one week outreach!

 our team in Ponchos... (flash flood = flash mob!)

 the beach

 the lighthouse

a snake warning sign

        This week we had our first outreach. It was one of the small ones, only a week. 40 of us helped out with Schoolies (look it up) in Byron bay. What do you do for outreach at a beach you say? Well.... My team cooked pancakes, Chai tea, DJed (is that a word?), had amazing conversations with new graduates, answered ambulance calls, held hair as people were puking, walked people home, handed out candy, slept on the floor of a church, took ice cold showers, got sand in places we didn't know we had, made amazing friends, party rocked in plastic ponchos, created inside jokes, put on a concert, handed messages in bottles.... and those are just for starters! you can do a lot with a hundred volunteers working around the clock! it was one of the longest weeks, but one of my favourites. I have only been back at base for a few hours but I miss the other volunteers like crazy!
The organisation we were working for has a great reputation, and it opened a lot of opportunities for answers to some hugely big questions about God, love, religion and lots of other things.
Oh, and Justin Bieber's cousin said I'm cute. that's not really relevant, just funny. (Bieber was in Byron the same time I was.)
   Last week our lectures were on Evangelism. the speaker knows a couple of you guys back home! This guy, Stevie, runs a youth outreach called Youthstreet, and its almost exactly what I want to do with my life. He also is an amazing musician.
Sorry there isn't a lot of content in this one, I'm super tired. Laters!

the strangest sickness

so much has happened this week!I am going to try my hardest to keep it chronological...
let's start on Thursday... a group of us decided to have worship time in the graveyard, which isn't as weird as it sounds. I was pondering the choices of outreach locations, doing it the logical way with pros's and cons. I had just finished saying goodbye to the people I loved but missed the funeral of. I realised then that it was time to let God have a say in where I went. ( I am serving him after all!) so I said OK God, where do you wan- He cut me off with the word Vanuatu. what? i don't know anything about there  except its full of fishing villages! I'm allergic to fish! once I realised I just had to trust God to take care of everything, I was OK with letting his choice be mine. (lately I haven't been reacting badly to fish! It's amazing.) I really wanted to go to Japan though... Then on Friday It was our first evangelism night, which meant going into the city and sharing God's good news. My group was small, me, the art teacher (who is amazing)one of the guys, and the school leader. we decided to stake out and draw people's dreams. the guys we talked to were new age street performers. (really nice guys!) their dreams were "to find who I am" and "for nature and man to become one" for the first, we drew an Alice in and the looking glass style picture and for the second... Jesus on the Tree (cross.) as we gave them the pictures, I tried to shake their hands but it turns out one of the thought I needed a kiss instead. my teammate almost decked him! Saturday was boring... Sunday half the base got sick with a fluish virus! it struck at midnight and by midnight the day after we were all fine. weird! this week for lectures we had a mash week. Marley talked about modesty, Paige about stewardship, a TV recording about pride, Hannah and some students about YWAM opportunities. Then our locations were revealed! I told you I thought i was going to Vanuatu right? well, Hannah misplaced my paper and asked if I would mind going to Japan. Jesus Christ, you do have a sense of humour! The school of digital filmmaking and acting for the screen graduated this Friday, so I bought a new dress for the premier of the movies they made. They (the movies) are brilliant!!!! I think i am going to miss the students, they're all sweethearts. (a little strange, but what do you expect from people planning on hollywood?)  in other news, our school launched it's new website at  www.goywam.com, I didn't do homework, and I am a good blog updater. (once a week is good!)

super heros and super exciting!

THIS BLOG IS MADE OF TWO OR MORE MESSAGES SENT TO OTHERS. If you were one of those people, just read the other part.
One word. Disney! That was our halloween/birthday party. I was Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame. I also watched Thor 2. it came out a week earlier here than over there. the movie was good, but the adventure surrounding it is what will make the memories. It was sunday night, and four of us girls decided on the spur of a moment that we all wanted to see Thor, so we took a train(or three) to the city centre, sprinted trying to find the theatre in time, almost missed the cutoff, almost didnt have enough money, but then settled into the theatre for a great movie. Then we ran to the train station only to miss the last train (the midnight train) by a couple seconds. so we walked to the next station only to be told there were no more outgoing trains until 4. therefore, the four of us walked up and down the unknown road, trying to hail down our very first Taxi ride. when we succeeded, the driver didn't say a word, which made our 20 minute ride back to base uncomfortable and scary, and at 1:00, hours after curfew, we returned full of glee and thoughts of Thor (or Loki for some). there ya go, a good story, and not a single spoiler!
TWO DAYS LATER...
OUTREACH LOCATIONS HAVE BEEN REVEALED!

On wednsdays we have two sessions. the people of MAD DTS waited out of doors, trying to peer through the veiled curtains, into the mysterious happenings beyond. As we were called to enter, a silence fell over our usual laughing and singing selves. the 30 anticipating students quietly, almost nervously shuffled through the doors, and sat on the floor of the darkened classroom. We had not yet been told what this class would hold. The staff was lined up at the front, with a glimmer in thier eyes, but not a smile to be seen on thier faces. as the game  show music drifted to our ears, murmers of 'outreach!' 'ohgoodnessitsreallyhappening' and 'I knew it!' were heard around the hushed group. as we guessed answers to random trivia, our five locations were revealed slowly, letter by letter. one place at a time. JAPAN! MALAYSIA! VANUATU! AUSTRALIA! PERU! screetches of excitement were the exclamations proffered at the end. Then, the rules. We are told not to talk to our classmates about our choice, for our decision must bebased on God's leading, not our people preference.We may tell our parents, speak to staff, and research , but under no curcumstances may we post these decisions on social media until our team and staff are revealed. Then, awe in our eyes, we walk out of the class and into the light of day, as well as the knowledge of where we may go with God. and I write this.

    other news, the speaker, a communications major, and an amazing movie producer, is talking about hearing the voice of God. He is amazing. so many stories have come of it! Did you know that God got sass? well, he does. and a wierd sense of humor, and I think he has a crooked smile. Juss sayin. ;)