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!