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.