Saturday, January 28, 2012

Bagistan

     Missions Week. After an increibley rainy and relaxing week of lectures on what to expect on the missions field, the bomb was dropped. "We're going to Bagistan guys!". What? My thoughts exactly. After our gracious 15 minutes of packing time we arrived at the "airport". This is when I understood what was happening. We were about to endure 30 hours of missions simulation. This meant no bed, one outfit, no roof, no toothbrush...you get the picture.
     So after trucking through the airport being detained and questioned we walked outside to a sea of beggers. This was where I learned the valuable lesson of carrying my backpack on my front rather than my actual back. After that maddness our team headed to the markets. We had a few meals we had to prepare for ourselves so we chose some essentials, rice, oats, sausage, carrots, and of course curry sauce. We also had the rare pleasure of dried salted fish chips that we had to eat because it was a gift. Yum. Sense the tone.  While at the market we also picked up our housing resources for the next 30 hours. This meant a tarp and a rope. According to instructions, our "home" was basically under a set of stairs behind a dumpster area. Cool. Oh I forgot to mention that is had been raining for a solid two weeks prior and was continuing to rain all throughout this time, thus resulting in an obviously soaked ground.
     Next on the agenda was an English class. With 10 minutes of prep time we pulled off a surprisingly decent 2 hour lesson. After that we had a bit of time to cook and eat dinner, in the rain. Immediately following a very large dinner portion of sausage, rice and curry we were told we had to attend a house visit. No problem right? Wrong. A huge part of missions simulation is that you HAVE to eat whatever your host offers you. Now most of you reading this have no idea what Vegiemite is, but basically it is yeast exctract, a by-product of beer manufacturing made into paste form. Toughest thing I have ever had to eat. But it was definitely a learning and growing experience. Now it was finally time for bed. All 8 of Team Russia crammed under our tarp and attempted to get some rest. When we realized that was a pipe dream, we all just sat together in the rain and talked the rest of the night and into morning. It was actually a pretty awesome bonding time.
     The next day. Still raining. After an awesome prayer walk, we prepared to lead a 2 hour Bible study. In Russia we will actually be doing alot of this so it was really cool to see how we worked as a team and actually pulled together and led a suprisingly powerful Bible study. Things were beginnning to look up. Now it was time for our host meal. Every team went through a station where they had to eat some sort of the worst case scenario meal for the country. For instance, Team India has the hottest curry known to man and Team Saipan had mounds and mounds of rice and fish. Luckily, Russia is actually known for having really delicious food so we just had to stuff ourselves with a bad pot of boursch and sauerkraut. Now it was time to get a little cleaned up. And by that I mean learn to take a bucket shower. Soaked from the shower and dripping from the rain, it was time to lead kid's ministry. Good thing we won't be doing a ton of this in Russia because this was definitely not our strong point. Thank goodness I had ONE MILLION kids songs to pull out of my back pocket. Thanks Res. Finally, after some gutter cleaning and weed pulling, missions week was finished.
     Holy smokes. What a challenge. What a time of stretch and growth. I have never felt so close to my team, literally and otherwise. It was awful and wonderful all at the same time. It was so eye opening and really brought new perspective. I realized my limits and my strengths as well as all of my teams. It was exactly what we needed to understand how we functioned as a unit and what we can expect on outreach.
     I apologize for the length of this post but I figured it would provide some entertainment. TWO WEEKS TILL WE LEAVE FOR VLADIVOSTOK!!!!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Hello Blessing

     Sorry all. I know it has been a few weeks since my lastest update but things are spinning here! I feel like I haven't stopped to breathe in two weeks. So now, as I catch my breath, I thought I would fill you all in on what's been happening around here.
     Since Airlie life on base has pretty much revolved around gearing up for outreach. Russia here I come. We have been writing sermons and testimonies, preparing skits and dances, and of course HEAPS of team building. This past weekend Team Russia traveled up to Toowoomba for a weekend outreach. Having been to Airlie I thought I had seen the best. But, once we arrived I was in complete awe. I stood on top of a mountain with my team and realized just how blessed we are. After we scooped our jaws off the ground, from the view, we began our never ending cleaning day. On the very top of this mountain resides Camp Toowoomba. It's basically just a place where 3 or 4 ministries merge and work together to reach their community. So we, as YWAMers, tried to bless them in the best way we knew how. We scrubbed that place from top to bottom. On Sunday morning I witnessed one of the coolest things since I have been here. My team led a church service. It may sound minor but I could not have been more proud. Three of the members led an awesome time of worship and then one of the leaders gave the sermon. It was just so awesome to see the growth and the potential in our team. Overall it was a weekend of major blessing, unbelievable fellowship, and outstanding potential.

     The last exciting bit of info I have to share is about finances. Since we all got back after New Years we have been sharing weekly outreach finance updates. The first week I stood up and shared how much I still was in need of and they wrote it on the board along with eveyone elses needs. Week two, when my turn came around to give an update, I stood up, said how much I still needed and then one of my friends here turned around to me and said "No worries. I'll cover that". That night the money was on my bed. Hello blessing.
       So I now have all my outreach funds! PTL. I leave in two and a half weeks so I will probably crank out one more blog. Keep an eye out!

 

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Our Bus Runneth Over

     My my, I have so much to tell you all! So much has happened since my last post. I hope you guys like pictures because I have a ton for you.
     So. Obviously Christmas has come and gone. But it was a mighty fine Christmas if I do say so. I was a little wary at first seeing as this would be my first Christmas away from my family but it actually turned out to be one that I will never forget. In the blazing heat, I gathered with my new family and exchanged stockings, shared in breakfast, and had an all day Christmas movie marathon. It was honestly fantastic.
     Two days later, 40 or so of us were jammed in two buses headed up the coast for a ministry week. About 12 hours into our supposedly 18 journey, one of the buses essentially broke down. Strike one. Then it began to pour down rain. Strike two. Then to top it off, the functioning bus began to flood. Strike three. I can't make these things up folks. Everything that could go wrong, did in fact go wrong. Naturally we just laughed. So after an 18 hour trip turned into a 24 hour trip we all arrived safely in Airlie Beach. And man was it worth it. This has been one of my favorite weeks since I have been here. Per usual, we all rolled out our sleeping mats and crammed together to get a good nights rest before the week began. The next morning we were up and running. The "Chai Tent" is where I spent most of my week. Basically every year YWAM sets up a giant white party tent and serves free chai and puts on live music and dance performances. Every night I was astounded by the amount of people who came in just looking for a place to get away from the clubs and pubs and ended staying in there all night just chatting about everything under the sun. We got countless opportunities to minister to people by just talking, listening and sharing the love of the Lord. It was great to see God moving through the young and old alike in Airlie. This is also where we all rang in the New Year together. We gathered as a team and with the billions of other poeple on the beach and watched the fireworks at midnight. There is nothing like it.
      Now, being in Airlie, we obviously had to have some fun. So, on our last day a big group of us decided to take a little ocean rafting tour around the Whitsunday Islands. We hopped on a boat and traveled along the East Australian Current (yes, the one from Finding Nemo) for about an hour then we were dumped on the Great Barrier Reed for some snorkeling. We eventually made our way to Whitehaven Beach, one of the prettiest in the world. Here we set up camp for a little lunch and some time in the sun. But, the coolest part of the day was that this is where we had three people get baptized. Such a great experience! At the end of the day we made our way back to Airlie and then the next day we were on the road yet again. This time we made it with no bus glitches. PTL.
     What a week. Now, back on base, I have to grab hold of the five weeks I have until I head to Russia and make the best of them. My how time is flying!  


Christmas morning  
Presents!!!


Movie marathon


Happy New Year's 
The infamous Chai Tent




Alicia getting baprized!

Beautiful Airlie 

Look at this place!


Airlie


Just another night in the tent...


NYE fireworks on the beach at midnight. There were tons oe people!

Live music