Meant to Fly

Tis December

2011-12-06T17:30:00.001-08:00

I Can't believe its already December. Christmas season is here! Christmas looks very different in the southern hemisphere, but I do still get excited about celebrating with my YWAM family. And you know I have my tree up, with hot pink sparkly ornaments!

The past few weeks have been very hectic here. We involved in schoolies evangelism over thanksgiving week. Schoolies is a time of celebration for the highschool graduates. 60,000 17 and 18 year olds in Surfer's Paradise, drinking and trying on their new independence. We work with an organization that goes in and becomes friends with the teenagers, to be involved in their week to calm down intense situations, encourage drinking water, and eating food. To have the "sober" friends around to bring stability into the week. We had around 3,000 volunteers this year and even saw salvations through the week. In the past I have been on the teams that go into hotels and are with the teens all week, this year I worked in the call center.

This organization has a hotline that the teens can call to request a team to come to their hotel to hang out, clean their room, make pancakes, or calm situations down. They can also call when they are out and want someone to come walk them home if they are alone, drunk or just need some help walking. This year we had over 5,000 calls come into the call center. I worked the midnight to 8am shift and we got some really intense calls where we had to call the police, or ambulance, and then we got some really funny calls when people just wanted to talk because all of their friends were asleep.

It was a really crazy experience to be the first voice they heard when they needed something urgent, and the last voice they hear as they are going to sleep in the early hours of the morning. Some would even call every night to just have a chat, getting to tell them that they are valued and that someone cares about them and their lives. It was an amazing week. A crazy week as my schedule was literally upside down. It took about a week to get out of "jet lag" as we were calling it, but totally worth it.

We only have a couple weeks left of lectures, and then Christmas break before we go on outreach! Please be praying for the team, some of the students still need funds, and I still need $800 to completely pay outreach fees. :):):)

Satans's convention

2011-11-15T16:52:00.001-08:00

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken". "So let them go to their churches; let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that relationship with Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!" "How shall we do this?" shouted his angels. "Keep them busy in the non essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,"he answered."Tempt them to spend,spend,spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles".

"Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work! Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive. To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs,sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes. Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines so the husbands will believe that external beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. Ha! That will fragment those families quickly!"

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders.Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy! And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions. Let them be involved in soul-winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have o time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family unity for the good of the cause." It was quite a convention. The evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get more busy and more rushed, going here and there.

I just read this little story for the first time today in lectures. As soon as I read it I knew I needed to be sure that I wasn't involved in just being busy. I know that being YWAM is what God has called me to do but there are other things here that I can and have gotten involved in for "the good of the cause." Not that these things are bad, but I do think it is possible to do the "right" things in the wrong way. Are we doing good things just for the sake of being busy or is it something that God has called you to do or given you a heart and passion for, and even gifts and talents.

The Start of a new school

2011-10-01T20:28:00.001-07:00

From Left to Right starting on bottom row:

Megan from Oregon. Berith from Denmark. ME :) Jasmine (staff) from Florida. Ashley from South Korea. Vicki from England. Arthur from Australia. Daniel (school leader) from England. Anika from Canada. And Maija from Finland.

September 2011 DTS has been running and active for 3 weeks now. It has already been an incredible journey to go through with these students. It is an interesting dynamic, with 6 girls 1 guy, 2 girl staff and 1 guy leader. But boy has it been fun.

The first week, orientation, I was given the opportunity to teach. Sounds kind of boring to teach orientation, but as I was telling them what YWAM and YWAM Gold Coast was all about I fell in love with the place all over again. I was able to give them our mission statement as an organization and as a base, and a lot of them have expressed interest in working with YWAM. I didn't know I had a gift of teaching until that week, when everyone told me so haha.

The second week was Father Heart of God. We had the National Director of YWAM Australia come to speak to us. It was a definite privilege to us as a school, and to me personally that he came. Throughout the week I was able to talk to him and glean off of his experience and leadership. At the end of his time here he invited me to start coming to their national leaders meetings. What an opportunity! God is good, and I have seen his hand on my life more and more this past year.

This last week we had Hearing God's voice. This has been the best week so far! Seeing the students come to the revelation that WE HEAR GOD'S VOICE! Seeing their relationship deepen, and speaking into each other's lives has been amazing. I have learned new things this week as well. One theme of this week has been "The good can be the enemy of the best." Many times we take the good in front of us, but if we stop to listen to what God is telling us, then we will not miss out on what the best is that he has for us. This is really hard to do sometimes, because the good is not bad, and it seems like the best option for us at the time. This is why it is so important to have that intimate relationship with God, so that His voice is familiar and you can hear the voice that says, "Wait, I have something better for you." Which is where our second quote of the week has come from; "How exclusive you are with someone will determine your intimacy with them." Spending exclusive time with God is the key to recognizing His voice.

Staff Retreat

2011-08-26T03:32:00.000-07:00

So recently our lovely leadership team treated us staff to a much needed weekend away in the mountains. Go figure, Australia has mountains. And they are GORGEOUS! During the staff retreat there were many opportunities to bond and hang out with each other, or go off on our own to walk the trails around the lake, go fishing, and even play mini-golf. What I most enjoyed was the peace and quiet that I got to spend with God.

Lately one of my FAVORITE ways to have quiet times has been to pick up my journal and write to Him how I'm feeling, and what my goals and aspirations are. I know it sounds corny, but try getting up at 5am and articulate how you feel. I was able to bond with my fellow staff members over the weekend, but I got to know myself that much more.

It was a great weekend to get a heart for the students that will be here so soon! have been so excited for a new group of young people to come in and totally experience God in a way that they never have before.

While the weekend was productive and purposeful, it was also extremely relaxing and fun. I even won a bet! I was told I couldn't do something, and of course I HAD to prove them wrong. I was told that I couldn't get in the 15 degree Celsius water and stay there for 5 minutes. Oh yeah... Well I did it, and I won a coffee.. haha. All of the staff came out to enjoy my coldness, and boy was it cold. I wouldn't recommend it haha, but I won that coffee!

Graduation

2011-08-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

It was so good to be apart of another graduation. Being able to see the students when they first got here, and now seeing them receive not only their certificates, but life-long friends, a better understanding of God's love for them and direction in life. Even though these weren't my students, I feel proud of them and like I was able to contribute to their experience.
For a couple weeks now I have been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It is absolutely challenging and I just want to put it down and stop reading it sometimes, but it is so good. It goes through the profile of lukewarm people and the profile of the obsessed people. Now I was happy to see that I could see myself in most things in obsessed profile, but I was surprised and a little worried about how much I could see myself in the lukewarm profile. I've never considered myself to be a prideful person, but after reading this book I think I need to sit down and take a really good look at my priorities. I knew that I wasn't perfect, I just didn't realize how much I could help it. Sometimes we tend to use the excuse "well I'm only human" or "I'm not Jesus" but who says that we have to live in sin. Just because we are humans doesn't mean that we get to tell white lies when we want, or to talk bad about people, or to only give half of our means to the poor. Jesus says to sell everything that you have and give the money to the poor. EVERYTHING. Now, just because you don't give everything to the poor doesn't mean that you don't love God, but don't use an excuse to get out of doing it. Let's be obsessed.

Outback

2011-07-22T20:06:00.001-07:00

One thing I have loved about YWAM is the fact that it teaches you to be extremely flexible and go with the flow. On Saturday night someone dropped out of going on the outback trip the outreach team was taking. Darcy came to me and said be ready at 8am, you're going to the outback tomorrow! I LOVE it. Firstly, the people that we stay with out there are absolutely fantastic. I love them so much. They have two boys living with them that the government has sent to live with them because they get in too much trouble while they are in the towns and cities. This place is 20 miles away from the closest house. OUTBACK!
While we are there we get to minister to the boys and fellowship with the wife. Because they are so far away, they don't get into town much to go to church so when teams come to stay with them they like to hear everything that is going on and the stories of God's grace, provision and faithfulness.
We also get to experience the way of life out there. The hunting, living off the land, making things yourself. It gave me a lot of time to think about all the simple thins in life that we can so easily miss out on.

I was glad to have a bit of an adventure, and get out of the office. While I love helping out, it just really isn't for me to have to be away from people. I have been so happy this week that the school is back and I can start to hear their adventures, and help them process the things they have been learning and growing in. LOVE YOU ALL, and thanks for the support.

Lets think

2011-07-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

Since I have been here its been pretty quiet around the base. The Feb school is on outreach. Most all of the staff are on vacation time, because there isn't a school around. While I usually really dislike this time of the year I have actually been enjoying it this time around. Usually I'm so busy with the school that I don't get to be super involved in our local evangelism team. The past few weeks I have been going to our homeless ministry twice a week and also being apart of our in-school ministry twice a week. I realized how much I love doing those things and how much I have missed them.
The Feb school's PNG outreach team stopped by the base for a few days on their way out to the Outback. It was so good to see them and hear their stories. They were telling me how a group of men came to one of their services one night. After service they gave their lives to the Lord and followed them around for the next two weeks. One night when they were all together these men told the team that they had come to the service that night because they heard missionaries were in town and they were going to come kill them all but they heard their sermon and the Holy Spirit started talking to them and they were moved and got saved!
GOD SAVES! I was thinking about that this week. How so many times we ask why God lets bad things happen to us, but we don't even think about all those times that we don't even know about. When that stop light was extra short, and we get mad that we got stopped, but who knows what could have happened if you were 3 seconds in front of yourself.

Romans 8:28
"And we know that God causes EVERYTHING to work together for the GOOD of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them."

Michael Ketterer

2011-07-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

The next big thing!

http://www.michaelketterer.com/

This guy is pretty much amazing, and I have learned something from him that I think will really come in handy. You can be good looking and still a good christian haha! Just messing around with you, but check him out, and then find someone who is doing God's work passionately, and tell someone about them.

The Beloved

2011-06-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

So there is a home group that someone here on base has started doing and I decided it would be nice to go and see how things were. The first thing that we talked about blew my mind. The statement was made that "To the extent that we have low self-esteem is the extent that we haven't fully accepted God's love for us." I started thinking about it and how we can even take it a step further. A lie that we believe when we have low self-esteem is that we aren't good enough. If this lie was true then it would mean that everything that Jesus did for us on the cross was worthless. So we can rest in the knowledge that because Jesus died on the cross we are good enough. I love the way that Will Reagan puts it in his song Give it All. "I give it all to you God, trusting that you will make something beautiful out of me." God doesn't do things half way. He doesn't create things that aren't absolutely beautiful and have a substantial purpose in this life.

We were at Coffee van on Thursday and there was a girl that came by. She had shorts and no shoes on, and it had to be at least 50 degrees outside. She said that she had been kicked out of her place and she was looking for a place to stay. A local church member that was volunteering started talking to her trying to figure something out for her. A friend of hers walked by and started talking with her to this local church member. After awhile they started getting into a really deep conversation about our value and worth. Both girls came to Christ that night, and we were able to share with them how much God truly loves them and what they mean to the kingdom of God. It made me realize how blessed I have been to grow up always confident that I mattered, and that I was and am loved immensely.

I challenge and encourage you to remind yourself of the love of God, and if self-esteem is not something you struggle with don't take it for granted. Share it with someone who might need it a whole lot more.

Surfer's Again

2011-06-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

OH the journey that I take to be here... in the COLD! The flights back to Aussie were definitely long and hard, but it gave me a chance to look back on the past couple months that I have been at home. The time that I was able to spend with my family and friends. I was even in the newspaper (you can find that link at the bottom of this blog). But I still hate airport and airplanes. They make you sit, stand, eat, sleep, laugh and cry right up next to someone that you don't even know. I swear, whether standing in line at customs, waiting for your baggage at baggage claim, or lets not forget the 15 hours on the plane, when all you can think about is that last hug that you gave your dad, and why you didn't let it last for just a second longer, but I'm getting off topic. What I was trying to say was that I go through all that to be here, where I can't even enjoy the weather right now. haha. In the end its all worth it.

To welcome my return Cassie, my new roommate (congrats Sarah on the marriage :]) and former student took me into surfers to have kebabs for lunch that I bought with the one hundred dollars I got from the airport for loosing my bags.. did I forget to mention that? They were also having a street festival that was fun to watch for a little while. I can already tell that I'm going to enjoy my time here this year with a new kind of understanding about the culture and the people. I can't wait to get back to work here in the office, but for now all I want is to go to sleep and get all of my stuff unpacked.

God Bless and remember to keep up with me this year as I start staffing a new school and learn more about this thing we call life.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/06/15/2367017/leading-by-example-sharing-the.html

Feb. 2011

2011-03-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

This past week has been filled with emotional goodbyes. We saw all of our September students off at airport runs. They have all gone on home to their families and lives to continue on in what God has called them to do, but I was able to be apart of the new school in some ways this week as well.

After a few days of debrief with the staff, which involved reading evaluations that the students wrote about us (talk about nerve wracking) and talking to the leadership team about things we did good at and things that we can improve in, I was able to help out with Oz-Quest. If you have been following this blog for long you will know that Oz-Quest is something that I ABSOLUTELY dread and can't wait to be over, but this time I was on the other side of things. I helped think up new ways to test these students and push them to their limits, but I was also in charge of being the good cop. At the end of the three day adventure I provided them a surprise meal of hamburgers, potato salad (thank you grandmother for teaching me to only eat the best) and of course ALOT of sugar.

This new school is VERY international. Only one American, who is from Mississippi so I'm OK with that. One Canadian, a Brazilian, a Korean, a German, an Irishman, an Englishman and 4 Australians. I am very excited to be able to get to know them this next few months and see them be sent off on home as well.

Brewarrina

2011-03-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

After our adventures in PNG we had two weeks in the outback of Australia. It was an amazing time. The first week we spent in a little ghost town called Brewarrina, or Brea for short. It had about 200 people a catholic church, a post office, a grocery store... and a community pool! This is where we spent all of our time, not only because it was 110 degrees dry heat, but that's where everyone else spent their time as well. Everyday at 3 o'clock, right when school comes out, all the children and all of their parents come to the pool. EVERYONE is related, and when we arrived we stuck out like sore thumbs. They immediately started asking questions. Who are you? Why are you here? How long will you be here? We became friends with the children and tried to talk business with the adults. We fired up the church, encouraged the women's ministry and brought a little girl to God.

The second week we were at a friends house named Nose. We had a LOT of open land to run around on with the horses, cows, peacocks, kangaroos, wild boar, emu, and the hundreds of hunting dogs. It is the perfect setting for the ministry that he runs out there which is taking in teenage druggies, or trouble makers. Because that far out in the desert, there is just no trouble you can get into. They learn responsibility working on the farm, and get to sit in the presence of God 24/7 whether they know it or not. They only take a few teenagers in at a time, to give them the best love, compassion and attention that they need. There were 3 boys while we were there, and they became our brothers for the time that we were there. They taught us their responsibilities, and asked "Why in the hell would you be sweating in the desert hanging out with losers when you could be sitting on your ass watching TV in America?" (words of Bilow, excuse the french) I got to have so many conversations with him about having a call on your life, and not being a loser, having a purpose for your life. After a week of us all telling him just how special he is in God's eyes, you could truly tell a difference in his attitude. That is a place that I was in not long ago. Not knowing what God had for me, or that God even cared enough to have a plan for me.

After a few amazing weeks of hunting, farming working in the sun and ministering to people our age, it was time to return to Gold Coast. The students had a week of debrief with Chris Twinn and Graduation night came way to fast. It was emotional and inspirational. The new students for Feb school were drooling at the mouth and looked like wide eyed babies looking at something shiny haha. I can't wait to see them grow the way these September students have, and step out into their own places in life, always bringing their best friend with them. If I wasn't sure that this is what God was calling me to before, I SURE know it now. God bless each and everyone one of the September 2010 Gold Coast DTS students. I have LOVED every second of teaching you, crying with you, laughing with you and just being with you. God has amazing things for you and most of you have found those things in this 6 months, and for the rest of you that haven't yet, keep searching, keep pressing in, keep going HARD for God, and always remember that you have people praying for you, thinking of you, and wishing you the absolute best. I have loved being your staff, and now I'm loving being your friends. I love you.

Jaclyn

Open Hearts

2011-02-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

I look on the time i have left on the corner of the computer i am on at an Internet cafe in PNG and it says 17 minutes! it will definitely take longer than minutes to explain to you my last 3 weeks, but i will do my best, and i will be passing through the Gold Coast before we go to Brea in a couple of days so i will update more then too.
We have been in Pukari village for the past 3 weeks. we saw over 200 salvations, 16 Baptisms, 2 blind people see, a mute person speak, the deaf hear, and the lame walk. It has been an amazing time.
It all started when we arrives, over 1000 people were there to welcome us. We had come in on a boat ride, and when we saw all the people, heard the singing, saw the tears, and smelled the hundred of leis that they gave us i looked at John and said... did we die on the boat ride and now we are in heaven? It literally brought tears to our eyes.
We got to know all the people there so well. We shared tears and laughs with the people. We really got the chance to disciple and tell people that they can have a personal relationship with God.
The ladies were thrilled to hear that they could have someone to always go to in their time of need, and the men were shocked to hear that they weren't saved just because there was a church in their community. God changed many lives, hearts and mindsets and it was amazing to be apart of it.
It all ended with an emotional farewell. Tears came again, exchanging of addresses, long hugs and promises to see each other some day again, if only in heaven. It was a God filled time in Pukari and exciting to be there, and i can honestly say that i will never forget their faces, or thier homes.
Thank God for open hearts and hospitatlity. I know i will always have a family in Pukari, PNG.

Papua New Guinea. Take 2

2011-01-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

I have been having an amazing so far in PNG. We have been here for two weeks in Port Moresby and will be leaving for Kerema tomorrow, where we will be for four weeks. These past two weeks have been so cool to be on the leadership side. I have seen the students pushed and challenged, and seen them push through. We have prayed for many, seen salvations and healings. We have been working in the local orphanges and with the street kids. We were able to work with an amazing ministry a woman started. She plans activities for the street kids, teaches them to read and write, and puts some through school. All on her own. We also were able to go to the radio that my team visited last year. It was cool to see how they have grown, and are closer to their goals. We were able to record our voices introducing the radio station. They will be playing all year. Mine said; Hey this is Jackie from America, and you are listening to Wontak Radio Light. Your Inspiration Station.

Like I said, tomorrow we will be going to Kerema. It is on the Western side of PNG. We will be driving for a few hours, and then taking dinghys the rest of the way. We will be visiting 14 villages while we are there. We have 1 day VBS planned. A mini Woman's retreat. We will even be teaching the elders of the church. We are very excited about all the things we will be doing there, and I can't wait to update you about them again soon.

Please pray that the hearts in Kerema will be open to hear and accept the things we have to teach.

Blessings,
Jaclyn

Impact Summer

2011-01-12T02:55:00.000-08:00

This week was supposed to be Evangelism lectures, but our speaker had to cancel on us last second so with the relationship that we have been able to build with the Byron Bay base we called them up hoping that the base director could help us out. He said that we could come down to Byron and he could do lectures here, but they have Impact Summer going on right now so we would have to be apart of it. We agreed… not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into.
Impact Summer is a 2 week evangelism course that they run down here in Byron Bay and bases all up and down the east coast come and stay in the local churches while being apart of this “camp.” These two weeks of the year just so happened to be the high peak season on the coast, so there are HEAPS of tourist around, and visiting families, and university students on summer break.
The schedule goes a little like this. 10am-12pm Worship 12-1pm Lunch 1pm-5pm sports/creative evangelism on the beach 5:30-7pm Dinner 7pm-8ish Worship 8ish-midnight night evangelism. And because our students still need to do lectures, we have those on the side with Kevin from 8:30-10am. Its soooo cool how it worked out to have the topic while we are at an evangelism course.
The first day we had creative evangelism we in teams, and we were awarded an object of some kind to pray and find a way to evangelize with that object. Some of the objects were rope, a bucket, a suitcase, toilet paper, and we had sticky notes. We prayed, and decided we knew exactly what we wanted to do with our object! We had about 600 sticky notes so we wrote scriptures and just words on all of them, our theme was LOVE (John 3:16). Then we went around Byron and we stuck the sticky notes on poles, bikes, atms, phone booths, people. ALL over town. After we would sit at a place where there were a lot and just observe. People were actually slowing down or even stopping to read them. A couple of girls even picked some up and read them and stuck them on their wallets.

We had an awesome week of hearing lectures in class during the day and then being able to actually do what we were learning in the evenings. We saw people saved, and even just take one step closer to taking a hold of that salvation.

I'm so excited to see the students be able to take what they have learned this week into outreach. I can't believe we leave Friday! I will hope to try to keep you as updated as possible, during this exciting time!

The New Year

2010-12-30T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well the holiday string isn't quite over. We still have New Years to celebrate! As we were pondering how we wanted to bring in the New Year some crazy funny ideas were being rolled around. I mentioned how I will miss the ball drop again this year. David (our Aussie bloke) gave me the blankest stare I have seen in a long time and proceeded to ask me what the heck a ball drop was. I love those moments in time, where even though everything around you has become familiar you have a small realization that I'm not in NC anymore! Anyway, I'm sure we will find some trouble to get into tonight, I think we are going to celebrate on the beach in Surfer's Paradise Australia. With my friends and adopted family around I can't think of anyway better to bring the New Year in :)

Another Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T22:49:00.000-08:00

So this is the second Christmas away from home, and it is already much different than last year.
Although I still miss my family Christmas very much, this year I have more roots laid down and have friends to spend this Christmas with. This past weekend I went down to Byron Bay to spend some time with some friends down there. We had a wonderful day on a secret beach that you have to climb down a mountain to get to. It was the absolute perfect day and just to prove it I have heat stroke and severe sunburn, but hey, could I have ever said that before in my life on a cold December day? Nope, so I'm loving it. We have had the topic of destiny this week. The speaker was really cool, and she had us write down our fifty top dreams. It was so cool how once you start writing them down its like you tap into your inner self, and all these things start coming out that you never knew were there before. And then she had us write down our top ten passions with you. These things are a little different than your passions. These are things that when I die, if I haven't done these things I would be disappointed with my life, where dream are things I would just like to do. I figured it would be easier to share these than the fifty, so here is a little scoop into my soul;

1) Help needy children
2) Be content in everything I do and everywhere I am
3) Help people find thier passion (inspire)
4) Spend a big part of my life on stage, or in front of people
5) Bring restoration
6) See abortion come to an end (have a part in it)
7) Make sure my family always has everything they need
8) Always give a helping hand
9) Travel the world
10) Make friends everywhere I go

Its really cool seeing this on paper, ready to be achieved. I really encourage you to sit down and have a think about some things that you would like to do before you die. I would also just like to ask you to please pray for all of the students here. Christmas time can be a really hard time on people away from home, whether they have family issues, or its their first time away, the Christmas season doesn't always bring joy to everyone.

Oz Quest Round 2

2010-12-09T19:41:00.001-08:00

Sorry about not blogging lately. We had a week of schoolies and then oz quest and then a base wedding that we were all helping out with, so its safe to say that I am completely exhausted right now.

I'll start with Schoolies. This is a yearly event for graduating seniors. It is basically spring break ten times over. Its a full two weeks of graduates drinking from the time they wake up in the morning until they pass out. Their are many organizations that work with the schoolies to make sure they are safe, but still allow them to have fun. We are able to work with one of the organizations that has a great reputation with the schoolies. Our shift starts at 5pm and goes until 4am. We stay up with them, call ambulances if needed. And when we are around, we are able to keep an eye on how much they are drinking and drugs dont get passed around as much when we are there. Its crazy how much these kids LOVE these volunteers. They want you around, and they want to hear about what you believe and they ask you questions. We deal with all kinds of situations; suicide ideation, alchohol incidents, epileptic attacks. Problems that come with young people who don't know how to handle alchohol. And then at the end of the week you give them your facebook, talk to them about their future, invite them to your church. Its awesome.

Next we had oz quest. Three days that challenge you spiritually emotionally and physically. It is outreach training, and the whole purpose is to get you to that point that you get to about half way through outreach, and see how you deal with it. You work as a team for three days, and we split up the students into their outreach teams, so us leaders can see how they work together, what attitude problems we might be facing, and just to bond. The first day is physical. We hiked for ten hours in the rain, up mountains, with very little food and a time limit on everything you do. The second day is emotional/mental. There are a lot of team building activities on this day. Some of the challenges that come along with these activities are you can't talk, or see, or you have to trust someone else to do something for you.

Then came the wedding. Andy has been a wonderful staff member to the Gold Coast base, and a great friend. AJ was a student on the February 2010 school and she is such a great spirit. I love how much they are in love and it was an honor to be apart of their wedding. I welcome their love onto this base, and I can't wait to see it expand. Please be praying for them during this early wedding stage. They are leading the next school coming up and I know they are going to do a great job as long as they keep God the focus :) Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Scalas

Bryon Bay

2010-11-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

This week so far as been AWESOME! Before I start let me just say Happy Birthday to my brother Tyler! It was his birthday on Sunday.
Ok, so yesterday the Byron Bay base came up to the Gold Coast to spend the week with us. We are all doing lectures, worship, intercession together and we are living together this week. Speaking of lecture, this week is FEAR OF THE LORD and LORDSHIP with none other than Mark Parker! He is and amazing speaker, so passionate, and gets right in your face which just fires me up!
I can already feel the Holy Spirit opening my mind and the minds around me to learn something this week. Just last night My roommate Sara and I came to the conclusion of how cool postal service, and pens are. Its just a tiny revelation, and I feel like God was really just giving us a sneak peak. I mean, if we can get excited about a pen, then imagine how excited we can get about God's glory.
I have already so enjoyed getting to know everyone at the Bryon base. This morning we had base wide worship together. There were probably at least 50 people, and man was the Holy Spirit moving! The guy who was leading it was Dan Hannaford. I totally think you should look up his music and download it, and really listen to the lyrics. It was an awesome morning and I know there were a lot of breakthroughs. It was so cool to see the two groups of students come together so close, praying for each other, and lifting each other up! I can't wait to see what God is going to do tomorrow!
If you could please continue to keep the students in your prayers that would be amazing. Just pray that they can come together as two groups and really become one this week. The Byron guys are only here until Sunday, so we can't waste time being shy!

Happy Halloween.

2010-11-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

Actually, they don't celebrate halloween here, but it was still a weekend full of fun.

We have finished up relationships week. It was a really good week. There was a lot of information for the students to process and a lot of questions answered.
Annette McCaslin was our speaker. She is the base director's wife. One really cool thing she did was show us the difference between attraction and lust. She showed us how attraction is just having an appreciation for the beauty of something, while lust is a heart issue. It was cool how she went through all the different types of attraction; same sex (friendship), opposite sex, physical, non-physical, romantic and non-romantic. Its nice to go through each one and then you can really appreciate it for what it is, instead of worrying whether or not you are in sin because you think someone is beautiful. She also talked about how to prepare yourself for marriage, and the things we should be praying for in our future spouse. Of course, as the girls came home at night we all wanted to make lists, plan weddings, pick out our kids names. It was a refreshing week.

There were a lot of refreshing times like that this week. Like when we were on our way home from coffee van, Dave and I were in the front seat of the van. We had David Crowder on CD playing, and out of NO WHERE the Holy Spirit sat his prescence in the car. We couldn't stop singing and worshipping. I could feel God moving in my spirit and all we were doing was driving. It is so cool how if you can just turn off your head and put some worship music on, God will totally be there in 2 seconds. I really encourage you this week to find a place to just let Him come.

This week Andy came to talk to the students just for a bit about praying about what God wants them to do after DTS. I know sometimes He will talk the first week, and sometimes He will wait until the last week of outreach, but please be praying for the students, and the staff that they will just hear God's vocie loud and clear on what their future is.

Relationships

2010-10-25T17:25:00.001-07:00

So this week our lectures are on relationships. It seems like one of the scariest words in the whole entire world right now. I know its going to be an amazing week full of revelations and breakthroughs, but please pray that students hearts will be open to recieve these things. Many times when we hear a scary word we immediately put walls up so that we won't be hurt by anything that comes our way. Lets let those walls down right now.

Rob Hensser

2010-10-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

As we search for love, we often go from being 'human beings' to 'human doings'

It's been awhile

2010-10-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while. I am so sorry, but I have just been so busy with the school here. All 12 students arrived safely and I have had such an amazing time getting to know each one of them intimately. Sara and I are the house leaders in our house and the students in our house are Cassie, Amanda, Michelle, Sarah, and Louise. Cassie killed her fist cockroach last night. It was a very proud moment. Haha. We have already gone through two lecture weeks. Father Heart of God and Hearing God's Voice. This next week coming up is Character and Nature of God. During Father Heart of God I know I asked many of you to pray for me. I had a hard time that week. I was under a lot of stress with all of the responsibilities I had and I honestly was not having the quiet times with God that I needed to have. After a lot of prayer, and meetings with the leadership, I feel like a new person. I have really been able to give everything to God and realize that the time I spend with Him will make or break my day. It is funny how I know I already knew that but sometimes you have to be reminded.

Well, last week was my birthday week. It was sooo much fun. One of the students, Patrick who is from Denmark has the same birthday as me, so we got to celebrate together. We all went out to dinner and went to the arcade in Surfer's Paradise. We of course satyed out way too late and then had to go to church the next morning, but it was worth it. It is so cool how close we have all become in such a short amount of time. I can't imagine ever not knowing any of them.

I would like to ask you to please pray for each of the students during this time. I know how much you can miss home, or how overwhelming the lectures can seem to be. So please pray for peace in their hearts, and in their families hearts, and that their minds would be open to the things they are learning.

Cassie from Chicago
Amanda from NC
Sarah from Michigan
Louise from Norway
Michelle from Switzerland
Tara from Canada
Emily from Pennsylvania
Caitlin from California
Greg from Pennsylvania
Mathias from Norway
Patrick from Denmark
and David from Gold Coast Australia.

Also! We revealed the outreach teams to the students this week. I will be co-leading a team to Papua New Guinea! I am so excited for another round of PNG, I can't wait to see what God is going to do this time. I am expecting bigger and better things than last time I went!

Old Video

2010-09-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

I was just going through some of my pictures from my outreach in Papua New Guinea and I found this video. This is a part of a welcoming ceremony that we had when we arrived at one of the villiage churches. They hitting PVC pipe with a flip flop and singing their welcome song in the background.

Kitchen

2010-09-09T18:55:00.001-07:00

I am finding that the longer I am here, the more there is to do. I am in charge of the hospitality team, preparing for the Sept. DTS to arrive, and now I have taken on helping in the kitchen. Bonnie is our kitchen coordinator. She is very precise about things, very straight forward, and she has certain way of doing everything. She is tough as nails, but as sweet as honey. The more time I have spent with her the more I have been learning from her life experience. She has gone through happiness and tragedy, smiles and tears, and have bandaged many wounds on her boys. She is a farmer's wife who won't take no for an answer:) She has become very dear to my heart, and I feel very privileged to be able to work by her side. She has told me many times how she is very grateful that she has a second hand now. For the past few years she has been handling the kitchen all by herself. I have learned a lot about relationship this week. I find that many times when I'm evaluating my relationship with God I base how I think it should look on my relationship with my dad, or best friend, or brother etc. What I have realized is that I should be evaluating my earthly relationships and basing them on my relationship with God.
Also this week, our leadership team have given us a challenge. We have base worship and base intercession on Wednesday and Friday mornings. The past few weeks they have been struggling to get these times off the ground. Our leadership team have been urging us to open our mouths during worship and declare God's goodness. When you are alone in your quiet time it is OK to keep those things for yourself, but when you are in a community worship you are supposed to share those things with the community. Please pray that we will be able to open our mouths and go deep the way God needs us to in worship and intercession, and I urge you as well to declare God's goodness during your church services, or small groups. Take the time to speak out His glory and lift up His name.

Staff Training

2010-08-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

So the last week and a half we have been having staff training. The five staff that will be staffing the September 2010 DTS have been getting together, worshipping and praying for the students together, and learning what it means to be DTS staff, our responsibilities, how to relate to the students, and really just how to care. We have been having great worship times together, I have been learning so much from the staff who have already staffed DTS. One big revelation I have had this week is how we aren't supposed to base our relationship with God on our relationships in this world, but base our worldly relationships on our relationship with God. Sometimes I feel like I need to look at how I relate to my friends to know how to relate to God, but in reality God has planned it to be the opposite.

Another big thing I have been seeing is about myself. On DTS you deal with a lot of the big issues in your life, coming home after DTS I was so excited to know I didn't have to struggle with those things anymore, but what I actually learned at home was how many more problems I have. It was like I thought there was only one room in the house to clean, but when I walked out of that room I found there is a kitchen, more bedrooms, the garage, and the toilet. God has recently been showing me some of the what I might call "smaller problems." It has been hard to hear, and see, especially when God uses someone in authority in your life to point it out to you, but it has also been really good. I know that I can't staff this DTS with these problems, and God has really been working hard to get rid of them for a long time. It is time for me to take the next step in my walk with God, and I am grateful that He is preparing me to take it.

Staff training hasn't been all boring lectures and assignments though. The five of us, John, Zaida, Rachel, Sara and myself took a day out. We want to be unified as a team, so we thought bonding would be in order. I love our team. We are all so different, but we compliment each other so well. We all get along really well, and even though we don't agree on everything, we have learned how to disagree with love. Please pray that we will stay unified throughout this staffing experience. I know we will be pushed to our limits and we will be annoyed with each other, but we don't want the enemy to have anyway in.

-Jaclyn

SEPTEMBER DTS STAFF! Holla

2010-08-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

I got my first bill from YWAM GOLD COAST this week. Thanks to all of you I had no problems paying it, and having leftover to buy groceries. Thank you so much for supporting me! It is so nice not having to worry about finances, knowing God has it under control. Then I am able to put my energy and efforts into His children and bringing them back to Him.

Well we have been having a lot of staff meetings this week for the Sept. 2010 DTS Staff. It is really exciting to come together as a staff team and share your heart, and just have fun and get to know each other better. Because our base is pretty small, we all knew each other before we found we were going to be staffing together, but know we can know each other on a whole different level. The staff for Sept. DTS will be John, the DTS leader. Sara, from Canada. Zaida from Chicago, Rachel from Canada and ME!

We have been talking about where we want to go on outreach, how we want our lectures to look, and praying over the students. I am so excited about the students coming. I have been stalking their files and facebooks, trying to get to know who they are haha. We have each taken responsibility for a few students to pray over them and their lives.

I remember when I was preparing to come to DTS. Things start happening. Job offers, boyfriends, temptation. Anything the enemy can use to try to stop you from going. I remember Chris Twinn talking about it the first week of lectures. He asked us to raise our hands if anything had happened right before DTS that made you second guess whether or not you should go. All nineteen of us students raised our hands. Please keep our 16 students in your prayers, you may not know who they are, but God does. He knows what they are struggling with at the moment, and what is going to try to stop them.

The Office Life

2010-08-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

So quite obviously. God has not really put the desire in my heart to work a 9-5 job in an office, but that doesn't mean he won't make me do it for a little while. I think mostly to test my patience. All the students from the February DTS have left,so now instead of hiding myself in the kitchen, or sneaking on their bus to spend the day at the beach with them, I am working.
This DTS arrived in February, while I was in Papua New Guinea on my DTS. When we came back from outreach we met them and lived with them for a little while. They served my DTS on my graduation night here in Australia. Well Friday was their graduation, and I got to serve them. It was a really cool turn around. I remember when they arrived I thought, man are they in for a lot more than they could ever imagine. Being here at the end of their DTS was a real testimony of how God works wonders.
To see the change in their lives in a drastic way was incredible. I hadn't been with them everyday throughout this process, I met them when they came, and I spent time with them when they left, and it was seriously like spending my time with two totally different groups of people. They were all really cool people, and I wish them all the best in their adventures ahead. But now they are gone, and I have been starting to prepare for the new group of students, my students that will be coming in September.
I have been looking through applications, creating calendars and lists, printing, copying, filing, typing, OMGoodness, what did I get myself into haha. As much as sitting at a desk for 8 hours seriously hurts my bum, I am excited to do it, because it gets me excited for the DTS. I can't wait for them to come, and the rest of the office has to persistently remind me to stop daydreaming and keep working. It is a great group of people here, and I couldn't ask for better people to work with all day, but I'm sure they could think of a quieter person to take my place haha.
I appreciate your prayers, support and love that you have sent to me personally, or through to my parents.I just ask that you keep praying for me through this time, and for the staff here on base as well, they are my family here and seeing some go through hard times really presses hard on my heart.

Jaclyn

Volunteers

2010-07-27T01:03:00.001-07:00

It's funny, Grace, another DTS Staff from NC, said yesterday that volunteer workers are so much more willing to volunteer to work than people who get paid. I just thought it was funny. :)

Affwan 2

2010-07-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

So our week of Affwan is officially over. The base is much quieter now that all of our guest have left, but the glory of God is still very much felt here.
I was able to squirm out of some of my responsibilities in the kitchen to go out on the streets twice this week. When we go out to speak to people the boys try to stick to talking to the boys and the girls try to stick to speaking with the girls. Meeting some of the women and hearing stories of other girls on this base has given me such a heart for the women of this culture.
Many of them are so broken and looking, searching, for someone or something to reach out to them. Culturally they are not supposed to engage in conversation with a man, or woman of another race unless they are spoken to first. Once you start speaking to them, they just open up their hearts. They are so interested in knowing about the freedom you have in your life and in your God. Muslim women believe that they may or may not make it depending on their husbands faith.
One of the girls on base, Steph, met with a woman several times this week to talk about each others lives. Steph noticed that all the woman wanted to talk about was how Steph was allowed to talk to God. That she was allowed to pray personally to Him, and tell Him her own heart's desires. Steph was really able to witness to this woman and I believe in my heart that as this woman goes back to her own culture she will pray to God privately. We were able to provide with a Bible in her own language and I ask that you will join with me and pray for this woman and women all over the world that are religiously oppressed.

Affwan

2010-07-17T00:07:00.000-07:00

This week I have been able to serve the base by being in the kitchen at least 6 hours a day. We have a lot of extra people here at the base this week who have come to stay on base while they minister on the streets of Surfer's Paradise. Once a year all the Muslims go on vacation together. Because they are so close to Australia, most come to the Gold Coast. Affwan is a time that we as a base go into the streets of Surfer's Paradise and have a chance to speak to them about their culture and their religion. They are usually very open to talk to us and actually do want to accept a new testament to study our religion as well. They always want to take you out for coffee and dinner to talk more about what you believe. It isn't just street evangelism, it is friendship evangelism. Most of the countries that they come from persecute or even kill converted Muslims. We try to encourage them to surround themselves with other Christians in their country, I've never been more stumped of what to say when someone asked me how they should hide their faith from their government but be proud of God as their saviour at the same time. As you pray to God this week, in public places, or even your church please remember to pray for these Muslims in the sticky spots that they get in, and pray for their salvation as well. I hope to come to you next time with some great stories of being able to shower these people with God's love, and breaking them from the rules and condemnation they love under every day.

Welcome home!

2010-07-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

So I had a really long flight, but I did sit next to some very interesting people so I wasn't too bored. I found myself talking a lot about Australia and was really surprised how much people were really interested in what I was doing and what I will be doing in Papua New Guinea. It is amazing how many opportunities God gives us to share His plans in life if we just look for them. I arrived at 6:20 am Friday July 9th. I was super exhausted but managed to stay awake and catch up with everyone here, until 1 pm. I decided to take an hour nap, but woke up 4 hours later saying to myself, OH MY GOSH, I'M STILL HERE! Some of the staff made me dinner for my first night. I am still getting used to being here without any of my own DTS here with me. I'm allowed in the staff rooms now, so that feels special. We will be picking up the February DTS from the airport today. They are coming home from their outreach. I can't wait to here the stories about PNG, I miss it so much. Wednesday we start Awfwan. As we get closer to it, and I learn more about it I will give you more information. For now you can keep me in your prayers that I will have enough supporters and donations to be here for the next 2 years!

Off Again

2010-07-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hello again. I am starting a new adventure to Australia. Although I have been there before, I know this time is going to be very different. I am going to have new experiences and learn new things as I go into a role of leadership and responsibility for other students. I have everything all packed up, and I will be leaving for the airport in about an hour. I will be stopping in Dallas, the LA then Brisbane Australia. I am so excited, but kind of nervous. I can't wait to start up this blog again to let you all know what is going on. The next week is going to be a new chapter in my life. Please be praying for me as I settle into things. Pray that God's voice will be louder than ever so that I know exactly what He wants me to do to prepare for the next two years. Thank you again for following me, and caring about what is going on. You will all be on my heart and in my prayers.

Peace,

Jaclyn

First of the goodbyes

2009-12-29T22:06:00.000-08:00

The first team left for outreach today. It was a sad morning. I thought I wasn’t going to cry, until the van cam to pick up the girls at my house. I kept trying to remind myself that it will only be for 2 months, but it didn't help much. The team leaders are Shae and Frank, and the members are Rachel, Ashaya, Derek, Simon, Jasmine, Brittany and Zaida. They will be going to Aboriginal tribes here in Australia the first month, and then the second they will be going to Indonesia. Please pray for each one of them as they are on outreach. The have become my closest friends, who know, and have seen the deepest parts of me. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I know He will keep them protected with every step. I know He will bless their journey and their families.
The other two teams are here on base preparing for outreach until Saturday. We each have our team duties, and mine is the team newsletter. If you would like to get the newsletter please send an e-mail to pnglae@gmail.com asking to be subscribed to PNG Lae team’s newsletter.
One of the ways I was able to prepare this week was one of my team members, Balah, invited me to his family’s celebration for his sister’s 21st birthday. Balah and his 20,000 family members are from PNG. I got to see, and start to learn some of the traditional dances. It was so much fun, and I learned a few cultural manners. Even if you’re not hungry, you should always go to get a second plate at a big dinner like that, even if you don’t eat any of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that you didn’t have to eat the second plate when his mom forced seconds. I was so stuffed, but I was able to dance it off!

Christmas in Aussie

2009-12-25T04:32:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I have been avoiding all contact with the computer this past week, afraid that someone might talk to me, and make me cry my eyes out. But today I have cried alot, so I figured one more cry wouldn't be so bad. Don't get me wrong, most of my cries today have been good cries. Bethel and Derek, a couple that came on our DTS, got engaged last night and announced it this morning. They have to be the cutest things on planet earth. Then, I got wonderful christmas presents from my friends here, and it made me realize how much they love me. I spent Christmas on the beach today, where I had my next cry. Try not to laugh, but this was actually because of Edward Cullen... yes, Twilight, they got my addicted. This is probably one of the most exhausting days that I have had here, because of all the emotions. I can't believe that lecture phase is over, but I also can't believe that I still have two more months until I get to see my family. It has been tough this last week. I am going to need to rely on God for everything for the next two months. I am still praying for the last bit of my outreach money, and trusting in Him to provide it. I am in complete unbelief that I will be leaving in about a week. To a new adventure. I wish to you all a very Merry Christmas! :)

Money.

2009-12-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

As you all know, traveling across the world and living there for 6 months cost money. Most all of us here have people, family members and our churches supporting us. On Thursday we all got together, wrote our names on a white board with how much money we need beside it. Let me just tell you right now, God does amazing things. All we did was sit down and pray for 45 minutes, and we watched the numbers change dramatically. Here's how;
Ashaya went from owing $900.80 to $200.80
Brittany went from owing $185.00 to owning $150.00
Kelley went from owing $269.00 to owning $20.00
Dylan went from owing $5,090.15 to $2500.00
Ballah went from owing $5,350.00 to $2650.00
Martin went from owing $1115.50 to $0
Shae went from owing $1246.00 to $0
John went from owing $1115.5o to owning 100.00
If you didn't add that up, as a whole, we went form owing $15,271.95 to $5350.80. God provides. I know God will continue to pay for the rest of the expenses, none of us are worried about it. No one in history of YWAM Gold Coast has not gone on outreach because they didn't have enough money for it.

SCHOOLIES '09

2009-12-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

The next part of outreach training was a little more civil, but just as exciting. Every year, the week after high school graduation, the graduates head to the coast for a week they call schoolies. We were apart of an organization that teams with the hotels to take care of the schoolies (which is also what they call the graduates). Basically, out job description was to be on 24/7 call for the schoolies. Whether it be cleaning their rooms, helping someone who is sick, walking people home from the clubs when they feel sketch, or just hanging out at the hotel parties to make sure that things don’t get too out of hand. What is really cool is that, because of the reputation of this organization, they actually think that we are really cool, and we end up able to just hang out and talk with them. We dealt with people who had had their drinks spiked. People trying to commit suicide, people throwing up from alcohol poisoning, people who were depressed because they just broke up with their boyfriend, or girlfriend, fights, and all the drama that teenagers go through. We were on constant call, so we didn’t get much sleep, but it was totally worth it. We would have our shirts on, and schoolies would come up to us and give us hugs, tell us how much they respected us, and appreciated us. They would thank us, and tell us that we are their guardian angels that week, that we saved their lives, and they were so happy to have us around. There were about 700 volunteers, and 1300 schoolies. We were in team of four, assigned to certain hotels, and we ended up being really good friends with some of the schoolies. The suicide skyrockets during schoolies week, but glory to God, there were no suicides this year. I, and many others, prayed and interceded for that, and God heard our prayers. We saved schoolies, and planted many seeds. Saturday, the last day, we had a lot of schoolies come out to the beach with us, and watch the sunrise. It was really cool for me, because this is my class. They just graduated, and are 18 years old, just like me. I was able to talk to them like I had known them for years, and we were best friends. I was so glad that I could be a real life example of a Christian teenager to them.

Oz-Quest

2009-12-02T22:44:00.000-08:00

The past two weeks I have been in “outreach training.” Sounds fun right! That’s what I thought. The first three days we were in a program that the staff here calls Oz-Quest. We have been hearing about it now for a few weeks, but everything that we would be doing was a secret. If you can imagine the most sarcastic, thinks he is ABSOLUTELY hilarious, loves to see you cringe guy, that was who was in charge of the events that we would be doing for Oz-Quest. Marty is a great guy, he is a lot of fun, but he finds your buttons fast, and starts poking them. He gave us a specific list of items we were allowed to bring, and if they weren’t on the list we COULD NOT bring them. The list was about as basic as you could get. Clothes on your back, toothbrush, water bottle, bible, flashlight, hiking backpack. Oh yeah. The first day we had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning, hike to a park, and go through YWAM customs. They went through all of our stuff and made sure that we had only what was on the list. We hiked for 10 hours that first day to our fist destination. Up mountains, down mountains. Through the bush, and boy was it HOTT. We get to our campsite at about 6pm. We had and hour to make a “shelter” out of sticks, get our fire going, and make dinner. Rice. We slept outside, on the ground. No tents or anything, and kangaroos were all over the place. The next day we woke up at 5am and did a lot of team building activities, including, getting a church service prepared to share with the group. We did not stop to sit AT ALL. I was exhausted. At the end of the night, in the dark, and a lightning storm, they told us that we were going to play capture the flag, in the woods. Capture the flag is one of those games, that when you tell me we are playing, I feel like just killing myself, but once I get into it, I REALLY get into it. I don’t know where the heck that energy came from, but I was like a mini 007. My dad would be proudJ. At midnight we got to sleep. Because there is a group going to Indonesia, and it is illegal to preach the gospel there, we had to be prepared to run from the police. We were woken up at 1am just for meanness. We were woken up again at 3am. We were told that the police were after us, and we had to hike to a new location to be safe. Well because some of us were so delirious, we actually thought that the police were after us. We were so confused why the Australian police would care that we were sleeping outside. We were taken to a new campsite, and right as we were lying in our sleeping bags, they told us to get up, the police found out where we were, and were taken to another location. The next day we were given a map and told that there was a blue peg in “this region” and we had to go find the peg. Our team decided to take a shortcut. We were doing good at first, but after a while, we sat down on top of this hill to rest. All of the sudden, out of NO WHERE, no joke, 20 cows and bulls come up over the hill. I have never been scared of cows, but these had this evil stare in their eyes. We slowly start backing off, and once we got into the woods, I figured we would be fine, but then they started RUNNING towards us. The guys were telling us not to run, so we were speed walking away, we were all looking back at them while we were walking, when we all looked forward, there was an organized line of AT LEAST 50 more bulls. We were starting to back away a little bit faster at this point. And by now, they were full out running towards, us, I could probably turned around and reached out and touched them. Some how, when we got to the bottom of the hill, they got confused, and started running past us. If anything is going to bring you close to your outreach team that would be it. Later on, while we were talking about it we found out that we climbed 6 fences, hiked for 2 hours and 5 miles out of the way. We went on about 4 private properties, hiked through video surveillance conservation, and then we ended up on the highway. Flagged down a car, asked for directions, and ended up getting a ride back to the campgrounds. Outreach Training; of all the things I learned this week, I hope NONE of them actually happen on outreach LOL.

Day in the life of a DTS student.

2009-11-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

I never really told you about what a normal day on a DTS look like, so I would like to tell you all that its not all going to the beach and playing volleyball. LOL. We wake up at 6:30 and do our house duties. They change every week, but they are just basic chores around the house. We then have until 9am to do our quiet times, and have 9 girls get showers, and get ready. From 9-10 intercession or worship then we have morning tea (my favorite part of the day). At 10:30 we start lectures, except for on Tuesdays. On Tuesdays we either go to Set Free Care or Super Club. Set Free Care is a church program that serves homeless people lunch. We go in and serve lunch, and then sit and talk to them about life, and Jesus. Super Club is a really cool program in a school. We get to play games with the kids, and teach R.E. (religious education).
On lecture days we are supposed to stop at 1 for lunch, but it seems like most of our speakers don't know how to tell time, so we usually get out about 1:30. This is the time that changes everyday. On Tuesdays we have lectures. Wednesdays we have DTS fun time, which is when we all go play volleyball together (since every person on this DTS is a professional volleyball player. You know, I can hold my own at any other sport, but in volleyball, I'm always the girl that gets hit in the face, and I'm realizing that this is a very long parenthesis sentence). Thursday we have one-on-ones. This is a really important time. We each have a staff member that is mentoring us. In a week, there is so much information at lectures, so many things are going on at home, and its a lot to process on your own, so one-on-ones is an assigned time for us to sit down with our mentors and just lay it all out. Fridays we have ACTS. We each have different duties around the base. Maintenance, Hospitality, Cleaning, and Shoppers (for meals). Saturdays are the fun afternoons. We do street evangelism, or community outreaches, like the Big Event that we did, we also gave out free sausages at the Super GP, which is a car race. Then from 4-5:30 we have study time. We have weekly assignments that have to be turned in, and we also have book reports, and chapel talks that we have to organize, and facebook pages to check. Every week you are either on Lunch cleanup, Dinner prep, or Dinner cleanup, and 4-5:30 is also the time for dinner prep. Then from 7-9 changes everyday too. Tuesdays we have Outreach Prep. So we get in our outreach teams and learn more about the culture, and we learn different dramas that we will be performing, and we intercede for the cities. On Wednesday we have small groups. Thursday we have Coffee van. And Friday and Saturday we have off, but it doesn't usually work out that way. Even though we are around each other all day, we don't really get to interact a lot, so usually we have movie nights at one of the houses, or we go to Surfer's to hang out for a while. Its hard to plan anything though, because we don't have cars of our own. But we work it out.
Sunday and Monday we have off. Sunday tends to become an all day church day, because we all go to different churches at different times, so we end up going to a few services. Monday tends to become a sleep all day, because we go so much all week. But we usually try to kill two birds with one stone, and go sleep on the beach and tan.

20 Hours

2009-11-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

20 hours. Straight. We started at 5 am on Saturday morning. We set up stages, tents and tables for 8 hours, and then had sound checks for bands, illusionist and speakers. The Big Event. We saved 15 lives, and rededicated many. Then, at 9pm. It started to rain. We tore down, and rejoiced for what God had done. Got in the car and went to bed. The Big Event was an amazing day for everyone who was involved. 20 hours. Straight.

My Vision

2009-11-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

So… nothing has really happened this week… NOT! HA! Just making sure you were following. This week had been INTENSE! I will probably use more capital letters than I ever have before. I guess I will start in order. Tuesday, during worship I was praying, “God what do you want to say to me today?” He immediately said “SHUT-UP!” I was totally confused. He said “How are you supposed to hear me when you are always talking?” So all during morning tea, and lectures (which just so happened to be on forgiveness… a HUGE downfall of mine) I didn’t talk to anyone. Do you know how hard that was? It was terrible. But God really spoke to me during that time, and I was really able to let go of some things that I have been holding on to. Awesome right, well He didn’t let it stop there.
On Wednesday during worship he gave me a vision. I heard God say open your eyes. I did, and I saw all the people around me worshipping, then I saw angels on the stage worshipping, and I looked around and saw them standing with others worshipping, and some kneeling with people, and some people were totally oblivious to the fact that they were there, and then I looked beside me and saw Jesus standing next to me, holding my hand, and we were just worshipping God.
And Friday… we had two lectures Friday. In the morning we talked about the Indian children who live on the trains, and how such a large percentage of children in India don’t live past 5. At night we talked about this story:
“Sophi is 13 years old. Her father died at a refugee camp along the Thai border. Her mother came to Phon Penh to find a place for her four children because she was diagnosed with cancer. She was unable to a place and ended up begging on the streets. The YWAM staff at the Hagar Shelter found this little family one day and invited them to the shelter. Shortly after entering the Hagar Shelter, the mother died, leaving Sophi to care for the three younger children.
In the last few weeks, a dozen more children came into the YWAM Hagar Shelter with shocking stories: one little girl was stolen at the hospital with a twin sister; one girl had been kidnapped and sold to a guesthouse for $30; one girl had been sold to a brothel for $300; one boy had been sold as a slave for $4; one girl had been sold for food for $20; another girl had been sold to a brothel for $10.
ABANDONED. REJECTED. UNWANTED. ABUSED. SOLD. Listen and you will hear the cries of a broken-hearted God for these children. These are children that are growing in number today and they are becoming more and more marginalized. It is bad news to be a child today as UNICEF and the World Health Organization report:
-200 million children suffer from chronic hunger.
-35,000 children die DAILY from six PREVENTABLE diseases.
-100 million children live on the streets.
-Millions of children are working 16-20 hours daily as SLAVE laborers.
-In the last 10 years, 1.5 million children have been killed through wars
-1.5 million children have HIV”
These facts BREAK my heart. I know God has given me a heart for children. They have to be dependable on others, and they are gifts from God that we ARE NOT taking care of. I said before that I wanted to tell you my vision, and I feel like now is the right time. God showed me this enormous house with 20-30 kids running around, having fun, but also being educated and learning about God, having a true relationship with Him. They were going through college, becoming successful ADULTS, they were living past 5 years old, and they were taking their skills out into the world and teaching others about God. I was raising these children, taking them off the streets, out of sex trades, out of slavery, and unjust situations. I know I can’t do this on my own. I need A LOT of money to be putting 20 kids through college at a time. I need money for houses, food, clothes. I need volunteers, church support and PRAYER. And to put the cherry on top of everything, God has been talking about having this in a place where the Christians are persecuted. But through all this I know God will provide, and have favor over me. I am prepared to be persecuted for my beliefs and passions, and I think it is necessary for all Christians to have that courage and boldness from God.

nine to nine.

2009-10-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

Last week our speaker was Mark Parker. He had to be the most obnoxious, loud, push your buttons person in the entire world. He MADE all of us grow this week, whether we wanted to or not. By far, he has been my favorite speaker so far. We learned about the fear of God, and how if you feared God more than you fear man, then you shouldn't have any problem looking stupid, as long as it was from God. On Saturday, we started worshipping at 9am. He only had two things planned for us that day. To bring a fellowship offering and a sin offering. We went until 9pm. All day we worshipped God. We didn't worry about what we might be missing outside, we just focused COMPLETELY on God. We stopped very often to just listen to what God was asking us to do, and we did it. We were practicing hearing God's voice, and there was definitely break through. It was AWESOME. The best day that I could have ever asked for. People started hearing God's voice, laying down things that they had never told anyone about. We all, boys included, cried all day long. The best part about Fear of God week, is that it is followed by Relationship week. I know I have a lot to learn, and I'm so excited about it. God had instilled a new boldness in me, and there is no stopping me now! :)

Revelation

2009-10-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

All my life I have known that God has a purpose for my life. Jeremiah 29:11 has been spoken over me many times. "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." Although I have always believed this about my life, I have never known what it is that God has called me to do. This week he has finally revealed it to me. He hasn't only revealed what I should do after DTS, but He has given me a specific plan for my future. Something that brought on this revelation was that I learned that the desires of our heart have been placed there by God. He doesn't want us to do something that we hate, He wants us to do what we love, for Him. I can't wait until I get the OK to share my call with you. There has been so much going on this week. People on our team, who have never heard God's voice before are hearing it clearer than me speaking to them. People's relationships back home are being restored, and we see more and more people coming to know God everyday. Prayer and intercession has become a part of my everyday life. Just lifting things up to God as I hear about them, not waiting until later when I will forget. I have been so excited about what God was going to do during this time in my life, and it is so encouraging to finally be seeing those things.

Outreach and healings

2009-10-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

We finally were told our outreach teams this week! The staff have been praying for us, and where God wants to send us. I will be going to Papua New Guinea. My team leader is John and my team members are Dani, Felicia, Paula, Ballah and Dillion. I'm so excited to share time with them. Everyone keeps telling us that you get closer than you should to your outreach team.haha.
Most of you probably don't know this about me, but I have this strange phobia of feet. Since I have been here, satan has really been attacking me and I have been struggling more than I ever have with it. There was one day that we played a foot game, and I was so anxious about it that I started crying and shaking. Everyone has been really understanding about it, and praying for me.
The other day during worship, I was just sitting and talking to Jesus, and after we talked he sat down and washed my feet. I ran up to my friend Brittany and jumped on her feet. I'm healed I said, it's not a problem anymore. Kelley dragged me into morning tea, telling everyone to touch my feet, of course they weren't going to, they didn't want to cross they lines. But I told them it was ok. All morning people touched my feet. I went to share with Dave, our base leader, and tripped up the stairs I was so excited. He ran to me and asked me if I was ok, and I said, I'm more than ok. I told him what had happened, and we all celebrated God's glory together. :)

Mount Mourning

2009-09-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

So a guy, named Ben has been staying at the YWAM base until he goes to school next semester. He is a very adventurous and outdoor person, so somehow he convinced us that it would be a good idea to go hiking, at 1:30 in the morning. He told us we were going to Mt. Mourning, the first place to see the new days sunrise. When he first told us we thought Mt. Morning, which would make sense. But as we climbed we quickly realized that it was infact Mt. Mourning. That mountain was so hard to climb, and to top it off, the girls decided to pull an all nighter the night before. But when we got there, and saw the sunrise, it was absolutely worth it. Then I started thinking, you know, this glorious thing happens EVERY morning, and we miss it. I have only seen a few sunrises in my life, but I'm going to try my hardest to see as many more as I can. God is good.
Every Thursday night we do a ministry called Coffee Van. Its a time that we set up a table in southport, and hand out free coffee, milo and tea. Its a great place to be able to just talk to people in a non-pressured way, and it REALLY works. I talked to some girls that have never talked to an American before. Its funny, cause they were asking me things like, are the police cars really balck and white, and do you actually have lockers and lunch trays at school. And when I answered yes to those questions they were like, OMG! America really is like the movies. I think that is so funny. Anyway, I asked them to just come to church. Its all about planting seeds. I have been able to see all the opurtunities of just talking to people on the street. You don't have to scream in their face, or ask them anything about God. Just ask them how their day is going. You have no idea how they will totally open up to you when you care.
So I challenge you. Talk to someone in the grocery line, or your waitress at dinner. Anyone that just happens to be around. And watch God do something amazing in their life, that you couldn't even possible imagine. :)

*Jackie

SURFING

2009-09-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

I went surfing on Monday, I was out there for like two hours and got up only once.
This week our speaker is Ross Latto and he is teaching us about the father heart of God. There are some people who are having a really hard time with this, because they haven't had a good faher. My heart breaks for them because my dad has been the best dad in the world.
Ross has truly been challenging us this week. He speeks alot of his opions as facts and I have been having to go back to the Bible to see if it stands up. This time or me has been such a learning experience because for the first time, I am deciding what I beleive because I am searching the answer instead of becasue its something my parents beleive.
This week at prayer/intercession time we have been praying for the teens at surfer's on schoolies. This time of the year th suicide rate skyrockets. we are praying for absolutely NO suicides.

Finally Settled In

2009-09-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well, being at the beach with my mom has been nice, but yesterday I finally moved in officially. I have gotten to know all the girls really well, and am anxiously awaiting the 8 other girls arriving!

2 hours to go

2009-09-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

In two hours I will be headed to the airport, and I just finished packing about twenty minutes ago lol. I am still amazed that I packed pretty much EVERYTHING I own, and still have a lot of room in my luggage. But you know how it goes, you ALWAYS have more coming back then when you went.
I'm not sure how often I will be able to blog about what is going on, but I will always let you know when something important happens, even if it's just one line. I want to thank my church family once again for the love and support I have felt. I will be praying for you and I hope you all can get as excited about the new building as our Pastor has.

Wish me luck!
*Jackie