each place but I think we'll be in Germany for 4 weeks and the Czech Republic for 3 weeks. (Outreach dates are January 27- March 17)
- The flight will be at least $1900. That will cover both ways.
- We have 2 contacts in Germany that will give us a schedule for our weeks there.
-We will be staying in a cafe that is no longer used- previous YWAMers used it for the coffee and music, but that's where we will be sleeping most of the time. -It will be be winter so our ministry will pretty much be inside.
More details for what we will be doing later!
So the past two weeks have been my favorites of the DTS- The Holy Spirit and Worship. I can't even begin to describe how much I learned in those lectures! Everything that was said was backed up with verses from the Bible- and it just made so much sense to me. Things like healings, miracles, and other gifts from the Holy Spirit.
Barry, the speaker for the Holy Spirit week, got to pray for every single one of us and he listened to what God wanted him to say..Mine was to use all of the gifts that I have and not to put them on a shelf- I guess that's why I've been dancing and playing guitar like crazy again! (Barry is the 4th or 5th person that said they got a picture or a visual of me dancing) He also said I love adventures and to keep being adventurous and doing things I love. And the other main thing I remember him saying was that God said I'm going to receive an abundance of things but I also might just have enough sometimes. It was so interesting listening to all of the other prophesies too! Every single one of them applied to the person specifically. God was speaking like crazy!
Barry also told us how to overcome our flesh and let the holy spirit lead us. Our first human instincts is what gets us into trouble. And when people are turned off by Christianity, it's because they see the flesh, not the holy spirit. "If people actually saw Jesus in people they would come running" God doesn't want us to be limited with what we know of Him. He wants to show us his power and ability to heal and save, and he wants us to hear Him in crazy ways!
The Heart of Worship (this past weeks lectures) was taught by our school director, Hannah Lenz, and one of the leaders Katrina. It focused on what exactly worship is to us, and to God, and vulnerability of worship. It was very encouraging in that we should always be worshipping with our life and not just when we sing worship songs or pray. Also it should never be about us- what we're doing, how we FEEL, who's watching. Vulnerability is so much like being CHILDLIKE. We should be in awe every day of God, and we should trust Him like little kids trust their dad to catch them when they jump. Kids have faith in people older than them and they believe what their told, they don't ask questions. "Return to Childhood. When we trusted completely."
One quote that spoke to me was "In the beginning people think that vulnerability will make you weak, but it does the opposite. It shows that you're strong enough to care." -Victoria Pratt
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear. Whenever I feel anxious or nervous- I say this to myself. Cast- means to give completely to God. It's no longer my burden. One I pray about something- then the rest is up to God.
In a week our team will be going on the Pass It On running tour for 3 weeks. We've been waking up at 6 am training for this thing...so I guess I'll be running in it! It'll be one at a time.. about 2.5 miles. We'll have a walky talky and they'll drop us off the bus and we'll run until we see the bus again. Strange thought, but I'm actually excited to run! The rest of the time we'll be working and hanging out with kids and families in our outreach teams. I won't have internet for about 90% of the time-but after I get back I will upload pictures and write a blog for how the 3 weeks went. Prayers are encouraged!! And mail :)
<3
-On January 27th we're going to Berlin, Germany. We're not sure exactly how long we'll be in each place but I think we'll be in Germany for 4 weeks and the Czech Republic for 3 weeks. (Outreach dates are January 27- March 17)
- The flight will be at least $1900. That will cover both ways.
- We have 2 contacts in Germany that will give us a schedule for our weeks there.
-We will be staying in a cafe that is no longer used- previous YWAMers used it for the coffee and music, but that's where we will be sleeping most of the time. -It will be be winter so our ministry will pretty much be inside.
More details for what we will be doing later!
So the past two weeks have been my favorites of the DTS- The Holy Spirit and Worship. I can't even begin to describe how much I learned in those lectures! Everything that was said was backed up with verses from the Bible- and it just made so much sense to me. Things like healings, miracles, and other gifts from the Holy Spirit.
Barry, the speaker for the Holy Spirit week, got to pray for every single one of us and he listened to what God wanted him to say..Mine was to use all of the gifts that I have and not to put them on a shelf- I guess that's why I've been dancing and playing guitar like crazy again! (Barry is the 4th or 5th person that said they got a picture or a visual of me dancing) He also said I love adventures and to keep being adventurous and doing things I love. And the other main thing I remember him saying was that God said I'm going to receive an abundance of things but I also might just have enough sometimes. It was so interesting listening to all of the other prophesies too! Every single one of them applied to the person specifically. God was speaking like crazy!
Barry also told us how to overcome our flesh and let the holy spirit lead us. Our first human instincts is what gets us into trouble. And when people are turned off by Christianity, it's because they see the flesh, not the holy spirit. "If people actually saw Jesus in people they would come running" God doesn't want us to be limited with what we know of Him. He wants to show us his power and ability to heal and save, and he wants us to hear Him in crazy ways!
The Heart of Worship (this past weeks lectures) was taught by our school director, Hannah Lenz, and one of the leaders Katrina. It focused on what exactly worship is to us, and to God, and vulnerability of worship. It was very encouraging in that we should always be worshipping with our life and not just when we sing worship songs or pray. Also it should never be about us- what we're doing, how we FEEL, who's watching. Vulnerability is so much like being CHILDLIKE. We should be in awe every day of God, and we should trust Him like little kids trust their dad to catch them when they jump. Kids have faith in people older than them and they believe what their told, they don't ask questions. "Return to Childhood. When we trusted completely."
One quote that spoke to me was "In the beginning people think that vulnerability will make you weak, but it does the opposite. It shows that you're strong enough to care." -Victoria Pratt
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear. Whenever I feel anxious or nervous- I say this to myself. Cast- means to give completely to God. It's no longer my burden. One I pray about something- then the rest is up to God.
In a week our team will be going on the Pass It On running tour for 3 weeks. We've been waking up at 6 am training for this thing...so I guess I'll be running in it! It'll be one at a time.. about 2.5 miles. We'll have a walky talky and they'll drop us off the bus and we'll run until we see the bus again. Strange thought, but I'm actually excited to run! The rest of the time we'll be working and hanging out with kids and families in our outreach teams. I won't have internet for about 90% of the time-but after I get back I will upload pictures and write a blog for how the 3 weeks went. Prayers are encouraged!! And mail :)
<3
Monday, October 22, 2012
Deuteronomy 4:29
SO it's been a long time since i've written a blog! My apologies. It definitely does not mean that nothing is happening- but just the opposite. God has been teaching me so much..i definitely won't be able to put every single thing into this entry. The second week of lectures was on the Father Heart of God. It was an amazing and emotional week- learning a lot about who God really is. I didn't know He had so many different sides of Him!! Michelle, our amazing speaker that we were blessed with for that week, challenged us to:
-surrender everything that we were holding on to and putting before God
-make sure our desire and longing was completely to know God and NOT just to know the bare minimum that the average christian settles for, to know just enough to get into heaven, and to just do enough to escape hell.
-to renew our LONGING for God
She told us about the raging side of God, but she really emphasized how much he LOVES us. I always heard this over and over in church and at school but it only is hitting me now. No matter how many times i've turned away from Him God has still pursued me. We always think that our sin separates us from Him, and in a way it does, but it doesn't mean that God is there with us. He's still there waiting for us to turn back to Him.
During Evangelism night two Fridays ago- I was pretty much freaking out. I've never been on a missions trip, never had to witness to someone. I had the mindset that I didn't need to do anything that night- that everyone else would take care of it. But that was not the case. After having a few normal conversations with people my group decided to follow an ambulance in the city and go pray for the situation. A man had a heart attack and we arrived right when the medical teams came and a lot of the YWAM groups were also there praying for him. But a few minutes later God decided that it was the mans time to pass. It was a pretty emotional night for all of us seeing this happen- but we know God's doing something with what happened. In the meantime I got to talk to an older man Jose. He just asked if I knew the man in any way and we got to talking for awhile! I got to tell him a little about what I was doing in Brisbane and he did too- he was there for heart treatment. I asked if I could pray for him. He kept saying that I only asked so that I would feel better about myself. It was kind of funny how he kept repeating that but I convinced him otherwise, and he let me and my friend Paige pray for him. As soon as we finished he said "My heart is happy now!" Then he hugged and kissed me on the cheek and left. That made my night. I didn't even expect to talk to anyone that night but God placed Jose right there next to me on that bench. He told me what to say and it made loving people and just talking to people so easy. "God's perfect love drives out fear."
Deuteronomy 4:29- " If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me." This verse pretty much sums up last weeks lectures: "Hearing the Voice of God." I've been learning so much about how God is speaking ALL THE TIME. Were just not listening. He wants to tell us so much-and it's up to us just to LISTEN to what He wants to say!
THAT is what I was figuring out when I heard where God wanted me to go on outreach for 2 months! It was during lectures last week. We were just sitting there praying alone and listening to a song when I saw a picture in my head of something specific (that i'll tell everyone later...i don't want to give it away). I knew I couldn't have just randomly thought of that. I felt like it was a dream but I was definitely awake. I had never experienced hearing God like that before and I was so excited to tell my roomies and leaders. Later that day I looked up all of the 5 locations on Google images- and what do you know. THE PICTURE I SAW CAME UP ON GOOGLE FOR WHERE I WANTED TO GO TO. God is crazy. God is crazy good. And then if that wasn't enough to know where God wanted me to go- he confirmed it the day before we were supposed to hand in our first choice.
Something else Jason taught us during "Hearing the Voice of God" week, was how bad of a friend we are to God! If we put God on a human level- think about how many times we've ignored Him, insulted Him, didn't listen to Him, and told Him to prove himself to us! That hit us all pretty hard- and Jason had us all laughing because it's so true. We order God around and tell him what to do, and when. As if God doesn't know best.
I've been learning a lot about hearing God, trusting Him with EVERYTHING, and learning what it means to be willing to give everything to God. "God never asks you to give Him something, without replacing it with something better." So that's a basic summary of what I've been learning from the lectures and on my own.
On a less serious note...the heat has been a killer. It was freezing on the night all of us went to the city- we had scarves, gloves, boots, pants, and coats on! And now these days are SCORCHING. It's not even official summer yet...oh boy.
Friday we had a dress up birthday party for all of the september/october birthdays! The theme was what we wanted to be when we grew up. There was food, lots and lots of dancing, and pictures. It was a really fun time especially after the stress of the week. Then Saturday a lot of us helped take pictures/drew portraits/performed at the high school Medieval Fest. It was a lot of fun to see all of the creativity but it also was super hot. And yesterday a lot of people went to another fair- but the people that didn't just stayed at the base. It was relaxing to have a small group of people here and to get all of our homework done. (it was a good 3 hours worth).
That's pretty much it...WE'RE EITHER FINDING OUT OUTREACHES TONIGHT OR TOMORROW. I'm very excited and nervous to find out our teams and leaders. It's been hard keeping it a secret haha.
Thank you everyone for reading, and thank you for your prayers. I miss you all! :)
-surrender everything that we were holding on to and putting before God
-make sure our desire and longing was completely to know God and NOT just to know the bare minimum that the average christian settles for, to know just enough to get into heaven, and to just do enough to escape hell.
-to renew our LONGING for God
She told us about the raging side of God, but she really emphasized how much he LOVES us. I always heard this over and over in church and at school but it only is hitting me now. No matter how many times i've turned away from Him God has still pursued me. We always think that our sin separates us from Him, and in a way it does, but it doesn't mean that God is there with us. He's still there waiting for us to turn back to Him.
During Evangelism night two Fridays ago- I was pretty much freaking out. I've never been on a missions trip, never had to witness to someone. I had the mindset that I didn't need to do anything that night- that everyone else would take care of it. But that was not the case. After having a few normal conversations with people my group decided to follow an ambulance in the city and go pray for the situation. A man had a heart attack and we arrived right when the medical teams came and a lot of the YWAM groups were also there praying for him. But a few minutes later God decided that it was the mans time to pass. It was a pretty emotional night for all of us seeing this happen- but we know God's doing something with what happened. In the meantime I got to talk to an older man Jose. He just asked if I knew the man in any way and we got to talking for awhile! I got to tell him a little about what I was doing in Brisbane and he did too- he was there for heart treatment. I asked if I could pray for him. He kept saying that I only asked so that I would feel better about myself. It was kind of funny how he kept repeating that but I convinced him otherwise, and he let me and my friend Paige pray for him. As soon as we finished he said "My heart is happy now!" Then he hugged and kissed me on the cheek and left. That made my night. I didn't even expect to talk to anyone that night but God placed Jose right there next to me on that bench. He told me what to say and it made loving people and just talking to people so easy. "God's perfect love drives out fear."
Deuteronomy 4:29- " If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me." This verse pretty much sums up last weeks lectures: "Hearing the Voice of God." I've been learning so much about how God is speaking ALL THE TIME. Were just not listening. He wants to tell us so much-and it's up to us just to LISTEN to what He wants to say!
THAT is what I was figuring out when I heard where God wanted me to go on outreach for 2 months! It was during lectures last week. We were just sitting there praying alone and listening to a song when I saw a picture in my head of something specific (that i'll tell everyone later...i don't want to give it away). I knew I couldn't have just randomly thought of that. I felt like it was a dream but I was definitely awake. I had never experienced hearing God like that before and I was so excited to tell my roomies and leaders. Later that day I looked up all of the 5 locations on Google images- and what do you know. THE PICTURE I SAW CAME UP ON GOOGLE FOR WHERE I WANTED TO GO TO. God is crazy. God is crazy good. And then if that wasn't enough to know where God wanted me to go- he confirmed it the day before we were supposed to hand in our first choice.
Something else Jason taught us during "Hearing the Voice of God" week, was how bad of a friend we are to God! If we put God on a human level- think about how many times we've ignored Him, insulted Him, didn't listen to Him, and told Him to prove himself to us! That hit us all pretty hard- and Jason had us all laughing because it's so true. We order God around and tell him what to do, and when. As if God doesn't know best.
I've been learning a lot about hearing God, trusting Him with EVERYTHING, and learning what it means to be willing to give everything to God. "God never asks you to give Him something, without replacing it with something better." So that's a basic summary of what I've been learning from the lectures and on my own.
On a less serious note...the heat has been a killer. It was freezing on the night all of us went to the city- we had scarves, gloves, boots, pants, and coats on! And now these days are SCORCHING. It's not even official summer yet...oh boy.
Friday we had a dress up birthday party for all of the september/october birthdays! The theme was what we wanted to be when we grew up. There was food, lots and lots of dancing, and pictures. It was a really fun time especially after the stress of the week. Then Saturday a lot of us helped take pictures/drew portraits/performed at the high school Medieval Fest. It was a lot of fun to see all of the creativity but it also was super hot. And yesterday a lot of people went to another fair- but the people that didn't just stayed at the base. It was relaxing to have a small group of people here and to get all of our homework done. (it was a good 3 hours worth).
That's pretty much it...WE'RE EITHER FINDING OUT OUTREACHES TONIGHT OR TOMORROW. I'm very excited and nervous to find out our teams and leaders. It's been hard keeping it a secret haha.
Thank you everyone for reading, and thank you for your prayers. I miss you all! :)
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
First week of lectures!
Today is finally Thursday! Which means that classes, intercessions, and lectures have been going on for 4 days. I have been SO OVERWHELMED. But in a great way :) Seriously everything that our leader/base director Hannah Lenz has said has struck me. The lecture week is called "The Character and Nature of God." I seriously did not know that there was this much to know about God! I was so intrigued with every word that God spoke through her. I was feeling so drained and bored and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. After Hannah's lecture and my friend Paige coming over to pray for me I knew what was getting in the way from me believing in Him fully. And finally knowing what it was was so freeing. I could then praise God and I was so excited to learn even MORE. It's crazy how I'm slowly figuring out that all of the things I didn't believe in, like healing and asking God for big things and believing He will do it, is REAL. I didn't give God enough credit before at all.
Anyways, our focus groups- (photography, art, dance, music) met on monday for the first time. We are also meeting today. I love it already! There are only 4 photographers but that means that our two awesome leaders will get to do their own thing but also get to assist us. We have a few projects to complete this DTS. The first one is on God's promises, so the artists are drawing and painting what God's promises mean to them- and the photographers get to go out and take pictures of their perspective of it.
So this weekend a group of us are planning to go to the BEACH! After a long weekend of orientations and lectures we are hoping and praying that our student cards will be ready to go! (so we can travel cheaper).
This is a shorter blog but I'm still getting used to being so busy (with awesome things of course). I can't say enough how grateful I am to be here- but prayers are definitely still appreciated! Miss you all!
Anyways, our focus groups- (photography, art, dance, music) met on monday for the first time. We are also meeting today. I love it already! There are only 4 photographers but that means that our two awesome leaders will get to do their own thing but also get to assist us. We have a few projects to complete this DTS. The first one is on God's promises, so the artists are drawing and painting what God's promises mean to them- and the photographers get to go out and take pictures of their perspective of it.
So this weekend a group of us are planning to go to the BEACH! After a long weekend of orientations and lectures we are hoping and praying that our student cards will be ready to go! (so we can travel cheaper).
This is a shorter blog but I'm still getting used to being so busy (with awesome things of course). I can't say enough how grateful I am to be here- but prayers are definitely still appreciated! Miss you all!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Sept. 30th
Hello everyone! As you probably know..I am here safely in Brisbane, Australia and I am LOVING IT. We are all still battling jet lag..but other than that I am truly enjoying it here and it's only been a week since I left! On Wednesday we arrived at the Brisbane airport at around 5 AM. There were 5 of us girls that were on the same flight going to YWAM. I flew with my good friend Lesley and Rachel who we met a few times before we left because she lives in Lancaster, and then we recognized Jaeci and Paige in the airport in Dallas.
The 15 hour flight to Brisbane was actually bearable for all of us. There were a TON of movies and shows to choose from and the food was actually fine. We all sat together and it was very comfortable but the most shocking part was that all of us 5 girls slept for the first 12 hours. Then the next 3 hours flew by. Traveling was definitely a breeze so that was definitely an answer to my prayers.
It was around 6 when we got to the base. We were given a tour and got to set up our computers and unpack all of our things. There are 12 people to a room ( bunk beds) Our rooms are actually nicer than I expected! Theres a good amount of space and its carpeted. The bathrooms are a few doors down on the top floor-we have to share with another room of 12 upstairs but it never get really crowded. Well it hasn't yet!
The rest of the day a few of the girls just went to the Brookside Mall to buy some necessities and look around. The mall doesn't look too different from mine at home except I don't recognize a lot of the stores and its more expensive. They have a Target so I'm happy!!
The next day more people arrived and we got to know everyone a little bit better. I am SO THANKFUL because all of the girls in my room get along so well. We're all so different but we all just click so perfectly. There are a few photographers, a few dancers, and a few musicians in the room. We all woke up pretty early again because 6 am in Australia is 4 pm in the States. A bunch of the girls and 3 guys went to Brisbane city by train. It was pretty cheap and easy to get there. The city was beautiful! We got to have our Starbucks and see the fake beach and pretty bridges and fountains! (If you saw any pictures on Facebook, thats basically where we were for all of the pictures I've taken so far)
Thursday was Orientation day. It started at 830 and went until about 3. There was a lot to learn- about the school, classes, schedule, government, wildlife, culture, food, places, and money. There was a lot to learn, but to keep us awake we had random focus shifts where we would get up and dance and do random activities like arrange all 35 of us in order according to our age. (without talking..we failed) Finally after we got all the details figured out we got to relax. Plus we had a break at 1030 for morning tea. We have morning tea every single day with fruit and pastries. It's such an awesome tradition..we just snack and socialize for like 20 minutes every day!
Friday was the beginning of testimonies. We all sat in a circle from about 9-5 with breaks for meals. Everyones story was so incredible- we were all SO honest and open about all of our mistakes and struggles. But of course in the end it was all about where we are now and where we want to be in the future with God. I was super nervous to tell mine but in the end it doesn't matter about what we did in the past or how different we are. It's about how we can all encourage each other to be in a better place with ourselves and God. It brought us all so much closer to each other.
Saturday we finished testimonies in the morning and then had a break until 230. At 230 we put on our athletic clothes and all took a bus to the park. The leaders organized capture the flag.. (or capture the soccer balls) and we had an awesome few games of that on a soccer field. We also played Ninja, The Question Game (where you stand in a circle and ask the person next to you a random question but can't laugh) Terradactyl, and soccer. We had a barbecue (well spaghetti haha) and then some ice cream. Random fact- there are so many bats here! They're huge and kinda scary..i'll have to get used to that. Right after the park we came back to the base and had free time. About 10 of us went right to watch fireworks in the cemetery. They were going on in Brisbane city but we didn't have time to get closer by train so we sat on a hill and watched. We couldn't hear them but it was still such a beautiful view! The city lit up at night looked AMAZING and I definitely want to go at night some time.
In closing of my first blog- I just want to thank everyone who brought me here and thank you for your prayers! I wouldn't want to be anywhere but here in this point of my life. I know God is going to do amazing things here with me and the amazing group of people I'm here with. Thank you thank you :) I'll try to write again this week!
The 15 hour flight to Brisbane was actually bearable for all of us. There were a TON of movies and shows to choose from and the food was actually fine. We all sat together and it was very comfortable but the most shocking part was that all of us 5 girls slept for the first 12 hours. Then the next 3 hours flew by. Traveling was definitely a breeze so that was definitely an answer to my prayers.
It was around 6 when we got to the base. We were given a tour and got to set up our computers and unpack all of our things. There are 12 people to a room ( bunk beds) Our rooms are actually nicer than I expected! Theres a good amount of space and its carpeted. The bathrooms are a few doors down on the top floor-we have to share with another room of 12 upstairs but it never get really crowded. Well it hasn't yet!
The rest of the day a few of the girls just went to the Brookside Mall to buy some necessities and look around. The mall doesn't look too different from mine at home except I don't recognize a lot of the stores and its more expensive. They have a Target so I'm happy!!
The next day more people arrived and we got to know everyone a little bit better. I am SO THANKFUL because all of the girls in my room get along so well. We're all so different but we all just click so perfectly. There are a few photographers, a few dancers, and a few musicians in the room. We all woke up pretty early again because 6 am in Australia is 4 pm in the States. A bunch of the girls and 3 guys went to Brisbane city by train. It was pretty cheap and easy to get there. The city was beautiful! We got to have our Starbucks and see the fake beach and pretty bridges and fountains! (If you saw any pictures on Facebook, thats basically where we were for all of the pictures I've taken so far)
Thursday was Orientation day. It started at 830 and went until about 3. There was a lot to learn- about the school, classes, schedule, government, wildlife, culture, food, places, and money. There was a lot to learn, but to keep us awake we had random focus shifts where we would get up and dance and do random activities like arrange all 35 of us in order according to our age. (without talking..we failed) Finally after we got all the details figured out we got to relax. Plus we had a break at 1030 for morning tea. We have morning tea every single day with fruit and pastries. It's such an awesome tradition..we just snack and socialize for like 20 minutes every day!
Friday was the beginning of testimonies. We all sat in a circle from about 9-5 with breaks for meals. Everyones story was so incredible- we were all SO honest and open about all of our mistakes and struggles. But of course in the end it was all about where we are now and where we want to be in the future with God. I was super nervous to tell mine but in the end it doesn't matter about what we did in the past or how different we are. It's about how we can all encourage each other to be in a better place with ourselves and God. It brought us all so much closer to each other.
Saturday we finished testimonies in the morning and then had a break until 230. At 230 we put on our athletic clothes and all took a bus to the park. The leaders organized capture the flag.. (or capture the soccer balls) and we had an awesome few games of that on a soccer field. We also played Ninja, The Question Game (where you stand in a circle and ask the person next to you a random question but can't laugh) Terradactyl, and soccer. We had a barbecue (well spaghetti haha) and then some ice cream. Random fact- there are so many bats here! They're huge and kinda scary..i'll have to get used to that. Right after the park we came back to the base and had free time. About 10 of us went right to watch fireworks in the cemetery. They were going on in Brisbane city but we didn't have time to get closer by train so we sat on a hill and watched. We couldn't hear them but it was still such a beautiful view! The city lit up at night looked AMAZING and I definitely want to go at night some time.
In closing of my first blog- I just want to thank everyone who brought me here and thank you for your prayers! I wouldn't want to be anywhere but here in this point of my life. I know God is going to do amazing things here with me and the amazing group of people I'm here with. Thank you thank you :) I'll try to write again this week!
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