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??