It seems as if people want to know if life is different now that I am legal. It isn't. if anything, it's more boring cuz I don't get the thrill of doing something illegal if I have a drink or something. But since I am not a big drinker anyways, nothing has changed except my facebook privacy settings.
Anyways. At that time I was recuperating from my schoolies volunteer week, so on my 18th I did homework, laundry, took a nap, and one of the awesome people here made gluten free cake for me and the girl who shares my birthday! (there always seems to be someone :P ) I also opened part of my package from home. (the one with 106 stamps) It included socks, poppycock, Kraft Dinner, and the most amazing artwork ever done! 'twas made personally for me by the kids I used to look after.
this week lectures are by our school leader, Hannah. Topic is worship. first she played screamo, which made me happy, because she seems so sweet, but she loves the passion and honesty in it. me too.
then we got talking about thankfulness, passion, and how God's greatest demonstration of love was not comfort, it's pain. he not only came full circle to the tree in the garden, he not only took our pain, but every feeling that resulted from sin, He felt that. all the guilt anyone ever carried, He took that. all the things you or anyone else had or will ever do, he paid for that. And since he was all human, there was no getting away from it. But since He was also all God, he loved us enough to keep on. And die.
just think! if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you were thankful for today, what would you have? I would have a mostly clean Tshirt, my team, a box of KD, and the ability to learn. It made me realise how much we truly take for granted. Including Jesus' death. wow.
I have been learning so much lately! I have also been doing a lot of praying for you all.
I miss you! feel free to you know... comment or message me. I don't have a lot of time to chat, but I try to write back. and if you come to the Cafe it may one day be possible for me to make you a shake!
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Friday, 29 November 2013
one week outreach!
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!
Friday, 15 November 2013
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!)
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!)
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
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!
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. ;)
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
love and All dat Junk
Stuff happens. Lots of it. This week, I got a ton of bad news, but I also got a lot of good news. But the bible and the Guy who wrote it did a crazy amount of getting to me by words and by the people here. Words like forgiveness, closeness and love are all over! I may not be holding grudges, but I have been praying for others, and their relationships with people that have hurt them.
It's Halloween and we MAD students are throwing a Disney birthday party!!! I will be Punk Esmeralda, and the film crew are dressed up as the Game of Thrones characters(except for one, He's Link. Such an outcast!) the upside of us all being creative and different is I get to borrow people's clothes. Adventurers run rampage as we praise and do sidewalk art in the park with the kids, (BTW Aussie kids are freakin adorable) visit churches and bless them with the extreme amount of energy we bring with us, climb through waterways, learn love languages, and study who God is. our speaker this week is a cute Little old man we call Isi, (father in Finnish) and he simply pours out love in everything! (shout out Father Daddy's love, give a hug, clap and whoop!) there's not much news, other than I have been busy, and have a ton of homework. Prayers would be good though. there is a lot of healing happening on base, which also means there is a lot of pain. One boy is going home, and so next Thursday (Wednesday for you) please pray for him to come to Jesus' arms again.
( He doesn't need to come back to YWAM, just back to God. ) I love you guys! possibly a more interesting or full update soon.
Sunday, 27 October 2013
Hey man, wanna tour?
Our gold coin coffee shop
so, that was my quickie base tour :) real blog soon to come!
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
The Homesick Games
I was homesick for the first time in my life this week. What made it harder is I never believed it was real. It is. I was missing my family, and snow, and the goofballs around home so bad, I felt sick! Then, rationalising like I do, I realised God is my home. Kinda like the 'home is where the heart is' thing. I had to trust him, that the DTS and everything is where I should be. I don't need to be home, making sure everything is clean and people are fed. God has that covered. Lectures are good, because they are reiterating what I learnt at home. Scheduled Worship, church and prayer are a bit more challenging. Everyone here is to free to be, to move, to feel, and to show it, that I often doubt the realness of it. Raised baptist, people at my home church sing songs about dancing and praise but stand stock still. So when I see people shouting out their prayers and dancing in church, I wonder if it is reverent. But this is how I have always wanted to praise, to laugh and cry with Christ's body. I know in my soul God is moving the whole school in a lot of healing and in his will. Now that I am over my yearning for the past, I am so excited to join in the future!there is so much music, art, and dancing here, it is beautiful. My one on one (kind of an accountability partner and counsellor) is great, and there is a few girls that have become close to my heart in the last week. I still miss home, but it is more of remembering the love there than holding back my heart here now. I also enjoy art class, because I may not be the best, but I learn so much, and I LOVE to learn. right now I soak it up like a sponge! Intercession is interesting because so many people have India on their hearts. On the other hand, my skin is not like a sponge and so sunscreen equals zits and no sunscreen equals sunburn. It's a horrible circle.
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