Sunday, September 1, 2013
Moved Into the Neighborhood
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At the start of this year I was finally able to move to the YWAM base in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to my condo and the Darien area where I’d called home for well over 15 years. I never realized how difficult all the transition would be in my life but it has definitely been challenging. All the patterns in your day to day life change as you relearn how to do life in a new neighborhood. The picture I keep imaging is that I am a plant that has been uprooted and replanted. It will take time for my roots to grow and gain strength in the new soil.
I have been thinking a lot about the incarnational ministry of Jesus. John 1:14 says that “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” I like this verse in the Message version, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” I am so thankful that Jesus was willing to move into the neighborhood and do all that he did. He became one of us so he could truly understand our lives and the needs we have. In doing that, he can help us and meet those needs with compassion and caring because he knows what it's like. He can sympathize with us
This passage has taken on such new life for me since moving. It’s one thing to minister in the city. It’s another thing altogether to move there and be among the people you are trying to reach. You become a part of the area. You change a little as you adapt to the culture around you. It changes a little because you are now there. You learn how to do life in that area and see what is considered normal. You hopefully start to better understand the needs of those around you and can reach out to meet those needs. It takes time and commitment to plant roots but I think you are stronger in the end.
I am really excited to be a part of Chicago in the neighborhood of Rogers Park. It is a neighborhood that is 1.83 square miles and has 56,000 people from over 150 different countries. It is ethnically diverse and rich with many different cultures. Please pray for me that I would start to feel more at home and continue to build strong friendships here in this part of the city. My new neighborhood, my new home!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
God's Faithfulness
A few weeks ago my family was able to celebrate the 100th birthday of my Grandpa Art. It's amazing to think of all the changes that have happened in his lifetime. How different our world is now from when he was born. As I look at his life and reflect on all he's experienced, I am thankful that through all the changes that we may go through, God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I am also thankful for the faithfulness God has and continues to show my family. I am forever grateful for them and the Godly heritage that I was given.
The last time I wrote I was in London with the UDTS. Thanks so much for praying for my time away. I had an incredible time and appreciate the opportunity to go with such a great group of people. Since being back I have been very busy. The first week back was the final week of the UDTS. We were able to celebrate all that God did during the 5 months together. The twelve students all graduated and the majority of them will be continuing on to do the School of Evangelism in Tyler, Texas. I had a lot of fun getting to know all the students and walking with them through the school as they learned more about God and how to walk in relationship with Him! As thankful as I am to have been a part of the school I am excited for this next season. Less than a week after the graduation of the UDTS we had our first outreach group come to the base. My main job at this point will be coordinating the outreach groups that come to the base. Mostly during the Spring and Summer months. I love working with the groups and usually feel a renewed sense of passion for working with youth encouraging them in their walks with the Lord. Please pray for us as we gear up for a very full summer. June and July will be full with groups here every week!
I would like to take a moment and share with you one of the things we do with the groups that come. It is one of my favorite things we do with the youth that come. It is praying at Daley Plaza. Daley Plaza is a government office building in the Loop area of downtown Chicago. We go during the lunch hour and split up asking the people we see in the plaza if we can pray for them. There are hundreds of people that walk through the plaza on a day to day basis. It is also an area that people sit to eat their lunch while they are on a break from work. Daley Plaza building is the city court house as well so there are many people coming and going from difficult situations. The first group that we had this year went to Daley plaza. In the two hours we were there, the sixteen of us prayed for about 150 people. I am always amazed at the difficult circumstances that the people we pray for are going through. They are just walking by and when we ask if we can pray for them it seems as though it is a needed break to offer hope in the midst of the trouble. There were three people that I prayed with that I would like to briefly share about. Bernise was a woman who was on her way to court because her mother-in-law had just passed away and they were trying to figure out how to best take care of her brother-in-law with special needs. She was hurting and wanting to get wisdom from God. She told me she appreciated prayer that was spoken out of relationship with the Father and not religion. She gave me the biggest hug after I said Amen! Petro was another person I met. He came walking toward me and looked as if he were talking on his cell phone. Earlier the base director, Brad, told us that sometimes the people that we don't think we should go up to and ask are exactly the ones that we should go up to. Normally if people are talking on their phones I won't bother them but I felt like I should even though he had his phone to his ear. I called out Hi, we're praying for people in the plaza today, can I pray for you. He stopped and with wide eyes looked at me. He then asked me to look at his phone. It showed that he was listening to a song called "His Presence is in This Place". He said that he just started listening to the song because he really needed to know that God was with him and that his presence truly was there. He was so amazed to know that we were there and praying for people. He asked me to pray for the relationship between himself and his wife. His eyes filled with tears as he said that they were really struggling. In the midst of the struggles he needed to know that Christ was with him. I was able to pray for him and encourage him that truly God was with Him and cared deeply for him. The last woman, Laura, has been on my mind and heart ever since that day. She was dressed like a business woman and was walking quickly with a purpose. When I asked if I could pray for her she immediately said yes! I then asked if there was anything specific that I could pray for. She said that she was on her way to the doctor because she might have breast cancer and was heading to the appointment where they would tell her the test results to confirm the diagnosis. She had such a pained expression. She was nervous and grateful that I would take the time to pray for God's peace to rest on her. She thanked me and then walked off. My heart broke for her and others that I met. It was just a Wednesday, nothing special just lunch hour at a busy downtown plaza. People are hurting and just need to know that there is a God that cares deeply for all they are going through. Please pray for us as we continue to go to Daley plaza weekly over the next few months. I always pray that God will put us in front of those that need to be encouraged with His hope. I would love it if you would do the same!
Thanks for taking the time to read this! I am very grateful your support of me both financially and with prayer! I love knowing that there is a team of people behind me, encouraging me forward as I attempt to follow the calling I believe God has for me! Blessing to you today!! Expecting great things from God, Kathi:)
Monday, May 30, 2011
Support Letter
Hey Everyone!
I am going to be working this summer for YWAM Chicago. I sent out a support letter that shares a bit about what I've been thinking and what I'll be up to! Here is the letter!! Enjoy!
May, 2011
Dear Friends and Family,
I am so excited to share with you all that God has been and is doing in my life. Before I do that though I want to say thank you for the love and support you have shown me over the last year and a half! I appreciate it very much and know that I couldn't have done it without you.
January through June of 2010 was an awesome adventure for me as I traveled to Perth, Australia and Mexico City, Mexico for the Compassion DTS. As I look back on those 6 months I realize how much the Lord blessed me with that time. I was able to spend lots of quality time with him in prayer and in reflecting on all the years I had spent in Chicago while looking forward to all he had in store for me. It was a time of working through all the feelings that come with major transitions in life and learning more about what it means to be a child of God. He met me where I was in such tangible ways, ways that were so surprising yet uplifting. It was a meaningful time for sure.
As I finished my time the inevitable question of "what are you going to do next" was asked by many people and I struggled because I didn't have the answer. I did, however, feel very confident that God would make it clear in His timing. That confidence came because of what I had felt God had been saying to me. There were two main things God revealed to me during my DTS concerning what my future might hold.
The first thing God revealed was that my ministering in Chicago is not over. I planned on coming back to Chicago when the DTS was over but thought that God might use the time away to lead me to a different place in the kingdom. I have always felt a desire to see the nations reached for the Lord and have loved all the places I have traveled. I knew I needed to be open to whatever God might have for me and where that might take me. Week 4 of the lecture phase of the DTS was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of YWAM International and the 25th anniversary of YWAM Perth. Throughout the week we heard people tell stories about how God worked in and through them to grow that ministry. It was fun to hear the stories and be a part of the celebrations but throughout the week I kept thinking about the 15 years I'd spent in Chicago and all the people I'd met and things I'd done. I took the time to celebrate all that God had done in those years, thanking Him for my time in Chicago and yet surrendering it as well so I would be ready for what he had for me in the future. As the DTS continued beyond the celebrations week I felt like God wasn't taking my heart for Chicago away but growing it stronger and even helping me dream about what my part might look like. As my heart for Chicago grew I felt sure that God was saying that there was more for me in the city but that it would be different than what I had done before.
The second thing I took away from my 6 months away was a better understanding of God's heart for cities and the strategy and type of vision it takes to reach a city for Christ. I know it's not a coincidence that God brought me to Perth to do a DTS during a MegaCities year. MegaCities is a ministry of YWAM Perth that focuses on a city of over a million for one year joining with local believers to bring about city transformation. In 2010 the focus of MegaCities was Mexico City. I was able to be a part of the first wave of teams that pioneered the work that would continue throughout the year and beyond. I'm so thankful that I was able to do my outreach with that focus. It is such an incredible ministry. MegaCities finished its year in Mexico City with some amazing results. God used the 1000+ international volunteers that flooded the city for over a year to bring tremendous change to the lives of thousands in Mexico City. More than 46,000 people heard about Jesus from these teams. Over 10,400 made a decision to follow Jesus, 1700 Bibles were handed out and over 53,700 people received teaching from the teams (like mine) and speakers that came. These numbers were what the teams reported but the final numbers from the local pastors revealed results outnumbering what the teams had reported. Transformation has started in Mexico City because workers were sent. I would love to see this type of change happen in the city of Chicago!
I’ve been back in Chicago now for over 8 months after spending time post DTS with friends and family. I took a non ministry job to pay the bills until I knew what my next step in ministry might be. Recently I was asked by YWAM Chicago to work with them this summer. They have groups from all over that come to the base and work in the city. Most of the groups are made up of high school students that will come for a week or two and do work around the city through organizations that are connected with the YWAM base. I will work with the groups helping with the logistics of what they will be doing and also live at the base and help oversee the groups that are staying there. I definitely believe the time is right for me to work with YWAM Chicago.
I love the ministry YWAM Chicago has in the city. Like MegaCities, they have a vision to see God bring transformation to the city. One of the things that I have learned from them is that we can take up Jesus’ call to go and reach the nations without ever going to another country. The nations are here. Of the 9 million people in Chicago, 1 out of 7 is foreign born. 64,000 new immigrants move to Chicago every year (175 a day) and almost half are from the least evangelized nations of the world. There are over 100 languages spoken natively by the students of Chicago public schools. In a 5-mile radius around the YWAM building there are 350,000 people of which 35% are foreign born representing nearly 150 different nationalities. The high school down the street from the base speaks 53 different languages natively by the student body. Chicago is made up of 400,000 Muslims, 150,000 Hindus and 250,000 Jews. Chicago is one of only 20 cities in the world with over 1 million foreign born. I am excited to reach the nations in a city that I love and help others to step out of their comfort zones and do the same.
Another aspect of this job I am excited about is working with high school aged youth. I still feel called to work with youth even though I know it won't look like what I have been doing, being a youth pastor in a church. I am excited to work with the groups of youth and help them as they process through all that they will be doing and experiencing in the city and encouraging themin their walks with the Lord.
In order to be able to work with YWAM Chicago this summer I will need to once again raise my financial support. I am hoping to start working with YWAM Chicago by the middle to end of June through the beginning of September. To cover my expenses (condo, insurance, taxes and basic living expenses) I will need to raise about $5000. Would you prayerfully consider supporting me financially so that I will be able to work with YWAM Chicago?
You can make a one time tax deductable donation by writing a check to Suburban Life Community Church and sending it back to me in the envelope provided. to me in the envelope provided. SLCC will send you a receipt for tax purposes.
I am excited to be able to work with YWAM Chicago this summer but have felt the weight of this step of faith. Part of that is because I have been praying to see if YWAM Chicago is where God would like me full time. I am hoping that God will use my time there this summer to confirm that for me and help me to see my place in that ministry. I would love to have your support in prayer over my summer and this decision as well. I have loved and appreciated all of your prayers on my behalf. I know that I need people who are willing to pray for me as I step out in faith. It really is a scary thing but exciting for me as well!
Thank you for your support of me. I am so thankful for each and every one of you. God is so good and I count all of you as one of his many blessings to me in my life! Thank you for taking the time to read this. I have been without a computer since I was in Mexico which has made updating all of you a challenge. I will send out updates by email and on my blog at www.blogspot.com/kathioom. If I don’t have your email address please let me know. If you’d prefer me to send you an update by mail, please let me know that as well.
I am looking forward to a great summer in the city! Thanks again!
Expecting great things from God,
Kathi Oom
I am going to be working this summer for YWAM Chicago. I sent out a support letter that shares a bit about what I've been thinking and what I'll be up to! Here is the letter!! Enjoy!
May, 2011
Dear Friends and Family,
I am so excited to share with you all that God has been and is doing in my life. Before I do that though I want to say thank you for the love and support you have shown me over the last year and a half! I appreciate it very much and know that I couldn't have done it without you.
January through June of 2010 was an awesome adventure for me as I traveled to Perth, Australia and Mexico City, Mexico for the Compassion DTS. As I look back on those 6 months I realize how much the Lord blessed me with that time. I was able to spend lots of quality time with him in prayer and in reflecting on all the years I had spent in Chicago while looking forward to all he had in store for me. It was a time of working through all the feelings that come with major transitions in life and learning more about what it means to be a child of God. He met me where I was in such tangible ways, ways that were so surprising yet uplifting. It was a meaningful time for sure.
As I finished my time the inevitable question of "what are you going to do next" was asked by many people and I struggled because I didn't have the answer. I did, however, feel very confident that God would make it clear in His timing. That confidence came because of what I had felt God had been saying to me. There were two main things God revealed to me during my DTS concerning what my future might hold.
The first thing God revealed was that my ministering in Chicago is not over. I planned on coming back to Chicago when the DTS was over but thought that God might use the time away to lead me to a different place in the kingdom. I have always felt a desire to see the nations reached for the Lord and have loved all the places I have traveled. I knew I needed to be open to whatever God might have for me and where that might take me. Week 4 of the lecture phase of the DTS was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of YWAM International and the 25th anniversary of YWAM Perth. Throughout the week we heard people tell stories about how God worked in and through them to grow that ministry. It was fun to hear the stories and be a part of the celebrations but throughout the week I kept thinking about the 15 years I'd spent in Chicago and all the people I'd met and things I'd done. I took the time to celebrate all that God had done in those years, thanking Him for my time in Chicago and yet surrendering it as well so I would be ready for what he had for me in the future. As the DTS continued beyond the celebrations week I felt like God wasn't taking my heart for Chicago away but growing it stronger and even helping me dream about what my part might look like. As my heart for Chicago grew I felt sure that God was saying that there was more for me in the city but that it would be different than what I had done before.
The second thing I took away from my 6 months away was a better understanding of God's heart for cities and the strategy and type of vision it takes to reach a city for Christ. I know it's not a coincidence that God brought me to Perth to do a DTS during a MegaCities year. MegaCities is a ministry of YWAM Perth that focuses on a city of over a million for one year joining with local believers to bring about city transformation. In 2010 the focus of MegaCities was Mexico City. I was able to be a part of the first wave of teams that pioneered the work that would continue throughout the year and beyond. I'm so thankful that I was able to do my outreach with that focus. It is such an incredible ministry. MegaCities finished its year in Mexico City with some amazing results. God used the 1000+ international volunteers that flooded the city for over a year to bring tremendous change to the lives of thousands in Mexico City. More than 46,000 people heard about Jesus from these teams. Over 10,400 made a decision to follow Jesus, 1700 Bibles were handed out and over 53,700 people received teaching from the teams (like mine) and speakers that came. These numbers were what the teams reported but the final numbers from the local pastors revealed results outnumbering what the teams had reported. Transformation has started in Mexico City because workers were sent. I would love to see this type of change happen in the city of Chicago!
I’ve been back in Chicago now for over 8 months after spending time post DTS with friends and family. I took a non ministry job to pay the bills until I knew what my next step in ministry might be. Recently I was asked by YWAM Chicago to work with them this summer. They have groups from all over that come to the base and work in the city. Most of the groups are made up of high school students that will come for a week or two and do work around the city through organizations that are connected with the YWAM base. I will work with the groups helping with the logistics of what they will be doing and also live at the base and help oversee the groups that are staying there. I definitely believe the time is right for me to work with YWAM Chicago.
I love the ministry YWAM Chicago has in the city. Like MegaCities, they have a vision to see God bring transformation to the city. One of the things that I have learned from them is that we can take up Jesus’ call to go and reach the nations without ever going to another country. The nations are here. Of the 9 million people in Chicago, 1 out of 7 is foreign born. 64,000 new immigrants move to Chicago every year (175 a day) and almost half are from the least evangelized nations of the world. There are over 100 languages spoken natively by the students of Chicago public schools. In a 5-mile radius around the YWAM building there are 350,000 people of which 35% are foreign born representing nearly 150 different nationalities. The high school down the street from the base speaks 53 different languages natively by the student body. Chicago is made up of 400,000 Muslims, 150,000 Hindus and 250,000 Jews. Chicago is one of only 20 cities in the world with over 1 million foreign born. I am excited to reach the nations in a city that I love and help others to step out of their comfort zones and do the same.
Another aspect of this job I am excited about is working with high school aged youth. I still feel called to work with youth even though I know it won't look like what I have been doing, being a youth pastor in a church. I am excited to work with the groups of youth and help them as they process through all that they will be doing and experiencing in the city and encouraging themin their walks with the Lord.
In order to be able to work with YWAM Chicago this summer I will need to once again raise my financial support. I am hoping to start working with YWAM Chicago by the middle to end of June through the beginning of September. To cover my expenses (condo, insurance, taxes and basic living expenses) I will need to raise about $5000. Would you prayerfully consider supporting me financially so that I will be able to work with YWAM Chicago?
You can make a one time tax deductable donation by writing a check to Suburban Life Community Church and sending it back to me in the envelope provided. to me in the envelope provided. SLCC will send you a receipt for tax purposes.
I am excited to be able to work with YWAM Chicago this summer but have felt the weight of this step of faith. Part of that is because I have been praying to see if YWAM Chicago is where God would like me full time. I am hoping that God will use my time there this summer to confirm that for me and help me to see my place in that ministry. I would love to have your support in prayer over my summer and this decision as well. I have loved and appreciated all of your prayers on my behalf. I know that I need people who are willing to pray for me as I step out in faith. It really is a scary thing but exciting for me as well!
Thank you for your support of me. I am so thankful for each and every one of you. God is so good and I count all of you as one of his many blessings to me in my life! Thank you for taking the time to read this. I have been without a computer since I was in Mexico which has made updating all of you a challenge. I will send out updates by email and on my blog at www.blogspot.com/kathioom. If I don’t have your email address please let me know. If you’d prefer me to send you an update by mail, please let me know that as well.
I am looking forward to a great summer in the city! Thanks again!
Expecting great things from God,
Kathi Oom
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Long time
I have been without a computer for while now and not able to update my blog. I got an iPhone so that I can still communicate with people and just found this amazing app that connects me with my blog! I will be updating it now!! Sorry about the gap in posts!! Hope you are are doing well this Mother's day!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, May 3, 2010
Been a while...sorry!
Sorry it´s been so long since I updated my blog! My computer is not working and it´s harder to find time to get on the internet. Today is our day off so I have spend the last hour or so in an internet cafe catching up. I hope you all are doing well! I have been enjoying the time here in Mexico City and can´t believe we are halfway through the outreach.
We have definitely seen God working in our area. We have set up an English class and two discipleship seminars. We also continue to meet people almost everyday. We are even meeting more and more English speakers. One of the English speakers we met is a young guy named Juan. We met him because he had met a group from the Perth base back in March and they had given us his name. We went out to a cafe with him and his dad and talked and got to know him a bit. Later that week we were talking with a Pastor that we met and he invited us to his church. He arranged to have someone come and get us. It turned out to be Juan´s dad. We didn´t even realize that they knew each other. So, on the way to the church service we called Juan to let him know that his dad was taking us to church and could he come and translate for us. He came and at the end of the service there was an altar call and he went up and gave his life to the Lord. He was so excited and couldn´t stop smiling! He has come and joined us a few times since then and is really pumped about all God is doing in his life! It was so cool to see how God arranged it all!! We have another interpretor named Fernando that doesn´t know the Lord either, please be praying for him!
I also had a chance to meet someone in the municipal building of Huixquilucan. His name is Horacio and he is not a Christian. He recently had surgery so I went with a couple others to see him and ask how he was doing. He was so dumbfounded that we actually came to check on him. He kept looking at us like we were from a different planet. At the end he said he really wanted our whole team to come to his house and meet his family. We will be going there on a Saturday in May. Please pray that we can really share with him and see him and his family come to know the Lord. I was really impressed that we need to continue to pray for the government of this area and I think this is a unique contact to get to know more government people like Horacio.
This week we also had a corporate meeting with all the YWAMers that are in Mexico City. There are about 150-200 of us throughout the city. It was a fun day of catching up and being with our friends! We have about 20 teams from all over the world that are in Mexico City right now! A big majority of them are from the YWAM Perth base but there are some from other bases around the world.
Thanks again for keeping me in your prayers. I am doing well and we are having a great time with our team. We have about 5 more weeks of ministry and then one week of report back and graduation. Please pray that we continue to see where God is at work and join him! Thanks for your support of me!! Love and miss you all!! Kathi:)
We have definitely seen God working in our area. We have set up an English class and two discipleship seminars. We also continue to meet people almost everyday. We are even meeting more and more English speakers. One of the English speakers we met is a young guy named Juan. We met him because he had met a group from the Perth base back in March and they had given us his name. We went out to a cafe with him and his dad and talked and got to know him a bit. Later that week we were talking with a Pastor that we met and he invited us to his church. He arranged to have someone come and get us. It turned out to be Juan´s dad. We didn´t even realize that they knew each other. So, on the way to the church service we called Juan to let him know that his dad was taking us to church and could he come and translate for us. He came and at the end of the service there was an altar call and he went up and gave his life to the Lord. He was so excited and couldn´t stop smiling! He has come and joined us a few times since then and is really pumped about all God is doing in his life! It was so cool to see how God arranged it all!! We have another interpretor named Fernando that doesn´t know the Lord either, please be praying for him!
I also had a chance to meet someone in the municipal building of Huixquilucan. His name is Horacio and he is not a Christian. He recently had surgery so I went with a couple others to see him and ask how he was doing. He was so dumbfounded that we actually came to check on him. He kept looking at us like we were from a different planet. At the end he said he really wanted our whole team to come to his house and meet his family. We will be going there on a Saturday in May. Please pray that we can really share with him and see him and his family come to know the Lord. I was really impressed that we need to continue to pray for the government of this area and I think this is a unique contact to get to know more government people like Horacio.
This week we also had a corporate meeting with all the YWAMers that are in Mexico City. There are about 150-200 of us throughout the city. It was a fun day of catching up and being with our friends! We have about 20 teams from all over the world that are in Mexico City right now! A big majority of them are from the YWAM Perth base but there are some from other bases around the world.
Thanks again for keeping me in your prayers. I am doing well and we are having a great time with our team. We have about 5 more weeks of ministry and then one week of report back and graduation. Please pray that we continue to see where God is at work and join him! Thanks for your support of me!! Love and miss you all!! Kathi:)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Hiuxquilucan
I’m in Mexico City! I had a great last few days in Perth and in all enjoyed my time in Australia. I am excited for this next phase of the DTS! My flights from Perth to Mexico went extremely well. I even had a great time with my friends, Leigh Anne and Jason Medina and their two kids. We were able to go out to dinner and even go to Target to get a few supplies. It was nice to be back in the States for a bit and shop where it isn’t so expensive! I arrived in Mexico City at 4am on Sunday morning. I spent the first three days at a church near the airport with a few others while we waited for the rest of our school to get there. We took time to work through our jet lag, explored the area and tried a few different Mexican restaurants! We had a great time. Tuesday night all of us that got there early went to the airport to meet the rest of our school. We then all headed out to our respective regions. I am in a region of the city called Huixquilucan (sounds like Whiskey-Loo-Can). It is west of the downtown area and is in a pretty mountainous area of the city. It is really beautiful. We are living in a home with a family, Margarita and her son Brayan. Our first task as a ministry team is to read through the whole Bible in 72 hours straight. As I write this we are about half way. Yesterday we met a woman who lives downstairs named Conni. She was a great help to us and was very patient with us as we tried to communicate with her. I think she had fun with it! She took us to a local Walmart so that we could get some groceries and get cell phones for our team. Today Kayla (our staff leader), Alyssa (the person on our team who can speak the most Spanish) and I went to meet with a local pastor. As part of the first wave into the city we are trying to make connections with the local churches and get a feel for the area. It was a great meeting. He was able to give us names of 11 churches in the area. He also informed us that he knows no one who speaks English that could help us translate. We are praying that God leads us to someone that could help us out! Please keep that in your prayers for us. We have plans to do evangelism and teach some seminars and would have a hard time doing all that without an interpreter. We are blessed to have internet in our home as well! I will hopefully be able to update each week! Thanks so much for reading!! Adios!!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Final Crazy Days in Perth!!
I am about an hour away from leaving from the airport and thought I should post something before I leave. It has been a crazy last week or so to say the least! Week 11 was our last full week of class. We had Chris Adams from base talk to us about Spiritual Warfare! It was a balanced and interesting teaching that I enjoyed very much. Cliff and Cristine were our teachers for week 12. They taught on missions. It was fun to end my time in Perth with my good friends teaching! They were great and a lot of fun!
This past Monday Perth had the worst storm they've had in 50 years. The sky was dark and ominous and reminded me of the few times I've been in tornado type weather. Reports say that it actually was a cyclone. Anyway, it started to rain a bit and then hail. A little later it was like the heavens opened and it started to pour like I've never seen. It rained so hard that much of the base and the streets were flooded. Quite a few roofs were damaged and a couple of the dorms had to be evacuated. We were without electricity on base for a few days. Needless to say we had to be incredibly flexible and creative to see everything run as normal.
In the midst of the storm and clean up we also have been fighting for visas for 23 students that come from more developing nations. There has been a lot of red tape and the Mexican embassy changing their minds about the process and what they need to do. It looks like most of them will have to wait 2-3 weeks to go to Mexico. Please pray that this situation clears, that they all are granted a visa and that they can come sooner rather than later! Please also pray that the government comes up with a way for students from these countries to get visas quicker because there will be people being sent to Mexico all year!
I don't know that I have had time to truly process my whole time in Perth. I know first and foremost that God gave me this time to relax me and to refresh me for more ministry. It has been such a blessing to have three months of learning more about him and sitting in his presence! I am so blessed by all of you that made this possible for me to come. I am so grateful! I look forward to stepping out to Mexico City and seeing all that God has for us there. We have heard phenomenal stories of what's been happening there and I am excited to get going. I'm not sure how often I will be able to have Internet but I will update whenever possible! Thanks again for your love and support of me! I know I couldn't do this without it! Thanks for reading!! See ya Perth!!
This past Monday Perth had the worst storm they've had in 50 years. The sky was dark and ominous and reminded me of the few times I've been in tornado type weather. Reports say that it actually was a cyclone. Anyway, it started to rain a bit and then hail. A little later it was like the heavens opened and it started to pour like I've never seen. It rained so hard that much of the base and the streets were flooded. Quite a few roofs were damaged and a couple of the dorms had to be evacuated. We were without electricity on base for a few days. Needless to say we had to be incredibly flexible and creative to see everything run as normal.
In the midst of the storm and clean up we also have been fighting for visas for 23 students that come from more developing nations. There has been a lot of red tape and the Mexican embassy changing their minds about the process and what they need to do. It looks like most of them will have to wait 2-3 weeks to go to Mexico. Please pray that this situation clears, that they all are granted a visa and that they can come sooner rather than later! Please also pray that the government comes up with a way for students from these countries to get visas quicker because there will be people being sent to Mexico all year!
I don't know that I have had time to truly process my whole time in Perth. I know first and foremost that God gave me this time to relax me and to refresh me for more ministry. It has been such a blessing to have three months of learning more about him and sitting in his presence! I am so blessed by all of you that made this possible for me to come. I am so grateful! I look forward to stepping out to Mexico City and seeing all that God has for us there. We have heard phenomenal stories of what's been happening there and I am excited to get going. I'm not sure how often I will be able to have Internet but I will update whenever possible! Thanks again for your love and support of me! I know I couldn't do this without it! Thanks for reading!! See ya Perth!!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Kookaburras in Kings Park!
It’s Sunday and the end of week 10! It was a really good week. We had Rachel McGirr come and speak to us about Lordship, Authority and Submission. It was also the week our outreach fees were due. At the beginning of the week our class needed a total of about $100,000 of fees that had no pledges of support. By Friday that number was down to $7000. God blessed in amazing ways. Thanks to all of you for supporting me. I had almost all of my outreach fees paid for and have pledges for the rest! On Tuesday we had our walk-a-thon. Our whole class walked 12k to help raise the money we needed. We actually walked in our outreach teams. 
I have a great team (see pic). They are all really creative and a lot of fun. I think we will have a blast in Mexico City working together! We leave in less than two weeks. I still can’t believe how fast the time went and I am excited to go and see what God has for us there. This coming Tuesday the outreach teams that have been there the last month or so are going to have their report back day. I am looking forward to hearing the stories of their time in Mexico City. It will hopefully be encouraging as we will be there soon!
Today I had a chance to go to
King’s park which is a big park filled with memorials, restaurants and a botanical garden. It was a lot of fun and such a beautiful park. It is up on a hill and overlooks the whole city. 
We were able to take a bunch of pictures. We had lunch at a small café that was incredible. I even got to climb a huge tree (see pic). At one point while we were there we took a break on a park bench. I began peeling an orange and all of a sudden a bird came close that was incredibly cute and unique. 
We found out later it is a Kookaburra bird (see pics). We really wanted it to come closer so we could get a picture of it so I threw it a piece of my orange. Well, he soon was right by me eating my orange peel. He was so cute! I have really enjoyed seeing all the unique wildlife here in Australia! I will miss it when I’m gone for sure. Thanks so much for reading! Have a great week!!
I have a great team (see pic). They are all really creative and a lot of fun. I think we will have a blast in Mexico City working together! We leave in less than two weeks. I still can’t believe how fast the time went and I am excited to go and see what God has for us there. This coming Tuesday the outreach teams that have been there the last month or so are going to have their report back day. I am looking forward to hearing the stories of their time in Mexico City. It will hopefully be encouraging as we will be there soon! Today I had a chance to go to
King’s park which is a big park filled with memorials, restaurants and a botanical garden. It was a lot of fun and such a beautiful park. It is up on a hill and overlooks the whole city. 
We were able to take a bunch of pictures. We had lunch at a small café that was incredible. I even got to climb a huge tree (see pic). At one point while we were there we took a break on a park bench. I began peeling an orange and all of a sudden a bird came close that was incredibly cute and unique. 
We found out later it is a Kookaburra bird (see pics). We really wanted it to come closer so we could get a picture of it so I threw it a piece of my orange. Well, he soon was right by me eating my orange peel. He was so cute! I have really enjoyed seeing all the unique wildlife here in Australia! I will miss it when I’m gone for sure. Thanks so much for reading! Have a great week!!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Pet Kangaroo...check!!
I saw a kangaroo tonight!! Cristine and I and her two girls and Johnny, a friend of Avery's went to Kangaroo Island tonight and saw three kangaroos! It was so much fun! I really wanted to see a kangaroo before I left Australia. Now I can say I saw one! It was so fun. We walked around for quite a while and didn't see any.
We decided to leave because it was getting dark. On our way back to the car we saw three of them. They let us walk right up to them and pet them! It was so fun! The kids were loving it too! They are such a unique animal, isn't God creative! I'm having some issues uploading the pictures. I'll post them soon!! Have a great day everyone!!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Luau and Street Evangelism!
It's the end of week 9! It has been the busiest week yet but in the end a lot of fun! This week our subject was evangelism. Stevie Lujan from another base in Australia came to speak to us. 
He was a lot of fun and had some amazing stories of evangelism that he has done. On Friday for application we prayed for a bit to see what God might want us to do and then went into the town square area. We were able to talk with people and share with them about Jesus and even pray with some. It was a really neat time. Evangelism is really easy when you think of it in terms of building relationships and telling your story. We all have a story of God's faithfulness to us in our lives. We just need to be willing to talk with others about it! I find that I enjoy praying with people. I was able to talk with and pray for about 5 people during our time. It was great!
Friday morning we participated in One Voice, a worship time with 9 bases around the world. Bases in Hawaii and Coatsville from the US, Mexico, Colombia, Switzerland and Australia participated through a Genesis link over the Internet.
Each base had a band that led a worship song at different points in the morning. For us, the worship was from 5-7am. It was a great time and so neat to realize that we were all worshiping from all different parts of the world at the exact same time.
Friday night we all presented our research projects that we have been working on for the last few weeks. We all chose a topic of need in our world and then an area that we would research about.
My group studied homelessness and because we are heading there in a few weeks we looked at homelessness in Mexico City. We found that Mexico City has a lot of street children and squatter communities throughout the city. We definitely learned a lot and look forward to having times where we can talk with and minister to people that are without homes.
Saturday was a Luau on base (see pictures)! Island Breeze is a ministry of YWAM that ministers through cultural dance. Most of the dancing is from islands in the South Pacific. We had a great time at the Luau. The food was phenomenal and the dancing was so much fun! It was fun to see everyone dressed up from our school as well! The Luau was a fund raiser for the base towards a building fund that they are currently raising support for. Overall the night raised about $17,000.
This week looks to be a big week as well. On Wednesday all of our outreach fees are due. I know that people have pledged money to me and I believe I am close to having what I need. I don't know though that I'll have all of it by Wednesday. We are having one final fund raiser this week as well. On Tuesday we are having a walk-a-thon. As a school we are walking a 12K on Tuesday morning. We are hoping to have people support us per kilometer. If you would like to support me in the walk-a-thon you can do that one of two ways. First, you can pay by credit card by going to the Ywam Perth website (www.ywamperth.org.au). Once there, go to the donate/pay section. Fill out the form and put my name as the recipient. The other way is to send a check to my church for the amount. Make the check out to Suburban Life Community Church and send it to the address on the right hand side of my blog. If you have any questions you can leave me a comment and I will answer that! Thank you all for your support of me. Please pray with me that I will be able to have all my fees by Wednesday!
Thanks also for praying for my condo. From what I hear the pipe and condo below has been fixed. It was a bit cheaper than originally thought (Thank you Lord!!) and I'm pretty sure my insurance will cover at least part of it. Thanks for your prayers!! I am so grateful for all of you! Thanks for reading!!
He was a lot of fun and had some amazing stories of evangelism that he has done. On Friday for application we prayed for a bit to see what God might want us to do and then went into the town square area. We were able to talk with people and share with them about Jesus and even pray with some. It was a really neat time. Evangelism is really easy when you think of it in terms of building relationships and telling your story. We all have a story of God's faithfulness to us in our lives. We just need to be willing to talk with others about it! I find that I enjoy praying with people. I was able to talk with and pray for about 5 people during our time. It was great!Friday morning we participated in One Voice, a worship time with 9 bases around the world. Bases in Hawaii and Coatsville from the US, Mexico, Colombia, Switzerland and Australia participated through a Genesis link over the Internet.
Each base had a band that led a worship song at different points in the morning. For us, the worship was from 5-7am. It was a great time and so neat to realize that we were all worshiping from all different parts of the world at the exact same time. Friday night we all presented our research projects that we have been working on for the last few weeks. We all chose a topic of need in our world and then an area that we would research about.
My group studied homelessness and because we are heading there in a few weeks we looked at homelessness in Mexico City. We found that Mexico City has a lot of street children and squatter communities throughout the city. We definitely learned a lot and look forward to having times where we can talk with and minister to people that are without homes.Saturday was a Luau on base (see pictures)! Island Breeze is a ministry of YWAM that ministers through cultural dance. Most of the dancing is from islands in the South Pacific. We had a great time at the Luau. The food was phenomenal and the dancing was so much fun! It was fun to see everyone dressed up from our school as well! The Luau was a fund raiser for the base towards a building fund that they are currently raising support for. Overall the night raised about $17,000.
This week looks to be a big week as well. On Wednesday all of our outreach fees are due. I know that people have pledged money to me and I believe I am close to having what I need. I don't know though that I'll have all of it by Wednesday. We are having one final fund raiser this week as well. On Tuesday we are having a walk-a-thon. As a school we are walking a 12K on Tuesday morning. We are hoping to have people support us per kilometer. If you would like to support me in the walk-a-thon you can do that one of two ways. First, you can pay by credit card by going to the Ywam Perth website (www.ywamperth.org.au). Once there, go to the donate/pay section. Fill out the form and put my name as the recipient. The other way is to send a check to my church for the amount. Make the check out to Suburban Life Community Church and send it to the address on the right hand side of my blog. If you have any questions you can leave me a comment and I will answer that! Thank you all for your support of me. Please pray with me that I will be able to have all my fees by Wednesday!
Thanks also for praying for my condo. From what I hear the pipe and condo below has been fixed. It was a bit cheaper than originally thought (Thank you Lord!!) and I'm pretty sure my insurance will cover at least part of it. Thanks for your prayers!! I am so grateful for all of you! Thanks for reading!!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Prayer Needed...leaky pipe!
I found out that a pipe in the bathroom of my condo (back home) was leaking and did some damage in the condo below mine. It cost $550 to fix. My insurance might cover some of the damage but they are checking all the by-laws for my association. I would love it if you all would pray with me about the money to pay for this! I am really trusting God for the rest of my outreach fees as well and now that I need the money for this it's easy to wonder (and even worry) about where it's going to come from. I believe God will take care of me and am trying not to get overwhelmed with what seems like impossible deadlines. God showed me a lot last week that he is a Father that takes care of his children and loves them in extravagant ways! Please join me in prayer that He will provide for me in this way! Thanks everyone! I appreciate it so much!!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Fatherheart of God and four weeks till Mexico!!
I can't believe it is the end of week 8. Time has been going quickly. We have less than 27 days until we leave for Mexico City! I am getting excited to go and have loved how God is stirring in everyone that excitement to go! We are in the process of figuring out how everyone will pay for the outreach fees. As a school we have over 60 thousand that needs to come in by the 10th of March. I have been learning a lot about faith in God for finances. Please pray with me that our school will watch God work to cover all of this expense!
This week we had John Bills come and speak to our class on the Fatherheart of God. John is a longtime YWAMer. For those of you that have been reading Joy Dawson's book Intercession, John is actually married to Joy's daughter! He was such a neat guy who has spent much of his life ministering to people with AIDS as an AIDS hospice chaplain. His experiences working with people with AIDS helped to show the heart of our Father in heaven. I have been so blessed to have an awesome earthly father that has always loved and cared for me! (Love you Dad!!) I realized this week that not everyone has that and it can affect how we view God the Father! We also can have experiences with others that the enemy uses to taint our view of God. We spent time this week working through our false views of God that affect how we receive God as Father. God has unlimited Fatherly affection, acceptance, faithfulness, generosity, attentiveness and authority with each and everyone of us. He is a loving God that is perfect in every one of those ways. It was such a great week and good reminder of what a great Father we all have!!
Thanks to all of you that have been praying for me! I can tell that you all are speaking to God on my behalf! This week I found out that I had some damage done to my condo because of a leaky pipe. Please pray with me that this can get fixed soon and that the damage is minor. My insurance should cover some of it but this will be an added expense! God is a generous God though who cares for all of us and I know he will provide! Thanks in advance for praying for this for me!!
This past week I had the many opportunities to talk with friends. I was able to talk with all the Brouwers in Canada, went to Cliff and Cristine's house one night, talked with a friend from Oregon and my sister and Mom and Dad. I felt so energized by talking with them and incredibly grateful for the support system God has given me. I am blessed by all of you!! Please know that all of you are loved by me!! Thanks for reading!!
This week we had John Bills come and speak to our class on the Fatherheart of God. John is a longtime YWAMer. For those of you that have been reading Joy Dawson's book Intercession, John is actually married to Joy's daughter! He was such a neat guy who has spent much of his life ministering to people with AIDS as an AIDS hospice chaplain. His experiences working with people with AIDS helped to show the heart of our Father in heaven. I have been so blessed to have an awesome earthly father that has always loved and cared for me! (Love you Dad!!) I realized this week that not everyone has that and it can affect how we view God the Father! We also can have experiences with others that the enemy uses to taint our view of God. We spent time this week working through our false views of God that affect how we receive God as Father. God has unlimited Fatherly affection, acceptance, faithfulness, generosity, attentiveness and authority with each and everyone of us. He is a loving God that is perfect in every one of those ways. It was such a great week and good reminder of what a great Father we all have!!
Thanks to all of you that have been praying for me! I can tell that you all are speaking to God on my behalf! This week I found out that I had some damage done to my condo because of a leaky pipe. Please pray with me that this can get fixed soon and that the damage is minor. My insurance should cover some of it but this will be an added expense! God is a generous God though who cares for all of us and I know he will provide! Thanks in advance for praying for this for me!!
This past week I had the many opportunities to talk with friends. I was able to talk with all the Brouwers in Canada, went to Cliff and Cristine's house one night, talked with a friend from Oregon and my sister and Mom and Dad. I felt so energized by talking with them and incredibly grateful for the support system God has given me. I am blessed by all of you!! Please know that all of you are loved by me!! Thanks for reading!!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Fear of the Lord
It's Saturday and end of week 7! I have a free weekend which I have to say came at just the right time. After Slum Survivor last weekend I was pretty tired this week. It will be nice to recoup and get some homework done. Week 7 was really good. We had Shirley Brownhill, the base director, as our guest speaker talking on the Fear of the Lord. I was looking forward to hearing her speak and getting to know her a bit more. On Tuesday however, she ended up getting very sick and didn't end up teaching anymore. So, we had Will who was our teacher for Repentance and Forgiveness come and teach the rest of the week. It was a great week of teaching. We talked about what it means to be holy and how the fear of the Lord over the sin in our lives can help us to overcome anything. It was really good to see practically how holiness can play out in our lives.
Tuesday was our hands-on-compassion. We finally got in to see the girls!! We brought cookies and icing to decorate them with. It was a lot of fun! I think they enjoyed eating all the cookies! We also got into some great conversations with a few of them. Thanks for praying! Keep praying too so that we will continue to be able to go in.
Thursday was our base evangelism night. The group that I was in spent the time walking on the beach (watching a gorgeous sunset over the Indian Ocean!) in Cottesloe and talking with people we saw. We had a really great conversation with a lady who I think really needed to talk with someone. She was struggling with a few different issues in her life and didn't have many people around to help her process all that was going on. I really felt like it was key that we were able to be a listening ear to her. Her name is Fiona and she has some major changes happening with her family in the next couple weeks. If you think of her, please lift her up in prayer!!
This next week we have John Bills coming to speak with us. I am really excited about hearing him. He has been with YWAM for 36 years and is a great speaker. In the meantime I will enjoy my weekend!! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog! I like thinking that people are keeping up with what I'm up to, helps to feel connected to all of you back home! Have a great weekend!
Tuesday was our hands-on-compassion. We finally got in to see the girls!! We brought cookies and icing to decorate them with. It was a lot of fun! I think they enjoyed eating all the cookies! We also got into some great conversations with a few of them. Thanks for praying! Keep praying too so that we will continue to be able to go in.
Thursday was our base evangelism night. The group that I was in spent the time walking on the beach (watching a gorgeous sunset over the Indian Ocean!) in Cottesloe and talking with people we saw. We had a really great conversation with a lady who I think really needed to talk with someone. She was struggling with a few different issues in her life and didn't have many people around to help her process all that was going on. I really felt like it was key that we were able to be a listening ear to her. Her name is Fiona and she has some major changes happening with her family in the next couple weeks. If you think of her, please lift her up in prayer!!
This next week we have John Bills coming to speak with us. I am really excited about hearing him. He has been with YWAM for 36 years and is a great speaker. In the meantime I will enjoy my weekend!! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog! I like thinking that people are keeping up with what I'm up to, helps to feel connected to all of you back home! Have a great weekend!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Half-way done and livin' in a Slum!!
We are officially half-way done with the lecture phase of the DTS. I can't believe it! It still feels like I just got here in some ways! Week six was a really fun week in that the topic was relationships. We learned about the foundational aspects of healthy relationships: Love, Trust, Understanding and Honor. We had Shaneane Totorewa from YWAM New Zealand come as our guest speaker. She was a lot of fun. I am so thankful for the friends and family I have and that God chose to give me each one! You all are a blessing to me.
Tuesday was our hands on compassion. We were able to get into the detention center this time but not to see the girls. They had more girls than what they are supposed to have and that meant they needed to move some of them around. Because of that, they didn't want us to go to the girls area. We were bummed that once again we weren't able to get in but we did get to go and play games with one of the boys areas. I played ping pong and a card game with a few of them. It was fun! Please continue to pray that we can get into the center and see the girls!
At the end of the week we left the base for Slum Survivor. It was a weekend away where we went to the bush (a beautiful national park). They split us up into teams and we spent the weekend living like someone might that is from a Slum. We had to build our Slum out of cardboard and tarps and live in them. We also played games kind of like they do on the TV show Survivor. We had a blast! Saturday night after we all went to bed our staff found a kangaroo getting into our garbage and food. I am so used to raccoons doing that, I thought it was funny that it was a kangaroo!! I didn't get a chance to see it though. Hopefully I will see one before I leave!
The next week or two is going to be really busy! We have quite a few assignments due along with all our regular assignments and other work duties. We are also in the process of getting prepared for Mexico City. I am getting excited for our outreach. I feel like God is giving me a heart for that city and I am ready to go! We leave in a little more than a month. Thanks for your support of me and for praying for me! I appreciate it so much! Blessings and have a great week!!
Tuesday was our hands on compassion. We were able to get into the detention center this time but not to see the girls. They had more girls than what they are supposed to have and that meant they needed to move some of them around. Because of that, they didn't want us to go to the girls area. We were bummed that once again we weren't able to get in but we did get to go and play games with one of the boys areas. I played ping pong and a card game with a few of them. It was fun! Please continue to pray that we can get into the center and see the girls!
At the end of the week we left the base for Slum Survivor. It was a weekend away where we went to the bush (a beautiful national park). They split us up into teams and we spent the weekend living like someone might that is from a Slum. We had to build our Slum out of cardboard and tarps and live in them. We also played games kind of like they do on the TV show Survivor. We had a blast! Saturday night after we all went to bed our staff found a kangaroo getting into our garbage and food. I am so used to raccoons doing that, I thought it was funny that it was a kangaroo!! I didn't get a chance to see it though. Hopefully I will see one before I leave!
The next week or two is going to be really busy! We have quite a few assignments due along with all our regular assignments and other work duties. We are also in the process of getting prepared for Mexico City. I am getting excited for our outreach. I feel like God is giving me a heart for that city and I am ready to go! We leave in a little more than a month. Thanks for your support of me and for praying for me! I appreciate it so much! Blessings and have a great week!!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
9 Gladstone
I thought I would share a bit about the house that I am living in. 9 Gladstone is the building that they have made into a dorm. 
There are about 30 of us that live in Gladstone. There is one big room with many bunks and then littler rooms that house other students and a few staff. I am really thankful that I am able to stay here. It feels a bit more like a home than some of the dorms. 
We have a kitchen and a living area. Not to mention that it is one of the dorms that has air conditioning, which has been nice since it's been so hot!! We also have Internet so we are able to email or skype anywhere in our house, which is so great! Most of the students that live here are on the Compassion DTS with me. 
That has been nice because we have gotten to know each other really well and have a great time together. My bunk is in one of the corners of the room. While it's not like living in a house or condo, it's nice having a little spot of my own to sit or relax. Thanks again for all your prayers and support of me. I miss all of you very much but God has been showing me how to embrace all he has for me during this time and enjoy the home he's given me for three months!! Thanks for reading!!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Intercession and Worship!
It's Saturday and the end of week 5. It was great to get back into the routine of school this week. Our topic this week was intercession and worship. I really enjoyed hearing about two things I love! Our speaker was Peter Warren who is the base director of the YWAM base in Denver, Colorado. He was a very charismatic and engaging teacher and you could tell he was is a lover of God's Word! I enjoyed him very much and felt confirmed in the fact that God made me to be an intercessor!! On Wednesday evening we were able to see a movie that the Denver base made which was a documentary of a DTS they did last year. It was a great movie that showed the way God works and moves on a DTS. It also talked a bit about a tragedy that happened at the base a month before the DTS. There was a man that came into the YWAM base and open fired, killing two people and injuring another two. That aspect of the movie made it incredibly touching. The movie hasn't been released yet but when it is, you all should see it. It's called Jesus Freaks.
Today we had a car wash to help raise some money towards our outreach to Mexico City. We had a blast hanging out at local servo's (gas stations!) and getting people to come in. At the end of the day our class had raised about $1000. I know quite a few people in our class that have no money yet for the outreach and are behind on their lecture fees. Thank you all for your support of me. I have been able to pay all my lecture fees and I am only about $500 or so short of my outreach fees. Please pray for me that God would help me find a way to make up that difference!
One other area that I would appreciate prayer is for my hands-on-compassion assignment. I will be working at the local juvenile detention facility. This past week was supposed to our first time with the girls. When we got there we were told that there had been an incident and all the kids were in lock down and probably would be there for quite a while. We stayed for a little more than an hour and prayed for the kids. We were disappointed that we weren't able to go in but really felt like we had a great time in prayer! Please pray that we will be able to go in and spend time with the girls this week on Tuesday (It would be Monday night your time!)
Thanks everyone for reading! I really love knowing that people are keeping up with what I am doing. I love and miss you all very much!!
Today we had a car wash to help raise some money towards our outreach to Mexico City. We had a blast hanging out at local servo's (gas stations!) and getting people to come in. At the end of the day our class had raised about $1000. I know quite a few people in our class that have no money yet for the outreach and are behind on their lecture fees. Thank you all for your support of me. I have been able to pay all my lecture fees and I am only about $500 or so short of my outreach fees. Please pray for me that God would help me find a way to make up that difference!
One other area that I would appreciate prayer is for my hands-on-compassion assignment. I will be working at the local juvenile detention facility. This past week was supposed to our first time with the girls. When we got there we were told that there had been an incident and all the kids were in lock down and probably would be there for quite a while. We stayed for a little more than an hour and prayed for the kids. We were disappointed that we weren't able to go in but really felt like we had a great time in prayer! Please pray that we will be able to go in and spend time with the girls this week on Tuesday (It would be Monday night your time!)
Thanks everyone for reading! I really love knowing that people are keeping up with what I am doing. I love and miss you all very much!!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
YWAM Perth Golf Classic!!
Monday I had the chance to play in YWAM Perth's 1st ever Golf Classic. For the first time in the base's 25 years they have felt like God is calling them to buy the property for the 
base to run out of. Currently they rent over 50 properties. They have bought about four buildings right now and are really praying that God continues to open up other buildings for them to buy. During the celebrations they talked about how all along they really wanted to buy but God never opened things up for them. He now has been doing that. The Golf Classic was a fund raiser to help raise some of the money for these buildings. I was able to golf as part of the Compassion DTS team 
(see pic of my team and us playing with Perth in the background). We had four of us from my class that golfed in the best ball tournament and even had two caddies that were awesome and extremely helpful! There were about 20 teams of four that were golfing and the rest of the base came out to cheer us on and all be together. It was a very fun day. My team golfed extremely well. Overall we had one over par and came in third place. The winners had one under par...so close!! 
I even won a prize. On the 7th hole they had a closest to the pin award which meant my drive was closest to the hole and so I won two huge bags of coffee! Even though I really don't like coffee, it was fun to win. One of our caddies won the best dressed award. I was glad he won because they worked so hard for us and made the day a lot of fun!! Overall we raised over $20,000 towards the buildings.
After the golf game we were waiting around in the parking lot for
our rides and there were these gorgeous birds that were in a tree nearby squaking at us (see pic). One of the things that has surprised me the most about Australia is how tropical it is. I never thought of Australia as being tropical but it really is. There are palm trees everywhere and I have seen all different types of unique tropical birds. The flowers are very tropical as well including ones that remind me of Hawaii! It is a beautiful place! Thanks for reading! Blessings to you all!!
base to run out of. Currently they rent over 50 properties. They have bought about four buildings right now and are really praying that God continues to open up other buildings for them to buy. During the celebrations they talked about how all along they really wanted to buy but God never opened things up for them. He now has been doing that. The Golf Classic was a fund raiser to help raise some of the money for these buildings. I was able to golf as part of the Compassion DTS team 
(see pic of my team and us playing with Perth in the background). We had four of us from my class that golfed in the best ball tournament and even had two caddies that were awesome and extremely helpful! There were about 20 teams of four that were golfing and the rest of the base came out to cheer us on and all be together. It was a very fun day. My team golfed extremely well. Overall we had one over par and came in third place. The winners had one under par...so close!! 
I even won a prize. On the 7th hole they had a closest to the pin award which meant my drive was closest to the hole and so I won two huge bags of coffee! Even though I really don't like coffee, it was fun to win. One of our caddies won the best dressed award. I was glad he won because they worked so hard for us and made the day a lot of fun!! Overall we raised over $20,000 towards the buildings. After the golf game we were waiting around in the parking lot for
our rides and there were these gorgeous birds that were in a tree nearby squaking at us (see pic). One of the things that has surprised me the most about Australia is how tropical it is. I never thought of Australia as being tropical but it really is. There are palm trees everywhere and I have seen all different types of unique tropical birds. The flowers are very tropical as well including ones that remind me of Hawaii! It is a beautiful place! Thanks for reading! Blessings to you all!!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Celebrate Good Times...Come on!!
This week was celebrations week here in Perth! We had a week long conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of YWAM International and the 25th anniversary of YWAM Perth! I am really thrilled that this happened to fall during the time that I am here for the DTS. It is defintely a once in a lifetime event and I am so glad I was able to be a part of such a neat time.
The week started out with three days devoted to the 50th anniversary of YWAM International. Loren and Darlene Cunningham,
the founders of YWAM (see picture), came and taught most of the sessions. It was great to hear from them about where YWAM has come from and their hope and vision for YWAM in the future. Over and over again they talked about how they believe the best is yet to come. They shared the goals for YWAM so that the "flame goes forward" (the theme of the conference). One of the goals that Loren talked about was to see a Bible in every home in the world. He talked about people doing that in their cities and the fruit that they have seen from that! I loved that idea and think that is definitely a God-sized assignment!
In the middle of the celebrations was Australia Day. It's a day kind of like our forth of July. There were all kinds of celebrations through out the city.
There was an airshow (no blue angels!), a parade of jet skis and carnival type attractions. There were even helicopters toting huge Australian flags (see pic). At the end of the day there were fireworks over the river in downtown Perth. It was an incredible fireworks display, probably one of the best I've ever seen (see video below)! Very fun to experience that while here in Perth.
The last half of the conference focused on YWAM Perth and the 25 years it has been going. There were a lot of stories told of what they went through in planting the base and all the growth they have seen. It was really neat to hear all that they have accomplished. Shirley Brownhill, the base director, ended the conference talking about how God is calling us to the harvest of the world by finishing the Great Commission. At the end she invited anyone up to the front to state to the whole group what they believe God is calling them to specifically. It was neat to see the diversity in people's call and how they want to do their part. Overall, it was a great week. We were spoiled with good food and a lot of people around. A lot of students left over the weekend for Mexico City to start the first wave of outreach there. We are now heading into week 5 and it will be nice to get back into the routine of school. Monday is the YWAM Perth Golf Classic. I will write more about that once we're done! Thanks everyone for reading!!
The week started out with three days devoted to the 50th anniversary of YWAM International. Loren and Darlene Cunningham,
the founders of YWAM (see picture), came and taught most of the sessions. It was great to hear from them about where YWAM has come from and their hope and vision for YWAM in the future. Over and over again they talked about how they believe the best is yet to come. They shared the goals for YWAM so that the "flame goes forward" (the theme of the conference). One of the goals that Loren talked about was to see a Bible in every home in the world. He talked about people doing that in their cities and the fruit that they have seen from that! I loved that idea and think that is definitely a God-sized assignment! In the middle of the celebrations was Australia Day. It's a day kind of like our forth of July. There were all kinds of celebrations through out the city.
There was an airshow (no blue angels!), a parade of jet skis and carnival type attractions. There were even helicopters toting huge Australian flags (see pic). At the end of the day there were fireworks over the river in downtown Perth. It was an incredible fireworks display, probably one of the best I've ever seen (see video below)! Very fun to experience that while here in Perth. The last half of the conference focused on YWAM Perth and the 25 years it has been going. There were a lot of stories told of what they went through in planting the base and all the growth they have seen. It was really neat to hear all that they have accomplished. Shirley Brownhill, the base director, ended the conference talking about how God is calling us to the harvest of the world by finishing the Great Commission. At the end she invited anyone up to the front to state to the whole group what they believe God is calling them to specifically. It was neat to see the diversity in people's call and how they want to do their part. Overall, it was a great week. We were spoiled with good food and a lot of people around. A lot of students left over the weekend for Mexico City to start the first wave of outreach there. We are now heading into week 5 and it will be nice to get back into the routine of school. Monday is the YWAM Perth Golf Classic. I will write more about that once we're done! Thanks everyone for reading!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Repentance and Forgiveness!
Week 3 of the DTS was Repentance and Forgiveness week. Will (who pioneered the work in China that Cliff and Cristine did) was our guest speaker. He talked about the sin in our life and how it separates us from the Lord and others. One quote from class that I thought was great is "the quality of your repentance is a factor that will determine the depth of your relationship with God." I was marked by that because I want to go deep with God which means I need to be transparent in front of Him! He also talked about the gift that forgiveness is when we extend forgiveness to those that have hurt us. God wants to heal us from those hurts but if we don't forgive it's like we are cutting off the grace of God for that healing. So good to be reminded of!
At the end of the week we had a time of application where we all were able to publicly come clean with the things in our lives that separate us from the Lord. It was a sweet time with our class. I definitely feel like we are closer as a group. God definitely spoke to me about certain things that have stood in the way of a closer walk with Him. I know He wants me to overcome those things to live in even more freedom and with His help I will! We were reminded to remember "who is calling us to repentance." We have a loving, merciful and forgiving God that calls us to repentance because he longs for a relationship with us and wants nothing to stand in the way! I encourage all of you to seek out the forgiveness of our loving Father! He is faithful to forgive us!!
I have also been stuggling with being sick this week. I woke up Monday morning of week 3 with a sore throat and very congested. I went to the doctor on Wednesday to get on antibiotics. The next day I woke up with my lungs very congested and have been having trouble breathing and coughing ever since. Please pray that I will be able to move past this sickness and that no one in my house (I live with 30 others) gets sick! Thanks for your prayers! Week 4 is Celebrations week! Should be a great week! Blessings everyone!!
At the end of the week we had a time of application where we all were able to publicly come clean with the things in our lives that separate us from the Lord. It was a sweet time with our class. I definitely feel like we are closer as a group. God definitely spoke to me about certain things that have stood in the way of a closer walk with Him. I know He wants me to overcome those things to live in even more freedom and with His help I will! We were reminded to remember "who is calling us to repentance." We have a loving, merciful and forgiving God that calls us to repentance because he longs for a relationship with us and wants nothing to stand in the way! I encourage all of you to seek out the forgiveness of our loving Father! He is faithful to forgive us!!
I have also been stuggling with being sick this week. I woke up Monday morning of week 3 with a sore throat and very congested. I went to the doctor on Wednesday to get on antibiotics. The next day I woke up with my lungs very congested and have been having trouble breathing and coughing ever since. Please pray that I will be able to move past this sickness and that no one in my house (I live with 30 others) gets sick! Thanks for your prayers! Week 4 is Celebrations week! Should be a great week! Blessings everyone!!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
End of Week 2
It's Saturday and the end of week 2 of the DTS. Every week we have a different topic that we have guest speakers come and lecture on. Week one we had Jen Brownhill come and talk about Hearing the Voice of God and Quiet Times. I really enjoyed Jen. She has some incredible stories of hearing God's voice and stepping out in faith to see him work in miraculous ways. One thing she said that has really stuck with me is that God has no reserves in making himself known to us! How great to know that we have a mighty awesome God that wants nothing more than to speak to us and for us to know him personally!! Week 2 the topic was the Nature and Character of God. Peter Brownhill (Jen's father-in-law and the founder of YWAM Perth) came to talk about how important it is to know and understand who God is. We looked at how our view of God can affect how we live if it is off in anyway. We then looked at all the things that make up God's nature and character. All good stuff to be reminded of...He is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipresent, love, righteous, holy, just...etc. Once again I am amazed at God's love for us. I hope and pray that all of you may "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ!!" (Eph 3:18) Blessings to all of you!!
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