Comm[unity]

I was speaking to a man I consider a good friend today. A man of reckless abandon and a fiery heart for God and people. We spoke of life and its struggles and got to a point where he announced to me his struggles with fueling passion amidst a sea of apathy and trying to find someone who could see and understand his fire. And I remembered my times where passion and energy to keep on Do-ing waned. Times where I had ideas and dreams but no real desire to do them and felt like there was no way I could. Those were the times I doubted what God had said to me, and when I fell into old temptations and laziness and eventually succumbed to the apathy I saw around me.

I hate that.

I like to think I'm past it, but I know I'm probably not. I have a feeling laziness and apathy will be something I will struggle with for a while. But in my somewhat limited experience there is something I have observed that helps combat this. I may have mentioned it before, but its growing in me as to just how important this is in our christian, and even just human lives.

Its community.

And not just as we sometimes see in the worldly sense, as a group of people gathered to have fun. But true community, where communal unity is evident and real. A place where people are family, loved unconditionally and radically and where people are free to be more than themselves.

A place where people are free to step out and be different and challenge things, and in fact are encouraged to do this. A place where forgiveness is natural and openness is a lifestyle. A place where people care about things, and as a group this care and love overflows into action.

Most of all though, it is a place where people feel free to step out, grow, challenge and know they have support at their backs. And they don't need a degree or 10 years of bible college, but are encouraged to take risks on the word of the Lord. It goes with a knowledge that they could fail, but also with the fact that if they do, there are people behind them to comfort them and lift them up and say, lets try again.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place" Acts 2:1

In one accord. To get to this point they needed unity, and to be open with each other with their fears and faults and problems. And they needed to understand that together they would be doing these things, together with each other and together with God. And if one faltered, the others would lift him up, not say, "oh you had your chance, we'll get a new guy" but to accept fault, find forgiveness and seek a new path. And look at where it got them.

I crave this. I think in many senses I have found it. But I desire to see more. I desire for it to be found more easily, for people who want to do more, who have passions burning in their hearts to change the world but feel like they have no one or where to do it. Churches, YWAM bases, Youth groups and others often do a fantastic job of accepting, but not enough pushing. Acceptance but not growth. And there's not enough places where this happens. Its such wasted potential to hear someone with amazing zeal for God and people to complain of feeling lazy and fearing they will lose it. And often it then happening.

I don't really know the point of this note, it's an encouragement and a rant all in one. All I know is I don't want myself or any others to lose anything, only to gain. Maybe I want to encourage people to seek out a community like this, or create one?

Just don't sit, please.

The Next Step

A lot has happened since I last wrote. And a lot is still to happen, hence why I thought I should let people know.
I came back from doing my DTS with YWAM, a changed man. It wasn't always obvious but deep down I knew I was, and I hope it showed. I came home for three weeks for a bit of a rest from the whirlwind ride and to see people and hang out. Hanging out is so good. Then I went back to Newcastle for three weeks to do a Staff Training school.
The STS is basically a leadership school gearing you up to be a leader in full time ministry, specifically in Missions. We learnt about developing character and how important that is for leaders. We got to help run an event called Not for Sale, which raised awareness and gave tools to help fight human slavery, which still exists and is SO prevalent today.
We also went away for a week to a beautiful place called Tahlee. It is an estate in the bush where we are going to run schools in the future. It was a good place to spend some time alone and think and pray on what our future holds and best to serve as we go into staff.
So then I came home, and have been home for the last 6 weeks or so. Its been a good time of rest, and especially of building relationship and getting to encourage others. I also spent the time telling people about what I have been doing and especially what I am planning to do.

Which is?
Well, I feel called into full time missions overseas at some point in my future. But I want to make sure I am prepared for this, as well as gain experience in missions and in leadership along the way. Also, I felt I grew so much on my DTS that I want to encourage others and help grow them to know God more, and I feel like I have the skill set to do this.
So with this, I am going back to YWAM Newcastle on staff for at least a year, to grow myself and to bless others. Its been a challenging journey. Everyone in YWAM relies on support, which means we don't get paid and rely on people who believe in what we're doing to support us to continue doing it. And that in itself has been hard to accept, and then to act out on to ask people for this support. But that has grown me and stretched me.

I hope for whoever reads this (all 3 of you) you can understand just why I am doing this, and I would love your support in any way. I can't do it without you! Literally. I hope you can think about supporting this ministry, in any way! And I hope you will be willing to come along on this journey with me.

Yours in Christ.

Beginnings of Ends

Our time here in India draws quickly to a close. I write this only days away from leaving this vibrant country for the cooler climate of newcastle. And as excited as I am to see everyones friendly faces, I know I'm going to miss this country in an amazing way. Its so different, and yet the same, even sometimes the colours seem to be different shades. And the energy and hospitality exuded from everyone can't be matched. And this last week of ministry is not going to help, as it was amazing.
On the tuesday Grayson led the team in a ministry where a little led to a lot. We were given 10 rupees and asked to get as much as possible with it. We ended up pooling our money and buying water and food for some poorer looking specimens.
On wednesday we went to a leper colony which we had all been waiting for for a long while. We got to hang out with them and speak to them through translators. Their stories were amazing, and for many, their faith was even more so. On Thursday we helped clean out a building to be used as the site of a future orphanage. It was actually a lot of fun.
On friday and saturday we worked with a church in holding some open airs. We danced and sung and drew crowds, although I suspect that it was mostly due to our skin colour rather than anything else. Then we usually ended with a gospel message. Many people came up to us afterwards for prayer, and I have faith that they will be healed, even if we don't see it.
This last week we have been chilling and winding down, we were supposed to go to a zoo, but Indians love to strike at inopportune times. We have debriefing to go, and then we leave.
And I'll speak to you then!!
Love you all!!

A Normal Week??

This week has been a week of challenges in my personal life, and of construction in our ministry.
We spent most if this week at an old persons home painting. I felt it was a good team bonding experience and we really got a lot done, whilst in our breaks we had Narnia adventures and explored the sights of India. I was also sick for a couple of days, which wasn't good, but I really used it as an opportunity to seek God on a lot of things and read and then hear from God. I'm so happy I serve a living God who speaks and excites and dreams with me. And then he reminds me that I am a partner with Him and these big, strange, scary things hes showing me will not be done alone but he has given us His spirit to go out and do amazing things.
I've been reading the book of Acts, and got inspired by the things the early apostles did. But then I got to wondering, why don't we see that any more? And more importantly, why shouldn't we?
I believe God wants to do greater things through us than what the apostles did. We have the same Spirit, the same power in us. The only difference is that they were willing to give of their all.
I read a book this week about the Chinese church and the Back to Jerusalem movement. It got me stirred up inside. Why do we fear our message of the gospel being rejected, and our feeling ashamed, when it is nothing compared to prison, torture or death that the chinese believers, and the early apostles went through.
I am challenged to be different. To not sit back and wait for "others" to do something. God wants to partner with you. He will be with you in everything you do, if you are serving Him. And if you empty yourself, amazing things will happen when God is able to fill you..
I'm going to make this a public declaration that I don't want to live a comfortable life. I don't want to be complacent. I want to grasp the fact that people are lost, dying and hurt and WE have been charged with saving them, and that persecution only means the enemy is upset with us because we're building the Kingdom of God. I want to see God work miracles of salvation in people the world would see as hopeless. I want to have God work powerfully in this world, and if thats through me, then good, and if not I'm fine with that too.
Our God is with us always, and all we need to do is let Him work. But He can't do that if we have our own agendas. Plus, I can guarantee, Gods agenda for you is infinitely more exciting than what you can dream of, after all, He is the one who invented imagination, and ours is only a shadow of what he can dream.
I love you all, and look forward to seeing you soon!!

Hallelujah (hallelujah)

My time in India is drawing to a close, we're now past the halfway point. I am looking forward to going home and seeing everyone, but I know this is an amazing opportunity here. Although I'm certain not the only opportunity ;)
This week we got to see a few cool touristy things amongst our ministry. We helped at yet another VBS on the monday, and met and prayed for the pastors. We did a few prayer walks around our local community as well as the fisherman village. We even got to play cricket with some of the kids. On Wednesday we also got to go and see an old temple from the time when India still had kings. We saw the old Kings bath, stone wall carvings and a giant rock that they claim the "Butter God" sat on.
From Friday to Sunday we have been helping out at a local crusade. Its pretty cool. They have a giant open air stage and they sing funny high energy Tamil songs interspersed with prayer by guest pastors. Then they have a guy speak for a (long) while, and usually we leave partway through because its late. Apparently he performs miracles though, which is sweet. We got to perform one of our skits on the stage, in front of I dont know how many people. We invested a lot of prayer into the services and I know they were effective. I just hope anyone saved can truly walk in Gods grace and know their life is changed.
On Saturday we also got to go and visit the supposed tomb of St Thomas the Apostle, one of the 12 disciples who was the very first missionary to India and was martyred there. There were a lot of Catholic relics there, and it was really interesting to see. And Kyle even bought some holy water for 30 rupees!! Now we can really bless people :)
It was a good, although kind of disorganised week because a lot of things were cancelled and moved around. I'm hoping this week we might get to visit a leper and gypsy colony which we were supposed to go to this week.
As always, I thank you for your prayers and ask you continue to pray for us as were over here. Whether you believe, see or know it or not, your prayers are making a difference!!

Neil Diamond

This week was a good week. A ridiculously sweaty, dirty, but good week.
We went back to the old person/mental home all this week and spent our time doing hard physical labour, as well as some not so hard physical labour. We cleaned out rooms whilst dodging wasps nests, threw sharp metal sheets off the 2nd floor, narrowly missing motorbikes and people and in the meantime met some awesome people. And it was good. Like Elizabeth, who runs the school there, the school which started with 60 kids and now has 600. And Maxwell Vincent aka "Love from above" who was a dementia patient there who told amazing stories and serenaded us with John Denver and Neil Diamond tunes, the latter of which he says has the best voice ever. Australia represent.
Then we helped build a road. Without asphalt, or tools. It involved us sorting through large rock piles to create an even rock surface which they will cover with sand. In the Indian heat. Ive never beaded so much in my life. But it was good.
Then we helped prepare their prayer room for painting by sandpapering the walls. Then we actually did the forementioned painting. And as always happens when painting with other people, we got it all over ourselves. And it was all good.
So in summary, blessing others is good. Especially others who have devoted time, effort, money and their lives to helping the "least of these." Pray for the home here, that God can provide more money and staff and a continued passion to serve for everyone there. Also pray for our team that we can continue to bless people in our ministry.

Oh, and a P.S, it was my birthday Friday!! It was a good day, I got some sweet books to read, we went out for subway for dinner and I got slightly awkwardly but warm-on-the-inside affirmed. Thanks Team, and everyone at home for your wishes, and prayers!!

Serving Love

Three weeks have passed us by already. It's gone so quickly, I know that before I even realise we'll be heading home. Which is a sad thought because I'm really loving it here and I want to make the most of my time here.
India is such a strangely beautiful place. Its colourful and vibrant, the buildings are tall, twisting and usually brightly colored. The people are also energetic and friendly and in a sense they too, are colourful. The food is a lot of the same, rice, rice and rice, but with enough difference in curries and sauces to make it delicious and exciting to see what we get to eat each day.
This week was a hodge-podge week of minstry. On tuesday we went to an old person/mental home. Initially when we walked in and I saw the conditions I was a little worried about what I might see. Indian homes are a lot different to western ones. We were shown to a dorm-room where some mentally challenged ladies stayed. It was a bit awkward at first, but it turned out to be really fulfilling. The ladies were so friendly and funny and I know they were genuinely blessed by our presence. I know some of the team got to pray with some of the ladies towards the end.
On Wednesday we had some meetings, which is nothing exciting to talk about..
Friday ans and Saturday we helped out with some other VBS's. They were Tamil speaking, so it was interesting to say the least. When we arrived we almost caused a riot as the kids would jump up and swarm us for hand shakes, high fives and even autographs. It was difficult to get them to pay attention to what we were saying and not imitating us or shaking our hands. The kids were so funny though, the leaders would put some music on and the kids would immediately get up and start grooving. It was hectic.
Yesterday we went to yet another church. We performed another skit, (The clincher) led worship, and Kyle spoke a sermon on radical love. Then we sat in on their Tamil service which was, to be frank, a little boring when you don't speak the language.
This week will be another week of unknowns, but I'm excited to do more of Gods will, and show more of His love. Thinking of you back home in the cold.

High-Fives are Super Effective.

Another busy and amazing week here in hot, hot India.
All last week we were involved in a Vacation Bible School. It was a lot of fun but very tiring. The kids were so cute, usually were very difficult to understand, and also had endless amounts of energy. Me and another girl were involved in the bible deck, where we taught them basic bible stories. I got to act like an idiot and teach them sea facts. Acting like an idiot is fun. The culture was different, so there were a few things taught/done that I didn't agree with, but I'm learning to accept and fit in to other cultures so I think it was a healthy experience. At the end we performed some funny skits for the kids as a tasty cherry on top of the week. To conclude the week, I would say I learned one main thing. Indian kids love high fives. You high five them and smile at them, they are your best friend for life.
On sunday we went and helped out a church run their service. We performed the everything skit for them and then...

I spoke my very first sermon ever;

In a foreign country to people who don't speak my language, speaking about Lordship. It was really cool, I was so nervous beforehand, but as soon as I walked into the church instantly I was fine. Gods peace was all over me. I began, and had to be patient as everything I said was translated for them. My prepared message went about 30 mins, but I thought it was too short, so with a liberal helping of the Holy Spirit, I spoke 15 mins more.

It was amazing to speak to some of the indian youth afterwards (who are the most amazing, friendly people. They held my hand and laughed and claimed we were good friends already and India was "our country")
They said they were amazed I had never spoken before and I think my message really spoke to some of them. It made my faith soar, God was with me every step of the way and none of it was in my strength. Especially seeing as I was sick for it and the two days prior.
I have no idea what we're doing this week. In typical YWAM style we'll do it on the fly. But I'm not nervous because God is with us and we are doing what he asked us. And He will provide in abundance for those who obey Him. I'm excited for what's going to happen and the stories we will have.
Continue to pray that we will walk in obedience and the hearts of people will be open to what we're saying or doing.
Miss you all, look forward to seeing your fabulous faces soon!

Vanakam

Vanakam to all of you.
That means good day/greeting to you in Tamil, the language of Chennai, India. Which is where me and the rest of my outreach team are right now...
We arrived last monday after a solid amount of flying, which was helped greatly by our personal tv screens with movies and games. mmm, Singapore airlines. We spent most of the next few days resting, we did a few short trips (in rickshaws=fun) around the area to get acquainted, and to buy our local clothing for ministry. The stuff here is pretty cheap, especially snack items which I like a lot. Not that we don't eat well. The food is amazing, we have rice pretty much every meal with differing styles of sauce poured over the top, but it is so good.
On friday and saturday we began ministry, which consisted of prayer walks around different communities, including a fishing village. Our translator said prayer walks are so effective here, because the spiritual realm is so real. There are temples on almost every corner, and houses have masks, paintings and symbols drawn on them. This culture and religion has been here for 1000's of years and it has such a strong hold on the people. But the God we follow is even more powerful, timeless and he is everchanging. I can see that people cling to such old traditions, whereas the real God wants to refresh and renew and have a personal relationship. Empty temples to uncaring gods shall be pulled down to make way for the living temples of our bodies. Normally, prayer walks are average, but here i know my very presence is uncomfortable to the enemy, and every step I take and pray over his ground is powerful and is breaking down the enemies forts.

Tomorrow we start a 6 day long Vocational Bible School for kids aged 3-14. The church that has organised it has a congregation of 40,000 or so Tamil speaking people, and an english service of about 2000. I think they are planning to have about 250 kids. I'm looking forward to it.
Continue to pray for me and the team, because as I said, prayer really is powerful.

Preparation: The Act of Beginning.

This will be my last blog Australia-side for 8 weeks. My journey to India begins at 3:30am Sunday night/Monday morning. I don't if I'm ready, or if I ever could be completely ready. But I know that God is my strength when I am weak, and that I am doing what He has called me to do, so He will be with me. And that's more than a relief.

This week has been such a strange week. We have been doing outreach preparation all week, which meant practising our skits, as well as packing and cleaning up our rooms. On Thursday morning half of the team going to Mozambique left, which included my room-mate. It was a weird day, happy and yet sad. Happy because we are all going out into the world, all trained up and inspired to be the bringers of the gospel and the builders of Gods kingdom. But it was sad because I know I will not see most of these people again except for the week we have when we get back. These people I have laughed and cried with, feared and rejoiced with, grown and been stretched with. I feel so close to all these people, they really have become brothers and sisters in Christ and are like family. So, like family, I know it is time to let them go and see them take their own place in the world.
The world...India, Mozambique, Darwin, Newcastle, Papua New Guinea and South Africa. Prepare to be impacted, shaken and changed. Gods Son's and Daughter's are coming and they bring a fire that cannot be quenched.
I am excited, nervous, apprehensive, motivated and many others emotions that really mean the same things. I don't know what's in store, I'm certain it's going to be challenging, but I plan to go into it with my head down and feet running. Like a bull. A man-bull.

I am planning to be able to update this blog once a week, as well as updating the ywamnow site (which will probably say the same thing) So you can look forward to exciting tales from exotic India! Pray for me and my team as I go, and while I'm away, for safety and provision and also that we will be effective in what we do.
Love you in Christ!

Our Kingdom vs His

Time has flown. I haven't written a blog in nearly two weeks. So I have two weeks worth of lectures to cover in this blog. Lets get it oonnn.

Warfare of the Spiritual kind. This was the basis of our lessons a couple of weeks ago. Our Sensei for the week was Peter Warren, an Aussie who now leads the base in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. A couple of years ago they had a gunman come in and kill some staff members. It was a trying time for the base and Peter, and I think it gave him a good basis to speak on the nature of spiritual warfare and how it relates to the physical.
He had a few interesting theories on certain things, but it was really good to think about and stretch my brain which I think is a good thing. He spoke about the history of the world and universe (and evil) as well as whether all things that occur are Gods plan. If they are according to his plan, even the evil things, does that match his character of a loving God?, and if not, how can he be omnipotent and omniscient or does he limit himself? Woah, theology.
He also spoke on the weapons we have at our disposal, such as worship being a way to bring Gods presence into the darkness. So next time you're worried or feeling oppressed, just worship God and he will “inhabit your praises”
It was all really God to hear a few weeks before we go to India so we can remember what to do when we encounter the markedly different environment of India.

And then, this week we learnt about the Kingdom of God. It really brought everything we've learnt so far into perspective. We are all called to this earth as stewards, so we need to be careful and diligent in the earth and everything we are given to us. The reason we evangelise and do missions is to advance his Kingdom. The main point I got is that Gods kingdom is so different to this one. Even the greatest “christian” worldly kingdom is not going to be fulfilling the true call of God.

So now I have one week of outreach prep before India. This involves packing, cleaning our room and practising skits etc. before we leave. Nine freaking days till I go to India. Continue to pray for me and the team, as well as the other teams going to Mozambique and Papua New Guinea. Also, if you feel called, there are still a lot of people needing finances to go. I ask that if you can spare some money you partner with us to help get them where they need to go.

Love you all, I will try and update one more time before I go, and I don't know how often I'll get to update while I away, but I am in charge of website updates so I should get some chances..

You ARE The Boss of Me

It's funny how things come around in circles. I remember the first blog I wrote whilst here on my DTS and how I wrote about authority. I never really thought I had a problem with it as much as I did, but this week showed me the truth. This week showed me a lot of things.
Lordship week was the topic, and it was such an intense, but such a needed week.
Lordship is, in essence, understanding and then accepting the fact that Jesus not only loves us, but is also our King and Lord. Its such a difficult thing to put into practice in your life, because we are all prideful and think we know best and want to run our own lives. But the message of the Cross doesn't end at the salvation of our sins, there is another step that is so often forgotten, that step is submitting to Gods authority. Modern christianity is plagued by the problem of forgetting Gods Lordship in their message of love. Their needs to be an equal amount of love and authority conveyed to people. If its all love, people abuse that and we get lukewarm christians so prevalent today. If its all Lordship you get the “repent sinner” and fire and brimstone style preaching so popular years ago. Both of these aspects are in the gospel and are needed for a full relationship with God.
But there is a reason its so hard to come under God's Lordship, its because He is Big, Mighty, Powerful and we don't understand Him. And if we submit to him we have to do what he says, which means we have to be willing to go where He asks and say what He wants us to when he wants us to. And this could mean doing wild, crazy things that the world says is ridiculous. But if you trust enough in Him, and know Him well enough then it gets much easier.
So this week we got to know Him better. We gave up aspects of our lives to His care, got forgiveness for things holding us back and we worshipped him fully and lost so much fear of man and gained so much fear and understanding of God.
But now is the hard part. Doing it daily. Jesus told us to take up our cross daily, which means we need to lay down ourselves every day. And every day I am trying to, its hard, but I know this is the life I want to and am called to lead. Because only the best will do for me.

My Path or Yours?

Another week, more knowledge and truth imparted. Golly gosh.
This week seemed to go by the fastest yet, outreach is approaching ever faster, its only 4 weeks from today till I leave for India. I still don't think that's gotten into my head yet. India man...

We had the October DTS come home for their debrief week this week and one of their teams went to India so it was good to feed off them and get as much information on it as possible. Be prepared for some pooh stories to come.. as well as stories of loving on unlovable lepers, orphans and the rejected and stories of God performing amazing healings and miracles through us. Its going to happen.

This week our school leader Sanerieve Sanerieve Fuiava junior (usually known as Live, pronounced Lee-vay)spoke. He is an amazing man, and it was exciting to hear his testimony of change from a bratty kid to the man of vision he is today. It was cool how he spoke about the crazy dreams and things God told him he could do and how many he accomplished. It made me excited. I have so many things I want to do, and God has told me to do, and they are scary, exciting and most of all BIG. But if God asks you to do them, how can I say no? I'm still not certain exactly what God wants me to do, to come back here and staff, or to go into full time missions work in Saudi Arabia, or become a sailboat captain?(two of those are valid options) But no matter what, the main thing is that I follow him. He has the most exciting life possible in store for everyone, but he asks that we follow him, with our heart, soul and strength.
One other thing that impacted me was that God wants to build our character before we can step into things. Moses spent 40 years in Canaan building character before God released him to free the Jews. Evem Jesus spent 20 or so years “growing in wisdom and stature” before his ministry. God will not put us anywhere we can't handle, so he will put us in situations where we are forced to grow into the men and women we should be, and are meant to be. And that's exciting because it means the problems we go through today mean we will be more amazing tomorrow, because to quote a cliché that I've heard so often but am only beginning to realise the truth in, “Life is about the journey, not the destination”

Going and Sending

This week was yet another week of challenges for me. You'd almost think I was sick of it by now, but I'm not. Being challenged is good, being uncomfortable is good. It may not seem that way at the time, but if you're not being challenged then you're not growing and the opposite of growing is stagnation. So challenge yourself!

But that's not the point..or maybe it is...??!
This week we learnt about Missions with a good man called Bruce Skinner from the Wollongong base. He opened our eyes to the reality of missions, the countries and people that require our aid, the things that need to be done and the fact that it is everyone's personal responsibility to act.
He spoke about the great commission, the last thing Jesus spoke to us all that we need to go and make disciples of all the world. The first part of that is the word “Go.” To do this task we need to Go, get into the places of the world and not just wait for things to happen. It is active and purposeful.
Not all of us have been called to go however, but if we are not going to the world, then we certainly should be sending. This means we should be supporting those who are in missions, financially, physically and prayerfully. There are so many churches around the world who don't believe world missions is a need for them. Yes, the local community is important to reach, but chances are they have heard the Word before. There are at least 4000 completely unreached people groups with different languages. Who are we to deny the good news to them?
That last question is a hard one, because if we believe its true, then we must realise that we need to do something. And doing something is scary. God really challenged me on this during the week. If God called you to go to Saudi Arabia, a country where Christians are killed for their faith, do you trust him enough to go? That's a lot of trust and faith. It's lucky my God is a powerful God. I seriously don't know whether I could do it, but I think God is working on me with this issue of trust, because God wants the impossible to be done, and he is willing to use me. What an honour, what a fright, what an opportunity.
Lovingly yours!!

Holy Ghost Batman!!

So probably for a lot of you, when I say the Holy Spirit, you either say, woah that's scary or wow he's crazy. And I agree with both of those. The Holy Spirit is crazy and scary, and people who are led by him are also rather odd. This is because He is Gods messenger, and what we consider order and organised is not always what God considers order. In fact often when God really works we will think it is disordered and odd, which is why the Holy Spirit is so often restrained, He upsets the status quo and makes the wisdom of men appear foolish. This is who we learnt about this week, that wascally character of the Holy Spirit.
We were baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit, which sounds very Christianese and maybe strange to some, but it was so amazing. For me, it was not so new thanks to my church background, but for many of my classmates it was a very eye-opening experience. It was cool to research what the Holy Spirit means and study how he worked in the Bible, both Old and New testament. It gave me a whole new outlook on what it means today and a new confidence in His relevance and power.
We also got prayed over and had spiritual gifts given to us, which makes me excited for the future. For anyone who reads this (and I don't know how many of you that is) who don't understand any of this, or disagree with me, I would love to have a chat about this with you.
In other news, God is amazing and he continues to amaze me with what he's doing. I've had a lot of things spoken over me, a lot of truth. It's challenging and inspiring at the same time. The main theme that appears to be coming out through it all is that I need to accept and step into what God has for me. I've been running and scared for so long, putting others before me and making excuses like “I'm too young.” This is all baloney. There's no such thing as too young, in fact, God loves to use young people for his purposes. I'm still working out what it is exactly God wants me to do, but I know its big, and its gonna be awesome. Watch out world, literally, January DTS 2010 is coming for you.
'Till next time, much love to you all!!!

The Power of the Cross

So one thing I forgot to mention in my last blog, which is weird because its a pretty major thing. During camping we found out our outreach locations. And I am going to.....drumroll.....

India!!
I am really excited for it because God really told me it is going to be an eye opening experience and challenging for me, which is going to be good for me I think. We're not sure on many (any?) of the details, except that we are at least going to Chennai, maybe other places. Researching it, by talking to others and the website, it looks like the YWAM base we will be staying on is involved in a variety of things such as leper colony ministry and an orphanage.
This week we had lectures on evangelism. What a week. Our guest lecturer was a man named David Pierce who started an organisation Steiger International. He has some amazing stories about how the gospel has so much power, even amongst satanists and anarchists in sleazy clubs. He really inspired us of the power of the cross and how amazing it is and how we need to convey it much more. One thing that got to me was that he said the saying “Preach the gospel to others and if necessary use words” is false. Only up to a point can our right living and love show to others God, they will eventually need to know why we are doing this and what they are saved from. So we had a whole day on thursday to evangelise, which was challenging to say the least. Its been a good week for me grow in my courage and humility, which I am beginning to realise are so closely linked.
I thank everyone for your prayers, thoughts or well-wishes.
Praying for you all, till next time!!

Who do you say I Am?

Camping for two weeks. What can I say. It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times, but mostly just the best.
We (and by we I mean just the boys) drove up on Monday the 1st to Freshwater, Myall lakes. We carted in 2 trailer loads of junk (actually they were vital supplies) in the middle of the day and were extremely glad for the cool freshwater lake that awaited us at the campsite, which we proceeded to set up. Then at night we ate meat and threw hot coals at each other. Best boys night ever.Then Tuesday the girls arrived and we were mostly glad for their company.
From there we kicked into our first week of lectures, which were on the character of God with the fabulous Rob Russell. He spoke on how so many times we have a distorted view of God and focusing on only one aspect of his character can cause such a distortion in the way we act. Unfortunately he was forced to leave so our friendly neighbourhood school leader Sanerive stepped in, as well as our friend Sam Street, to finish the lectures. We learnt about how the Greek world view has become the dominant worldview, and its focus on “truth is what we make it” means so many people have more misconceptions about God.
'Twas a good week, and within all that we lazed about in the lake, went tubing and water skiing/wake boarding on the boat and spent plenty of time enjoying the scenery and animals. Such animals included goannas that visited us during lectures and we tried (sometimes succeeding) to catch, as well as dingos that haunted the night and our rubbish bins.
The second week was father heart of God week, and it was easily the best week we've had so far. We had our base leader David Stephenson, known as Stevo, speak. He really was led by the Holy Spirit and although he didn't get through his main points, he spoke so much Truth into our lives and challenged us in amazing ways. I personally had some really amazing revelations of my identity in God and what I am called to. It's ridiculously exciting. I also got to experience God and hear his voice in this amazing natural environment. Freebiiird. (Its an in joke).
So, we got back last Friday the 12th and were extremely glad for showers and a mattress on the bed. On Saturday we had Youth Street which I think I've mentioned before. Its pretty cool. Sunday we had a one day weekend because we kicked into lectures early this week. We had an amazing day today of lectures but I think that is a story for another time.
Till next time, Love you lovers.

Relationships and Camping.

This week we have been learning about relationships, just in general as well as the romantic kind. It has been a really interesting week to think about how relationships really affect every aspect of your life, even going so far as to affect the way your life turns out. People are all around us, and we can't do much in life without having to deal with people. Imagine if every one of these people we interact with was able to see and experience a different kind of relationship and see Christ through us. Every person deserves this kind of relationship, even (or especially) those who are the hardest to act nice to. Seeing them as Christ sees them is such a major turning point in loving people. People should be honoured, always.
Tomorrow we are leaving to camping for 2 weeks. No power, no showers and our food needs to be hung from trees to avoid dingos and goannas getting into it. Its gonna be sooo good. Whilst away we will be learning about the Character of God and the Father Heart of God. Two subjects that will be really good to learn while amongst nature.
Thats all for now, deal with it.
Love you all no matter what.

Canberra

This past week we were in Canberra, our great nations capital for a 50th year celebration of YWAM called Jubilee. The founders were there and they spoke about YWAM's history and their vision for its future. It was really cool to hear the stories of how God provided for them and for others in the organisation, and to begin to realise that I am a part of this, and these stories now belong to me and my past.
We also had lectures on the Fear of the Lord, which was interesting to say the least. It was such a good topic to learn on whilst also hearing the founders speak on how they followed God wholeheartedly. Being faithful in the small things is the main thing I got out of it. If you are trustworthy and honest in the small details of your life, for one it makes it much easier for God to give you greater things and for you to succeed in those things, and secondly that your conscience is kept cleaner and you are able to avoid the slippery slope, where the line of what is okay slowly slips further and further away from what is right.
All in all it was an interesting week, and apart from sleeping in tents on bumpy ground that ruined my back it was a good week.
We headed back home to Newcastle last Friday afternoon, but unfortunately had some troubles with our van. Luckily for us though, we have the power of prayer and got the van running again. It was a really good exercise in faith and perseverance for us all, and I think a good cherry on the top of the weeks tasty dessert.
On the Saturday we had youth street, which is a really cool program run by YWAM here aimed at high school kids. It runs for most of the day Saturday, and starts with us splitting into teams such as a music team, skate team or surf team, and we just hang out with the kids for a few hours. Then we all come together again and have Youth Street Live, which is some loud music and a speaker. It then finishes with a big hang out with Ping-pong, Xbox and dance parties. Yeah, that's right, dance parties. Its a really cool opportunity to bond with the kids and be a good Christian influence on them in a non-threatening environment.
And for the past two days we had our weekend which involves sleeping in and trying to find things to entertain ourselves, which can be hard when you have little money and there's nothing nearby.
And I think that's all for now folks. If I find time this week I'll update again, or else Ill try and update this thing next week.
Love you all.

Authority

What a word. Grasping the definition of that in your life is pretty crazy. After only a day and a half, theres been so much to learn, and its that word that sticks. Yesterday we had orientation, which was just like a major overload of information. And then today we had base day, which was pretty much worship and a message, and then some praying and intercession. The house here is crazy. Imagine a house filled with like 100 young people, who are all slightly eccentric but awesome. Its been ridiculous trying to learn names, but I'll get there. (eventually)

We have the week of classes here, and then on sunday we leave for Canberra, where we have a massive 50th birthday celebration of YWAM (Jubilee), and like 600 people from all over the East coast YWAM bases will be attending. The founders of the whole organisation are also coming and are going to speak, which is a massive privilege.

So back to that word. Authority. It's I think something I struggle with in my walk, and certainly something I will be working on throughout my time here. But its something I pray over myself, as well as any of you reading this. I also pray that our time at Jubilee will be a time of growth and of accepting authority over our lives.

Peace out.