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!!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
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 :)
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 :)
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