First Outreach

So we are finally leaving for our first outreach tomorrow (Saturday). We will be going to Cairns and will be gone for 2 weeks. During that time we will be visiting churches and running services. We will also be visiting aboriginal communities to develop relationships with the people there. We are going to the very small communities of Hopevale and Mossman. After 2 weeks will be back on base for 2 days, after which we will leave for a the week-long 5DE.

I'm excited to help run church services, but I think that I'm most excited to do 5DE. It will be so awesome to connect with a bunch of Aussie youths :) I will try and update at some points during the outreach...if I can find an internet cafe.

Getting Excited

This week in lectures has been so amazing so far. We are doing bible study, and are learning how to study the bible more effectively. It's really intriguing! I've never had a lecture that goes by as fast as these have. Our lecturer is Johnathan, and he is really knowledgeable. I hope to gain even more understanding as the week goes on.

This Saturday my outreach team is leaving for Cairns (our 3 week outreach starts there). On Sunday we will be doing a whole service for a church (leading worship and doing a message). We will also be going to the indigenous communities in Hopevale and Mossman. On the final week of outreach we will be doing the program called "5DE" which stands for 5-Day Escape. During that week is "Spring Break" for Australian schools, so we take a bunch of middle and high school kids on a cool trip and try to connect with them. It's going to be jam packed with all sorts of fun stuff from surfing and water skiing, to listening to live bands. For 5DE we will be going to Brisbane and will be on the Gold Coast. I'm so excited to go on outreach!!

Camping

So I just got back from the two weeks of camping, it was pretty sick. It was really beautiful there, and I saw some cool stuff. Wild kangaroos and emu's. Spiders as big as long as your finger. Ant hills as high as your knees It was like watching a true nature show out there. Flocks of green parrots flying around. Birds that sounded like women screaming (they sang in the middle of the night too, which was kinda freaky). The second the sun starts rising, EVERY bird that exists there screams at the top of it's lungs. I've never seen as many stars as I've seen there. It was absolutely amazing! The moon went away during the night (it's out in the day) and you could see some of the milky way and space clouds! I can't express how beautiful it was.

In lectures we learned not to live in a fear of what others around us think of us, but how God thinks of us. It was a really powerful time for me personally, and I feel different than I did two weeks ago. I pray differently and I worship differently. Youth Street yesterday was really awesome as well, and I got the privilege of catching up with Daniel. He is a great kid and I love encouraging him! This coming week in lectures will be about Bible study. Then we head off on our 3 week outreach! More to come...

This Week's Lectures

This week we learned about missions; what it really means to do missions, and how we can do God's work in all walks of life. You don't have to go to a remote area to be a missionary, there are opportunities around you. We also learned about a lot of the suffering going on around the world, for example the slave trade. It has been a very interesting week, and I've received some good revelations. I'm also discovering more about myself, and my path in life. It's really awesome!

This weekend we are going camping for 2 weeks; meaning that I won't be able to post for a while. I know all my readers will miss me :P I am really excited to go out and enjoy nature. I plan on having lots of quiet times, and to be able to contemplate a lot of things out in the quiet wilderness. We will be having lectures during that time as well. I can't wait to see what's in store for the next 2 weeks! I will be sure to update as soon as I get back!

Scavenger Hunt at YS

So this week in lectures we learned about God. We studied his characteristics and how he acts towards us. It was all very interesting. Friday was the best day; the whole time we were in worship. I love worship!

Youth Street was really fun as well. The whole music team took a trip to The Strand (the beach) and we did a massive scavenger hunt. We used video cameras to document which team won. The items on the list were so creative, for example we had to dance in the isle of the supermarket holding a package of diapers for 15 seconds. The kids had a blast and were so into it. I also had a great time, and I think it was a good break from our music work that we've been doing the past few weeks. It gave us a chance to go out and have a fun time with the kids, and to get to know them on a different level.

Weekend and Evangelism

This weekend was great, as usual, and Youth Street was awesome. This week we worked on equipment set up and stage presence, we also started to help the kids to write a new song. I also started to develop a relationship with a kid named Clayton. He's a bit shy and reserved at first, but he started to open up and talk to me a bit. At the end of Youth Street we have a dance party, and he was afraid to go and dance. I encouraged him to come and dance with me, and eventually he came out. I could tell he was having a good time, and I made sure to dance next to him and encourage him the whole time. Of course I made sure to dance extra goofily (I made that word up) so as to show him that it's alright to let loose.

Relationship Week

This week has been a very interesting one. Our guest lecturer is teaching us about all different kinds of relationships. We learned how to love people who we don't get along well with as well as how to have Godly relationships. Awesome stuff! We also had a session (unplanned by the speaker) about how to walk in humility.

Youth Street this past Saturday (July 31st) was so great and I really saw one reason why God brought me here. A kid on my music team (Daniel) worked together to write a rap that he was going to perform live with the group. In working so closely with him, he and I started to really connect. He proceeded to open up to me about how he's struggling because of a recent breakup with a girl. I was able to relate to how he was feeling because I had gone through the SAME thing a couple years ago (which is what brought me to God). After we talked for a bit he exclaimed, "Wow! You know exactly how I'm feeling!" How awesome is that?? I pray that God will work through me to bring a dramatic change in Daniel's life. He is a good kid, I can see it in his eyes. The biggest miracle for me would be to see him change, and I sincerely hope that I can be a part of that change.

I can't wait for Youth Street this Saturday :)