the end, and the beginning!

I graduated DTS yesterday. I got my certificate and everything so it is officially over. Some people have already left and more are leaving within the next couple days. It breaks my heart that I will never be able to be in the same room as all of these amazing people ever again. I thought I would write this blog post just to share my thoughts and reflections of DTS as a whole and also what I've learnt. So... things I have learned:
1. God is bigger then the box I put him in: I thought I had everything all sorted when it came to God, but I really didn't. I learned so much about him and there is still so much more for me to learn. Also, he does crazy stuff! Like heal people and speak to people and answer all sorts of prayers... he is bigger then I thought!
2. God is moving all over the world: I was very, very lucky to travel to three extremely different countries and see what life was like ther. Although they were SO different culturally and in many ways, God is still the same God and he is moving and working and transforming people all over the place.
3. My life has purpose: I have made a promise to myself to never be bored again. There is no reason for life to be boring and I am determined to make it exciting and full and awesome... there are endless opportunities!
4. I have learnt a lot about myself and who I am as a person and who God has created me to be. I have grown a lot if confidence in myself which has allowed me to become more bold and step out as a person.

I've learned many other things, but these are the biggies I think. Overall, I think I was meant to come to DTS because God wanted to shake me up a bit and then solidify me in my beliefs as a foundation for the rest of life. It has been amazing being surrounded by people who all love God and want to pursue him... it is such an encouraging enviroment to be in. Just the other day we had the most amazing worship session as a class where everyone was just so engaged, loving it, loving God and I realized how much I would miss that!

This has all been pretty deep, so on the lighter side.. I had heaps of fun during DTS. Highlights:
- late night beach adventures that involve missing the last train back and having to walk...
- many, many, many trips to McDonald's or Hungry Jacks for fifty cent ice cream cones
- going to the beach and ignoring everyone's advice to wear sunscreen and getting super burnt
- hanging out with my girls in room 10 - they are the BEST
- camping!!
- epic dance parties, including the legendary 'jungle feva'
- extremely long roadtrips through the outback complete with picking up hitchhikers, flat tires, running out of gas, dead kangaroos, hitting kangaroos, dance parties, using the bush as a toilet, best stars ever...
- tim tam slams
- the endless supply of bread
and so much more...

I am going to miss everyone a lot! I am ready for DTS to be over and move on to the next thing, but I will miss everyone a lot. DTS has been amazing. There has been many challenges and many things to work through, but it has all helped me grow. I've made amazing friends and amazing memories and I'm very grateful for this opportunity!

Up next for me... I'm headed to Bali on Monday for 10 days with a friend for a bit of a vacation, then I'll be staffing a camp back here in Perth for a few days, then I'm headed off to Hong Kong for 4 days, then home! There is still a lot coming up in this last month - I am excited for it!

Thanks for reading, thanks for all your support!!

Outreach part 3: Port Hedland

I am currently up in Port Hedland finishing of the last part of outreach. We have been up here for almost three weeks now and only have a couple more days left until we head back down to Perth. Port Hedland is a two day drive from Perth... two days through the outback of Australia. There is pretty much NOTHING along the way - basically only enough gas stations to keep you going. Although, we did run out of gas the first day. The gas station where we needed to fill up was closed, so we had to drive for over an hour on completely empty.. while pulling a trailer. We just got into cell phone reception when we ran out of gas. We had to call our contact in the city to come bring us some gas. It was a miracle we got as far as we did, adn that we were able to call someone!

Our main ministry here is presenting seminars in the high school. We have been talking to grade 9 and 10 students about self-worth and value as well as about relationships. We have had about one class a day, so not a lot, but some. It has been really cool to be able to go and talk to them as a class, but also on an individual level. I really like working with that age group, so it's been a really cool opportunity for me. The kids are pretty open and like to talk, so I have had some good chats with them. Because it is a public school, we can't talk about God and everything, which is kind of hard to do, but it is good in a way as well. We can just talk to them about important things without any pressure, and then if they want to talk to us more, they can. I actually would love to get invovled in something like this back home... We have also been connected to two of the churches here.. just getting to know members of the congregation and hanging out and stuff. They are very hospitible and have invited us into their homes and over for dinner and things. i have felt very welcomed here! We also spent four days camping at a place called 80 mile beach where we helped out with a family camp run by the church. We were responsible for the children's program so we planned games and songs and stories for them. I really enjoyed it - the youth are awesome and we had a lot of fun! 80 mile is a 3 hour drive from Port Hedland, so it is literally an RV park in the middle of nowhere. It was really cool being in the Australian outback, surrounded by red dirt, seeing the most amazing stars ever and hanging out with amazing people! We also saw the most amazing sun rise and sun set I have ever seen... imagine 80 miles of beautiful beach and then add the most stunning colours in the sky - perfect. I loved it! We also watched this hilarious skit night things, which involved some improv skits with different members from our team. Camping was one of the highlights for sure! There is something about getting back to nature with amazing people in another country - I just love it :)

This town is tiny. And it is not only tiny, it is so isolated! There really is nothing to do. And, unfortunately, that is kind of affecting our ministry opportunities here. We haven't been super busy, and spend a lot of time just hanging out at the church watching movies and stuff. I would like to be a lot busier, but a lot of it is out of our control, and there isn't a lot we can do about it. It's alright though - I am really grateful for this experience I'm getting. I don't know very many people who are able to live in a tiny little mining town in the middle of nowhere way up north in Western Australia. It is a really different life up here! This town brings in the majority of the wealth of Western Australia, and even the whole country, because of the mining boom, so people make a lot of money here! Most people come up here just to get a job and make money. Everything is also really expensive - try $7.50 for an iced coffee. And the people here are very Australian.. thick accents, very laid back, very friendly, dry humour... it's great. I feel like I am experiencing something a lot of people don't get to experience.

So, outreach is almost done. Then it's back in Perth for our report back week, where we rap everything up! And then it's over! I am kind of ready for it to be done, but I will miss people like crazy! I have extended my trip though.. I'll be in Australia for a couple more weeks. There is a camp in the middle of July that I will be staffing before I come home.. There might also be a trip to Bali happening.. we'll see. Anyways, I hope you are all good! Thanks for reading :)

Goodbye Italy

I am now back in Australia, heading into the third part of outreach. We are finished our time in Italy and are headed up North to a small mining town called Port Hedland, to work in high schools for three weeks. I haven´t written about our last few days in Italy, so I´ll fill you in.

Basically, the last week was AMAZING! It started off with a noble attempt to spend the day in Venice. It is only a three hour train ride to get from Milan to Venice, but it took us nine hours to get there. Factor in late buses, missing the train, long bus tours throughout Northern Italy and lot´s of announcements in Italian and not in English, and you have a very long trip to Venice. When we finally got there, we only had two hours to spend in the city. We did a very quick run through the city and took pictures and bought things as quickly as possible. Venice is an absolutely beautiful city and I am so excited to go back one day and actually have time to spend there! The way home took 4.5 hours on the train, so we ended up missing the last bus out to our town. We had to call up the ywam base in milan and ask to crash on there floor. We slept on the ground in our clothes and then headed back the next morning.

We got back to the church to find about 20 extra people at the church, including a team from Brazil and a ywam team from San Fransisco. All these people had come out to help out with this massive evangelistic campaign that the church was doing in the town we were staying in (Casarate Primo). This is a program they do in Brazil and have recently brought it to Italy to try it out. Basically they knock on every single door, talk to every person and run huge events and concerts in the evening. There is also constant prayer and intercession going on. It was four days long, and extremely busy and eventful. It was truly amazing to be a part of - many, many people came to know Christ and many heard of Jesus and were open to him. It was a little bit frustrating because we can´t speak Italian and most don´t speak English, so we couldn´t really evangelize to them. However, we were able to support them in prayer and we also performed our drama skit a number of times. It was just a really awesome time and I loved every part of it. The church is amazing and are very welcoming and hospitable. There were also a bunch of Brazilians who came over and were a big part of it. So any time we had a meeting or shared testimonies, they had to translate it from Italian to English and Portuguese. There were constantly three languages being spoken - it was pretty exciting. I loved it :) We also connected with the team from ywam San Fran.. it was really good to have some new people around to hang out with. Overall, it was a jam-packed four days and was tons of fun. Definitely the highlight of Italy!

I am going to miss Italy. The people we connected with were just amazing. I feel very fortunate for the experience we got. If I had been in Italy for a holiday, there is no way we would have met as many people that we did. We also wouldn´t have ha the opportunity to enter into people´s lives and homes and just really be adopted into their family. I felt so loved there all the time. Even though communication was hard because of the language barrier, we still had an amazing time together. They are truly amazing people and I am going to miss them.

We left Milan on Sunday night and slept in the airport. We then flew to Frankfurt, Germany and spent the day in the city. We flew through the night to Johannesburg, SA and spent the day in the airport and then flew through the night back to Perth. We had a day and a half in Perth and all the outreach teams were back so I got to see everyone else! I was a little worried about meeting up with them again, because I didn´t know if it would be the same, but it was. It was so good to see them and hear their stories!! We are now driving two days north, where we will be for the next three weeks. We have also gained 4 other members to our team, which is really great. I am excited for what God has in store for these next weeks!

Thanks everyone! I love you guys. I have many, many pictures I want to share but I don´t know when it will be possible… I´m working on it :)

PS. Just arrived in Port Hedland today. We drove about 10 hours today.... Australia really is a barren, empty land. We saw NOTHING along the way... only two gas stations. Last night, we ran out of gas because the one and only one we saw was closed. WE travelled for almost an hour on completely empty.... pulling a trailer and everything! It was crazy! Anyways, we are here now.. just settling in at the church :)

ITALY!

So we have been here in Italy for almost two weeks. We are staying in a small town an hour out of Milan, called Casorate Primo. We are staying in a church so we are just sleeping on the floor in the sanctuary and cooking our own meals in the kitchen. We also don’t have showers so we go to one of the neighbour’s houses to use theirs. They have been so kind, letting us come in every other day or so and taking over. That is the only time we can use the internet as well, so I’m only able to get online for a couple minutes every few days. This church is really great.. it is a very active evangelical Baptist church among all the catholic churches in Italy. They are also connected with the YWAM base in Milan, which is just getting started.

Casorate Primo is probably the cutest little town ever. It is one of those places where everyone knows everyone and you can walk anywhere within a couple minutes. There are quite a few old people here and everyone rides bikes everywhere! They all have the cute little bikes with baskets on the front. We have also gone into Milan a couple times – such a nice city. The architecture is awesome, and there is a lot of history here. We saw the square where Constantine gave the speech that legalized Christianity, which is pretty cool. The one thing that is really interesting about Milan is that there is a lot of graffiti. It is everywhere! I kind of hate it and love it at the same time.. It sort of makes the place look dirtier, but then it makes a cool contrast between the old architecture and the crazy graffiti. Also, Milan is a fashion capital so everyone is dressed very well. There is so much good style here! The most important thing is the shoes.. there are stilletos everywhere – even when people are riding bikes. It can be pretty intimidating trying to talk to people because they just all look so cool! It is a way different vibe from SA, where everyone is open and laid back.

In terms of ministry, we actually haven’t been too busy. We are getting involved in everything the church is doing and we have also been going into the city to do evangelism. The church has this massive evangelical campaign in a couple weeks, where they are basically trying to reach every single person in the town and talk to them about God. It should be pretty cool to be a part of. What I have really enjoyed about this part of outreach is how we have really been included in the life of this church and these people. They have welcomed us into their family, which is really cool. And because this is such a small town, we are able to get to know a lot of people. I like being in this little town because we are able to see how real Italians really live. This is a tourist area and practically nobody speaks English so we have to use our terrible Italian and they try to speak as much English as possible. We are experiencing the real Italy :)

I really like Italy. I like their gelato :) And I am excited to see what God will do here. Please pray for opportunities to open up for us to speak with people and really just minister to this city. Prayer for our team is also much appreciated. We have now been together for a long time, and I think the unity isn't as good as it should be. I think we might be getting tired of eachother... or maybe just tired in general.

I love and miss you guys! Thanks for your support!

PS. Some fun facts about Italians: they LOVE to say ciao (we say it all the time - for hello or goodbye), they greet eachother with cheek kisses, they use their hands like crazy when they talk, their coffee is a small espresso shot (really strong, really good), they are super good looking, they are loud, they care a lot about style (especially about shoes! But this might be specific to Milan), they drink a lot (beer taps in McDonald's, wine everywhere), they drive fast and crazy, they speak really fast and it sounds amazing! There are many more things about Italians that I am learning, but that's all I can remember for now. Ciao!

God is good

Outreach in South Africa is almost over! I am leaving for Italy in just a couple days. It is crazy to think of leaving this place because we have really been able to get to know and love people here. We have been so fortunate that our ministry has been very discipleship-oriented. What I mean is that a lot of people (the majority) we talk to here are already Christians, so we have the chance to encourage them and challenge them in their faith. I thought that outreach was going to be a time when we would lead a lot of people to the Lord, but there has only been one person who has become a Christian from our ministry here. His name is Jeremiah, and he is just awesome! He is recently out of prison, where he spent most of his time reading the Bible. When two of my teammates talked to him on the beach, he was so ready to accept Christ, but he didn't know how. But now he is the most on fire for God person I know... he just doesn't stop talking about God - like, we literally cannot get a word in. He was homeless, just sleeping on some rocks near the ocean, and didn't have anything at all really. We were able to get him a Bible (which we all had to sign and write our countries so he could show people how missionaries came from overseas to lead him to Christ) and we also got to buy him a house!!!!! It is actually only a small garden shed, but it was only $50 and he has a roof over his head! He is also now connected with the pastor here, so he has someone to mentor him. So maybe we aren't leading hundreds of people to Christ, but if Jeremiah is the only reason we came to South Africa, I am ok with that!

God is doing lot's of other awesome things too. We have been experiencing something I have never witnessed before - healings! God heals people when we pray. Today we were at this woman's house in Delft, the township, and she told us about her legs that have been sore for the past 6 months and it is difficult for her to walk. We prayed over her legs, asking God to heal her and when we were done, she stood up and was able to jump up and down and move all around. God literally healed her before my eyes. It was so amazing! God still does miracles today! Then she invited us in for tea and we watched the royal wedding. So good.

Outreach is going good. I can't believe it's a third of the way through, but I am excited for the rest of it! My team is doing well. We have been getting along well, although I have realized how hard it can be to live with and hang out with the same people all the time. It's all about patience and not letting people get on your nerves. It's good though, it really is. We have a lot of fun times together and we all work well together. Continued prayer for unity and safety over the team would be awesome! Thanks!

Outreach...

I love this place. And these people. And everything! I am really enjoying myself here. It is hard to believe how fast it is all going - only two and a bit weeks left! It is going to fly by. We have been keeping pretty busy here, mostly just going different places and talking to people. We spend a couple days a week in a township called Delft. We mostly just go door to door talking to people. In their culture, an open front door means "come on in, we're ready for visitors" so we can literally just walk into someone's house, sit down on their couch and start chatting with them. They are very open people and will tell you their entire life story - what's going on with the family, health concerns or troubles finding a job. We usually just chat a bit and then spend time praying with them. It seems like most people here believe in God and absolutely love prayer, so our role is to really encourage them in that and help them grow in their faith. I remember on the first day as we drove through the townships, I jumped to a lot of wrong conclusions about them and the the people who lived there. I now know that they are a beautiful group of people who are friendly and open and welcoming. I feel very secure and welcome in Delft and just love spending time there. I also got the opportunity to preach in the church there last Sunday. It is a pretty small church, but it was my first time every preaching! It was definately a great experience. The congregation was so welcoming and really put me at ease. Just imagine a bunch of black mama's amen-ing and hallelujah-ing after everything. LOVE IT! We are running the entire service on Sunday, so that should be interesting! I'm not speaking at all, but I'm just excited to go back there.

We also spend a fair amount of time at the beach evangelizing. Just as people are very open in Delft, it seems that South Africans are very open in general. It is becoming so easy for me to just sit down next to someone and have a conversation with them. They love chatting and sharing about their lives. I have met a lot of really interesting people who have crazy stories to tell. I have talked to quite a few homeless people, but also to a lot of the surfers or other people who hang out at the beach. I have noticed that these people are very spiritual, just in general. Mostly everyone I have spoken with have some sort of belief in God and have stories where God has supernaturally showed up in their lives in miraculous ways. However, there is this disconnect when it comes to living a daily walk with God. So I think that our role here in SA is not to necessarily preach the gospel and lead people to Christ, but to encourage people who are already Christians and disciple them and help them grow stronger in their faith.

I am still loving this beautiful country. Today we went for a hike up a mountain near where we live. It took a pretty solid 1.5 hours to get up and it was pretty intense. But the view from the top is amazing! So worth the hike :) Every time I am struck by the beauty of this city (which is quite frequently) I remember how awesome God is. He made it all.

I don't really know if anyone reads this blog, but thank you to the ones who do! Your support is greatly appreciated, as are your prayers! Some specific prayer requests would be for safety for our team, as Capetown can be potentially dangerous, and also that God would open up so many opportunities for us. Pray that God would direct us to specific people or ministries or situations that we need to be involved in. Thank-you for your prayers! I hope everyone is doing well!

OUTREACH: Capetown, South Africa!

I still can't believe I am here. It is so surreal to me. The base we are staying at here is so awesome. It's an old hotel, so it has all these neat staircases and stuff. I share a room with the three other girls on my team and we seriously have way more room then back in perth. And we have a shower between the four of us versus two showers between like 30 people.. This is like luxury living here. I feel almost guilty.. ahaha I actually don't mind at all.. it's really nice.

Yesterday we went into the actual city of Capetown (we are living in a suburb called Muizenburg). It is about 45 minutes on the train to get there. The train is pretty cool.. really rustic and old and crowded! We go in the first class just because there are less people who ride in it but it was still so full coming home during rush hour. The doors don't close automatically so there are people holding them open and hanging out of them, or they are outside in between two of the cars. It's a cool experience for sure. We walked around the city for a good while - it is so interesting! This is the most polarized city I have ever seen in terms of money distribution. Walking down the sidewalk.. you look to the left and there are poor street vendors and on your right are high end clothing stores. The contrast between rich and poor is everywhere. We all really enjoyed walking around, lot's of cool stuff to see. However, we did get a sense of the city and the darkness and danger that is there. There were a lot of people who came up to us begging for money and stuff or just hanging around us. We have been given many tips on how to travel safe, so if we are smart we will be totally fine. That being said, Capetown isn't the safest city ever, so prayer for safety over my team would be awesome! Because our team is multicultural (7 countries represented!) we look more like tourists.

Today was an even better day. We went into a township today, called Delft. We went there with the pastor of a church there who is going to always lead us when we go. Basically we visited his church (it's just a square building with nothing in it) and then we visited some of the people he knows. The township is like a slum area. It is a huge area or these super run down shacks. The government actually makes really nice (comparatively speaking) houses for them and gives them to the people for free, so that is good. But a lot of people live in terrible looking shacks made out of scraps. But when we went inside them, they are actually homes. They have furniture and electricity and it is a home. I was really surprised at how comfortable they are...at least the ones we went to. And the people we met were all soooo friendly. Very welcoming and just loved it that we were there wanting to help out and everything. And the children! Oh my goodness. My heart feels complete. They are just so full of joy, it is incredible. A whole swarm of them came up to us and just jumped on us. The climbed all over us and we gave them piggy back rides and swung them around and everything. And the cutest thing was that they kept on grabbing my hair and sort of stroked it. They actually took it out of the braid I had and were playing with it and said they loved it so much. It was so sweet. We are going back tomorrow and I can't wait. I loved it there.. I felt safe and comfortable - the people are awesome.

So basically, I love it here. I am excited for everything that is to come and all the opportunities we will have to talk to the people of this amazing city and share Jesus with them! So excited for the next month :)

The end times..

I am going to be in Capetown in exactly a week. So crazy to think about. I am ready to go!!! I am getting so excited, but also quite apprehensive because I don't know exactly what to expect with everything. There has also been a bit of a change to my team. Due to finances (or lack of..) three people on my team, one is our leader, won't be coming but are instead doing and outreach in Indonesia. So my team is down to seven students, one leader. At first I was pretty upset about this change, but I'm ok with it now. I really believe that God is going to use whatever situation and work it all out for the good. With a smaller team, we will be able to get super close and work really well together. It'll be awesome no matter what. And I also had to realize that I'm not going for a vacation, so the social part shouldn't be my number one priority. God is going to use our team to do so much awesome stuff! I am excited to see what happens!

Last week's topic in class was Missions, with Paul Childers. Such a good week! I wasn't too excited going into the week because I didn't want to sit there and listen to a big sales pitch on why we should become missionaries and stuff, but it wasn't like that at all. Paul was such a great speaker - so passionate and real. He presented us with like a billion ways we can get involved in missions, and showed us how a missionary doesn't have to be someone who lives in a grass hut in the middle of Africa. There are a lot of opportunities and they all seem pretty sweet. We talked a lot about areas of injustice in the world and what we can do to fix them. I don't know exactly what my future will hold, but I do know that there is no reason to live a boring life. There are so many opportunities, so many things to be involved with! Definately an inspiring week! This week we are learning about Spiritual Warfare, which should be interesting. The speaker is really good, so we'll see how it goes..

I don't know what kind of access I'll have to a computer in Capetown, but I'll try and update as much as possible. I hope you are all well!

Fathers and dance parties

Such a good week. I can't believe that we just finished week 10 and there is only two weeks left until I am going to CAPETOWN!! But it's still two weeks so I need to focus on being here. This past week of classes has been so good - one of my favourite weeks for sure. Our speaker was so cool. He was kind of all over the place when he talked - super energetic and crazy. He also had a really unique way of teaching. He would ask us to tell stories from our lives and then use them to teach or illustrate a point. He was really personal and gave everyone individual attention. Our topic for the week was "the father heart of God" so we talked a lot about our earthly father's and how that affects our view of God as our heavenly father. So I was reminded this week of how awesome my dad is. I really gained a whole new appreciation for him.. and now I miss him andw my whole family a lot. How awesome would it be if they could just come visit me here? Or if anyone could come visit me for that matter... I really liked this week because I feel like I got a glimpse of how much God loves me, and loves me personally. I feel like a lot of truth was spoken into me about how God sees me and how he is proud of me and has an awesome plan for my future. A good week, for sure.

To totally change the topic, we had the most epic dance party last night. The theme was jungle fever so we all got dressed up as either animals of just crazy jungle people. I teased my hair and then smeared heaps of dirt all over me - so good. The classroom got all decorated up and we had food and everything. And then we just rocked out for hours and danced it up! I love how comfortable I feel around these people that I can just totally let loose and have fun. I think that we are all so close to one another that it doesn't matter how stupid of weird we look because we are all just having so much fun. I cannot dance at all... but it doesn't even matter! I will definately look back on this as a great memory!

There is something I just wanted to throw out there. As you know, we are leaving for outreach in two weeks. There are still quite a few people who don't have the complete finances to go. As a class there is still the need of just under $70,000 that needs to come in so everyone can go. We know that outreach and missions is all a part of God's desire to see us go into the nations and proclaim his word, but we can't do that without the finances. As a school we have been doing some fundraising and have been really committed to praying for the money to come in. Individuals have also been sending out support letters and contacting their families and friends, asking for support. Now here is the thing. I have all the money I need. God has been good and has provided for me fully. So I don't need any more money, but I do have team mates who do. If anyone wanted to financially support our school, that would be so much appreciated. An easy way to do this is to go to the website: https://www.ywamperth.org.au/007/payonline.asp and pay online with a credit card. All you need to make sure to do is specify that you want to donate to the Young People's dts outreach fees and it will go into the pool of money which will then be dispersed among people who need it the most.

I don't want anyone to feel any pressure to give, but I just wanted to put it out there. As we go into the nations, we will be learning so much about ourselves and so much about what God has for us. We are going to be partnering with other YWAM bases, and with schools and churches. We will be heading into slum areas and serve them practically. We will also be doing a lot of street evangelism, bringing the word of God to the people of the city. It's an exciting adventure for sure and I want everyone to be able to come! If you don't feel led to financially support, PRAYER IS JUST AS IMPORTANT!! We need prayer for finances, for unity in the teams, for the leaders, for safety and for so much more. So that would be awesome too.

Thank you all so much! I love you guys and hope you are doing awesome!

Week 9!

I seriously can not believe how fast time is flying here. In a month I will be in South Africa!! So crazy to think about. I am really really excited. We are focusing a lot on outreach now... especially the finances part. There are quite a few people who do not have all the money yet, so we have all been praying about it on a daily basis. There has been really cool stories already about money coming in, thousands of dollars for some people! It's pretty cool to see how God provides and will continue to provide.

Although I am excited about outreach, I'm still here for a bit and there is a lot going on and a lot more to come. This week's teaching is on "authority and submission" so basically all about leaders and what makes a good leader and how we need to submit to our leaders. For me it is interesting because I have been in a leadership position at camp and stuff and hope to be doing that in the future as well so I am learning a lot. Also our speaker is hilarious! He is really great. I laugh my head off every lecture. I feel like the past few weeks have been super intense, so this is a nice little break. I can't believe how much I am learning here. Every week there is more to learn, to process and to grow in. At times I feel overwhelmed because I can't process all the information that's in my head. I still have stuff to think about from week 2... However. I do believe that outreach is going to be a time where I can practically apply all I have learnt. It will be cool to put it all in to practice.

I don't really know what else to say except that things are still going good. I have been so blessed by my roomates. We all just get along so well and are so close. I thought, at the beginning, a tiny room full of 10 girls would be drama central, but it hasn't been at all. We get on so well and I really feel very supported by them. And we have tons of fun.. last night we all stayed up way too late (considering we are up at 5:30am...) telling silly stories and just laughing so hard. It was pretty great. I just can't believe there is only a month left with all of them before we split into smaller groups for outreach.. I am going to miss my roomies for sure.

Anyways, I've got to go.. do homework! We actually have homework, yes, but it isn't too bad. I hope you are all doing well!

Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me :)

This was the first birthday I have had ever being away from home and it was also probably one of the best. I am just amazed at how amazing all my friends here are. Everyone went out of there way to make it an awesome day for me. I really appreciate all they did. I woke up in the morning with this big sign hanging down by my face saying happy birthday. Then I opened the package I got from home (which I got almost two weeks early so I had to wait!!) and it was great!! There was a lot of food in it.. so good. And the best was reading the cards from my family! And I also got a card from Grandma and Auntie Diane.. also really great to read. I also got a special birthday table at dinner... I had to choose 7 people to sit with me which is impossible! So to be fair, and because I chouldn't choose, I did a random draw of my roomates. I got a couple presents - a travelling mug from the whole school and then a novel from two of my close friends. And then later in the evening my roomates through me a surprise dance party, complete with tim tams and other food. And then a bunch of people went in to town with me to get bubble tea to celebrate. I really couldn't believe all the effort everyone went into to make it a special day for me. I am so greatful to have such awesome friends! I definately had a good 19th birthday :)


This week in classes we are covering the topic of Lordship, so basically the idea of giving everything over to God and giving him control of your life. I know that I really like being in control, especially over things like finances, so this is a challenging topic. But challenging in a good way. I think this is one week that will be really beneficial for me looking into the future and the great mystery that it is.. I have been thinking a bit of the fall and if I'll be in school or whatever and I am really not sure. Being here I feel like there is a lot more for me to experience and a lot of possibilities and directions to take. So I don't know what I am doing.. but I will trust that God will lead me in the right direction.

I here it snowed today back home.. that's so crazy because it is smoking hot here! It has been hot (we're talking 37, 38 degrees) and humid for a while now. I just sweat so much everyday.. especially doing dishes in the kitchen!! But the past couple days have been less humid, so not as much sweat. I was actually cold in the air conditioned class this morning. So nice. And I shouldn't complain. I love the summer and the sun and being in Australia for it all. I'm pretty sure we are going to have a little late night swim tonight :) Should be good!

Camping!

So when they told us we were going to be camping 2 hours out of the city in the Australian bush, I expected something super hardcore with a bunch of dangerous animals and no trees. But it was actually very similar to camping at home. Except the outhouses were a lot more disgusting then most I've been in. But it was such a fun weekend! We wer supposed to leave on Friday morning - one group at 9am and the others at 12. I was on the 12 bus (to get in a bit more sleep!) but we didn't end up leaving until 6pm. The first bus broke down and got a flat tire so they were all stranded at McDonald's for hours and we were stuck back at the base... But we finally all got there, all safe and in one piece. Basically all weekend was spent in the water. We were a minute walk away from this beautiful river.. so perfect for swimming. There were also these kind of caves/tunnels that were cut out of the rocks that everyone had a good time exploring. We also rented canoes - my arms are still sore. It was prety cool to have a whole weekend of hanging out with just the yp. I love camping so much and it is even better when you are with so many awesome people. Unfortunately we couldn't have a campfire due to the drought here but we still did manage to get some s'mores in.

I guess I should fill you in about what I've been learning in classes and stuff.. Last week's topic was evangelism. It was really great. Our speaker was able to convey the importance of evangelism and also how exciting it can be. He told us so many awesome stories of encounters he had while just street preaching or evangelizing. By the end of the week I just wanted to go and tell people about God! haha. But, really, he was very inspiring. Each Thursday the whole base goes out into the city of Perth to evangelize. I normally approah Thursday night evangelism with a kind of bad attitude, not wanting to do it and mostly just really scared. We got the chance to go out as a school to evangelize and we had a pretty cool time of worship and sharing on the streets. A lot of people stood up on a bench and shared bits of their testimony or why they love God.. I didn't really feel like I had anything to say, so I hung back. I am still pretty apprehensive about the whole evangelism thing but I know it is something important and something that will push me out of my comfort zone. I am excited to grow in this area! This weeks lectures are about the fear of the Lord. A pretty big topic. I know it will be good!

I am now half way through the lecture phase, or a quarter of the way through in total. This is just crazy to me. I can't believe how fast time has been flying. I feel like I just got here! We are going to start looking towards outreach a lot now. Today we talked a bit about finances and just where people are at. A lot of people don't have all the money they need yet for outreach, so we are all trusting God that it will come in and people will be willing to support them. It is going to be cool to hear the stories of how God provides.

Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well!

OUTREACH!!

I am going to Capetown, South Africa and Milan, Italy.

Best ever.

I am so unbelievably excited.

After an extremely intense couple of days it is all confirmed and official and I am so stoked! We were presented with all the options on monday (other countries were Mozambique, France, Germany, China, Nepal and Iceland) and by thursday morning we were supposed to hand in a piece of paper that said where we felt God was leading us and how we got to that conclusion. I was a little nervous because I didn't know if God would actually lead me anywhere in particular. I was so excited about all the countries that I had no clue where to go! But pretty much I couldn't stop thinking about South Africa. It was constantly on my mind. I tried to think about the other countries but I just couldn't. And then I overheard people talking about Capetown and I kept seeing things that reminded me of it. And then on Wednesday night I got the idea that I should pray that God wakes me up in the middle of the night so I could pray.. and he did. So I felt really good about going there. Then we had to wait a whole agonizing day until we could find out our teams. They didn't let us talk about it with anyone so we were all dying to know who we were with. This morning they announced the teams. Mine is pretty awesome. We have 10 students and 2 leaders - 6 guys and 6 girls. So pretty perfect. And I am the only Canadian! Which is crazy because there are like a million of us here!

So basically I am pretty stoked. April in Capetown, May in Milan and then June in the outback (sort of) of Australia working in high schools and stuff. I just know it will be great. Prayer for everything would be awesome - that finances work for everyone and that we get all our visas, immunizations and flights all sorted out smoothly.

What is just hugely encouraging to me is the way God spoke to everyone. They hardly had to shuffle people at all and most teams worked out perfectly! None of us talked about it with eachother - just with God and he showed people where to go. It is pretty neat.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a good day! I love you guys.

My mind might have exploded

This week is just amazing. I have never felt so challenged! The week's topic is "Intercession and Worship" with Peter Warren. Simply amazing. His way of presenting the information is very engaging and interesting. We started off by looking at why the world is so broken, how it got that way and what we can actually do about it. He talked all about intercessory prayer, or praying on the behalf of someone else. I never really put that much thought into the power of prayer but after hearing all of his stories and also all the biblical references, I have realized just how effective our prayer can be. We can actually change the direction the world is going through prayer. He teaches a lot of stuff I haven't actually ever heard of before, which is so wierd for me growing up in the church. Normally I would discount a lot of it because it is quite radical, but he backs everything up with scripture. He is constantly saying "I believe this because in the Bible it says..." and comes out with a bunch of verses that support it. He has been challenging us and encouraging us to search the scriptures and come to our own conclusions about stuff. After each lecture I feel more confused but at the same time, things are clear. It is just really good for me to be stretched in this way and figure out exactly why I believe what I do.

I have been here for a month. Time is just flying by. Only two more months until outreach! They haven't told us possible locations yet, but they will soon I believe. I really can't wait.

Australia day, repentence and forgiveness, beach adventures...

This was a erally great week. There is so much to write about. I think I will start with Australia Day.. January 26th. I don't know exactly what they celebrate.. I guess when all the convicts came...? But it was really fun. We all got decked out in Aussie colours - red, white and blue or green and yellow for their sports colours. I think we were actually more dressed up then the real Australians. We all walked down to the river where apparently hundreds of thousands of people gather to watch the fireworks. We just hung around for a couple hours, ate McDonald's waiting for the fireworks. The fireworks were amazing! Some of the best I think I've seen! And it was just really fun being in another country for their independence day or whatever. I think I had more fun then on any Canada days. Maybe not, but it was a good time!

In classes this week, we were learning all about repentence and forgiveness. It was quite intense because we were really forced to look at our lives and figure out areas where we have really fallen short. We had a whole day on Friday to basically confess and get things right with God. I didn't expect to feel that much of a change, but it was actually very freeing to say things out loud. It's like I could really feel God's forgiveness. It was pretty intense because people were sharing things that hurt, but in the end I think we all came away feeling the freedom we have in Christ. It's only been three weeks but I can already sense so much spiritual growth in my life. I am so excited for what is to come. This next week's topic is worship and intercession - should be good! We also get to find out the countries we can go to for outreach. I can't wait! We will have a couple days to pray and think about where we should go and then hopefully in a week or so we will know our teams and countries. So stoked!

I'm loving life right now. I am surrounded by such a great group of people and we just have a lot of fun. Yesterday a group of us went to the beach at around 9:30pm. We all jumped in the water to have a late night swim.. so good. There was supposed to be a cyclone (which I think is like a tornado or something in the water) so the waves were massive! It was really fun; something I definately want to do again. The weather the past couple days has been almost unbearable hot. Everyone pretty much just hangs out in there rooms or where there is air conditioning. But I guess the heat is better then rain and cold..

Anyways, thanks for reading! I hope everyone is just great!

Week 3!

I really can't believe how fast time is flying here! I have been here for three weeks already... Thank goodness I still have 9 more weeks to go...then outreach! I am so excited for what is to come.
This week in lectures, we are covering the topic of "repentence and forgiveness". It is definately really interesting and challenging! We also have a special guest speaker for this week n the evening. Last night he spoke on our call to go into the world and live out the Great Commission! I seriously cannot wait to go on outreach. I think we get to find out the possible countries next week.
Things are still going great around base. I am loving all the people I'm meeting and getting to know. Tomorrow is Australia day so we all bought Aussie clothing to wear and are going to get all dressed up and celebrate! It should be fun. Apparently hundreds of thousands of people come out to see all the fireworks. I am going to try and take some pictures and put them up on here. I just need to figure out how to get the pictures on the computer since I am using one at the public library...

I really forgot that this was school...

So classes are now in full swing. I honestly never really thought about the school aspect of this time and now that it's here, I don't know how much I'm loving it. That's not true actually. All the lecutres have been super interesting.. They are just long and I am not used to sitting in school. This weeks topic is all about the nature and character of God. Yesterday's lecture was kind of mind blowing. Since I have grown up in the church, I like to think that I know everything but I clearly do not. She was talking about concepts I have never heard before! It was so wierd! I am definately going to have to really think over all these thing study the Bible.. At first I really didn't like that they were unfamiliar concepts, but now I kind of think that's the whole point of me being here. I am supposed to learn and grow and find out what the truth is and what I really believe. So new is good! I am just trying to have an open mind and learn all I can.

So. Funny story. We all went to the beach (Australia has the most amazing beaches. White sand and then ocean... perfect) on Saturday for the entire day. All of our school leaders told us like a billion times to get Aussie sunscreen and wear it. But no one listened. I only put it on my face and shoulders then laid out in the sun for like 15 minutes... I came home so burnt! Like so red! And everyone (everyone!) else also got totally killed by the sun. We were all just sitting around all day like a bunch of lobsters. So I have learnt my lesson... I will wear sunscreen. The stories are true.. they don't have an ozone layer here and the sun is SO much more intense! I am super tanned though now...

I love mail.. hint hint. If anyone would like to drop me a quick note, it would be very much appreciated! My address is:
Alyssa Wiens
PO Box 8501 Perth Business Centre
Western Australia
6849
Australia.


Thanks friends and family! I miss you guys. I hope you are all doing well!

Heaps of fun!

I know that it is really lame to try and speak all Aussie, since I am clearly very not, but I just love how they always say heaps! The first week has been heaps of fun! Ok.. I'm done.

This was kind of like the first official week. We started having classes in the morning. So far, they seem really interesting - I think I will learn a lot in them. We also started morning worship. On mondays they have base worship, so it's all 300 or so people and it is really awesome! And then our school has worship a couple times a week.. definately something I am excited for! We also started chores today.. Just half an hour in the morning and then two hours in the afternoon. I have been assigned to lunch dishes, so it brings me right back to dishpit at Qwanoes! But it's really not bad at all. I finish at 3:30 and then I get the rest of the afternoon off.

It's been really cool getting to know everyone. I am trying to be as social and outgoing and talkative as possible. I really want to get the most out of this experience and I think a big part of that is getting to know a lot of sweet friends! I have been thinking a bit about why I am here and what I am supposed to get out of this. I think I know the answer.. I am here to renew my fire for God and for his mission! My Christian life has been pretty stale lately and I don't want it to be like that anymore. Everyone is so fired up about God and missions that I think it is rubbing off at me. I am so lucky that I get to spend three more months here and then get to go into the world! This is God's plan! For us to take the good news to the nations! I am excited for what is in store for myself, and the group.
Anyways, I hope you are all well!

The beginning!

So, yesterday was the beginning of it all. The official kick off... We didn't actually do much. Basically we just met together as a group for a bit of orientation and get to know you stuff. Today was the same.. just a lot of talking! But it's good! Each day I get to know more people and everyone is so awesome. I am excited to see what kind of relationships we will all form.

As I am sitting in the Perth public library, it is kind of hard to believe that I am in Australia. That's because it's not really that different.. I mean, when we go into the city, it could be Vancouver. I was a bit dissapointed at first, so I started to look for little differences. Like how all the guys wear really short shorts. And how they say queue (spelling?) instead of line. Or how all the employees in the shops are really casual and have bare feet and stuff. And obviously the accents are totally sweet. The atmosphere in the city is really casual and laid back... but I guess most people are on holidays. Or maybe it is just too hot to be in a hurry. Also, everyone is so stylish! I feel like a total slob because all the girls are dressed so nicely! I might need to do some shopping...

I am really enjoying myself.. I can't believe I have another three months here! And then it's off to who knows where! Well, I kind of know.. Europe for a month, Asia or Africa for a month and then back to Australia. It is so cool that people from all nations (we have at least 28 nations represented at the base) can come to YWAM Perth and then go to all the nations and spread the good news. This is a really cool thing to be a part of.. and it is only starting.

I really appreciate the love and support! I really feel like I will be stretched during these months.. so I will need lots of prayer! I hope everyone is doing well back home and that school and work and everything is going great.

First thoughts

Hey everyone!

I am going to try really hard to update this blog often.. but we'll see what happens. I am currently in the library in Perth because we won't get internet access for a few days. So far I am loving it here! It is hot, and I am already really sunburned, but it's all good! The city is really nice and the beach is awesome! Really beautiful. I think we might hit another beach later today..

I got here a couple days early so I have been meeting everyone as they come in. We have about half the students here so about 20 more will be coming. All together, there are 53 students, 10 staff in my school (the young people's dts) but there will be about 400 people at the base altogether doing different schools and programs. Everyone here is really awesome! It's cool to have so many people of different cultures and ages in one place. In my room, there are 5 Canadians (represent!), 2 Americans, one from Holland, one from Northern Ireland and one from England.. It's pretty sweet. I already feel like I've known them for a while.

Tomorrrow the school officially starts so I am excited to see how everything will work. Apparently we all have to excersise at 6 in the morning.. eww.

I've really go to go, but I will try and write more in the coming days! I hope you are all well!