In Australia

Hello All,

Sorry that is has been so long since I have given an update.  Life has been beyond busy.  I am in Australia now and life/ministry is in full swing.  I have a newsletter update that will come out super soon (like in the next hour).  Many of you are on the subscription list, so you will receive it.  I am thinking about no longer doing the blog as often.  This is mostly due to the fact that I will be doing things in places where I cannot post them on facebook or online.  So if you would like to receive updates from me, please subscribe to the newsletter.  Also it will be more personal and creative :) and how can that be a bad thing.  Subscribe

Things are moving

I wanted to give you all an update as to where things are at.  I am in the midst of raising funds, looking for work, doing odd jobs, selling certain possessions, creating a permanent fundraising opportunity, seeing family & friends, and trying to get sleep in there.  Things are moving, which is great! I have had money donated, sold my car (as well as a handful of other things), and just got things moving the my 'tent making'.  The idea of 'tent making' comes from the Bible when Paul instead of having people donate, made tents and sold them as a way of supporting his mission.  This is the idea behind 61 Oaks (check it out by clicking on the name).  God has been so good and people are responding and asking questions.  This past Sunday, I spoke at church during the service, in between services, and after second service.  People were very supportive and I am excited for the partnerships that are forming.  Please keep praying.  I am looking for people who want to keep me and the ministries I will be joining. Pray for 61 Oaks, that it honors God, and is successful.  Pray for financial partnerships: one time and monthly.  I have been incredibly blessed.  I have had all of my frequent flyer miles donated, which knocks $1,500 off what I need.  People have also donated and possessions have been sold, so I am in need for under $3,000. Praise God! As far as monthly, I am in need for $850 still...which is 34 people who are willing to give up one night out a month OR a coffee once a week (adding up to $25 per month).  So pray that people are in pray about partnership in that way.  Thank you so much for all of you support it means so much to me!
I am also going to be heading back to Perth mid-March.  The date changed due to a change in outreach dates and me finding it important to spend more time at home with family and friends.  So if you want to get together please let me know.  God Bless!

Post DTS Update

I have been home for a little over a week now and it is a little strange. I was back in Australia for a week to debrief and report back to the people in ywam Perth about what we did during outreach. That week back was good. We presented what we did and shared stories and pictures. We had a final one on one with our leader Matty. We also had a class talking about how to share with people from home and how to keep growing with our relationship with Christ even though we are back at home. It was great. On Friday with 14th, I officially graduated. It was laid back and fun with so much cheering. The weekend was filled with time hanging out with friends, buying souvenirs and gifts, taking people to the airport, and hanging out at the beach. With that much free time I hardly knew what to do with myself. I had been so busy for the past 6 months so free time was weird; I didn't know what to do with myself.

I left Monday night and there were tears at the airport, specifically on the first flight. I was excited to go home, but was sad to leave the place that I had been for 6 months and the people who I had grown to love. It was weird. I got home late Tuesday night, after 37 hours of travel and lay overs. It was entirely too long. When I got to the final airport, I ran to my mom and she hugged me so tight. I cried because I was so happy to be back home. It has been interesting and surreal to be home. I have loved being with family and friends, but it has been 6 months so it's almost hard to believe that I'm back to 'normal' life. I visited people at church, shopped with my family, caught up with friends, eaten lots of Mexican food, and have done heaps of laundry. It has been good. One very important thing happened. I went into work and resigned. Yep, I resigned. The reason I did this was because I am planning to go back to Australia for two years of volunteer work. Some of you may have already heard, but surprise to the rest :) I have been praying about it for a while, so it is not a last minute decision. I applied a while back, but nothing official happened till I graduated on the 14th. I also did not want to say anything until I got  a chance to resign and talk to my work. They deserved to know directly and for me to talk to them face to face. They have treated me so well and it has been an honor to work with them.I am hoping to go back to Perth mid February to work with two different ministries and to go on outreach February 25th. One ministry I will be a part of is called Revive. Thy regularly work with indigenous Australian kids doing therapy to help bring about healing holistically. This is so needed because there is so much hurt due to family abuse, sexual abuse, drug abuse, etc. The outreach will kind of launch the second part of the ministry. The vision is to partner with local ministries in third world countries and ultimately teach them how to do the therapy we already do, train them to work with Special Ed kids, basically partner with them to help the kids that most of the world has forgotten or chides to ignore. That is one ministry, the other one I would be helping to pioneer. The woman, who I have been praying for since December 2009, has been commissioned to start a women's half way home. The idea is to help women who are from the detention centers, former prostitutes, or women wanting to come in from indigenous communities and break free of he negative cycles of drug, alcohol, and physical abuse. I am really excited to work with these women and to create this ministry with this woman. I am so excited to go and do these ministries. While I am doing this I will also be taking a class that meets once a week. It is titled certificate IV Christian missions (c4cm). It is a 2 year course about being a missionary and the history of missions. It will be a great class.The had part of only being home till mid-February is raising funds and prayer support. When I was praying about how to do this, I felt led to do it more personally, via face to face, phone, and Skype conversations, as well as group get togethers, and speaking at churches. I have to raise both financial support to go back in addition to monthly support. I am aiming for a total of $8000 to get back/immediate outreach and between $1500-$2000 a month. If you want more information or have questions please feel free to contact me.Prayer points:
-opportunities to share with people about the last 6 months
-continued God honoring communication as I share about the future
-Australian visa for 2 years
-financial support
-thanking God for already blessing me with $1000 for return cost and $450 for monthly
I will keep you all in the loop about the future. It's really exciting.
I will keep you all in the loop about the future. It's really exciting.

-for me family, there are some health problems

Antipolo Base

I just returned from the Philippines and now I am in Perth for report back week, which is sharing what happened during outreach and then debriefing and processing what we did and saw and getting ready for the future.  Antipolo base was the last place we were in the Philippines.  It was a great place to end outreach.  The base is on the side of a hill overlooking Manila and it is beautiful and very much like the jungle.  I did have a run in with a tiny snake the slithered under my foot, but a guy on the team was kind enough to kill it for me.  We were packed with ministry once again, but it was so good.  Here is what we did.

Children’s Ministry:

Every Thursday a group of kids come from the area to the base for a time of Bible study, worship, and games.  The kids range from 4-14.  We would do worship together and tell a Bible story to the younger kids (who I mostly worked with).  Then we would give a brief teaching and play games with them.  The older kids had teaching, testimonies, and small groups.  It was really good.  We built relationships with the kids and encouraged them to pursue Christ. 

Campus Ministry:

On Tuesdays and Fridays, we would go into two different high schools and teach an English class.  We then would go into different classrooms, who’s teachers invited us, and do ice breakers, skit, share our stories, and give a word for the students.  We often ended the class time answer kids questions and offering prayer.  We had a lot of great conversations with kids and they really opened up.  In one of the high schools about 70% of the students have reported abuse in their home…that is just the opens brave enough to report it.  So there is a lot of hurt to help the kids’ process through and to speak value into them.  On the last Tuesday, we were in we did 4 assemblies, each 1.5 hours.  I was chosen as the main speaker and I talked about value and self-worth.  It was translated and we had skits, testimonies, and a guy from our team rapped for the kids too.  It was an amazing opportunity and it hit a lot of kids.  I spoke a lot about how words affect us and talked about bullying too.  It was an honor to be asked to do this and the students responded well.

Children’s Open Air:

Every Saturday, the Children’s ministry goes into three different communities, when they have enough staff, and does a program and the whole community is invited.  There are games, songs, skits, testimonies, and a teaching.  We did this three Sundays.  It was great to see different groups of kids and really get them excited and share God’s love with them.  We saw a lot of kids come from other communities to see and hear us.  We were a novelty being foreign, but that led to kids hearing about God.  Some adults ended up accepting Christ because of the testimonies they heard.  We saw a lot of people who were hungry for truth.  We also did home visits in the slum community one of these Saturdays to the families who came to the open air.

Mother’s Ministry:

I was not a part of this, but every Wednesday and Thursday three girls from the team went to a Mother’s Bible study.  These mothers were of the children whose school fees are being paid for through YWAM’s child sponsorship program.  This month’s topic was quiet times.  The girls had an amazing time and had deep relationships with the mothers. 

Evangelism:

We did a lot of evangelism in the local community we were in as well as at the local mall.  The people in the Philippines love their malls.  We did this about 2-3 times a week.  The most stand out conversation for me was with an Ace Hardware employee.  He approached us and started to talk to Joy, Nathan, and I.  We asked him questions and he asked us where we are from and why we are in the Philippines.  We shared with him why we were there and what out purpose is.  He was surprised and shared about his own faith.  He was a former Catholic but switched to a ‘church’ to be with his girlfriend.  It turns out that this ‘church’ is actually a cult.  We had heard of it before.  He mentioned that he wants truth…so we asked him if he ever read about any religions.  He said no.  So Joy and I went and bought him a Bible in Tagalog and encouraged him to read it for himself and make up his own mind.  He was surprised that we would give him a gift even though we just met him that day.

Work Duties on Base:

We helped out with base work daily (dishes and food prep), but we also did work duties on base.  The guys cleared out an empty lot with machetes, the girls swept, and I was put in charge of organizing the hospitality closet.  It was very dust, so thank you allergy meds!

Thursday Night Meeting:

Every Thursday night they have a base wide meeting with worship, announcements, skits, testimonies, and speaker.  One Thursday, we were asked to run it.  So our team did worship, the School of Worship did a skit, our leader Ali did a special song she wrote, and I was the speaker.  It was scary for me to prep for that.  I felt very heavy over speaking to adults, but that was ok because it meant I was very specific and careful with my words.  What I said was totally given to me by God because a lot of it was revelation over God’s word that I had not had before.  So thank you God for speaking through me. 

Speaking in Churches:

We went to two different churches and at the second one we were asked to give testimonies and do a skit.  Sarah and Danny shared and the group did a skit.  The church was encouraged by what we shared and was excited to have us. 

Orphanage:

One day we were asked to go to an YWAM orphanage.  It was amazing.  The home has 26 kids.  They take in children that most others don’t, such as undocumented children, street children, foster kids, and kids with disabilities.  The typical orphanage just takes babies that are up for adoption.  I fell in love with a little boy named Anthony.  When we first got there were played catch and we were laughing and having fun and I was hugging and tickling him.  I held him and he got up and ran away.  It was weird.  About 5 minutes later he came back crying.  I tried to talk to him and I took him into my arms.  I said to him “You are beautiful; you are smart; God loves you; and I love you.” After each line he was whisper a yes.  For the rest of the day, he wanted to be held, cuddled, encouraged, read to, and just loved on.  He is amazing and only 4 years old, but has seen many hard things.  He is in the orphanage with 3 other siblings, yet there are 16 of them altogether.  He is an amazing young boy…please pray for him.

Anthony

That is mostly what we did while we were at the Antipolo base.  There are a few other little things, but those are the big ones.  I will be back in the states on the evening of the 18^th…so please pray for safe travels.  See you all soon :)

Balut Base

We just left Balut for another base in the Philippines called Antipolo, so I thought I would take some time to reflect. Our time at the Balut base was amazing.  It was in a part of town called Tondo.  If you watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Ht_19N8Uw you will get a glimpse of what it is like here.  This is a video called World’s Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver.  It really shows the type of people we are ministering to and what life is like for them.  During out time in Balut, we were so busy.  We spent most of our time in the permanent housing of Smokey Mountain (an old garbage dump that the government has turned into housing) and then the new dump village where people have build homes that they can scavenge for things to sell.  I am going to do a quick run down of the different ministries we were apart of.

Feeding Programs: We did this for children in the dump village and families who had children with TB (Tuberculosis) and their children who have TB.  People from our group would get up at 7am prepare the food and then we would go run a program for the kids: songs, Bible skit, and short Bible teaching.  Then they would get to eat.  It was amazing to have so many people come for obvious reasons, food, but then want to hear so much more after.

Elementary Program: This program was every Saturday morning for kids who are sponsored through YWAM Balut.  The sponsorship provides for all of their school needs.  We would start with games, then do songs (always with hand motions), a Bible skit, and then a teaching.  We would end our time praying for the kids and playing with them.  I did the teaching for the kids the second Saturday and it was really good :) It made me miss elementary education.

TB Bible Study: This was once a week and was for the families of kids with TB, who are getting treatment through YWAM.  It is kind of like a support group, but so much more.  Typical set up is worship, testimony, and teaching.  There is at the end lots of prayer and fellowship where we got to minister and encourage the parents and play with their kids.

High School Ministry: This was a huge part of what we did.  Friday nights were a small group ministry for kids in the permanent housing of Smokey Mountain.  Then there were two different ones on Saturday: one at permanent housing and the other at the dumpsite.  We did two different programs based on the two different groups that planned.  All three had worship and teaching.  The small group ministry was very personal and filled with application.  The other two had games for icebreakers and testimonies.  I taught the first Saturday about grace and mercy and I shared my testimony this past Saturday about how being holy is not the same as pleasing others…that has been a huge lesson for me.  By the end of our time, I had a group of students who want to be teachers asking me to pray for them and their college entrance exam.  They are normally so shy that this is HUGE!

College Ministry: This was on Wednesday nights and we only got to go once, which was a bummer.  We had worship, a skit called the sin chair, two testimonies, a teaching, and then prayer small groups.  All of the girls in my small group were 16 or 17.  They start college very young here and it was great to really connect with them.  I got to hear about their struggles and pray for them.  I also shared about how God can use whatever you do with your future for His glory.  We are called to serve Him and show His love where ever we go and whatever we do.  It was great!

Day Care Program: This is a two parter.  We helped to care for babies that are either level 2 or 3 malnourished.  Their parents drop them off there in the morning and then pick them up at night.  The day care helps to get them better and develop them.  It is partly how YWAM Balut came to be and is therefore one of their oldest ministries.  The other part is a Bible study for the mothers of present and past babies in the day care.  I did the teaching the first week we were there.  I spoke about God’s love.  When I first started to plan I didn’t fully realize that was where God was taking me, but it was perfect because the testimony that Joy and Ali shared matched perfectly.  So good!

Home Visits: We spent a few hours every other day visiting people that have been connected to these programs at one point or another.  The main purpose was to go, pray, and encourage.   We would average 5-10 homes in a day.  It was so good!  On one specific day, we were visiting families of the elementary ed sponsored students.  We went into the home of a boy named Jovani, which made me think of my Italian roots and my students from home.  We started by talking with him and his mother.  At one point, the mother shared about her struggle of being a different faith background from her husband.  She had prayed to statues in her past and had never been told that she could pray and speak to God directly; in fact that is what He so longs for.  I shared more and she asked more questions.  She accepted Christ that day.  When I was praying with her she started to cry and when I asked her why she was crying, she said it was because she was filled with joy. I then started to cry…of course.  SO AMAZING!

Friendship Evangelism: This just means making friends and getting to know them and showing Christ’s love through the way we carry ourselves.  The place we did was at the local hand out…the round about.  There are places to sit and everyone goes there to hang out.  There are people playing badminton, dancing, visiting, playing music, training their dogs, etc.  It was very eye opening to just go and it be normal to just strike up a conversation with a total stranger.  It was refreshing in fact.  The last night we did this I met a woman named Bang and her son Rain.  I prayed for him because he was sick.  I then met her one friend who was drunk and her other friend who was a tricycle driver, Johnson.  He was an interesting guy and very intellectual, it was mentally exhausting, but it was a great opportunity to have God speak through me and give me the words.  Please be praying for them.

Well that is what we did in Balut…hope that sheds some light on the past few weeks.  Write more soon :) About a month left, I can hardly believe it!