while in india...

I won't be bringing my laptop with me to India. So, I don't know how often I'll be able to update my blog. Sorry, dear friends. I will try, but can't promise much. Keep me in your prayers. :)

BUT, my team does have a website that will be update more regularly. During my time in Darjeeling, you should be able to visit that to be updated and find out more about what we are doing. We should also be posting specific things you can be praying about for that week, etc. :) It's a pretty cool website. One of the guys, Philip on my school made it. Make sure to go check out our team portion. The individual shots are awesome (Thank you Lauren Tercero.)

www.ywamteamindia.tumblr.com

one last breath of lecture phase.

6 days. 144 hours. 8,640 minutes. 518,400 seconds. Roughly. It's so close, I can almost taste it!! :) This time next week I'll be on a plane on my way to Darjeeling, India. Yesterday, I went through the clothes I have here and figured out all that I'm going to take with me. haha I don't think I'll be bringing much! I really only have a pile of clothes about a foot high. Everything we wear in India has to cover both our ankles and shoulders. Considering I packed for six months in toasty Australia, I'm not exactly prepared. Luckily, things in India are very cheap and it's ok if I wear my clothes multiple times.

Two weeks ago, Joy Allen spoke on Fear of the Lord. It was an awesome week. haha I love Joy. I kept thinking about how good of friends she would be with my mom. She did an awesome job having us process in class about the stuff she was presenting us with. Last week, her husband, Jordan, spoke on Missions. I liked that he presented it as a way to live your everyday life in a missional way. Right now, I'm fully convicted of the fact that I need to fully invest in the place I am here and now. At this point, it's really difficult for me to live in the moment. It's good for me to feel passionate about effecting the people that are directly in contact with me. I think it will be really important as I'm both in India, but also when I get home, even if it's just for the summer. Then both of them spoke on the Unity and Body of Christ for a day. God created the church for a reason. We need one another. So often we get caught up in our petty differences. I love that there are lots of different types of christians and denominations here. Even if we like these different ways, we all understand that God has called all of us. This bond alone is strong enough to create amazing relationships and in the end enough to impact the world. Then Mable, one of our staff members, spoke on Stewardship for a day. She's amazing. Wow, she truly speaks it as it is. I loved how she made me passionate about being responsible. haha Is that even possible? This week we have a guest speaker from the Sunshine Coast here speaking on Bible Study. Even though we've only had one day I know I'm going to learn so much... haha as always. He's pretty hysterical.

During Joy's week of teaching we had this thing called "Missions Sim." Basically, it was a mock outreach prep, in which we had two days of every rough thing that we may come across during outreach. haha It was intense, to say the least. We had fifteen minutes to pack and weren't allowed to pack anything not on the list. After which we went through a mock airport experience. Almost everyone lost things from their bags, including most sleeping bags. There were beggars waiting outside the airport (note: all of this was a simulation done by other staff around our base). We went to the market, where we bought all of our food and shelter stuff (a tarp and three poles). We cooked lunch and created our tarp tent in one of the staff house's backyard. It was pretty quality if I do say so myself. That afternoon we did door-to-door ministry where we drank tea made of weak tea, butter and pepper. Then we did training and evangelism. For dinner we went to a host house, where we had to eat everything put in front of us. I ate A LOT and my lips almost fell off because of the spicy curry, but some of the other teams had it worse. That night was an adventure. haha It ended up raining, of course. Let me say, it is difficult to fit 13 people under one tarp! I didn't sleep much at all that night, but our team bonded a lot and laughed tons! We were woke up bright and early for an Indian prayer session. Then had breakfast and did a couple other ministry things. We had some more team bonding time when we had to have bucket showers. By the time we finished the whole simulation we were absolutely exhausted. haha But it was really good for our team. We learned a lot and feel better prepared for what lies ahead of us.

I got to record some with my band, which was a blast! Time has flown by. I can't believe lecture phase is just about over. At this point I feel like I have a million things to get finished before I leave, but it'll all be good. But dang it, I still haven't seen a kangaroo! And I've lived here for three and a half months! What the heck! haha Maybe it's just not in books for me. :( I think I'll live.

pictures are worth a thousand words.

I figured I could just post some good pictures representing my time so far in Australia. :)

Me, Lauren, Brittany, Rebekka, Emma, Ali, and Kezi on our first day in Australia

[late Oct.]

First city adventure [late Oct.]

Student Retreat in Toowoomba :) [late Oct.]

SDF Graduation [early Nov.]

Hervey Bay sunrise [mid Nov.]

Australia [late Nov.]

Chelsie, Brittany, Bec, Katrina, Emily, Lauren, me, Kezi [early Dec.]

Anna and I at school Christmas party

Chris, me, Kezi, Emma, Erica, Rebekka, and Katrina on Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Our laundry-filled room due to the rain [late Dec.]

Sunrise at the lighthouse in Byron Bay [early Jan.]

Brisbane [late Jan.]

Katrina, me and Kezi [late Jan.]

The beauty of being at a music, art and dance school is you get a lot of creative friends. All of these pictures are the beautiful work of Erica Engle and Keziah Clayfield. Thank you friends. :)

yes, i live in the sunshine state.

Getting back onto base was really nice, but a little chaotic. Since we got back our base has been completely full. We have had my school (55 people), Frontiers DTS (25), Beach 2 Bush who just got back from outreach (25), regular staff (15), new staff for the upcoming schools (10). That's up to 130 relatively. haha Our base was not made for this many people, but it's ok, we made due. The rain seemed to have taken it's toll on our room. Due to the humidity and constant moisture our walls started to grow mold, so we bleached them and tried to clean it out. Ants have also taken a liking to the base. It seems that everywhere you go you can find a line of ants. After 3-4 girls in my room finding piles of them under their mattresses, we had a deep cleaning of our room. It seems to have helped.

Tuesday, after we got back from the outreach weeks, were when the floods really started to hit and effect Queensland (the state that I live in). There was a lot of tragedy from all the water. Quite a few people died, so many houses destroyed and an enormous amount of lives are now frantically being rearranged. Brisbane was hit relatively badly. I live in a suburb of Brisbane, called Mitchelton, which is up on a hill and we were not flooded luckily. A lot of the city was though. The sharks got out of the Brisbane river and were literally just swimming along on the streets of the city. It was very difficult to see all the devastation. The following Saturday we were able to do some flood relief work. I went to a house where the water reached the door handle of the second story. Needless to say, almost everything was absolutely destroyed. We helped him haul all of his belongings to the curb and then cleaned a lot of the debris out of the yard. We even found a small fish in his backyard! haha It was extremely muddy and very smelly, but it's ok, clothes wash. :) It was so cool to see how the community came together. When we were working there were people walking all over the streets giving people who were cleaning up food and drinks. Everyone was wanting and offering to help one another. 15,000 volunteers showed up at the Brisbane City Council doors on Saturday offering their services. They had to turn some away because they simply didn't know where to send them.

That first week back we had lectures on destiny by our school leader, Jason. God has spoken a lot into my future since being here. I struggled so much with my decision to come here, but God has been SO faithful in directing me where I should go after this season of my life is over. Jason did an excellent job and really challenged me. Last week's lectures were on worship. One of our staff members, Hannah Lenz, taught us. One thing that really stuck with me from her is learning to be aware of the power that words have. It's interesting to think about what you are saying and realizing whether or not you are speaking life or death over someone. Thursday into Friday we had a 24 hour worship session. It was so cool. I feel like I am always asking for stuff from God. I loved being able to just GIVE BACK to Him for those 24 hours. This week Joy Allen is speaking on fear of the Lord. I'm so excited to see what I learn from this topic.

I have been thinking a lot about how much I have been complicating my relationship with God. I've been spending the last few days just allowing the simplicity of my relationship with Him to truly soak in. It's been a very peaceful couple of days. :) I love that knowing God never truly ends. God is a mystery that we cannot comprehend. I love that about Him.

Beach to Bush graduated last Friday, so it's been sad to say bye to all of my friends from that school. Hopefully, I will be able to see some of them again this summer. My friend, Emily's, birthday was on Saturday so we went to this place in Brisbane called the Pancake Cafe. It was delicious. It was nice to be able to just go out with a couple of friends to dinner too. I love her a lot and can't wait to go to India with her. India feels so close... a little less than 3 weeks now! I cannot wait!! :) :)

I miss home a lot, but am still so happy here. I guess I just appreciate my family and friends more now. It will be such a bittersweet day when I do leave Australia. But, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, I have so much to look forward to.... I mean, India! Come on!!! :)

The smashing of the rubix cube.

Christmas went rather well. :) It was such a fun time around our base. On Christmas Eve, I went into the city with some friends and saw the new Narnia movie. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. The whole train ride was spent singing Christmas carols! That night we all snuggled up and listened to a recording of my grandpa reading the story of the birth of Jesus. It made me a little sad, but more so joyful that I was able to share that tradition with my dear friends from all over the world. Christmas was a blast! I woke up early and skyped the family. I felt SO blessed from all the cards and Christmas greetings from back home. It was so helpful and encouraging. :) The whole day the school felt so giddy. haha We had a big Christmas brunch and then opened up stockings. The rest of the day was spent watching Christmas movies and playing games. I got to partake in this British Christmas tradition called Christmas crackers. haha It was ridiculous.

Our school was split in half for the following two weeks with about 25 people in each group. The other group has actually yet to get back. I didn't realize how much I love these people and being apart from them has been a heart wrencher. I know the reunion will be sweet. The first week I spent in Hervey Bay. It is still a very beautiful place. The small group made for a very homey feel. We had lectures on Biblical Worldview. I learned a lot about the gospel of the Kingdom, not just the gospel of Salvation. I learned heaps and loads. New Years was amazing. We spent the night worshipping on the beach. Reflecting on the past year, God has worked and done SO much. I can't even begin to explain.

The second week was spent in Byron Bay doing outreach. We were involved in this thing called Impact Summer. Byron Bay is a big backpacking, tourist town with a huge hippy influence. It was a beautiful place. The best beach I have to by far. I learned a lot about what it means to live like Jesus did. As a follower of Christ, I'm called to love and give of myself to the sick and the broken. That's what this week was. We brought the body of Christ to the people. We had huge free bbq's and pancake/chai nights. It was all about just listening and sharing with the people that showed up. We had people dancing, singing, performing dramas, and giving testimonies during these times in the park. I thought for sure that people didn't want to listen or watch any of it, but I don't think I could have been more wrong. People crave fulfillment and purpose. People want to have someone to listen, someone to love and accept them. It was amazing how many people we were able to share the love of Christ with. We had one day where we set up a huge volleyball tournament and then had a free bbq after. The thing was, we weren't trying to force anything, we were simply providing opportunity for God to work and move. Boy howdy, did he. During that week, my outreach team for India also grew a lot closer. It was amazing how much we have learned to rely on and love on one another. Through this whole experience God has taught me so much about His character and how my life can be a reflection of that.

I am so excited for the year 2011. Seriously, I feel like God is going to do some awesome things in and through me. I'm so passionate and ready to be open to all that He has in store. I read the book Blue Like Jazz over the two weeks as well. It's excellent read, very down to earth and authentic. Read it if you get the chance. :) All of a sudden my time in Australia seems very short. A lot is going on within our base this next month with different people and schools coming and going. I know I'm going to blink and I'll be in India. Eek! I can't wait. I am SO very thankful for my friends here. It is blowing my mind how much I love the people here. In a DTS, being friends with a person for a month is the equivalent to a year because we live in community 24/7. Therefore, I've known these people here for years! :) haha I'm absolutely exhausted. We woke up this morning in Byron and went and watched the sunrise at the lighthouse, which is the most eastern point in Australia.

"No matter how the wind may blow, it cannot shake the sun." - JJ Heller, Back Home

Christmas is not about the beaches.

I live on tea. I seriously feel like I drink four glasses a day, minimum. It's still been pretty rainy here. Sunday was probably the coldest day we've had. I hope that the weather is just like that on Christmas. It will make me feel more at home. We're doing Secret Santa right now and whoever picked my name is so awesome. They've been sneaking me Mad Libs :) Every time I get a new one, two of my English friends (Kezi and Emma) get together and laugh through the whole entire thing. I forgot what fun simple kid games, like Mad Libs, can be.

Mark Parker. Enough said. haha Two weeks ago, for lectures we had a guy from New Zealand come and talk to us. He was pretty blunt and harsh, but dang he had the love of God in him. He taught on the topic of Lordship. He kept talking about how Jesus is already Lord, but we need to decide daily to make Him Lord of our lives. A lot of the week had to do with surrendering and learning to walk in the freedom that Christ brings. And man, is that freedom empowering or what? We learned all about the structure of the Tent of Meeting in the Old Testament. Then, Mark took that structure and put it into practical New Testament terms and ways. Many of our lectures went on for hours after they were scheduled, but Mark didn't care. Frankly, neither did any of us. He was speaking so many absolute truths that it was all we could do to make ourselves get up and leave the classroom once he was done. At the end of the week, we took what Mark had talked about the Tent of Meeting and actually did it. This consisted of 4 hours of praise and worship Friday night and then 15 hours of praise, worship, prayer, intercession, confession, consecration, tears, laughter, dancing, communion and a lot of freedom on Saturday. To say the least, it was a little bit nuts. God did a lot in my heart throughout that week, including breaking off some ties that I still felt connected to from my past. One of the greatest parts of Mark was his constant looking towards God. People so often focus on their sin. "I need to fix this. I need to get better at that. I need to get control of this. I need to. I need to. I need to." Instead the sin seems to fall away and because much less burdensome when you simply keep your focus and eyes on Christ. When you praise God for who He is and what He is, has and will do, you find that many of your struggles seem petty. I serve a God is excited for breakthrough and excited for wisdom and understanding to come on His children.

Last week, Pastor Grant Windle, from a local church, came and spoke on the Holy Spirit. Even though it was tough to follow up Mark Parker, Grant did an excellent job. God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave us Grant for the following week. When Mark spoke, you listened. When Grant spoke, you had to be hungry for God. It was such a good way for us to continue to devote ourselves to God. I learned that when you allow the Holy Spirit to come in and overflow in your life, God's incomprehensible peace comes in tidal waves.

Friday and Saturday of last week we did "faith days". After they told us we were doing that, I quickly realized that it was simply "As We Go" days. :) It was nice to do something familiar. God worked through these days like crazy. A lot of serving and blessing others went on. Last night, I taught my outreach team how to play Telepictionary (only the best game ever.). It was so fun to play with people who don't speak English as their first language. haha We laughed and laughed and laughed. I was asked if we could play it on the long train ride into Darjeeling. :)

We leave for two weeks of outreach next Monday. We're doing this thing called Impact Summer on Byron Bay. It should be very cool. I don't exactly know what all will be going on (which I never do here haha), but we should be finding out more pretty soon. I'll be excited to come back and share all about it.

Christmas is on Saturday. That's less than five days away from now for me! So weird to be here, while the Holidays are going on back at home. This will definitely be a different Christmas for me, to say the least. I'm excited though. There's been a lot of baking going on around the base. We'll probably spend the day playing games, eating, laughing and enjoying each others company (there's even rumors of a beach trip on Christmas Eve). Even though I miss my family terribly, I'm so happy that I have a new family here to celebrate with.

Merry Christmas!

when it rain, it pours.

My feet clean during the week :) note: the lovely keen tan

our chai tent

my favorite place in australia so far: hervey bay :)

Schoolies was intense. like literally. It was a seventeen hour drive there. We stopped and stay in this place called Hervey Bay. It was the first time I'd seen the ocean in a couple of years. haha You should have seen me. My friend, Erica, just kept laughing at me and my giddiness. I woke up around 4:15 the next morning and went to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was absolutely gorgeous. One of the best mornings I've had in a long time. I sat and just worshipped and praised God for a couple of hours. I wish I was better with my words so I could give Him a small portion of the justice He deserves. haha I should probably actually be apologizing for my whole entire blog. Writing is not my strongest suit and this whole entire experience and everything that God is doing in my life can't be described through my mediocre writing. So, I'm sorry, but hey, something is better than nothing, right? :)

Saturday through Wednesday night we had the Chai Tent set up in Airlie Beach. The Schoolies would come in from 8pm-1am and get free chai and slushies. Our main ministry was just being a place of peace and of the Holy Spirit. You could feel a physical difference inside and outside the tent. I was on the tent floor four of the nights. I was able to create a really good relationship with these Schoolies, Brittany, Sam and Hannah, mainly Brittany though. She came back every night and we hung out for hours. God was so evidently working in her life. Now, she's my friend on facebook and we've continued to talk since I've been back. :) What a blessing. During the week, a lot of people talked to different kids who really broke down about their emptiness and brokenness. So many of the Schoolies talked about how immediately when they walked into the tent they could feel themselves sobering up due to the complete change in atmosphere. haha I drank a lot of the chai. :)

Other than the tent, we had a 24 hour prayer and worship going on back at the house we stayed at. People were always there doing all sorts of prayer and worship. During the hours of the tent, we had constant communication with the prayer room and had a white board at both places, sharing prayer requests and encouragement. The power of the 24 hour prayer and worship blew us all away! It was amazing how much God was leading the whole ordeal. Everyone's sleep schedule was all over the place, but God definitely provided. We also had to have 24 security at the tent and did Sport in the Park every afternoon for the Schoolies. It was a week full of lots of spiritual warfare, exhaustion, but also full of the Spirit moving in ways I had never seen. It rained almost the whole time we were in Airlie Beach. We all got used to living with mud just covering our feet almost up to our shins. We also didn't really shower much. haha We slept in tents and all of our clothes smelled like mold by the time we went home. But man, none of that really matter! God was so good and worked in so many lives!

The Airlie Beach base house that we stayed in was incredible. I felt like we were living in a jungle. There were SO many bugs and different types of wildlife! I loved it so much. It was something I had never even remotely experienced. I loved waking up every morning and going and having breakfast on the huge wrap around deck, spending time with God, and watching the rain just POUR down. Words can't express how much I love rain. God used the rain in really fascinating ways throughout the week. There was no doubt about it that He sent it. :)

Thanksgiving was a definitely different, considering they don't celebrate it. haha But my friends were really good about the whole thing. Last week truly was a week of thanksgiving in my life. Looking back through my journals, I feel like I spent the whole week just thanking God for what He has and is doing in my life. Thanksgiving still remains my favorite holiday, even if I didn't get to celebrate it this year!

I'm starting to think that God is going to do a lot in my heart involving discipline while I'm here. I know that sounds negative or unpleasant, but He is doing in a way that is making me passionate and just excited to create these habits! It's taking a lot of failure and time, but I know that this is truly changing the way that I will live the rest of my life. This week's topic is relationships. We're doing through a video series by Dean Sherman, the guy who started YWAM in Australia. He's SO animated and a little ridiculous, but man, he speaking straight truth. Here are some idea's that he's caused me to think about this week:

True forgiveness is relating according to value, not behavior.

Perfection is when you are committed enough to the truth that when you screw up you acknowledge and apologize.

Humility is the knowledge and understanding of TRUTH.

People have value. This knowledge brings a responsibility of LOVING.

Grace not only relates us to God, but to one another. It washes away not only our sin between us and God, but the sin between each of us.

Acts 20:35

I'm very passionate about all of these things right now, so if you'd like to talk to me more about any of it, let me know. :)

I've learned a new game, called Bang! I love it :) :) haha It's the best!