Two Weeks in the Bush!

SO, where to begin? What a two weeks I had . . . Camping at hidden valley was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was so much fun to be out in nature for two weeks straight, sleeping on the ground, living in a tent, not really showering HaHa!!! So here lets break down a bit of the basics . . .

I lived in a 9 person tent with 6 guys for two weeks, slept in a sleeping bag on 1 inch piece of foam that was not so properly titled a bed mat, I shared one shower and two toilets with 10 guys for the first week (Like 50 guys the second week . . . the staff came up and joined us for the second week so there was about 12o people plus children for five days, the staff normally dosnt join in on camping but it was their staff retreat so it was a great opportunity to serve), we had hot water that got pumped up from the creek and then warmed by a fire, drinking water was pumped through the creek then filtered, we had one giant urn that boiled water to clean dishes and to have coffee of course, we ate quite well there was three gas burners, and two gas grills ( we went through a lot of propane needless to say), a generator gave us a bit of electricity for a few hours a day, we drank powdered milk (which actually isnt all that bad), I cleaned myself in a creek (aka Man Bathing) and spent a lot of time in the sun, I am now quite tan, I was brekky prep so I got up by 5:45 am everyday (well almost somedays were later than others and the second week I only had brekky prep once but I was still up by 7 everyday) I loved it! Getting up early was so nice watching the sun come up, being by the fire . . .

So a few more of the details might interest you as well, the weather was perfect!!!!!! It was warm and sunny during the day ( I rocked shorts ad a cut off most of the time) it was warm enough to go swimming, but then at night in jeans and a hoody you were freezing ( well not freezing but quite chilly) if you werent by the fire and we drank lots of hot chocolate!

Our schedule was quite similar in that we had lectures every morning and work duties and what not but we also had a little extra free time, and we also had extra time in the morning for some great quiet times . . .If you have never sat out in nature on a cool morning and listened to some good music and prayed and read your bible I suggest you try it its such an amazing way to grow and hear God!

The nights were Epic! The stars were everywhere and I saw at least 5 shooting stars every night even if a few of the nights we had to pray for them or at least pray for the clouds to go away for just a bit Haha . . .

We also did a fair bit of star tripping which is one of the funniest things I have ever seen . . .EVER!!!! It is when you stand out in an open field with no lights stare up at the stars spin as fast you possibly can for as long as you possibly can then stop and someone shines a light in your face and your body just freaks out. You dont know whats up and what down and it is HILARIOUS!!!! Brain cells were probably killed but what the heck you know it was fun! HAHA!!!

And then of course the highlight might be the Gorge! It was about a fifteen minute drive from camp and it was beautiful and I hope everyone get the chance to see something that pretty one day in their life and that they can get a chance to play in a waterfall! NUTS!!!

So yeah in a lot of words that dont do it justice that was camping in no real special order! I am glad to be back though and I hope I get to talk to all of you soon! You will all continue to be in my prayers and I hope I am in yours!

Love and Light,

J.

New Blog Post and Pictures Soon!

So I am feeling really lazy! And after two weeks of not having computers and communications I dont really find it all that intriguing its not to get away and not have all the distractions of life and really let God talk to you in lots of ways!

But I love all of you guys and I just wanted to let you know that I had an amazing time camping, it was way epic and I will be posting pictures and writing a much more detailed blog about what fun activities that happened? I just dont quite feel like it today just being honest here! We got back Friday evening and I had an amazing day of YouthStreet yesterday, took the day off today with some beach time but I promise Ill get back with you all soon!

I miss all of you lots no lies cant wait to have some one on one convos to talk to you all! Oh yeah speaking of which, I was thinking about doing maybe a once a week teaching type blog a little more focused on what I am learning about God and how it can change your everyday life as well? Anyone interested? Let me know and Ill do that!

Love and Light,

J.

Camping in the Bush!

So I just wanted to get on here and let everyone know that I will be camping in the Bush for the next two weeks we are at a place called Hidden Valley approx. 2 and 1/2 hours way from base . . .

I am leaving today the 16th and will be back on Friday the 28th, while we are there we will have no access to phones or internet so Ill take lots of pictures to document it all and I will let you all know as soon as I am back how it was . . .

I hope you all take care of yourselves, and please continue to pray for me as I am on this journey and to pray for me as we prepare for outreach! I will be keeping all of you back home in my prayers as well!

Outreach Destinations are Official, details still lacking.

SO yeah thats right I know where I am going on outreach . . . FINALLY!

In almost exactly 5 weeks from today I will be starting my minor outreach. This will be with the missions adventures . . . A youth group will be coming in and for 4 Days my team and I will be training and preparing these youth to go out and minister to people, then after there short period of training we will head off with the youth group to Palm Island for around 10 days . . . Side note here Palm Island is an Island off the coast of NorthEast Australia, it will be about a two and a half hour boat ride for us. Palm Island is the largest grouping of indigenous people in the Australia left, it is also known as one of the most violent places in the world. We have been told that it is quite the cross culture difference and that it is rather similar to the conditions of a third world country even though it is still considered Australia . . . After we return from that we will then begin 5 Day Escape, If you dont remember 5 day escape is a week long youth camp that we here run and I will be a part of the staff, there will be about 60 kids that are from Townsville and are a part of youthstreet. We will load these lads up on a double decker bus and drive all the way down to the Gold Coast (thats about 12 hours, Gold Coast is an hour south of Brisbane and one of the biggest surfing areas in the world). While we are in Gold Coast we will be staying in a camp with cabins and meeting halls. This week is more about relationship ship building with the kids than anything else but at night we will have devotions and worship. As well I will be a leader of a small group of young fellas that we will have discussions in each day. As for the activities we will be going surfing one day (YES!!! SURFING) and we will be going into the city just to hang out and shop and we will also be taking the kids to a couple of amusement parks.

For my Major Outreach I dont really know many details just that we are going to first be flying from here to New Zealand, then from New Zealand to Southern Australia (possibilities are Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and others but it will mostly be in the states of Victoria and New South Wales . . . If you dont know your Aussie geography I am in Queensland as is Brisbane we are located above New South Wales this is where Sydney is and Victoria is the next state over to NSW and that is where Melbourne is) other than that all I know is that we will be going to help at other YWAM bases, working in and for churches, and going into schools as well as just the general communities that we are going in. Most of what we will be doing will be focused on getting things ready for the ship tour that is going on as well as focusing on youth in these areas and trying to help them see the Love of the Lord.

I am super excited and cant wait, as I find out more details I will let you know. I feel kind of silly being a missionary from America and coming half way around the world and never leaving a first world nation but I know that there are lots of people everywhere that need to see the Love of God and I know that exciting things will take place and I know God will move.

Please keep me in your prayers and I thank you for your continuing support, I thank you all!

Love and Light,

J.

A Reoccurring Theme and for that I Apologize!

So I have noticed that it consistently seems to be about a week in between every time I write a little update on here! I sometimes forget that I have been here as long as I have been already and that you all like to know what is going on . . .

The reason that I have not really been posting on here is because we have just been on the base but that doesn't mean nothing is happening . . .We still do not know where we are going to go for outreach yet but hopefully this will happen soon! And when it does I will let everyone know as soon as possible, Ill post it on here and tell all about it, Ill make it my facebook status, and Ill even email some of you Immediately . . .

For what I do know though I will tell you, God has been moving in amazing ways in my life. Through lectures, life, and culture I have learned so much in my time here already. We have talked about Clear Conscience, Relationships, and Currently The Father Heart of God in lectures. I have learned heaps about Australian culture (so much so that I used the term heaps right there without even thinking!) and I have just learned a lot about life! About how it is more about the attitudes you choose everyday that make the difference. As well as just living in each day and learning in each day and how not take the day given to you for granted but to enjoy each day and try your hardest about not worrying about tomorrow!

I also want to talk a little about the outreach we are getting to do each week while we are right here on base! Every week we have a family night BBQ that is open to the community and it is fun to get to watch all the different kids and families come in and just get to talk to them and watch them open up! And the same with YouthStreet, for 9 hours every saturday we get the opportunity to speak love into kids lives . . .It is amazing at just remembering a kids name the next time you see him how it can light up their face and how each week they open up more and more as you just create a relationship with them! And these are kids that dont come from the greatest homes and we are the only gospel a lot of these kids ever get the chance to read!!! Thats pretty heavy . . .It is a little sad to me that I had to travel half way around the world to learn these simple concepts of life and how to just be a better person but you know things work out in silly ways!!!

I thank all of you for your prayers and your support and please feel free to get a hold of me personally through email (johnboyd9@gmail.com) or through Facebook if you want to chat about anything or have any questions!

Cheers mates and I will be posting some new pics either sunday or monday to show a little more of the town, some friends, more of the base, footy at the beach, and pictures from youthstreet. You want to see them? Well be my facebook friend then! But I will still post one or two rads here as well!

Love and Light,

J.