Long Time No See Good Friends!

Hello!

So I havnt posted on here in awhile so I just wanted to let you know Im doing great! Learning a lot stretching a lot and really gaining a lot of perspective on life!

I had been waiting to post because I wanted to wait until we got where we were going on outreach finalized, but that was told to us today that it probably wont be until Friday! So I just thought I would let you know the 3 choices we had 1.) New Zealand and Southern Australia . . .This is one is in support of a new mission they are working on here called Mercy Ships, so as the outreach goes over the five weeks they will be going to Schools, Churches, and other YWAM bases preaching and talking a little about the ships some as well as doing things that are needed to be done in preparation for the ship to come into those towns. 2.) Is Papua New Guinea this is where the ship will actually go in 2010 and so this outreach too will be doing some prep for the ship as well as jungle trekking and preaching of the gospel to the tribes. . . .

I guess I will explain real quick what the ship is . . .Its a small ship that is basically a floating hospital that will be docked in Townsville and this ship starting next year is going to travel around the coast of Australia and helping a few that need it but mainly preaching and trying to find people to Volunteer on it, then after three separate tours around the coast it will go to PNG (Papua New Guinea) and provide health care where it is desperately needed. . .

3.) The third option here is just in Northern Australia working with the Aboriginal peoples as well as doing school ministry, and one week doing ministry during what they call schoolies basically senior week and a week of partying in beach towns!

That is for our major outreach (the five week one), for out minor outreach We will help run what they call mission adventures, they are these 10 - 15 day mission trips for local youth groups. The youth groups come in to our base and we train them and prep them for their outreach and then they go to their outreach destination and we go with them as leaders. Here again we will be going into schools and working with churches and doing different types of ministry including things with the Aboriginals and youth detention centers! The other half of minor outreach will possibly be going and staffing a christian camp for high school kids on the Gold Coast we will get to learn to surf and go to a couple of theme parks as well as lead devotions and worship every night and this is all about relationship building. If you dont go on 5DE (the name of the camp and short for 5 Day Escape) you then will be doing something else, but we yet dont know exactly what that something is.

So yeah like I said we should know what these will be by Friday, and then I will let you all know what I am doing and more details of what that is will be provided as I get it!

Ok then! Talk to you soon!

Love and Light,
J.

Pics of My Flat and of Base

So here is just a few random pics of the front of my flat, the auditorium, my bed, my view from breakfast, and the sweet spot! I know there are no people and I know thats not exciting but I posted a big album on my facebook and what not for everyone to get a more detailed look . . .

I tired to order the album as the you are taking a walk with me into the downstairs and into my room and then upstairs around the house and then over to the base and into it and the out to the front . . .

Once you see my album you will understand . . .If you read this and you dont have me on facebook I will post on my Mom's wall so you can find me and add me if you would like . . .

Also dont worry I will be posting more pictures on here 1 or 2 at a time with blogs, as well as heaps more on facebook from the beach and top of castle hill and other things from around town and pictures of peoople that I actually hang out with so you guys can start to get an idea of what the people here are like!

Just wanted to give a few basics and let you all know that I am doing good and I hope you are all too!!!!

Love and Light,
J.

Important Dates and Daily Schedule

So I just wanted to throw up the dates of when I will be at the base and doing lectures and when I will be camping and on my Outreaches . . .

July 13th - Aug 15th: On Base Doing Lectures and Working with Youth Street (5 Weeks)

Aug 16th- Aug 29th: Camping (2 Weeks)

Aug 30th - Sept 12th: Lectures and Youth Street (2 Weeks)

Sept 13th - Oct 4th: Minor Out Reach (3 Weeks)

Oct 5th - Oct 17th: Lectures and Youth Street (2 Weeks)

Oct 18th - Nov 27th: Major Outreach

Nov 28th - Dec 6th: Debrief, Youth Street, & Graduation

Dec 7th: Fly HOME!

These Dates are tentative and subject to change ( I would say at most Plus or Minus one day when dealing with the Outreaches) The Outreach Dates and destinations are still currently unknown and once I am aware of these I will post those up ASAP Leaving on Dec 7th is official though. . .

As for my Daily schedule while I am doing lectures it looks a little like this pretty much everyday...

Monday:
6:00 am Wake UP!
6:15 - 6:45 Exercise
6:45 - 7:30 Brekkie
8:00 - 9:00 Worship
9:00 - 10:00 Bible Study Workshop
10:00 - 12:30 Lectures (in this time we also have 15-20 min for morning tea)
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 4:30 Free Time
5:30 - 6:00 Dinner
6:00 - 7:30(approx.) Work Duties (Dinner Clean UP)
Free Time Until Sleep!

Tuesday:
6:00 am Wake UP!
6:15 - 6:45 Exercise
6:45 - 7:30 Brekkie
8:00 - 9:00 Nations Presentation and Prayer
9:00 - 9:30 Faith and Finances
9:30 - 12:30 Lectures (in this time we also have 15-20 min for morning tea)
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 4:30 Free Time
5:30 - 6:00 Dinner
6:00 - 7:30(approx.) Work Duties (Dinner Clean UP)
7:30 - 9:00 Outreach Prep
Free Time Until Sleep!

Wednesday:
6:00 am Wake UP!
6:15 - 6:45 Exercise
6:45 - 7:30 Brekkie
8:00 - 9:30 Base Worship and Prayer
9:30 - 10:30 Communications (Time to call and write home)
10:30 - 12:30 Lectures
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 4:30 Free Time
5:30 - 7:00 Family Night BBQ
6:00 - 7:30(approx.) Work Duties (Dinner Clean UP)
7:30 - ??? Footy on the Beach
Free Time Until Sleep!

Thursday:
6:00 am Wake UP!
6:15 - 6:45 Exercise
6:45 - 7:30 Brekkie
8:00 - 9:00 Base Intercession
9:00 - 12:30 Lectures (in this time we also have 15-20 min for morning tea)
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 4:30 Free Time
5:30 - 6:00 Dinner
6:00 - 7:30(approx.) Work Duties (Dinner Clean UP)
7:30 - 10:00 Study Time and Communications
Free Time Until Sleep!

Friday:
6:00 am Wake UP!
6:15 - 6:45 Exercise
6:45 - 7:30 Brekkie
8:00 - 8:30 Base Clean UP
8:30- 9:30 Worship
9:30- 12:30 Lectures (in this time we also have 15-20 min for morning tea)
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 4:30 Free Time
5:30 - 6:00 Dinner
6:00 - 7:30(approx.) Work Duties (Dinner Clean UP)
Free Time Until Sleep!

Saturday:
8:45 - 9:45 Brekkie
9:45 - 1:00 Free Time
1:00 - 5:30 Youth Street
5:30 - 10:00 Youth Street Live
Free Time until Sleep!

Sunday:
Free DAY!!! . . .Mainly going to be spent at the beach!!!!

So in my free time once a week I will also have one on ones with my leader, and then we also have small groups at night once a week but that hasnt been yet decided when!

Also during my chunk of free time others have free time then and others have work duties then as well . . .We all have different work duties my duties are just dinner clean up! So during my work duties most people just have free time!

So yeah thats that . . . If you want to know more about what we are studying during lectures I can post that as well, and just for all you that are wondering I promise I will be taking some pictures of the base, my flat, the beach, castle hill, and the town soon and post them up ASAP!!! Well ok not ASAP but when I get around to it! So you can all see where I live, eat, work, and play!!!!

Love and Light,
J.

Youth Street and Youth Street Live

Hello out there!!!!!

So yesterday was our first day of youth street and youth street live so here is the dealio on what that means . . .

Every Saturday at 2 we have a bunch of different kids from around the Townsville community that come and hang out and we take them to do diffrent things based off of what they like, there are five teams they can choose from . . . Two Skate Teams, A sports team, The Artedia Team (Art and Media = Artedia), and A music Team. I am a leader on one of the skate teams. So at two they show up and then we meet with the kids talk to them and on my team we head off in a van to one of the local skate parks. Then we just hang out with them skate with them we bring snack and what not and its all just a chance to love these kids a build relationsips let them know that people care about them and that there is a lot out there in life for them. We then come back to base and have dinner with the kids. Last night it was Dominos!

Then it transitions into Youtsteet Live this consist of about an hour of just paying sport and hanging out . . .Then 180 Hour, just an Hour of Praise and Worship and devotion and then after that we run a full cafe until ten and just give the kids a positive environment to hang out in and play games and stuff last night it was extreme musical chairs (It was pretty fun!!!). I am on the security team for this part of the day which basically just means I walk around and talk to kids and make sure they arent running of and making out in the dark corners, its pretty fun because I dont really have to do anything particualr and I just get to hang out with th kids. So that sums up what my saturdays are and what Youth Street is all about!!!!

J.

Aussie Appreciation Night and State of Origin!

G'Day Mates!!!

So just wanted to get on her and so hello and let you know about whats been going on and whats about to happen!

Last night (Tuesday the 14th) we had Aussie Appreciation Night . . . It consisted of singing Australian songs such as We Our Australian and The National Anthem (Youtube the first one its pretty good). We also had the privilege of eating Veggiemite (or maybe not so much of a privilege depending on how you look at it) it is different to say the least I didnt hate it but a lot of people did and the Aussies LOVE it. Its a spread you put on toast with a bit of better or a lot of butter and a bit of Veggiemite I should say. If you go with the first way your bound to throw up! We also did a bit of bush dancing(this is the exact same thing as barn dancing pretty much), learned about the outback, and drank Cordial (we actually drink Cordial on the regular but last night we learned how much of a staple it is in Australia. If you dont know what it is it is a highly concentrated fruit syrup basically and you mix just a little bit of it with a glass of water it is basically like Kool-Aid just with less sugar and its liquid to start instead of powder. And most importantly we got have a Tim Tam Slam. So this is the deal on that Tim Tams are these Australian cookies they are Chocolate Cookies dipped in Chocolate Icing. Then they have this drink here that is much like Hot Chocolate that the Aussies call Milo (Its better than standard Hot Chocolate!) So to complete the Tim Tam Slam you bite just a small piece off of one corner of your Tim Tam (they are rectangular shape so you know) and then on the opposite corner of your Tim Tam you nibble off the corner again! Then you put one of the corners you bit off in your mouth (NO HANDS!!!!) and put the other corner in your Milo and suck until you can feel the Milo coming through the Tim Tam and that moment just as the cookie is melting you suck the whole Tim Tam into your mouth all at Once and if done correct it will be completely full of Hot MILO and it just melts in your mouth in a beautiful way. It is almost magical!!!!

Now as for tonight! This is something I am beyond excited for! It is state of Orgin . . . This is what in North America we would call an All Star game. State of Origin is for the Rugby League (In Australia there is Rugby Leaugue, Rugby Union, and Aussie Rules Football . . .Which one is better is a never endning debate among the Australians and there are different rules and stuff but if you want to know more just ask) So yeah this is for Rugby League. Townsville has a team here that is in the NRL or Natianal Rugby League. NRL is the biggest pro sport in the northern part of Australia and in the southern part it is AFL or Australian Football League(Aussie Rules Football). And among all these different version and all the debates all Australians will agree on one thing State of Origin is the biggest three games in the Aussie Sport all year! And Tonight at 730 is the third and final game!

Here is the breakdown . . .Its a three game series, each game is three weeks apart. And the two teams are not comprised of the best players from the two conferences or leagues but rather the State that you first played Footy in . . .Thus STATE OF ORGIN. Its the same two states every year Queensland (the state I am in and also called the Maroons) and New South Wales (The Blues and for those of you privey on geography is the state where Sydney is located) and this rivalry is beyond on Epic . . .Duke v. North Carolina, IU v. Purdue, Cubs v. Cardinals, Yankees v. Red Sox, Lakers v. Celtics all great rivalries and NOT ONE!!! Can hold a candle to the rivalary that exist between these two states when it comes to the State of Orgin match. For 80 min you have teamates playing against each other friends and family not sitting near each other and even an entire missions base taunting each other for the last week all for this game and we all watch it together on a giant projector and I CANT WAIT you all know my affection for sport (and no that is not a typo it is sport in Aus not Sports) it is going to be beyond belief of the excitment that is around this country for this game . . .Even if you do not belong to one of these states you dont stand in the middle everyone has a side! So I will let you know all about it after the game goes down!!!! Just so you can get an idea here is a video for a little taste! Its pretty long but you will get the ideea pretty quickly!

Hope you all is well!

Love and Light

Official Day 2!

Check 1, 2 Check Check 1,2 Check . . .Is this thing on? Ok good! As you know I made it, the town is pretty chill it is definitely a little tropical beach like town, very small very relaxed. I am truly enjoying myself and it quite different to be living out of the States quite the enjoyment, yet still very different. I am enjoying learning all about the Aussie culture and picking up some pretty rad words like brekky (breakfast) and Mozzie (mosquito) and countless others. Thanks to a special little spiral book of notecards I already knew what many of these words meant. The bsae is fun, and the living conditions are a little less that what you would call nice HAHA I will be spending the next 8 weeks living in a basement with 6 other boys with no closets or drawers, two toilets, and one shower. Its going to be interesting, challenging, and above all fun!

Yesterday was our first day of YWAM, we had a meet and greet BBQ, today is day two, we began lectures and I found out that while I am here on base I will be responsible for cleaning after dinner with 4 other people.

I hoping to get lots of pictures in the next week or two of the town, beach, and base to post for all of your viewing pleasures so you can have a little better undertanding of the owrld and surroundings I am in.

Most exciting thing we have done so far last night we hiked up a very large hill (the hike was about 2KM long) and waiting at top for us was a beautiful view of the city and ocean! I will be making this journey again shortly next time with camera in hand both at night and day to show how beautiful it was.

Hope everything is going well in everyone elses lives and will be contuing to update here as often as needed and what not.

Love and Light

30 Hours, 4 Planes, 3 movies, and an Entire Book Later

So I made it to Townsville succesfully and without harm, Ill update shortly to let you know more just wanted to say I made it safe and that Ill be on here in a couple of daysto let you all know more!