Outreach prep... literally.

Another two crazy weeks have happened in YWAM, Brisbane. We started out with a week of lectures by Hannah Lenz (the leader for my outreach team) on Worship. It was a really good week and a good reminder of what the real meaning of worship is. Sometimes I think it's easy to forget that worship isn't just about the songs and the instruments- worship can be anytime, anywhere, in any way. We finished out the week with a full 24 hour worship, where I really put what we learned during the week into play. And for the first time, I really felt like I legitimately worshipped... and I really felt God there with me. It was such a cool experience!

The next day, we met at 11 for lectures... however, we didn't have lectures. Everyone on our school went up to the board and wrote down how much money they still needed for outreach. There were 25 people who were still in need- a total of over $55,000. We all sat and prayed for them and if we felt called to give, we were to write down how much on a slip of paper and go and hand it to the person. I sat and watched people who literally had just about nothing giving to friends and teammates. I saw on of my teammates sitting on the floor, digging through his small bag of change and then pick it up and take it to one of the leaders for her support. He, himself didn't even have all of his outreach money paid. It was incredible. At the end, they asked the people to go back up to the board and write down how much they still needed. That $55,000 dwindled to $40,000. Between 50 poor YWAMers, over $14,000 was given. Two leaders, Joy and Jordan (who have two small children and another on the way), are starting a YWAM base in Peru and were in need of $6000 just for airfare. In one hour of sitting in a room with the rest of our school, their needs were met. God moves in crazy ways!

This week, we had lectures on "Fear of the Lord" by Joy Allen. It was a good week, however, being sick keptme from really focusing. We ended the lecture week early and did something a little different. Thursday, we had a few lectures regarding outreach and things to be aware of- health and safety, ways to behave in our cultures, how to use the "squatty potty". Friday morning, we thought we would have the same thing, however, to our surprise, we were handed a slip of paper with a small list of things to bring- no more. We did a fake outreach, meaning, we went through a fake airport, through customs (where they stole my sleeping bag and socks- which don't sound so important.. but they will later). We experienced beggars and hiking and learning how to barter. We cooked rabbits over a fire and set up a tarp for a place to sleep. On the spot, we had to come up with 1 1/2 hours of children's ministry time. We ate a legit Peruvian meal: lettuce, rice, one whole sliced, raw onion with chunks of raw fish, covered in lemon juice. After our meal, we slept outside... when it so conveniently started to rain- this is where the missing sleeping bag and socks come in. The experience as a whole was good... stressful, but good. I really felt like our team bonded and grew as a whole.

We leave for Peru in less than two weeks! I'm really excited about it! However, at the moment, five of our teammates are still needing money. We have a webpage up and running with info and photos of each team member. If you are willing, we would love to have you travel along with us through Peru via internet and to support us in prayer! If you would like to give financially, there is also a place for that on the page :)

http://ywamteamperu.tumblr.com/team

Thank you so much to everyone who has followed and supported me throughout my lecture phase! This has been such an amazing time and I'm beyond excited to get this next half of the journey underway! Until next time, God bless :)

when waters rise...

This past week was a bit crazy. So much was going on in my mind. As the waters rose around us and tragedy hit the state, God began to rock my own world too. We had the privilege of having our school leader, Jason Solari, talk to us this past week about destiny and what our futures look like. This is probably something that I could listen to for the rest of my life... we never have our lives completely planned. But as much as I didn't want to think about what I have laid out in front of me for next year, I needed to listen and process. Unfortunately, it's just a long process and God and I are still working on that bit :)

On Saturday, we had the privilege of going into the city to help with flood relief. God really used this as an opportunity to open my eyes and think about what I'm making of my life. The drive seemed to take an eternity- enough time for a small nap :) But while we were driving, it was hard to get past the smells of sewage, rubbish and mud. There were heaps and heaps of trash out on the streets- things that business owners and homeowners couldn't salvage. When we arrived at the house, it had already been gutted. We spent the day with pressure washers and buckets of soapy water, cleaning off everything that could possibly be kept. Furniture, toys and hardware items were caked in mud. The flood had risen in their house to my nose! The neighbors across the street had water up to the second floor. As devastating as it was to see all of the damage in the cities and towns, there was more hope and spirit in the people than I ever could've imagined. People were walking down the streets handing out food and water, offering to help out in any way they could.

As I sat in the backyard, cleaning off the muddy toys, the question dawned on me... is this what I've living for? Have I been so caught up in the world that I forgot the importance of life? Why do we go to work everyday and save money up to buy really nice things that could vanish in the blink of an eye? God asks us to store up treasures for Heaven... so what would it look like if everyone would make that their goal of life- not to have all the best materials, but to have the best attitudes, to lend the best helping hand, to be the best giver that they can be? As this all ran through my mind, God hit me with the big question: Am I worried about what to do next year because I'm afraid that I won't have a job that makes tons of money for me to buy the material things that I want? What if I put that thinking aside and just followed the call that He's placed in my life. If I do that, and I work at that with everything in me, won't I be storing up treasures for Heaven instead of earth?

It was so impacting for me to think that way. So I challenge you who read this: step back and take a look at your life. What have you been saving up for?

Opening my eyes... the past 3 weeks.

Well, I realize that it's been quite some time since I last blogged. Things have been so busy here!

Christmas was a really fun time. I'll admit, it was really hard to be away from home and family... I missed traditions. But God has blessed me with such a great group of people here who I love so much... my MAD family :) I spent Christmas eve with a few of my closest friends. We went to see Narnia in 3D and then listened to a recording of Caren's grandpa read us the Christmas story :) I was a little disappointed that my package didn't come here in time for Christmas... but as I sat and watched my roommates open their Christmas packages, I realized the joy that there was in just being in the moment and seeing the joy that comes from being with people. We had a brunch and then opened our stockings (we all had a secret santa and saved one gift for Christmas day.) I never realized how blessed I am at home. Since everyone is paying to be here, no one really has extra cash to spend... so watching everyone open up gifts and get really excited about candy bars and small things was so good for me... everyone was so happy :)

We left two days after Christmas for two weeks. The school was split up according to outreach locations. Team Peru, Japan and Canada (my group) first went to Byron Bay for Impact Summer- a week of evangelism in Byron Bay. Team Australia/New Zealand, Germany/Czech Republic and India went to Hervey Bay for the first week for team building and lectures. After the week was over, the teams switched places.

My week in Byron was good... but a little frustrating at times. We were just out evangelizing to tourists, backpackers and towns people for the week. We'd do different things during the day- worship at the beach, volleyball tournament, walking around the town.. and then we'd set up a free bbq at the park at night and have people preforming. It was so nice to actually be at the beach for the week :) it was so beautiful! It was still a rough week. I was starting to discover how difficult I find it to just walk up to people and make small talk and then jump into evangelism. But God taught me something that I didn't realize until the end of the week/beginning of the next week- we're not all called to be evangelists.. but He uses us and our gifts in the same way. I just began to realize how much my way of evangelism is through meeting practical needs- service.

We switched after the week had ended and made our way to Hervey Bay. We had lectures on Worldview with Landa Cope. It was a good week, but I found lectures very hard to pay attention to- government isn't something that catches my attention. But she talked about some other really good things like being good stewards. She also talked about the Old Testament and how we often look at it as a bunch of stories, but if we look closely, it's a guide for how God wanted things to be run. It was definitely an eye-opener and made me want to go back and read the scriptures again. After lectures each morning, we'd split up into our outreach teams and have "faith days." Our first day, we had a treasure hunt. We all split up into groups of 3 and prayed and asked God for pictures of who he wanted us to talk to or where we should go. Then we'd go. We never found the people that our group was looking for. I was so disappointed and really just felt like i failed. When we were walking back to the house, I decided I was going to stop and pray and just ask God about the way things were going and my disappointment. As I sat on the wall by the beach, an older, disheveled man road past on a bike. I smiled and said hi and then continued praying. Five minutes later, that man came riding back. We got in conversation and he brought up God and faith and stuff. It was so cool because I didn't need to be the one to just jump into deep conversation. I was able to share some with him. Then my friend, Chris, came over and joined. Before we left, we were able to pray for him. It was really encouraging for me to actually have that experience. The second day, we went out to the water and just praised God for who He was and then we went out and asked people if they needed prayer for healing. Again, I saw nothing spectacular... but God continued to challenge me to have faith. The last day, we did service. We started by weeding around the house that we were staying at but later were sent of into groups of 3 to weed at other people's houses. Ali (Idaho), Rebekka (Norway) and I went out. We passed a man mowing a lawn- it looked like it hadn't been cut in weeks (maybe a foot long of grass). We asked if we could help him collect the grass. We started helping and then we got in conversation. He was a really nice guy and he told us that he didn't even live at the house. It was a single mom who lived there- he just drove past and noticed it needed cut. It's funny how God brought us all together to help someone that none of us knew. We went back and got our entire team to come and help (it was a big yard). We spent the entire day there :) It was so fun and I really enjoyed it. When Allen (the man mowing) asked us why we were helping, I explained YWAM to him. He looked at me and smiled and said, "I should've guessed you guys were all Christians." How cool- knowing that the face of Christ can be shown in something as little as helping a neighbor collect the cut grass.

We traveled and returned home last night. It was a rough drive- everything is pretty flooded here and roads are closed. We passed a park that was kind of down in a gully. The water was up to the basketball rim! But we're all safe back at home :) It was so cool to be reunited with our entire school again. I realized how much I appreciate this entire family that God has blessed me with here in Brisbane :)