Lord, I give You my heart.

It’s all happening!!! The SPORTS DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING SCHOOL has arrived and is in full swing. We have 21 students from Canada, the USA, Turkey, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, England, Norway, and Holland. It’s been an absolute blast getting to know all of these guys. I’ve been loving the cultural differences… they definitely make for a laugh at times when there is miscommunication. But it’s also been great to see the way that this group in particular has been getting along and really becoming “mates” as they invest themselves into this school.

So our school works like this:

-          6 am is exercising time – we use this time to wake up for the day and to get a kick start into the morning ahead

-          8 am – all students and most staff clean the base for 30 min in different areas- we call it morning chores

-          8:30 am – worship/prayer times/or a school meeting

-          9:30 am – we give the students a ‘morning tea’ break til 10

-          10 am – we start our class sessions for the day

-          From 10-12:30 we have a speaker that will talk about a specific topic every day for one week. Tomorrow we will start learning about spiritual warfare and how to take fight the plans of the devil. We have thus far learned about –hearing the voice of God and spending time with the Lord, the character of God, repentance and forgiveness, and prayer and worship… It’s been sweet to see the students grow and really implement these things into their lives as they each grow in their relationship with God.

-          1:30 the students have work duties til 3:30 this is time for us as staff to be in staff class, staff meeting or catch up on work

-          3:30 – small groups, sport activity, class, evangelism or free time depending on the day

-          5:30 dinner!

-          Monday nights we have class after dinner

-          Tuesday nights we play sport In the community against other organized teams (I play soccer!)

-          Wednesday is our free night

-          Thursday is evangelism in the city

-          Friday night is where we have a meeting all together for worship and a message and fellowship after.

The weeks have been flying by… 

These students have been learning and growing so much, and it’s been incredible to watch them take ahold of their relationship with God and ask Him where to go and what to do. All of them have been taking this time seriously to focus and apply themselves and they’ve been able to see God move because of that. An example would be in the area of evangelism. Many of them have never told anyone about Jesus before coming here.. (I was like that too) But we have made very intentional efforts to go together into areas of the city and sing songs and be unapologetic about our faith in God. Not in a “bible bashing, I’m right and you’re wrong” kind of way, but in a way where we aren’t afraid to actually claim that we are believers. And because of this, many of the students have come to have great conversations with people. They have gotten to connect and share a little bit about who God is for them and this has made a real impact in the city of Perth, simply because they chose to step out in faith and not be silent. It’s amazing.

Some topics we have covered as a school are:

1.       Hearing the voice of God

2.       The Character and Nature of God

3.       Forgiveness and Sins week

4.       Worship and prayer

5.       Spiritual warfare

6.       God’s father heart

7.       The fear of the Lord

8.       Making Jesus Lord

All of these have been great, and our class is a really good group. I have seen God work in each one of their lives as we’ve had teachings and application of these topics… I have been especially blown away by God’s way of speaking to one of my students..He’s really been healing her past and showing her that there is so much more ahead of her. Many of these international students are feeling called to missions, which is so exciting! They are very talented and gifted young people and I’m really pumped for the way they will be used in the lives of others and in the nations!

Jesus has been taking me through a very close and detailed season. I am being challenged in my identity and taking it on as I feel God shows me new things about myself. I have recognized it necessary to lay down my reputation and take up my identity in God in order to find real security… this has been a huge thing for me as I have staffed this school. Accepting who I am and accepting who I’m not and then taking on the call of God and drive forward so that He can use me! It’s been a sweet freedom to experience. I have also been challenged to give up things I want to see happen, in order to make Jesus the king over my life. This, I am still learning how to do, but God has never once left me alone, which I couldn’t be more thankful for. So I’m growing a lot!!

Lastly, I have been appointed as a Co-leader to take a team of 11 to Cambodia, Thailand, and Southeast Asia. We will be working with children and aim to use sports as a ministry tool to connect with the kids. We will also be doing evangelism!

Financial update: God has been so good and faithful to provide a whole heap of all that I am needing. I had an amount of $3,500 of need to go on outreach and He has been really moving as I’ve prayed and obeyed and provided almost three quarters of that! I have a current need of $925 and I am putting my faith in God to see that all come in about a week and a half. We have been doing car washes and hot dog selling to raise finances on the weekends, and we will be doing a run/leap-frog-a-thon in about a weeks’ time. If God is moving on your heart to give towards this outreach, you can e-mail me at erikasimpkins@gmail.com and I’ll let you know how you can do that!

Christmas….. it’s just around the corner! It’s hard to imagine a Christmas where there’s no snow, but I’m adapting to the turnaround in climates. We have been getting weather recently in the upper 70’s and 80’s and will almost definitely have a really hot Christmas. I will miss the snow and all my friends and family, but I can‘t say the beach doesn’t sound nice. J

Thank you again for all of your prayers and generosity. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without you, and because of your investing into this mission and what God is doing on this side of the world, there is much more fruit that is produced for His kingdom!

It's all for Jesus.

These last 2 months could be simply summed up like this: Full and fun with family.

To have a close relationship with my sister has been one of the biggest treasures in my life, but after spending these last 3 months with Molly here in Australia, I would say I feel like I’ve been given gold.

As an outsider getting to watch Molly really invest herself here in YWAM, it’s clear that God has changed her heart in so many ways. If you know her, you might know that she is very strong willed and one-minded in her way of thinking. She’s used this to be an incredibly bold leader in her years of growing up, but it’s also caused her to maybe fall a bit harder than she would have like. Over these last 3 months, Molly has been in class learning more about who God is, and what that means for her own life. There were topics like God’s character, what is repentance and forgiveness?, how do we worship God?, God as our Lord and Saviour, and God’s Father heart. As she has met and engaged with God during these times, her heart has become much softer in a sense that she is more open in her ways of thinking. She’s still Molly with a fireball of an attitude, but there is definitely a new recognition of listening to other people that she has begun to put into practice. As well, I think she has really changed in a way where she sees there is a lot of things she wants to see change about herself, and her desire to see that happen has really come out. I love that her and I can be open with each other and share the things that we’re dealing with (like attitudes or problems with people, or situations) and encourage and pray with one another. What a gift that is!! We also had a lot of fun as well. We went on a camping trip together with her sports crew and it started to rain in the middle of the night. She needed my shoes, and I didn’t let her borrow them so after she came back into the tent, she stepped on my pillow with her wet sock, which fueled a bit of a frenzy at 3 am…. But made up eventually :)

Evangelism

Personally, I have been really been stepping out more in evangelism. I mentioned in my last blog how I felt like God was really challenging me to be more active in this area, and I feel that since,  there have been a number of scenarios that I’ve had the opportunity to be bold and say something to someone.  Now they haven’t really been all people that I just randomly go up to and talk to.. they are more so people that I feel are highlighted to me when I have been out and about. I want to share some of them with you:

I was running to the grocery store down the street just a couple weeks ago and I was in a hurry to get home before the sun went down. As I was running, a very old man came into my sight, and I almost came to a complete stop and I just knew I had to pray for him. I got over my fear quickly, and just went up to him honestly and said, “Hello, I’m Erika, and I just felt like God told me to pray for you”. And He said, “Who?” And I said “God.” He said “Ohhh, God!” He accepted my request to pray and actually share with me that his knee has been making it hard to him to walk. So I had the chance to just chat with him and encourage him a little bit. His name is Peter. Little did I know, a couple weeks later I would run into Peter again on the way to the store.  I asked him how he was doing and he seemed to be doing well. We got into quite a conversation where he shared with me a bit more about where he’d come from and about his life. He’s from Yugoslavia and he used to be in the army there. I really felt like him and I had made friends. He also knows I work with missions and tell people about God and he thinks that it’s good so that’s cool!

Another one was an Indian Sikh woman who I felt to pray for while she was waiting for the bus. We were chatting for while and I told her I was a Christian and she wanted to receive prayer, although she is of the Sikh religion (Similar to muslim I think). She said in their culture it is always a good thing when a stranger comes and asks them to pray for them…. So that was really sweet as well!

The last one I’ll share happened today actually. I was in town and I turned a corner to find the sweetest old woman who was shaking in a wheelchair with a sign next to her explaining she has M.S. and any generosity would be appreciated.  At first my heart just stopped. I later went around the corner to ask the Lord what I should do, if anything. It was so sad! So I just started to pray for her and her life. After that, I went over to her and introduced myself and I felt to tell her how deeply loved and cared for she is. And to my surprise she replied something like this: “Thank you. I know God loves me, and I know He’s looking after me. Things are starting to look up for me.” She told me that the police have a place for her to stay at the moment and she is waiting to be moved into a place that takes care of people with disabilities. My heart actually melted as I talked with her. She had so much hope in her eyes, and I was encouraged myself by her ability to remain in a hopeful state being as she is. I did feel to give her some money, which she very thankfully received. But it was by far the best part of my day. There was so much love shared.

^If there is one thing I have learned about this, it's that God will always lead you. Even if you're scared. If you say "God I'm willing to step out and make a difference for you, will you show me how?" He will not set you up to fail. He will put the right people in your path who you can offer something to. God is so committed to seeing the lost found that He will lead you through the whole thing. Just an encouragement if you feel like this is an area you're being challenged in.

Street chaplains have been going well. It’s always an adventure in the night club scene from the hours of 9pm-4am. And I’ve seen a lot of action….been challenged in a lot of ways, but it’s definitely been a highlight of my work here. I love getting my hands dirty..even if that means cleaning up vomit off someone who had one too many :)

WHAT I’M DOING AT YWAM NOW:

If you remember in my last blog, I wrote about how I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to give myself and my time to. Well, prayer has been answered, and I am excited to announce that I will be a staff on the October Sports Discipleship Training School (DTS) that will run from October-April 2013. 6 months of learning and training, class, mentoring, playing sports, and going into the nations and sharing the gospel. In a nutshell, that is what we will do but there are a lot of things that play into this 6 months. I know that I shared last year about the Music DTS that I was on staff with---where  we used music as a tool to share Jesus with people, and make a lot of noise! This year (as I love sports just as equally as music), I have been led to staff the DTS with a sports focus. I’m excited. So this is what Molly is doing, only her DTS started in July and she was at our base for 3 months of training and is now on Outreach to (Northern Australia to work with Aboriginal communities, and then her team will head to Uganda in a few weeks).

I will be staffing alongside 3 of my friends Bridget, Luke and Jason, and Jason and Luke are co-leading the School together. I’m pumped!  We’ve made a short video to send to our (about 20) students coming…kind of an “introductory, can’t wait til you’re here, this is gonna be awesome” kinda thing.

If you’re interested in watching this 1 minute clip, this is it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Y4gNfuoeo&feature=player_embedded

Bridget isn’t in it, sadly, but she’s still all in.

There’s also profiles on our website you want to read about us J

http://www.ywamperth.org.au/sports/?staff

I anticipate a lot of changes coming (some have already begun):

--Waking up earlier…. 5am…aaaahh and then begin with morning exercise as a group at 6 am.. woo!

--a lot of “go go go” mentality

--stepping up as a leader and fulfilling the role God is calling me to

--challenges, situations where I won’t know the answers

--I’ll be a lot more busy

--Exciting times….getting to mentor and champion students in their relationship with God as well as getting to disciple them as they learn and grow and discover!!! I’m so excited.

--Lots of fun, crazy, spontaneous moments…

--Lots that I will learn!! Always good.

****The thing I need to keep my eye on is Jesus..  the most important thing is that Jesus is in the center and I am depending on Him to make everything happen.  ßIf there is any prayer on my heart it is just that! And that I will stay humble always as I serve.

Thank you so much for your support. I need you to know that I wouldn’t be in the place I am if it weren’t for your prayers, your financial help, and encouragement in all that God’s doing in my life. I’m so grateful and thankful, and it makes me all the more excited to continue moving forward knowing I’m in the right place and I’ve got people to affirm over me as well.

                                                                                                                                             

"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 hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11

A Piece of Perth.

Home sweet home and then back again just like that! 

I was so incredibly blessed to have gotten the chance to come home to spend 5 weeks with my family and friends in Minnesota. It was so fun. I got to see lots of people, go to heaps of parties, I saw my cousin get married as well as my friend from high school, which were both exciting. A highlight was definitely eating such good american food that I don't get over here...I got to catch up with people, and spend some quality time with the ones I love, especially my sisters and my parents which was really special. I had a really really refreshing break, and I'm really thankful for that special time =)

And since I have arrived back in Perth, life has been pretty much done a 180 as far as keeping busy goes. I've jumped straight back into ministry again, and have been involved in quite a few things over the past 4 weeks. Some of those have included: taking on the direct mail for our base...which may sound simple, but it's actually covering all of the communication with people outside of our base. We take care of all the special cases for mail that comes in...covering a variety of forms with different scenarios, and we make sure all of our information in our database is accurate and always up to date. It took us 2 weeks to train into this position.. and I think I'm starting to get a hang of it. It was a bit of a challenge to take on this new role with willingness, but I had a change of heart when I recognized the way that this serves our base and why we need to communicate with people outside of YWAM. So I am serving the best I can in this time of need.. although it's not my passion, I know that God is still using it to teach me many things I've never understood before. 

I also got straight back into street chaplains. I went out about a week ago during the weekend shift (9pm-4am ) on Saturday night. And I was really pretty pumped up about the night after I got back. I was able to assist 2 individuals who were vomiting and needed someone to clean them up, and sit with them, offered another girl a bit of council, and gave away 2 pairs of flip flops to girls who were needing shoes. Along with these situations were conversations that sparked an interest in many people's heads. They often ask "why are you guys doing this?" And we just say because we're here to help. And it speaks a lot about the love of God without being forward and preachy. It's quite a sweet ministry and I'm really excited to be a part of it.

One thing that I feel that God has been doing in my heart lately is giving me a greater heart for the lost. Evangelism in everyway has been stirring inside of me as something to be putting into practice on a daily basis. It's so simple, yet we make it so twisted and complicated and awkward. At least I do. We went out as a base a few weeks ago, and I paired up with Gabi Norman (one of mine and my sisters' friend from back home who is also here doing a DTS). We saw these 2 aboriginal girls sitting in the park with their dog. We both felt to go and talk to them and so we did. The conversation was really tough to get going, as I found out they were around the ages of 10 and 12, which is so young to be out in the city alone at!! We asked them if they wanted to walk over to McDonald's and get an ice cream cone with us, and they both smiled and said yes. They were both pretty apprehensive but they definitely opened up as we continued to pursue them. I could tell the older one was really hard hearted and at the end when we walked them home, we asked them if we could pray for them, and they said, "yeah pray for a better life". I'm still thinking about that, because it means she knows there is so much more, but doesn't believe she'll ever get there. So we prayed, and said good night to them. 

After this, there have been more people that the Lord has high lighted to me to remind me that there is so much work to be done before Jesus returns. God wants EVERYONE to know Him, and there are still so many unsaved souls walking around right in my own neighborhood and yours too! I saw a homeless guy eating out of a garbage can over the weekend, as well as young girls who were inappropriately dressed and having a smoke of a cigarette, and my heart was just getting so burdened for the lost of this world!! I see how much opportunity is in front of us every single day and we let it slip away from us because of fear or awkwardness, when really we have nothing to lose! Just something to think about... we have an absolutely invaluable gift to share with the world, and it's up to us to think outside of ourselves and go. 

The Olympics has been on my heart too...very massively. I feel moved to pray for this time as SO many people from countries all over the world gather in London. There is incredible opportunity for change to happen, and for God's hand to do something huge...and so I would encourage anyone who recognizes this as well to really press in in the place of prayer for London, and for the people there in this time. We have teams there at the moment, and we have a team focusing in on trafficked women in this city over this period of time... they definitely need more prayer behind their ministry so keep them in your prayers.

One thing I NEED TO say is that I LOOOVE having my sister, Molly here. She's amazing, and it's been so much fun to hang out and live in the same city, and work in the same place every day. She's golden,and she's learning SO much. She pulls me aside from time to time to just spill about how things are going, ask for advice, tell me a story, or to just pester me as little sisters do.. and it's been just a ball. We haven't had tons of time together because she's pretty busy with her Discipleship Training School, but I've loved our little moments here and there. There's also a friend from church here, named Amada, and Gabi as well who I mentioned earlier. It's a cool thing to have people you know well be with you across the world for a time... I like it.

Lastly, I have been really looking ahead into the future and trying to figure out what is the vision I have... one thing you could pray for is that I would see clearly what God is calling me to do and asking of me in this time. I'm definitely here and loving it, but I'd love to know more and get an idea of what I'm working towards this next year. 

Just want to send a thank you for all of you who made coming home an amazing time. It was such a lovely and special time and I'm so grateful to have gotten to spend it with so many outstanding people. And I'm looking forward to hearing from you this next year as I'm away, as well as sharing with you what happens next!! 

Love,

Erika

Shadowfeet.

"Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
towards home, a land that i've never seen
I am changing; less and less asleep
made of different stuff than when i began
And I've sensed it all along
fast approaching is the day"

These are words from a song written by Brooke Fraser..It talks a lot about facing difficult times, or situations where we can't seem to find our next steps forward. 

I should explain how this relates to the last month or so of my life here. 

THINGS ARE GOOD. I couldn't be more grateful to be where I am..learning all that I am and growing more than I would have ever dreamed.

I've been working on a few projects. Doing odd jobs around the base where I am needed. I have pursued getting my license to drive YWAM's vehicles, so there's been a new driver on the left side of the road in this neck of the woods. I think the safety of Australian's dropped a little bit. Just kidding! But I do have to be more cautious when I drive over here. I recently also got the privilege of working in a ministry called ARMS, which stands for Australian Relief and Mercy Services. It is a ministry that  our base runs and what we do is go into different homes around the city of Perth and we help the families. Usually they are families in crisis, that are in the middle of some messy situations and need a bit of help. I went on around 9 cases throughout those two weeks. I did a variety of things ranging from yard work, cleaning bathrooms, de-cluttering houses, and so on. It's a really sweet way to reach out to people because they really do need the help and it shows them selfless love. We worked at a house with a pregnant mom who didn't have a husband there to help her, and she was due soon, and the baby had a pretty intense heart condition. Being there for her meant so much, so that was really cool to see. I also was able to watch an older woman's heart get a bit softer as we helped her throw away junk that she was storing, and deep clean her little apartment. I could see God was touching her, especially when we would pray with her. 

I've also had the opportunity to drive up north 4 hours to a town called Geraldton and work at a service camp for 8th graders. What a week that was!

I had forgotten what it was like to be 13 again until we pulled up with our bus Monday morning for brekky (that's aussie for "breakfast") with the students. It didn't take long to fully emerse myself into their world of "pre-teenage" life...There was lots of laughter, tears, loud singing, story-telling and memory making. They were great! I worked with a group of 6 girls. Together, we raked up a cemetery, exercised with old people, cleaned the outside of a fitness center, helped sort out a disaster relief organization, painted a church, and other projects around the city to help out. It was really cool to watch the girls responding to the act of service. I don't actually know how many of them had done anything like that before to help our their community, so it was good for them to be on this end of serving! At first they were a bit rambunctious and it took awhile to really get them to focus and work. But towards the end of the week, they were really enjoying themselves and they found serving to be fun. We would have a little night teaching every night for them, where our group would do a skit, and then share stories from our lives, and then teach a little bit. This part was so important for them to really latch on to because it's where they would get the understanding they're searching for. I had the opportunity to share a little bit about how I have struggled with comparing myself with other people throughout my life, and I remember really specifically doing it during their age. I was able to speak about how God has created each one of them uniquely with something DIFFERENT to contribute, and how it's beautiful to embrace that. Each night was a different theme and at the mid mark of the week we shared the gospel.. it was presented very well with a non-pushy way. Many of them had questions regarding Jesus, and one of the girls in my group actually opened up a LOT that night. She flat out just said: "I WANT to be a christian, but I just don't know HOW!" She had already been telling me about her struggles with anger and how it's so hard for her to be nice when she feels so mad about the smallest things that people can say to her. And so I was able to gently explain how God doesn't want her to have to experience anger all the time or feel like she needs to be perfect in order to be in a relationship with God. In the end, I prayed with her and lead her to the Lord! Praise God! Her name is Emily, and she is an amazing girl :) That was probably my highlight for the week, among many other crazy encounters with these nutty 13 year olds. 

[CHORUS:]

when the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and the mountains fall on their knees
when time and space are through
I'll be found in you

I wanna quickly share about this bit of the chorus here.. 

I have gained a lot of revelation from it after reflecting on the things I am battling personally at the moment. Sometimes we are thrown circumstances that we don't have fully understanding of. Or we're dealing with things that we don't always know how to get through, or life is just really difficult and it seems like making it through the day is a victory in itself. No matter how big or small, we all have battles that we're facing...and in the middle of fighting a battle, one might have trouble finding which step to take next. This can be a quite a scary zone to be caught in...however we haven't been given a spirit of fear. Our God is able. Our God over comes..our God already HAS the victory. These three statements have been lines I have been repeating in my head over and over, and from them, I am able to place my confidence in my God, which then gives me confidence in who I am..and I can again see the victory as something possible. 

That is seriously the prayer that's on my heart at this time. I do face hard days over here. Life is great, but it's not easy. However, I have found no greater joy and peace than when I run into the arms of my Father and stand on the ground that He placed in front of me. I don't wanna be found anywhere else, but in Him, the One who knows all and sees all...the One who is more involved in the battle than we are.. and the One who know exactly what He's doing.

There's distraction buzzing in my head
saying in the shadows it's easier to stay
but I've heard rumors of true reality
whispers of a well-lit way

A couple things to pray for as I close:


-That I would know greater closeness with God at this time
-That I would understand the steps He is instructing me to take as I wait on Him
-Patience
-Financial Provision and breakthrough
-Refreshment & fullness of all God has




I'm coming home on Wednesday... and I can't wait to see everyone!!

For my reward is bringing glory to You.

“I wanna take your word and shine it all around, but first help me just to live it Lord…”

This time of year there is so much to be thankful for; Seasons changing, beautiful weather, lots of chocolate, seeing family and friends and most importantly celebrating the new life and the new hope that we’ve been given. As I reflect on this past month or so and the variety and flavor of things I had my hand in, I praise God for entrusting me with new things to carry. And I am so thankful that I don’t have to carry them alone.

Some of those things haven’t been easy or the most desirable, but when we’re all here to serve, sometimes we won’t get the loveliest of jobs. I will rewind back to March, where we as a base were just entering our new building. There was a lot of deep cleaning that needed to get done before we could really start moving everything in. So, most of us got down on our hands and knees, and scrubbed our little hearts out. Others were finishing up the actual building of our property, and some did paperwork and necessary communication in order to run. We all pitched in and even put in extra hours to see completion come sooner. It was a very intense time, but the fact that every person showed up spoke volumes to me about the commitment and devotion to seeing God’s kingdom come here to Perth. I forget that we are all volunteers, and could be doing other things, and it amazes me how many people are investing themselves here.  It’s pretty cool. Another thing I was a part of was serving breakfast for international meetings that our base hosted. These are some very well known and well respected leaders in different parts of the world, and we were privileged to have them come and stay with us for 2 weeks time. I’m not sure if I have explained our value of hospitality, but we set the standard very high…which is good, but that also means we work hard to make sure our guests are happy. My team of 7 would be at the base at the crack of 6 am and sometimes 5:30 to start preparations for breakfast. As fun as that time was, I hope I don’t have an opportunity to help with something that messes with my sleep for a long time.  There was a lot of people that were around at that time as well, so craziness was just in the air!

                More recently I have been helping with the pursuit of partnering with mining companies around the area of Perth, as there are many. Because we are a non-profit organization, we are always looking for donations of any kind, and we feel if we can really communicate who we are and what we do to these places, there might be some very generous donations and some regular partnership, which would be sweet---and really, more people would be supporting the Kingdom of God..I like looking at it from that perspective. I don’t have much experience at speaking with businesses, so asking for money for our organization intimidates me quite a bit, but I’m learning to jump in and embrace the challenge.

STREET CHAPLAINS: I know I talked about this in my last update… how I have joined a ministry called street chaplains. They go out into the city during the hours of 9pm-4am on the weekends to be a light and provide care and help for people in need. We are partnered with the police so we help them if they need assistance in fights or helping people get home and other sorts.  So, I have finished my training and am now a certified street chaplain. I went out about a month ago on an observation training, and my eyes were astounded at what I saw. There is an incredibly high level of alcohol consumption, girls in way too short of dresses and super tall heels, men obnoxiously yelling,  and too many unnecessary fights breaking out that could have been prevented. People are empty inside and so they go out at night to satisfy that emptiness, only to make some stupid choices, and wake up regretting those choices the next say. I sat with a guy about my age, who had one too many to drink, along with the other chaplains, and just waited for him to sober up. I helped him throw up, and patted his back making sure my shoes didn’t get decorated in the process. But as I was sitting there, I realized how important it was that we were there. We didn’t tell him he needed to stop drinking, or judge him in any way, but we provided care and support because he needed it. And he will remember the people in the purple polos that say “street chaplains” as people who simply wanted to help… it’s an absolutely incredible way to witness the love of Christ without words. It also speaks a lot to bystanders who would normally just point and laugh at this guy. God uses us for so much more than we realize if we let him I’m so honored to be a part of such a great ministry to make a difference in the city of Perth.

Here is a picture of our lovely bunch-----

 

WORSHIP—I have joined the worship team here at Youth with a Mission, as well as our 24/7 Worship and prayer room. I will be singing for the team at our Monday morning worship times, as well as for our Friday Night Meeting services (they are like our church services open to the public). And I am also aiming to lead an hour slot on vocals and keyboard during the week in our worship and prayer room. I am really super stoked about this---it’s been a long time since I have been able to use my passion for music on a weekly basis… and I have had lots of revelation about the gifting of God and to use them for His glory, my own motivations for wanting to sing have lessened and lessoned and I couldn’t be more excited to glorify God with the musical abilities and love for music that He has given me! It’s truly a gift—and to be able to draw people into God’s presence is something I am really keen on doing and learning.

ENDURANCE- I have been learning lately about endurance: What does it mean to keep going even when you don’t feel like it? When you can’t make sense of emotions or understand everything, it’s often a bit more difficult to do things with a joyful heart and spirit. Since we have entered our new base and are now occupying it, the excitement and celebrations has sort of eased a bit. Our hard work is done mostly done, but I think a lot of people are feeling like taking a bit of a break… I know I am. But I’m learning to keep serving where there is help needed, and to keep putting my hand up, even when I don’t really want to… Jesus suffered a lot more than I am now, and I’m not even really suffering.. but He tells us that if we want to follow Him we will share with Him in His suffering. And now as it being Easter I think of all that Jesus did for me… taking sin and dealing with it all on the cross so that I would no longer need to turn back to it and live in bondage, but experience freedom, it puts things back into perspective for me. He is worthy! No matter what I feel or see or am going through, He is worthy of me giving Him everything that I am physically, mentally and emotionally, and willingly able to offer.

EASTER:

He is Risen!  Yes He has.. Easter is one of my favorite times of year! So much celebrating! Usually, for Easter I am at home with my family, and I sing in the choir with my dad.. which is kind of a special thing =) and then my whole family gets together and we do easter egg hunts and the kids (me included) play a game with each other, and it’s just good fun! Lots of laughing and eating sweets…and there’s a feeling in the air I reckon, that I can only sense when it’s Easter time. We had an Easter lunch here at our base on Friday. We had a message from our leader, Caleb. He talked about Easter being a time of hope, love and faith. I’d have to agree. I find hope in the new life and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour.. that hard times shall pass when we hope in Him.. it’s also a time of love, where we recognize how much He truly loved us because of what He  gave up. It moves me to think of that when I see how undeserving I am of eternal life. But that’s how good of a Father our God is and because of His love, He chose to give up His perfect son. Thank you Lord! And Easter is a time of faith. Where we can look to God in faith because of His power and glory. We trust in Him alone to bring us through even greater things yet to come. Praise the Lord for He is good. His merciful love endures forever!

“….And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown, for my reward is bringing glory to you.”

This quote is a verse from a song that I’ve been playing all day. Written by Keith Green, and sung by Jesus Culture, it’s really powerful --- it reminds me why I do what I do.. and who gets the glory for it... Let us all glorify Him in all that we do!  If you’re keen to have a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1D9AKqoSIU

Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now.

Time flies when you’re having a ball…it also seems like ages when pushing for something that feels like it will never come. There’s also those lulls where no excitement takes place, and then just as rest begins to get a little too friendly, right before your very eyes, you’re back in the action.

 

I’ve felt a bit like all of the above has been true for me over this past month. As a whole base of about 300 people, we’ve been working together relentlessly towards finishing our new property that we will officially own. We’ve got so many inexperienced yet servant-hearted people around who have been willing to give their time so freely to see this project come to completion. It’s amazing how far one’s will can take them…it’s a miracle by the hand of God that this place looks as amazing as it does, as well as what a testimony it is that all different types of people can be used to do something they may have never thought they’d be able to pull off.

Here’s a little video of the building… enjoy ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC9DTLv9XaY

One more cool thing I feel to share about this place is this:

In late 2010 I was praying about where to go next after I finished serving in Mexico City. I felt that I home was my next move, but I had a few random dreams about walking through this building made of tons of glass. I can describe to you one vivid picture of walking up the stairs and looking down from the top, being able to see almost the entire building. When I woke up, I felt like God had given me a vision of what the new base might be like, having absolutely no idea what the floor plan or layout looked like. A whole year later, I was moving some boxes walking up this new building and looked down for the first time, and was instantly taken back to this dream that I had in Mexico. How crazy is that? God showed me a little picture of my future…even though I didn’t realize it at the time!!

I’ve been personally growing in a lot of ways. This past month or so, I feel like I’ve really been establishing myself here in this organization, finding where my contribution lays, as well as pursuing more people who are a part of this family.. and God has been so faithful in really making this place a home for me. ..and it’s not just a statement that I have to repeat in my head anymore to make myself believe that I’m supposed to be here, but it’s a real sense of belonging that I have, and I feel like this is home. And as hard as it is to be away from my family, I recognize the incredible personality and character that surrounds me, and I couldn’t be more thankful. I thought it was a good idea to start a prank war with one of the guys houses down the street… I’ve quickly changed my mind about that now, as they have stolen my water guns and plotted some scheme to annihilate us.

I’ve also joined this ministry in the city called “Street Chaplains”. It is a ministry that has teamed up with the police here in Perth, and on the weekends, the Christians will go out into the city in pairs of two----and from 9pm until 4am they walk around the streets and just help people where there is a need. The majority of the work they do is helping defenseless intoxicated girls, breaking up fights, assisting if first aid is needed, pulling out the vomit bags once in awhile, or just sitting and striking up conversation where there would be an opportunity to minister. It’s really just giving pastoral care to the community in a practical, yet totally different way. God has used it to do a lot of work in the city at those hours…and I see the heart that says, “Just because most people are sleeping at that time, God doesn’t.” It’s an incredible way to reach out to people in need and really minister God’s by just simply caring. I have my first observation this Saturday and I’m pretty stoked about it!

As I was saying earlier… this past month has felt like a whirlwind of emotional ups and downs… definitely great time and incredible amounts of growth, but the ride has been pretty wild. It’s taken my full focus, and heart to really gage each day and maximize it to my best.. There have been moments where I’ve felt pretty discouraged or disheartened, thinking “will this ever happen..” (This was I think a lot of people’s feelings when our base took weeks to get approved).I’m learning it’s not wrong to feel  a bit dull and dry sometimes, but it just means I need to keep pressing on and looking forward because God says there is wonderful joy ahead. And that reminds me that I don’t store my treasures here on earth, but I look for them above.. and I thank God as He stretches my capacity to understand how to be more like Him, and take on more and more weight with a joyful spirit. He is good.

"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." 1 Peter: 6-7

I am also aiming to start fund raising for finances to come home in June for a few weeks... to see family, friends, and be there for my sisters graduation...if you could be praying into that for me, I'd definitely appreciate it!

Come Thou Fount.

As I sit down to write, the lyrics of this song "Come thou fount" really speak to me, especially thinking back to these past couple months...


               "Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
               tune my heart to sing thy grace;
               streams of mercy, never ceasing,
               call for songs of loudest praise.
               Teach me some melodious sonnet,
               sung by flaming tongues above.
               Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
               mount of thy redeeming love.


                 Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
               hither by thy help I'm come;
               and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
               safely to arrive at home.
               Jesus sought me when a stranger,
               wandering from the fold of God;
               he, to rescue me from danger,
               interposed his precious blood.


From July until now, my life has been pretty face paced go-go-go every day---
being a staff leader on this Discipleship Training School..

Looking back, I could have never pictured actually doing what I just did;
From July-September--- (Our training portion in Perth with a group of 40 young adults)
Waking up at 5 am, 6 am exercise, 7:15am staff prayer and meeting, 8 am morning chores,
8:30 worship 9:30 class until 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm mentoring, class, prayer, preparations, 5:30 pm dinner, 7:30 small groups, more class, evangelism, services, or free nights (tend to be mixed) and then crashing into bed around 11 pm.... really takes a toll on a person.

And then from October- December----(Our outreach portion with 9 of us in total.. taking place in Australia, Myanmar and Thailand)
6 am waking up and praying, preparing for the day with my co-leader, 8 am team meetings/chores/ worship, and then doing ministry for the day until after dinner.. and even late into the night some nights.


That is definitely a schedule I couldn't even anticipate to understand until I actually put myself inside of it and lived it... and by the grace of God, here I am.
These last 6 months have brought with them some of the most difficult, challenging moments of my life..  as I have been entrusted into a position of leadership. I had no idea what it meant to be a leader, until I was asked to be one. In those first 3 months, I learned so much about responsibility; understanding what I'm meant to be doing, setting my mind to it, and being faithful to follow through with it--- HUGE life lessons that I'll never forget.

My second 3 months, I learned so much about a righteousness and integrity. Being entrsuted with the lives of 8 people plus myself, as a 19 year old, traveling to 3 different leaders and me oon the front lines was pretty mind boggling for me. During those 3 months, there were moments, where I'd be asked to make an important decision, and lo and behold I didn't always know what to do. Those were the moments where I really learned what it meant to trust God, and actually put that verb into practice. There were also times where my patience was tested some people on my team wouldn't necessarily do what I'd asked them to do, or communicate things with me in the kindest manner. I was really put to the test, yet thankfully by God's grace, I passed and am writing to you about it!

I love how that verse talks about mercies never ceasing and being redeemed by God's love. I feel that was and is a daily reality for me as new challenges come, I try them out, make mistakes, try again, make more mistakes, and then by the end of the day I'm still saved by grace and love.. which compels me to try again tomorrow.

I have learned heaps about communication as well...
-How to communicate rightly
-How to communicate the point trying to be made
-How to communicate and relate to the person
-Remembering to communicate something that seems so small, one might not even think it needs to be communicated
-Communicating out of love for the person communicating with

There was a point in Thailand, where I woke up one morning and I thought to myself "If this is what being married and having kids is like... I don't know if I'll ever make it to that day". Of course I'm joking, but these lessons listed above have quite a few stories attached to them, meaning things weren't always a cake walk. However, with the help of Jesus, we were conquerors.

We got back to Perth, and I was pretty spent, I will not lie. And then we had a week of processing with each other, prepping the students to go home, and then saying goodbye.. which is never easy, especially when you've built strong friendships throughout the time. But there is a season for everything, and ours had to come to an end at some point. I'm thrilled to know that God has His hand on each person from our class, and they are all going to serve him in some way or another, whether that is to go home and go to school and get involved in their church ministries, or go somewhere else in the world to do relief work, to stick around in Youth With a Mission in Perth... etc.. I'm honored to have been given the opportunity to be a part of their lives.

Things have been slowly starting to make more sense as I have settled back down at our base in Perth.
This past month I have been back with our ministry team that focuses on developing our property. Our goals are to raise funds in whatever ways we can for the base..So that means calling companies and asking for donations of a financial gift or free or discounted supplies that we may need. I have been delegated the task of searching for paper towel dispensers, soap dispensers, and steel brushed waste bins for our new property and finding sweet deals for these things. As well, I have been in contact with a few companies about getting the best price on steel that will be used for “flashing”---this metal that covers the top and edges of walls so the sheet rock doesn’t show. I’m learning quite a bit about construction too. . which is really cool because I feel I’m taking after my dad’s heart a bit. This building project is a miracle at work I tell ya.. We’ve got so many unexperienced international volunteers who have stepped up to the plate and it given it their best effort.. And it’s been amazing to see how a vision transforms into a physical reality… as we have worked so hard on this beautiful building.. I will post pictures when it’s done because it really is gorgeous.
I’ve been praying a lot about this year in 2012.. and I keep getting this sense that this year in 2012 is gonna be a really big one, filled with lots of change, challenge, new things, and lots of fun.  A few goals of mine are:
-          To really step up as a leader…being bold, unafraid, and ready for anything
-          To take the word “responsibility” very seriously, being faithful in following through with the small things
-          To remain in a position where I’m eager to learn and keep growing.. being teachable and humble.
-          Really seeking after God’ s voice and following Him as He leads me into becoming the woman He designed me to be.
-          To enjoy this year.
And so far.. I’ve been really pleased with how things have been going.. I see that I really have nothing holding me back. And I’m really truly experiencing what it’s like to live life to the FULL… and it’s the best place I’ve ever been in.
My prayer for you all this year is that God’s presence touches you in those quiet moments of your day. May you find peace and rest in Him. Be blessed abundantly … and may He use you to glorify His name in everything you do.

        O to grace how great a debtor
        daily I'm constrained to be!
        Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
        bind my wandering heart to thee.
        Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
        prone to leave the God I love;
        here's my heart, O take and seal it,
        seal it for thy courts above."


All glory to God! May His love compel us to love beyond our own understanding. Halleluah! Amen!