Sarah Atwell: 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!