home again

For the last two weeks we’ve been on base, enjoying the more frequent showers and the comforts of a mattress. Also conforming to civilization, during one of my weaker moments I chopped my 'so far untouched in Aussie' beard off. Besides that downer, here is a little on what we have been learning these last couple weeks…

Week 9 Kelly Arndt – Worship:
A pretty touchy, though beautiful topic. Kelly is only 19 and spoke of God’s word so passionately, which was a major encouragement for me. The week wasn’t just spent singing but we looked at worship biblically and it’s many forms. Learned of the Lord’s grace and how undeserving I am but how God loves me all the same and showers me with it anyway, just because that is what He is like. Reached the point where all I can really do is adore God, this lovesickness for Him.

Week 10 Landa Cope – Biblical Worldview:
Lectures were all on video this week. Even though she wasn’t standing right in front of us, she still had a pretty big impact. She really challenged us to disciple nations in God’s way. To step out as we are called, not to shun the material world but to impact it, for it is the world that our Lord has created. It is an ongoing search and discovering more and more from our Lord, but to be open for Him to use us with all that He has created. This week opened our eyes to a lot of the things going on in the world around us.

My outreach team and me all had a traditional Irish breakfast this morning, blood sausage and all. Here is a picture of us enjoying our giant brekky.
It has been a great couple weeks back on base but it is about time to get out and start roughin’ it again. We are going back on the road for the next four weeks. We will be traveling down the coast this time, exploring more of the beauties of Aussie land. Thank you for all your prayers and please continue to pray for my school and me during our travels. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Prayer Requests,

Please pray for the safety in our travels and for encouragement in the school, not allowing the enemy to have any footholds.

Ask the Lord to really reveal Himself more and more, that I won’t back step but keep building on that relationship with my Father, going deeper and deeper.

Also may He give me strength, to persevere and always reach out for more of His grace. And for further understanding and knowledge of the Creator.

GO LAKERS!

high times on the road

1500 miles, 6 different beds, 3 waterholes, 2 beaches, 2 rivers, 2 national parks, 2 speakers, 30 days… Made for some high times out on the road. Escaped from the city life for some of Aussie’s most prime beaches and national parks. Ate some kangaroo steaks, went crocodile hunting, trekked through the bush, surfed and skimmed the waters, swam in waterfalls, cliff dived, ran with cows… enjoying our Father of creation on every turf.

The first stop on the road trip was Sunshine Coast, where we camped right on the beach. The name of this place threw us a bit. Enjoyed the first night sleeping in the bus, having been flooded out of our tent due to all the rain. Great way to start the road trip, everyone hung in there and we had some good times getting drenched and evacuating most of the tents of all valuables. Got to take in the beach for a few sunny hours, good to be back in a beach town. For lectures we joined surfers DTS at their base and had a powerful week. Also celebrated with Lisa, a girl in my school who was baptized this week. Here is a little recap on the lectures this week…

Week 5 Mark Parker – Lordship:
An incredible week. Mark Parker is a complete radical believer who caught us all off guard at first. He helped us understand what it is to be fully human. His teachings were intense and really encouraged us to stop being the arrogant snobs we have all become. His love for us and desire for us all to get deeper with God was really impacting. He helped us to get real and actually live a life for God. The last day with Mark was a perfect ending to the powerful week that it was. We all entered the gate of the courts and were lead to a time of worship, like in Exodus, during the time of the tabernacle and the Temple. It was an all day experience and an amazing start to our road trip and the road the Lord is leading us down.

Took off up the coast on Friday on an all day drive to Rockhampton into Byfield State Forest. A few miles off the main road down a dirt road into the depths of the forest, camping right next to Upper Stony Creek. This weekend camping gave us a chance to swim with stonefish and do some crocodile hunting. Ate some kangaroo steaks and had a nice relaxing weekend. Then we were off Sunday for another long drive up to Cannonvale, Airlie Beach, also known as the Whitsundays.

We stayed in a YWAM house up in Airlie, where a new DTS school will be starting up later this year. Was tough to be civilized and live under a roof again but I got through it. The house was a minute walk from the beach but we weren’t able to swim the entire two weeks because of the lethal jellyfish in the water. Was a bummer but did a lot of fishing and spent some time at a sweet waterfall.

Week 6 Jeremy Humphries – Holy Spirit & Evangelism:
The first week in Airlie we had lectures with Jeremy, who is the school leader for the DTS up there. This teaching was really cool, learning things that I had never fully been introduced to before. Searched biblically of the Pentecost and the reasons we have been given the Spirit of Jesus and the gifts that come through Him. Really captured the anointing of the Holy Spirit over our lives and what that means and looks like. Looked at some different ways to evangelize and the calling we all have on our lives. He had some amazing stories and it was a real encouraging week.

The second week up north we did some local outreach. Airlie is the backpacking capital of Australia, so it was the ideal place to do some evangelism. We setup a volleyball net and soccer goals and played sport with a bunch of people passing by. We would then have a bit of a barbie, hanging out and talking with the travelers. Had some good times listening to some people’s journeys, many were staying in hostels or straight out of their vans, doing some fruit picking or anything else they could find for work. This was also a great chance to share with people what I have been learning and what YWAM is all about and the journey that I am on.

After our two weeks in the Whitsundays we headed back down the coast to Mackay into Eungella National Park. Driving out into the country this place definitely showed us the variety of the landscape down under. Running after cows and witnessing one come into this world made for a nice time in the country.

Following our weekend getaway it was down to Bundaberg. A guy in my school is from there and we stayed at his church for a week. It was nice taking it easy and hanging around in the church. Stephen, my school leader spoke a couple days and will be finishing up his lecture on the next road trip.

Took off on Thursday to head down to Toowoomba, our final stop on the road trip. Here, we took part in Easter Fest, one of Australia’s largest Christian music festivals of the year. It is a three-day event with more than 150 bands and 20,000 people. YWAM had our huge chai tent setup. My school and about 150 other YWAMers were volunteers for the weekend; helping run security, trash pickup, parking, and whatever else needed to be done. It was a wet, muddy weekend camping in tents with thousands of teens and families. Good times in the rain; serving others, going to concerts, and hanging out with new people. No greater way to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Arrived back home in Brisbane on Tuesday the 14th. The month of trekking around Australia has been incredible and God has done some awesome things. Check out the map of our journey below and be sure to take a look at the updated pictures by clicking on the link to the right.
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