Australia Day

January 26 was Australia Day. I love being in the country for their national holiday!
In the morning, we had a little presentation about Australian history, and lots of people had Aussie flag tattoos, were wearing red, white, and blue (flag colours), or green and yellow (rugby colours).


There is some controversy over when Australians celebrate their Day, because January 26th, 1788 was the day that “white settlement” first invaded the land. There was a lot of killing of the Aboriginals as the white people set foot, so some people view it as “Invasion Day”. The situation between the whites and the natives is very much like Canada's, and after the presentation we prayed for the country and reconciliation of the two people groups.

Nevertheless, it IS the day they have chosen to celebrate Australia and the great nation it is, so we had lots of festivities:
For morning tea, (the snack between brekkie and lunch) we had homemade scones with strawberries and fresh whipped cream. It was very special.
Usually for morning tea, we have day-old baked goods (cinnamon buns, cheese buns, raisin bread) donated from local bakeries. Which I think is an awesome concept that instead of food going to waste, they bless us by giving it free to young, thankful Christians.

During morning tea, one of the guys from my group proposed a Vegemite Contest. Take a big scoop of vegemite on a knife and swallow it. For those who don’t know Vegemite, it is a very Australian thing that you spread on toast and eat for breakfast, or put in sandwiches. It is dark dark brown, and a very concentrated paste that tastes like salt, fermented yeast, and concentrated chicken bouillion cubes.
Tasting a mere translucent smear of it on your finger is enough to make you cringe.
I took up the challenge along with a couple others, and got a generous amount loaded on my knife. It was sick.

My victory plan of swallowing it immediately before I could taste it...failed!
It is a little bit soft, so it started to coat my mouth and words cannot express the discomfort of the experience! I couldn't seem to swallow it! Admittedly, I actually had to take a napkin and spit it out, for I could feel my gag-reflex kicking in.
Next time...


From there, we went to Queen’s Park, (kind of like Assinboine Park in Winnipeg, but with palm trees and no Leo Mol Sculptures), had an hour of sweet reflection time with Jesus. I laid down on the grass in the hot shade and praised and thanked God for all that I’ve learned here and for the things to come. We then had a BBQ lunch and had a great time.

Then at night we had a special dinner with our school, and walked down to the ocean waterfront where there were probably 300,000 people milling about, getting ready for the fireworks. We got the best spots in the house: we went right to the water, and sat there. It was like a cement curb into the ocean. It was a little stony, but well worth the view.
As we were waiting for the remnants of the sunset to disappear to black, we would get all riled up with the other Australians as they did their “cheer”:

Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Oi Oi Oi!
Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Oi Oi Oi!
Aussie! Oi!
Aussie! Oi!
Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Oi Oi Oi!

(One person leads/shouts the Aussie part, and the rest of the crowd shouts/replies with the Oi part) “Oi” is a slang word they say to get people’s attention.

It was so funny because anyone could initiate it, and everyone else would whole-heartedly engage. I led it once too, with my best Aussie accent!

Above is Hayley, our true Australian girl on our team. She's from Queensland, on the East Coast.

Brooke (USA), me, Sietske (Holland)

The fireworks (or "skyworks" as they say down-under) were awesome!

The salty sea lapped at our toes and the warm ocean breeze wrapped around us like an invisible hug.
As we sat at the ocean’s door step during the Oooh’s and Ahhh’s of the fireworks, sometimes we got a little wet from the crashing waves, but that was quite alright! All the more of an eventful and wonderful end to Australia Day!

Car Wash and Character

Hello once again!

Today is Sunday and marks the end of Week 3. I am sun-kissed, tired, and glad. Yesterday (Saturday) we had a By-Donation Car Wash to raise money for our 3 months of outreach. Our class split up into 4 groups, going to different gas stations. It was 40 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and we worked so hard! We were there from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm and washed non-stop! There were 5 of us and probably washed 35-40 cars! It was really fun and it was fun chatting to the people too. In total, all four groups raised over $1000 for outreach. Yay God for favor!
Here are some pictures of the day....
(above) Mine and Ana's feet: half dirt, half sandal-tan.

Ana and I drying a car. Ana's from Oregon and she's part Italian like me!

I think this picture is so funny! This monster of a truck, being washed by Sarah who's 4'11''.

I'm an expert squee-gee kid now.

Anyway....
This week was very good. Our DTS leader, Rachel, taught in the lecture slots about the Nature and Character of God. Really solid, and transformational for people who had a really skewed picture of who God is. I really admire the way Rachel teaches, she’s very wise, sincere, and sensitive to the Holy Spirit, every lecture was different, and one time in the middle of class, she was on a roll and started getting words of prophecy for some of the students. It was so rad!
She’s an amazing woman: Australian but born and raised in Kenya, mother of 5, and lives in China half the year, where she and her Irish husband headed up an orphanage and a school there. Her fourth child is a little adopted Chinese boy that was abandoned by his parents. She’s very calm, and relaxed but a real fireball who loves impossible adventures made possible by God.

At the end of the week, after an honest search through the Bible of who God is and His unchanging nature, she got us to write on the white-board our favorite/most meaningful attribute of Him. It was so powerful for me as I saw all the sincere eagerness to go up and write our revelations of who God is to us in our lives.

Week 2 in Perth

Well well well!
I have officially settled here, and have finished “Week 2” here at YWAM Perth. As you know of my miraculous plane adventure over here, I got here on time, but my baggage didn’t. It was mistakenly scanned to go on a different plane than I so I didn’t receive it for quite some time!
So, I arrived in the evening of the 6th and was showed to my dorm. It is a large warehouse-type building that is basically 2 open rooms with high ceilings and bunkbeds that sleep about 20 girls each room. At the end of the hallway there is a communal kitchen and some bathroom/shower rooms. It is so fun!! I love the challenge of living in community! And this is to the extreme!
There are always girls around, and as the days go we are all becoming more considerate and generous towards each other. Because there are so many of us and no real privacy of our own, we share in the communal experiences of being woken up by a girl who set her obnoxious alarm for an hour too early in the morning, or learning to sleep with the lights on if the people around you are still working or reading late into the night.
There is a smattering of nations represented here! My bunk-mate is the sweetest little thing and from the British Islands, the girls across from me are from Australia and America. Also girls from Switzerland, Holland, Denmark share our warehouse-bedroom! It is great fun as we learn more about each other and grow closer together.

The beginning was rocky though. My bags were four and a half days late, so all I had with me were the clothes I wore on the plane, a pillow, a toothbrush, a face cloth and an uncharged laptop. I washed my clothes every night to wear clean for the next day. I tried to be flexible and to just go with the flow, and I did, but after about day 3 I was getting quite worn thin. It was so hot here (30-40 degrees) and I had my black dance pants on. In my stubbornness, I didn’t even think to go downtown to buy a summer dress to give myself some relief, because I always was convinced that my bags would arrive that day. It was very humbling that I couldn’t control the first impressions people had of me. The haggard new girl who keeps wearing the same clothes and zero makeup.

Anyway, on January 11th I got word that my bags finally came and I cried all the way on the walk to pick them up. I was so grateful and tired and relieved and humbled. Funny thing was, as much as it was nice to get my stuff, it wasn’t as great as I imagined. I already felt that I didn’t cling too much to possessions, but in the past 4 days God had really worked on me to become even more detached to material things. They are only clothes. It was nice to wear a dress though in this heat!!! Wow, it is like ten furnaces on full blast at all times, even in the shade. You just have to get used to being sweaty and hot all the time.

Yeah but this week has been really good, I really enjoy the base and feel settled now. My group, called Compassion DTS (Discipleship Training School) is about 20 students plus 4 staff and 2 main leaders. There is a “compassion focus” where we focus on showing the love of Jesus in practical and hands-on ways. During the week we learn practical skills in healthcare, teaching, and also reach out to the community by either spending time with families in crisis, teaching english to refugees, building relationships with girls in juvenile prison or talking with and feeding the homeless.
There are twice as many girl students as guys. I like the size of it and we’re all gelling pretty good, especially after this week. The lectures are so right on. Everyone is very down to earth and humble, and there is big emphasis on hearing God’s voice. Which I love. It is so important to be able to clearly hear the Holy Spirit’s leading and convictions in one’s life. It sure takes care of a lot of things on it’s own, if everyone’s constantly seeking the Lord in everyday situations!

This past week has been really intense.... we did a week on Repentence and Forgiveness. It was very powerful, and life-changing. It was like our hearts were getting a “deep cleanse” of repenting and turning away from rebellious attitudes, things never dealt with from our past, impure motives, selfishness, bitterness, and unforgiveness held in our heart. And then experiencing God’s rich and full forgiveness for each of these things....wow, talk about freedom! There was so much joy and a new sense of humble honesty as God gently brought to attention bitter burdens and undealt-with sins.
Very vulnerable and purifying week, a lot of walls were broken down that had been hindering people from truly experiencing the transforming power of God in their lives. Lots of reconciliation with broken relationships, everyday there were people phoning their parents and relatives that they had hurt or disrespected. People were convicted of dishonest transactions they were involved in, and now want to pay back double or quadruple the amount owed.
Isn’t the moving of the Holy Spirit awesome!! All it does is bring love, peace, righteousness and freedom when we act on what He is telling us to do.
For me and a lot of students, there was a strong conviction and commitment to purity: purity of motives, attitudes, and actions. And repenting of attitudes and actions that had gotten in the way.
It was beautiful!! I’m so glad we did it. It was hard and very humbling, but so necessary as now we are unclogged of strongholds and things that were really robbing us from moving forward with God. As we prayed for each person, God gave me a lot of prophetic words for people. The same thing was happening to another girl on the school, she said as soon as she repented, she was getting all these words from God for the people we were praying for. Yay!





So now that we’re all clean and free and flowing in the Spirit....
what will next week hold??

Canada to Oz

My long and colourful journey to the other side of the world.....

JANUARY 4th

I’ve been awake for 24 hours with a 2 hour night’s sleep before that.
After the 2 hour Winnipeg airport adrenaline rush (my plane got cancelled! But then I got miraculously put on a standby flight!), I got to slightly chill and have a half-sleep on the plane to Vancouver.

I get to Vancouver at 10:30 am. My flight leaves Vancouver to San Francisco at 7:13 pm tonight, so I just gotta chill for a long time by myself, before I check in at 3:00.

I checked some emails and took advantage of the free wireless internet, but the whole time I was very sad!!! I was so sad! I enjoyed being with my family so much, being in a place where it was comfortable.... what was I doing!! Voluntarily going to Australia and places I don’t even know yet! And all by myself.
Here’s an intense concoction: add an emotional girl who is on the verge of excited tears thinking about her calling ahead of her, an emotional girl who is on the verge of thankful tears in the ways that God has brought in the funds for this trip, an emotional girl who loves her family and the feeling of holding them close, add the overwhelming thought of a year and a half away from them, and mix with two hours sleep.

So here I am, walking on eggshells in my soul, fragile in spirit, navigating my way through Van airport. I had lots of time, I wasn’t stressed, but I didn’t have the same spring in my step this time. Everything felt like a total deja vu, I had the exact same connections two years ago when I went to New Zealand. Had to pass the same statues, same baggage carousels, same restaurants, and the same intimidating US customs. They are so freaky and official! Going through the States customs is like you’re guilty until proven innocent.
You actually find yourself questioning in your head, “Wait, I didn’t pack a bomb, right?” They get you to take off your shoes, swab your laptop (“I didn’t have my laptop near any illegal drugs, did I?”), and are suspicious of a couple undrunk tablespoons of water in your water bottle. Anyway, I passed the security check (obviously) but I’m always really pleased that I’m actually NOT a criminal, as the US Customs makes you nervously question yourself.

So, next stop, San Francisco and then a tight connection (Only one hour to find my gate and board the jumbo jet for my overnight 15 hour plane to Sydney).
I find the gate for the plane to San Fran, but it’s 3:30 and it leaves at 7. Got some time.... I sleep for about an hour and a half with the white noise of children gently screaming and playing on the indoor play-structure.
I’m still really sad, missing my family already and really just wanting to hug and hold on to my parents.
At about 5 I hear the funny westjet clerks making jokes over the intercom system as their Maui plane is boarding... it has started to lightly snow in Vancouver, and “we’re so jealous, you lucky people are on your way to Hawaii!”. People laugh.

The snow doesn’t stop and now there’s a couple centimeters of snow outside. Our plane is changed from leaving at 7:13 to leaving at 8 pm. I check my tickets...wait, that means I only have 15 minutes to get off the plane in San Francisco, run down those kilometer long hallways to my gate, and board before my overnight ticket boards?? Umm..
Heart starts to quicken and adrenaline begins to be released from my adrenal medullae into my bloodstream. (A little physiology for you).
Okay God, how is this going to work.
I can still make it..... I still have 15 minutes...
I talk to the agents at the desk, and they are no ray of hope. One airplane skidded on the runway and a lot of planes are circling the air waiting to land. Because of that, a lot of flights are being delayed because the planes can’t land to release and board new passengers. I start praying, not giving in to the fear and anxiety that there is no reason for yet. One by one, Air Canada, West Jet, United Airlines get on the intercom and say that flights are delayed. The gates are packed with people and mumbling and a few angry passengers who can’t help but accuse the clerks and spew the poisonous words of a bitter, complaining customer “This always happens with United, I’m never using you guys again, where are our hotel vouchers....” It gets closer to 8 oclock and our plane still hasn’t arrived. At this point I am crying hot tears down my face, because I am going to miss my connection to go to Sydney, which means I’ll be at least a day later than when scheduled to arrive.

Why God!!?? You made a way just this morning, what now? There’s a blizzard outside and everything has stopped. I feel so not myself, very defeated, and unusual. I want to go to a corner somewhere and heave deep sobs as all this emotion has finally erupted and I just want to have a good solid cry. Instead, hot water streams silently from my eyes and I dab it with my ivory amsterdam scarf. The chinese women across from me hold their little jade idols, clasp their hands and pray to whoever they’re praying to. I’m reading Isaiah 40, but having no earthly idea how I will ever get to Australia on time!! Because it’s pretty much impossible now!

I want so badly to phone home, but I can’t call long distance from a payphone....and perhaps it isn’t best to work myself into more of a lather.

The airport announces that they are closed and there are no flights departing at this time on account of the conditions of the runways and the blizzardy snow. There is only one runway open.

I go up to the desk and explain my situation once more. The nice lady with the Polish accent tries to work something out, and I would end up one day later in Perth. If I can make it to San Francisco. This flight tonight isn’t “cancelled” yet, but gets postponed later and later. Tomorrow, there are no spots open to San Fran! And it will be even more hectic because of the people tonight that will have to squeeze on too! I have to get there to get to Sydney, but everything is at a stand still. I cry a little more and dab my eyes with my scarf. I’m stranded in Vancouver! If I can’t get out of Vancouver then it will be this terrible domino effect of missing connections and waiting for others! It could take days! I hear people around me saying that there’s going to be 20 cm of snow and that no one’s getting out of here. People are saying don’t get your hopes up, we’ll have to stay the night. I refuse to accept that. At least not yet. Okay God, what the heck!?

I go and sit down by an outlet to charge my laptop and want to write an email to mom and dad explaining this awful predicament when I hear some guy on the microphone say something about “....Sydney Australia.... immediately....”

!!!
???

Who said that? Where is he?
I find him, he’s an agent for Air Canada and he’s trying to arrange people to get on a direct flight to Sydney tonight. I’m on United Airlines... can I transfer over like that? I get in the line for it, which is unmoving and about six people long. There is a Malaysian mom talking to the agent and it looks like its going nowhere. He hands her a 1-800 number.

One flight gets cancelled, and people are more and more discouraged/frustrated.

I’m standing in line for a different airline, hoping with the lamest hope ever that I could get on that Air Canada flight Van to Sydney. When is it leaving? How soon is immediately?? Why is this line not moving?

One announcer announces that if any, the flights that are going off the continent are the ones that are going to get to go on the runway tonight. So North American flight passengers can pretty much focus on getting space on a flight tomorrow. My flight’s to San Fran... which is North America. There are no spaces tomorrow, so how am I going to get to Sydney. I am speaking in tongues under my breath while scoping everything out.

One girl booked with Air Canada gets a ticket for the direct flight to Sydney, the other doesn’t...what am I even doing in line? I felt like leaving when the girl in front of me’s ticket didn’t transfer, but I felt like I should stay in line, because I’m up next. Besides, my flight I’m checked in for has been postponed for another 3 hours. I don’t really have anything to lose. I tell him my story, and he says,
“Yeah, get United to switch you over to this flight. Immediately.”
“You can do that? Like, just switch airlines like that?”
“Under these conditions, yes.”

Could it be true? I run back to my United gate, there’s a huge lineup, but I got one of the clerk’s attention, and they were all hip-hoppity about it, like they were excited for me because it was such a sweet flight, and it’s direct, overnight, and I’d still catch my plane to Perth!
They trace my bags, and they’re actually in San Francisco en route to Perth. Taken care of there! Don’t need to worry about checking any baggage cause it’s already on the way.
They print out my new ticket, and give me what seem like secret instructions to get out of this place. They lead me through these glass doors that they swipe with a special card. They show me an escalator and a catwalk that leads me through to the international terminal check-in!

At that moment, when I am running above all the people and chaos, on my path to freedom and a new re-routed ticket, I am so shaken up, because God totally delivered me from what was an impossible situation. I started crying, but awe-filled crying, reverent and victorious and thankful tears! I have been pushed to the limit today, and God still made a way where I saw no way.
I started saying as I was swiftly running, “You KNOW!! You know God! YOU know and I don’t!” I am still in awe at how God worked that. Wow.

So I got my official ticket, went through security (Canadian security this time, way faster and easier) and took it easy for the few hours I had before my miracle plane left for Oz. I went to the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face, brushed my teeth, and got all freshened up. Ahhh. Felt so good. I got my second wind (or third or fourth...) and felt pumped. Definately did not feel that I had been up for 21 hours. I felt like I usually do about travelling and life and airports: fearless, enthusiastic, optimistic, calm.

So I get out of the bathroom and there’s a huge swarm of people at my gate and they’re talking in British-possibly-Aussie accents. Saying that the flight’s on stand-by and they don’t know when they’re going to leave.... there’s no set time, they just have to wait, maybe even tomorrow.

??!??

What!

No God! Nope, say it ain’t so! You would not do this all and then it come to this. I start speaking in tongues. Oh no, what if they leave in the morning? Then I won’t catch my Perth flight! Should I have stayed with United and not got them to switch it over? No, this makes no sense. God?

But this time, I feel like my usual self. Confident and peaceful about knowing the character of a God who moves planes for me, and gets me on to flights that everyone seems to be discouraged about. Frankly I don’t care what happens cause I know it’s gonna be good.

Well, turns out the swarm of people were on a plane destined for London, England. Two hours ago, they all got on the plane, but it never took off yet, because they were understaffed on stewardesses. The stewardesses are only allowed to work a certain max amount of hours in a day, and they needed a new crew because some of them would be maxed out. All the staff at Van Airport today were working overtime because of this unforeseen snowstorm. So the London people were asked to get off the flight and wait inside while they round up a new crew of pilots and stewardesses.

In the interim, a white-haired, fluffy-moustached, pink-skinned, positively jolly old British man sat next to me and was telling the people to his right about his times at the University of Sussex. I then moved to a plug outlet for my laptop and sat by this Canadian guy in his late 20s who was impressing his new found Australian friends about how much he knows about beer. He also uses ‘man’ as every second word. “Man Kokanee man is so gross, I told the man: buddy man, what is this beer made with man, sewer water, man?” (Australian teenagers laugh.)

Within the hour, an ovation arises from the jolly Brits as a fresh new crew comes and they all get on the plane and fly away. We board about an hour and a half later.... things are just taking a little longer because Vancouver is now reduced to one runway. The plane was originally supposed to leave at 11:50pm, but was delayed until 1:50 am, but now we’re just getting de-iced and rip roaring to go and it’s 3 am.

Originally it would have got us there at 10 am Jan 6th in Sydney, but now it will be more like 2 pm. Well praise God that I had such a long stop over in Sydney on my first itinerary, and my plane to Perth leaves Sydney at 5:50 pm!
Yay! I’ll still be able to make it!

Everything’s just working like clockwork isn’t it!?


JANUARY 6th

Sydney flight:
I had such a glorious sleep, there were so many spots open on the plane, I think because at least 50 people didn’t make connections from the snowstorm etc.

Turns out I had a whole 3 seats to myself, so I got chim-changed into my jim-jams and slept for 9 hours out of the 15 hour flight.

Sydney was blazing hot!! I hung out there for a while waiting to catch the plane to Perth. Got my plane, and got into Perth as scheduled at 9 pm on the 6th.


JANUARY 8th

One thing:
My baggage already started to get transfered to San Francisco, so when I took the AirCanada Van-Sydney, it wasn’t with me.
It’s still not with me actually, so I’ve been without my bags for about 24 hours. I’m glad I had the things I had in my carry-on... toothbrush, facecloth, pyjamas, and some girls were gracious to give me a sheet for my bed. It’s so hot here, that a sheet is almost too much.

I contacted the airlines today and apparently the bags are in Sydney now, but they have to clear customs and then get to Perth. Once at Perth, they will deliver them to the YWAM Base. Please pray that they get here tomorrow!!!

Okay, love you so much!