The Barista Internship

     As you know, I am working/volunteering/studying hard at YWAM Brisbane right now.
The next thing on the horizon is the Barista internship. I realize I have been vague, and shall remedy such an error in this post.
What is this strange.... internship?
       It begins with work. I will be learning how to run a business, all the buying, selling, papery, financy things that go into running a cafe, or running business for that matter, I'm doing it. Because I don't know really what goes into it, I can't explain it. Therefore, the internship lecture phase. We will have classes on this, and put into practice as we work in the Meeting Place Cafe here on base.
Missions, outreach and community: this is a big one. I will be learning God's place in the work industry, and acting it out by helping in schools, running open mic nights, media reach and other networking skills. We will also have an outreach phase, where we will help out another upcoming cafe somewhere in the world.
       Coffeemaking: pretty simple, That huge red esspresso machine that fascinates me so gets some use. Cappuccinos, Mochas, Thickshakes and all the rest of the brilliant coffee related stuff.
        Now why am I doing this? I think I have a lot to give in this area, as well as a lot to learn. I can take the business part and do anything. I can take the community part and help out at church or something. I can take the coffee part and get a job. But I have always wanted to run a coffee shop, filled with coffee, art, life and hope. I really think there is a call in this world for a relaxed place just to be. A safe place for kids whose homes might be torn apart. A solace. a place to have fun and express yourself with art and food.one that feels like a friend.  right now it's a dream, one that DTS and SDF as well as this all work towards. I want my cafe to be a reality, and I need your help. please go to https://secure.goywam.com/ and donate to a student, and remember to write me name. thank you so much!

Boxing day Boxeroos

First I would like to say I am terribly apologetic for the unfortunate lack of communication. It isn't even that I have been overwhelmingly busy, I just forgot.
This month I have been volunteering at the YWAM kitchen, helping budget, plan and prepare meals. It has been good to rest and take a short break (still working, but much less) but I already miss set life! It's been almost two months since grad, and I miss those who have left a lot. I also really miss my family. It's been two Christmases without them, so I am definitely going to be in the country for 2015. Or at least that's my plan. God has different ones quite frequently.
This Christmas was a lot of fun, but it still has a tint of loneliness.  I went to a friends place and about 15 of us had an amazing pool party, complete with BBQ everything and a movie to end the night. we told stories about our family traditions, played games, laughed and had really long naps. The heat takes a lot out of you! I've also done a lot of Skype. Thank God for internet!
This year was the first time I ever went Boxing day shopping, and hopefully also the last. Why? At first it started because I wanted to see the Hobbit. LOL nope, its been sold out for days! Ok, then I shall have to make use of my time. I need various things, may as well get them while Im here.... The thing is Australia is very bogan. (redneck) so as I stand in line, wrinkly sunburnt ladies in bikinis and old dudes without shoes yell and fight the lines for what they want. after a few hours of standing in line and wondering why anyone would wear a bikini to go shopping, I make my purchases (happily, for lines are over with and its cheaper) and run away to meet with friends for lunch. That was brilliant :)
The next few weeks, I am again working in the kitchen, and then still doing the Barista internship, which I shall explain at a later date.  I'm still trusting God to provide, but he did, he does and he always will.
Thank you guys so much for keeping me in your prayers, and remember that I constantly pray for you too. Please keep praying for my health, finances and relationships. I will try to update a little more often now. Merry Christmas!

hello again. one day i shall have news

 Hello dear friends and family! 

As you might know, I am currently in Australia, and just finished a filmmaking course.  I will be here at the YWAM base another eight months.

     For the next month I will be “mission Building”, helping in the kitchen, the new housing projects and kids ministry, and after that I will start a six month café internship. The internship focuses on business and how it works, as well as using it for God. The café itself is a donation based, community based meeting place, run completely by missionaries similar to me.  I will be doing a lot of community outreach during this. I really feel like God is placing me here, because my goal in life is to be able to reach out to inner city kids by giving them a safe place to come if home isn’t safe, and teaching art and life skills. The café will help reach this.

     However, I am technically and literally a missionary, and as much as this is God’s work, I have no way to support myself, and I would like to ask for your help. God always works through his people. You can donate at goywam.com and donate to a staff. Thank you so much already for your support in prayers!

My apologies for the length between posts

SDF is over. I'm graduated, with a huge wealth of knowledge, friends and memories.
Since i have talked you you last, we have ad special effects makeup training, advanced directing, distribution, spiritual warfare, shot or directed  11 short films, edited, did Foley, studied movies, did many many stories, essays and reports, had a premiere, and a sleepover. I shall expand on only one of these points.

The premiere: The night before, we were still frantically editing, and decorating, and deciding what to wear. the night of the premiere was wonderful! red carpet gig, everyone dressed up, watching all the hard work, sleepless nights and frustrations culminate into something we are all proud of. just seeing the passions of the staff, film students and actors was beautiful. I of course, have a favourite, but it's not mine. We celebrated by staying out all night, watching movies and chilling. we were up till the sun joined us.  The next day, uss girls went to our friendly neighbourhood Aussie actress' place and again, watched movies, swam in her pool (+42 degrees!) and basically had the best sleepover. the hardest thing was to say goodbye. half of our room and both boys left for home, some coming back, others not. I miss'em already.

The next couple months I need to really focus on fundraising, because, as you might know, I'm staying here with the cafe, learning to make coffee, reach out to the community, run a business, and one day, plant a youth outreach cafe of my own. (Maybe Vancouver?) I'm so glad for your prayers, and I wold be very appreciative of financial help. I still find it really hard to ask for help, but i'm sucking it up because God works through his people.  thank you again for supporting me.
https://secure.goywam.com/home/donations/donate-to-a-student/

Long time coming

Ok. I haven't been updating like I should, but I have valid excuses. ( nope, excused are not accepted here) last week we shot seven short films in nine days, and we were stressed, exausted and exhilarated. Then we came in to class, and boom! Instead of classes we have a 48 hour film to write,shoot, edit and produce! Life here is always an adventure, and I live on the learning curve. Most recently I've done sound. It kind of became my baby... I've done it on 7 sets now. The sas and sdf may possibly be sleep deprived, and our moods are way too heightened than normal. Bad jokes, flirting and gaff tape are staples. I have also been thinking of plans. The typical what's gonna happen after this kinda stuff. But right now I am content to hide under the table with the sound mixer. 

Quiche.

       This week has been a little different, with Charis talking about Greenlighting, which means getting all preproduction ready. Script, paperwork, people, paperwork, and everything else that needs to be done before we can actually start on the movie. it's been good, but it means although we have less reading homework or editing/practical homework, we rewrite our scripts at least once a day until it's perfect, or as close as it could be. We went location scouting as well, which was sweet. I'm trying to avoid using a hospital, and Proby and a bunch of others gave me such outrageous ideas, i did a mock rewrite for fun and sent it to them. I'm also working on two extra scripts and that kid's book. I still draw, it's my own personal time. 
       This weekend we  went to see the giver, and it was absolutely amazing. Highly recommended by me, even though it wasn't much like the book. The ones that went decided to try to put the word Quiche in our short stories, and convince the others to as well, so almost all of the SDF/SAS students tried to hide the word Quiche. At least one staff, possibly more, figured it out. Just the fact that we collaborated and created very differently on one key word, made it work and were inspired by eggs was awesome. What made it more awesome is the coincidence that that's what the kitchen cooked the day after we handed them in. I'm still not sure they weren't bribed.
       For industry connect we Skyped one of the speakers from the first week, but with a twist. Last time, His connection was super bad, and so as he was saying he hoped it would work this time, it cut out. One of our staff started playing with it as we roared with laughter of what we thought was irony, and then our speaker came in from the back door! We as students were totally not expecting out staff and speakers to pull that, so it was perfect! Poor guy got bombarded with questions though. Maybe thats not all a bad thing though. 
I've been pretty busy, but learning all this stuff has been good. I can't believe it's been a month!
      God's been teaching me a lot about loving hurting people, as well as relying on him for strength. Another really important thing is to spend time with him. Yeah, my schedule is crazy, but if I can make time for coffee, I can make time for God. He keeps me going even more so than caffiene ;)
No, honestly. God is the only reason I can keep going. there are days I'm just done and he finds a way to encourage me.  
   Thank you guys so much for your prayers! I will still need finances for some things, and I need clarity for what's next, but right now, I'm here, and I'm in God's hands and his will. I will revel in it and learn and be strong. That's what I'm good at. ;)

week three insanity

SDF is insanity. We have been learning story parts, formatting, camera parts, mic, lighting, tripod setup, worldview, lens , composition, focus, story writing, script revisions, editing, time management, and living off caffiene instead of sleep. I love it.

  I can't really say a whole ton about stuff I've been up to, mostly because I don't have time, and it's all running together.  Right now I'm working on the fourth revision of my script, and doing some practical shooting assignments. it's a regular occurrence i get to sleep late, but it's for a good cause. We also watch a lot of movies. 

Today was intersession and we prayed for Hollywood, and for the industry's  identity to be in God, not what they have or the amount of rejections they have been through. As much as we are extremely busy, we have fun too.  We watch movies, go out for coffee, laugh and joke around, ad lib, make bad puns, plan mustache nights and rename things.  I called a midwife for reference on my script, which is going to be crazy and awesome! 

I do have mydown moments, like the one where my email got hacked(which is now fixed) and the script I worked on till 2 didnt send. yikes! 

All in all it's been good so far. keep my energy and finances in your prayer! thank you all so much, and keep in contact!