Hi All,
I'm sorry this blog will have to be very short but Christmas at Perth was wonderful. We had three amazing days of presents, buffets, and Christmas parties. When we woke up on CHristmas morning we had stockings with presents from each other. Then, we had a huge meal with really great food for all 300+ of us. We also had a huge gift-exchange with all of us in it. I got a frisbee that I won't be able to use.
I'll be flying out to Jakarta today. Pray for us as we are traveling. We'll be flying out 8:00pm Perth time.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
People I Will Miss...
As we prepare to leave this week for Jakarta, we all have been excited about seeing the impact God will make through us in that city. One thing we haven't been looking forward to is being apart. I've made many friends here. Some of them closer than others and its strange that I will not see them for three months.
Our whole school will be divided into different teams and be sent to different areas of Jakarta. We will all see each other at one or maybe two events but for the most part we will be totally separated. We'll only have a week after our trip to be together once again and to tell everyone about all that happened. I wanted to take time to write about the people I will miss.
First of all I will miss all the guys in my dorm room. There is fourteen of us in a small classroom sized room with seven bunk beds. Our dorm is the best because of all the different personalities in it. We talk sometimes up to 12:00am, our conversation, as you can guess, is guy talk mixed in with a lot of locker room humor. Most of us all have nick-names, mine is "Grandpa". I got my nick-name because not only am I the oldest in our room but I tend to go to bed early. 10:30 may not seem early for some, but to a bunch of wild eighteen to twenty year olds it is pretty early. Out of all the guys in our dorm, there are two guys that I'm going to really miss.
Blake is the maturest 19-year old I've ever met. Since he was sixteen he's had to take care of his mom and younger brother and be basically the man of the house. He's had jobs working construction where he actually manages men who are probably twice his age. He's one of the most intelligent and most talented people I know but his intellect is well balanced with his personality and charisma. What I'm going to miss about Blake is his friendliness and his ability to talk to almost anybody on any subject. This is the guy who spends some nights climbing and jumping from nearby buildings because its fun. He's also one of the funniest guys I've met. Almost everything he says makes you laugh.
One of the surprising things that about YWAM is how close I've become to some of those from Europe. Stefan is one of my best friends here on base. He's a 22-year old Dutch school teacher. We have a couple of nick names for him, none of them are really appropriate for this blog, but surmise it to say he's a character. What I love about Stefan is how seriously he takes God. He leads worship for his church in Holland is very talented at playing the guitar. His passion is obvious when he plays and sings worship music and he's a real quality guy.
When I met Clara I thought she was one of the most soft-spoken people I had met on the base, but when I got to know this girl from Germany, I realized that she had a lot to say and it wasn't so much because she was shy but because English is her second langauge and she is very self-conscious of how she sounds. I'll often practice my German with her. I think this has made her feel better because I'm trying to speak to her in her own language and I'm not very good at German. We have a lot of fun talking and getting to know how our cultures work. Generally when we talk we like to talk about the deep things in life but we've had a lot of laughs along the way. Usually it's Blake who is making us laugh or it's us picking on one another trying to get the other one to laugh.
Marieka and Mariana are both from Holland, like Stefan. In the beginning I hung out with these two girls a lot. We talked about Dutch culture how frugal they are and how different America is from Holland. Both girls are a lot of fun to hang out with.
Chris is another amazing German. He's very funny, almost like a Marx brother or a Charlie Chaplin, most of the time making people laugh through a facial expression or just clowning around. But one thing you can sense about him is that he is a true friend. He loves on people so much and there's a warmness to him that just makes you want to hang out with him.
Brady is from Kansas City. He's one of the most recognizable and most popular people on the base, not because he tries to be popular but it's because of his real ability to connect with people wherever they're at. One of the things that makes Brady stand out is his collection of bandanas which he wears around his head to keep his long blonde hair from falling into his face. Brady doesn't just accept something because he's been told it, he always questions what you give to him and will often take Devil's Advocate for something, not because he wants to argue with you but more often it's just him trying to see things from a different perspective. I'm going to miss some of the deep talks that he and I've had. He's always ready to talk about theological or philosophical things with me.
Our whole school will be divided into different teams and be sent to different areas of Jakarta. We will all see each other at one or maybe two events but for the most part we will be totally separated. We'll only have a week after our trip to be together once again and to tell everyone about all that happened. I wanted to take time to write about the people I will miss.
First of all I will miss all the guys in my dorm room. There is fourteen of us in a small classroom sized room with seven bunk beds. Our dorm is the best because of all the different personalities in it. We talk sometimes up to 12:00am, our conversation, as you can guess, is guy talk mixed in with a lot of locker room humor. Most of us all have nick-names, mine is "Grandpa". I got my nick-name because not only am I the oldest in our room but I tend to go to bed early. 10:30 may not seem early for some, but to a bunch of wild eighteen to twenty year olds it is pretty early. Out of all the guys in our dorm, there are two guys that I'm going to really miss.
Blake is the maturest 19-year old I've ever met. Since he was sixteen he's had to take care of his mom and younger brother and be basically the man of the house. He's had jobs working construction where he actually manages men who are probably twice his age. He's one of the most intelligent and most talented people I know but his intellect is well balanced with his personality and charisma. What I'm going to miss about Blake is his friendliness and his ability to talk to almost anybody on any subject. This is the guy who spends some nights climbing and jumping from nearby buildings because its fun. He's also one of the funniest guys I've met. Almost everything he says makes you laugh.
One of the surprising things that about YWAM is how close I've become to some of those from Europe. Stefan is one of my best friends here on base. He's a 22-year old Dutch school teacher. We have a couple of nick names for him, none of them are really appropriate for this blog, but surmise it to say he's a character. What I love about Stefan is how seriously he takes God. He leads worship for his church in Holland is very talented at playing the guitar. His passion is obvious when he plays and sings worship music and he's a real quality guy.
When I met Clara I thought she was one of the most soft-spoken people I had met on the base, but when I got to know this girl from Germany, I realized that she had a lot to say and it wasn't so much because she was shy but because English is her second langauge and she is very self-conscious of how she sounds. I'll often practice my German with her. I think this has made her feel better because I'm trying to speak to her in her own language and I'm not very good at German. We have a lot of fun talking and getting to know how our cultures work. Generally when we talk we like to talk about the deep things in life but we've had a lot of laughs along the way. Usually it's Blake who is making us laugh or it's us picking on one another trying to get the other one to laugh.
Marieka and Mariana are both from Holland, like Stefan. In the beginning I hung out with these two girls a lot. We talked about Dutch culture how frugal they are and how different America is from Holland. Both girls are a lot of fun to hang out with.
Chris is another amazing German. He's very funny, almost like a Marx brother or a Charlie Chaplin, most of the time making people laugh through a facial expression or just clowning around. But one thing you can sense about him is that he is a true friend. He loves on people so much and there's a warmness to him that just makes you want to hang out with him.
Brady is from Kansas City. He's one of the most recognizable and most popular people on the base, not because he tries to be popular but it's because of his real ability to connect with people wherever they're at. One of the things that makes Brady stand out is his collection of bandanas which he wears around his head to keep his long blonde hair from falling into his face. Brady doesn't just accept something because he's been told it, he always questions what you give to him and will often take Devil's Advocate for something, not because he wants to argue with you but more often it's just him trying to see things from a different perspective. I'm going to miss some of the deep talks that he and I've had. He's always ready to talk about theological or philosophical things with me.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Exciting Things Happening
Tuesday morning is our usual time for Base intercession. What this means usually is that we will congregate together for announcements around 8:30 and then break up into small groups of about 5-8 people and pray for things pertaining to the Base and any of its ministries. As you know we have been fighting in prayer for finances to come for our Outreach trips, the last 3-months of this great adventure we're on. What it came down to was we needed roughly around 40K still and we were two weeks from when we were supposed to be leaving.
Instead of having our usual intercession time we all came together and began to pray for breakthrough for all of the schools who needed money for their outreaches. Those in each of the schools who needed finance came to the center and we would all pray for them. We also had a time where anyone on the Base could give money as an offering to the people who were in need. In a matter of an hour, as we worshipped and gave thanks to God for what He had already done, more than 30K dollars were raised from people on the Base. We watched our debt go from about thirty thousand dollars to less than three-thousand. It was an amazing victory for us. We are all grateful for the people on the Base and those within our own School who gave out of their own pockets so that we could go to the nations!
Instead of having our usual intercession time we all came together and began to pray for breakthrough for all of the schools who needed money for their outreaches. Those in each of the schools who needed finance came to the center and we would all pray for them. We also had a time where anyone on the Base could give money as an offering to the people who were in need. In a matter of an hour, as we worshipped and gave thanks to God for what He had already done, more than 30K dollars were raised from people on the Base. We watched our debt go from about thirty thousand dollars to less than three-thousand. It was an amazing victory for us. We are all grateful for the people on the Base and those within our own School who gave out of their own pockets so that we could go to the nations!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Day that I wrestled Pete Brownhill
The past week has been intensely busy for us. Our outreach groups are now in the process of praying for finances to be released for our trips. We believe that God will provide everything for us and we have basically the rest of the week to raise it.
Today we heard from the founder of YWAM Perth, Pete Brownhill. Pete is fairly athletic for being in his mid-50's. In his younger days he played all kinds of sports before God spoke to Him one day in the shower and told him to go to Perth and start a YWAM base there. Pete was obedient and almost thirty years later the Perth base stands at 300 students and staff with multiple ministries here in Perth City and in Asia. Pete speaks from his years of experience teaching and leading YWAM Training Schools.
Spiritual warfare is one of the main topics that we have touched on here in Perth. It's not just a matter of knowing the armor in Ephesians 6. YWAM teaches practical application when it comes with confronting Satan.
"We have here something in Australia that we call squatters," Pete begins. "Does everyone here know what a squatter is?" He looks to the students, having in mind that English is not everyone's first language. "A squatter is a person who stays and lives on a piece of property, pretending it's their's." Pete pauses for a moment and then explains, "Satan is like a squatter. He pretends that the world is his until someone with the right authority and power comes and kicks him out. Let me have a couple of you guys come up here."
"You," he points to Campy, an eighteen year-old with long curly brown hair. "And you," he points to me. Both Campy and I look at each other and smile and get up to the front of the class. "Now let's say I have a piece of land that I'm going to retire on. It's a little house in mountains, right by a lake with a barbie outside where we have barbequed wallaby. Now let's say that one day I come to my little house I see these blokes here staying on my land," Pete points to us, "using my house and barbie and I come to them and say you can't be here this is my property. And they say, 'no we're not leaving.' I then go and leave and come back with a certificate of ownership of the land and tell them, 'see here this says that I own the land now you have to leave.' And what do they do," Pete asks. "They take my little certificate and rip it up and throw it on the barbeque. Well then what do I do next?" Pete asks. "Let's have you Caleb and you Addam come up here." Caleb and Addam both come up.
Campy and I are on oneside of the class. Pete, Caleb, and Addam are on the other side. I have a feeling of what's coming next so I square off with Caleb. Campy and Addam are both younger and are roughly the same size. Caleb and I are both the same age and size as well I figure Campy will have a better time with Addam.
"So I have a couple of buddies here," Pete continues, "...and they're here with me. And we come back to these blokes again and we say get off our land. And what do they do? They're stubborn." Pete draws closer to the center between the two groups of men. "And they tell us 'no' again. So we have to forcibly remove them..." In a flash Pete grabs me in some kind of rugby hold. Adam and Caleb take after Campy. I throw myself at the wall hoping to break Pete's hold on me but the guy is strong and I can't move my arms. The class cheers as Campy and I try resist all three men. I can't see much as Pete and I struggle against one another but I can see Campy, who is a half a foot shorter than me, picking up Caleb. Adam joins Pete but I get my hand out from Pete and put Addam in a head hold. All five us wrestle the others until finally Adam, Caleb, and Pete force us off the front of the class.
The point Pete was making was as Children of God we're given the right or authority to tell Satan to leave. We face Satan in various places such as our own personal life when we struggle with something in which Satan is behind, or in physical places like the countries that we're going to on our Outreach. The Enemy has strongholds in these places and he won't leave until someone who has the authority tell him to leave. But we also need something else. Pete explained that we need power and the Holy Spirit can provide this. Just as in the situation where Campy and I were acting as squatters that needed to be physcially forcibly removed, Satan must be forcibly removed by the power that the Holy Spirit gives us.
Pete made a really great analogy to how our authority as Children of God work. Caleb is Pete's eldest son. He's twenty-eight. If Pete were to leave the country he could legally give Caleb authority over of all his possessions and responsibilities. Pete is basicaly giving Caleb the authority to act on his behalf. The same thing has happened with us and Christ. Christ has given the authority to act on His behalf. He is empowering us to do the things He would be doing if He was here.
Anyway it was fun wrestling with the founder of YWAM Perth, even though I lost it taught me a great lesson.
Just a couple of more weeks before Christmas and our Outreach. For those of you who regularly read my blog please pray that our team would be able to receive all of our support.
Today we heard from the founder of YWAM Perth, Pete Brownhill. Pete is fairly athletic for being in his mid-50's. In his younger days he played all kinds of sports before God spoke to Him one day in the shower and told him to go to Perth and start a YWAM base there. Pete was obedient and almost thirty years later the Perth base stands at 300 students and staff with multiple ministries here in Perth City and in Asia. Pete speaks from his years of experience teaching and leading YWAM Training Schools.
Spiritual warfare is one of the main topics that we have touched on here in Perth. It's not just a matter of knowing the armor in Ephesians 6. YWAM teaches practical application when it comes with confronting Satan.
"We have here something in Australia that we call squatters," Pete begins. "Does everyone here know what a squatter is?" He looks to the students, having in mind that English is not everyone's first language. "A squatter is a person who stays and lives on a piece of property, pretending it's their's." Pete pauses for a moment and then explains, "Satan is like a squatter. He pretends that the world is his until someone with the right authority and power comes and kicks him out. Let me have a couple of you guys come up here."
"You," he points to Campy, an eighteen year-old with long curly brown hair. "And you," he points to me. Both Campy and I look at each other and smile and get up to the front of the class. "Now let's say I have a piece of land that I'm going to retire on. It's a little house in mountains, right by a lake with a barbie outside where we have barbequed wallaby. Now let's say that one day I come to my little house I see these blokes here staying on my land," Pete points to us, "using my house and barbie and I come to them and say you can't be here this is my property. And they say, 'no we're not leaving.' I then go and leave and come back with a certificate of ownership of the land and tell them, 'see here this says that I own the land now you have to leave.' And what do they do," Pete asks. "They take my little certificate and rip it up and throw it on the barbeque. Well then what do I do next?" Pete asks. "Let's have you Caleb and you Addam come up here." Caleb and Addam both come up.
Campy and I are on oneside of the class. Pete, Caleb, and Addam are on the other side. I have a feeling of what's coming next so I square off with Caleb. Campy and Addam are both younger and are roughly the same size. Caleb and I are both the same age and size as well I figure Campy will have a better time with Addam.
"So I have a couple of buddies here," Pete continues, "...and they're here with me. And we come back to these blokes again and we say get off our land. And what do they do? They're stubborn." Pete draws closer to the center between the two groups of men. "And they tell us 'no' again. So we have to forcibly remove them..." In a flash Pete grabs me in some kind of rugby hold. Adam and Caleb take after Campy. I throw myself at the wall hoping to break Pete's hold on me but the guy is strong and I can't move my arms. The class cheers as Campy and I try resist all three men. I can't see much as Pete and I struggle against one another but I can see Campy, who is a half a foot shorter than me, picking up Caleb. Adam joins Pete but I get my hand out from Pete and put Addam in a head hold. All five us wrestle the others until finally Adam, Caleb, and Pete force us off the front of the class.
The point Pete was making was as Children of God we're given the right or authority to tell Satan to leave. We face Satan in various places such as our own personal life when we struggle with something in which Satan is behind, or in physical places like the countries that we're going to on our Outreach. The Enemy has strongholds in these places and he won't leave until someone who has the authority tell him to leave. But we also need something else. Pete explained that we need power and the Holy Spirit can provide this. Just as in the situation where Campy and I were acting as squatters that needed to be physcially forcibly removed, Satan must be forcibly removed by the power that the Holy Spirit gives us.
Pete made a really great analogy to how our authority as Children of God work. Caleb is Pete's eldest son. He's twenty-eight. If Pete were to leave the country he could legally give Caleb authority over of all his possessions and responsibilities. Pete is basicaly giving Caleb the authority to act on his behalf. The same thing has happened with us and Christ. Christ has given the authority to act on His behalf. He is empowering us to do the things He would be doing if He was here.
Anyway it was fun wrestling with the founder of YWAM Perth, even though I lost it taught me a great lesson.
Just a couple of more weeks before Christmas and our Outreach. For those of you who regularly read my blog please pray that our team would be able to receive all of our support.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Broadcasting once again...
The computers here at the Perth station have not been functioning for almost two weeks. I borrowed one of my room mate's computer so I'm once again blogging.
Being here in Perth for now two months I've now come to realize that coming here was the best decision that I have ever made in my life (next to accepting Jesus Christ). I know that sounds pretty radical but I've seen so much breakthrough in my life. I just have to thank all my supporters once again. I can't thank you enough for helping me get here.
We're now finished with our eighth week here at the base. In the past few weeks we've learned so much. Some of our topics were Authority and Submission, Father Heart of God, and Relationships. This week Sheryl Brownhill, the director of the Base, spoke to us about relationships and how to pursue healthy relationships with God. We were all captivated as we heard Sheryl's testimony who grow up in Sydney in a very rough neighborhood. Her dad was known as the best street fighter in the city and her home life was full of violence and anger. Back when she was only fifteen, Sheryl often got into fights. When Christians came to witness to her she would sometimes use her fists to beat them away. One day, though, she heard a voice. It was a voice that spoke to her with love and compassion and Sheryl grew to love the voice. Her life began to radically change as she listened and obeyed the voice. One day in the school yard, one of the Christians who had previously attempted to witness to her and was thoughly pumled came up to her hesistantly. "Sheryl, you're so different. What's happened?" Sheryl explained to him about the voice. "Do you want to know the name of the voice," the still hesistant Christian asked. "He has a name?" Thus began Sheryl's life with Christ that completely transformed her and her family.
Sheryl had amazing wisdom about relationships. One of the most important points I think she said during the week was, "Develop an ambition for others." What that means is that you make it your ambition to help people get closer to God. Make their progress in their spiritual journey your priority. Pride often hampers us from seeing the gift and the contribution others can make and helping to bring that out of them. Of course we need to manage our own relationship with God and grow in it but I think what America Christianity has been suffering from is that we're too self-focused. We're too self-focused on the areas that we need to grow in or our own problems. Sheryl said, "Your measure of success is how many people you call out into their spiritual destinies...It's not about creating your own ministry and slapping your name on it." That's something I will now live out for the rest of my life.
We're still preparing for our Outreach. We're really committing to prayer as our team has to raise $30,000 total for all of us to go. This weekend we'll be running a couple of car washes to help us raise support.
Thank you all again for being a part of my life. I was reminded this week as I looked at some photos my dad sent me of our family Thanksgiving how great it is to have family and friends back home.
Being here in Perth for now two months I've now come to realize that coming here was the best decision that I have ever made in my life (next to accepting Jesus Christ). I know that sounds pretty radical but I've seen so much breakthrough in my life. I just have to thank all my supporters once again. I can't thank you enough for helping me get here.
We're now finished with our eighth week here at the base. In the past few weeks we've learned so much. Some of our topics were Authority and Submission, Father Heart of God, and Relationships. This week Sheryl Brownhill, the director of the Base, spoke to us about relationships and how to pursue healthy relationships with God. We were all captivated as we heard Sheryl's testimony who grow up in Sydney in a very rough neighborhood. Her dad was known as the best street fighter in the city and her home life was full of violence and anger. Back when she was only fifteen, Sheryl often got into fights. When Christians came to witness to her she would sometimes use her fists to beat them away. One day, though, she heard a voice. It was a voice that spoke to her with love and compassion and Sheryl grew to love the voice. Her life began to radically change as she listened and obeyed the voice. One day in the school yard, one of the Christians who had previously attempted to witness to her and was thoughly pumled came up to her hesistantly. "Sheryl, you're so different. What's happened?" Sheryl explained to him about the voice. "Do you want to know the name of the voice," the still hesistant Christian asked. "He has a name?" Thus began Sheryl's life with Christ that completely transformed her and her family.
Sheryl had amazing wisdom about relationships. One of the most important points I think she said during the week was, "Develop an ambition for others." What that means is that you make it your ambition to help people get closer to God. Make their progress in their spiritual journey your priority. Pride often hampers us from seeing the gift and the contribution others can make and helping to bring that out of them. Of course we need to manage our own relationship with God and grow in it but I think what America Christianity has been suffering from is that we're too self-focused. We're too self-focused on the areas that we need to grow in or our own problems. Sheryl said, "Your measure of success is how many people you call out into their spiritual destinies...It's not about creating your own ministry and slapping your name on it." That's something I will now live out for the rest of my life.
We're still preparing for our Outreach. We're really committing to prayer as our team has to raise $30,000 total for all of us to go. This weekend we'll be running a couple of car washes to help us raise support.
Thank you all again for being a part of my life. I was reminded this week as I looked at some photos my dad sent me of our family Thanksgiving how great it is to have family and friends back home.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Lordship and My 4 Things
Last week, our guest speaker on our topic, Lorship, was a base staff leader Arie. Arie had an interesting past, being in the equivalent in the minor leagues of soccer in Holland, Arie drifted in and out of the drug scene until finally he had one too many bad trips. He became a Christian during his DTS (Disciple Training School) here in Perth.
Once again, there was much to learn, and Arie was effective teacher as he used his own story as an example of how he struggled with giving control back to God. God gives us certain rights, it's true. There are sometimes, however, when certain rights that God has given will keep us from obeying.
Richard, who is on staff as well, took time to illustrate how certain behaviors and things we do can possibly hinder us from growing in God. Things like relationships, watching television and movies, sports, hobbies, and eating foods are all good things. But occasionally our lives fall out of balance and the pendulumn swings too far to the right. We make these things into idols, that are fine to have and do when they do not vie for God's place in our hearts. When they do God asks us to withdraw from these for a certain period of time or in some cases forever.
In order that our lives come into balance (the middle of the pendulumn) the Lord may ask us to give up that particular thing. Arie explained from his own life, that sports had become an idol to him. He played soccer professionally before coming a Christian. Sports was his life but when he came to know Christ God asked him to give up soccer completely. Arie was obedient for nine years before he sensed the Lord tell him that playing soccer was once again alright to do.
In order to get us in that state of balance, God may ask us to do some pretty radical things, like Arie. No matter how radical it may seem we need to obey the Lord in whatever He is leading us to do. It took nine years for Arie to become into balance where soccer and sports were no longer an idol in his heart.
During the week I felt God impressing on four areas of my life that I had to surrender to Him:
My Time - My personal time is so important to me. After work there's nothing that I like to do more than just spend my freetime like I want to. Unfortunately, that right to use my time has impeded my relationship with God in several ways. Sometimes I have sensed that God wanted to spend time with me. Instead of retreating before the Lord in prayer I find something more entertaining to do. In other times there are people who may need to be helped. I've tried to get myself in the habit of helping and serving wherever I know there is a need but there are many times when I think to myself, "I deserve a break. I deserve my time to myself." The fact is that God wants to break me of that way of thinking. He's given me time and what I have to realize that my time really belongs to Him.
My Finances - Anyone who has known me for awhile knows that I have been saving for a condo/house in Southern California. For the past eight-months I've been looking at the realestate market and saving my money so one day I can afford a home. This has caused me to tuck away the possibility of God sending me out in Missions full-time. It has interfered with a possible calling in my life. I know that the money that I have been able to save now is going to be used for whatever God calls me to use it for. That could be one day a house but I have a looser hold over it and I'm opened to the possibility that God will use my savings for something else.
My Comfort - One of the things that has stood in the way of accepting a full-time in missions is my comfort. I've lived in OC California for so long that part of me fears giving up my comfortable way of living, having everything you need and want. The dream of living in a nice house and having a comfortable way of living is potentionally stopping me from the call that God has in my life. One morning, I was sitting on a park bench like I do every morning during morning excercises and watched the sunrise above the Swan River. As I sat there I spoke to God saying, "God I know there are certain comforts that I'm used to but I'll give them all up to you and let you send me wherever you want me to go..."
My Family - Recently I've come to realize that my family is very important to me. As we grow older and mature we become more thankful for the things our families have given us and in the past couple of years I have realized how much I have at home. I have also become concerned about my parents and especially my Nana. I have become afraid of leaving them for any length of time because I love them so much and I wonder how they will do without me being around. As my parents grow older I want to be there for them and with my grandfather having passed away this past summer I want to spend as much time with my Nana as I possibly can. Being possibly called into the mission field, I feel there is a possibly conflict with this and my calling. I want to be with my family and yet if there is a call in my life to be in full-time missions I will have to sacrifice being physically close to them all.
The things on my list were not easy to give up. The last day of the week we had an altar where we laid all the things the Lord was asking us to give up.
Once again, there was much to learn, and Arie was effective teacher as he used his own story as an example of how he struggled with giving control back to God. God gives us certain rights, it's true. There are sometimes, however, when certain rights that God has given will keep us from obeying.
Richard, who is on staff as well, took time to illustrate how certain behaviors and things we do can possibly hinder us from growing in God. Things like relationships, watching television and movies, sports, hobbies, and eating foods are all good things. But occasionally our lives fall out of balance and the pendulumn swings too far to the right. We make these things into idols, that are fine to have and do when they do not vie for God's place in our hearts. When they do God asks us to withdraw from these for a certain period of time or in some cases forever.
In order that our lives come into balance (the middle of the pendulumn) the Lord may ask us to give up that particular thing. Arie explained from his own life, that sports had become an idol to him. He played soccer professionally before coming a Christian. Sports was his life but when he came to know Christ God asked him to give up soccer completely. Arie was obedient for nine years before he sensed the Lord tell him that playing soccer was once again alright to do.
In order to get us in that state of balance, God may ask us to do some pretty radical things, like Arie. No matter how radical it may seem we need to obey the Lord in whatever He is leading us to do. It took nine years for Arie to become into balance where soccer and sports were no longer an idol in his heart.
During the week I felt God impressing on four areas of my life that I had to surrender to Him:
My Time - My personal time is so important to me. After work there's nothing that I like to do more than just spend my freetime like I want to. Unfortunately, that right to use my time has impeded my relationship with God in several ways. Sometimes I have sensed that God wanted to spend time with me. Instead of retreating before the Lord in prayer I find something more entertaining to do. In other times there are people who may need to be helped. I've tried to get myself in the habit of helping and serving wherever I know there is a need but there are many times when I think to myself, "I deserve a break. I deserve my time to myself." The fact is that God wants to break me of that way of thinking. He's given me time and what I have to realize that my time really belongs to Him.
My Finances - Anyone who has known me for awhile knows that I have been saving for a condo/house in Southern California. For the past eight-months I've been looking at the realestate market and saving my money so one day I can afford a home. This has caused me to tuck away the possibility of God sending me out in Missions full-time. It has interfered with a possible calling in my life. I know that the money that I have been able to save now is going to be used for whatever God calls me to use it for. That could be one day a house but I have a looser hold over it and I'm opened to the possibility that God will use my savings for something else.
My Comfort - One of the things that has stood in the way of accepting a full-time in missions is my comfort. I've lived in OC California for so long that part of me fears giving up my comfortable way of living, having everything you need and want. The dream of living in a nice house and having a comfortable way of living is potentionally stopping me from the call that God has in my life. One morning, I was sitting on a park bench like I do every morning during morning excercises and watched the sunrise above the Swan River. As I sat there I spoke to God saying, "God I know there are certain comforts that I'm used to but I'll give them all up to you and let you send me wherever you want me to go..."
My Family - Recently I've come to realize that my family is very important to me. As we grow older and mature we become more thankful for the things our families have given us and in the past couple of years I have realized how much I have at home. I have also become concerned about my parents and especially my Nana. I have become afraid of leaving them for any length of time because I love them so much and I wonder how they will do without me being around. As my parents grow older I want to be there for them and with my grandfather having passed away this past summer I want to spend as much time with my Nana as I possibly can. Being possibly called into the mission field, I feel there is a possibly conflict with this and my calling. I want to be with my family and yet if there is a call in my life to be in full-time missions I will have to sacrifice being physically close to them all.
The things on my list were not easy to give up. The last day of the week we had an altar where we laid all the things the Lord was asking us to give up.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Jakarta and Ethiopia
Last week we were introduced to the five teams that we had the possibility of joining for our Outreach Phase. After December, our class of more than 50 people along with ten staff members will all leave for Jakarta Indonesia. After a month, each team will be flying to a different location for another month before returning to Jakarta. The options were:
Team #1: Stay in Jakarta for all 3 months
Team #2: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for East Africa return to Jakarta
Team #3: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for Ethiopia/Djbuti return to Jakarta
Team #4: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for Central Republic of Africa return to Jakarta
Team #5: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for North Africa return to Jakarta.
We were allowed to choose one out of the five teams but only 11 people were allowed on each team. The base leaders stressed how important it was to pray and listen to God about where we were going. They believe that each person has something unique to contribute and, therefore, they it was important that we were led by God in our decision. After praying and fasting over my decision I made the choice to go to Team #3 headed for both Jakarta and Ethiopia. I had an agenda to go with Team #1 which would be staying in Jakarta all 3 months. But after praying and listening God corrected me and led me to go on the Jakarta/Ethiopia trip. We will be also spending a week or so in a country close to Ethiopia, Djbuti (Ja-Booty).
The announcement of who was on which teams was made this morning. It was official, after spending a month in Jakarta I will be going to Ethiopia for 2 1/2 weeks and another week in Djbuti. I'm happy about the members of my team. Some of them are friends I regularly hang out with. One of them is in my small group. The two leaders of the trip, Eric and Alicia, are both Americans and Eric happens to be my small group leader. The cost of the trip will be about $5500, so I'm continuing to pray for support.
In other news, after having spent a wonderful cool month in Perth, it has began to become warm. The temperature today was 39 degrees Celcius which equals to about 102 degrees Farenheit. Most of us are staying indoors as much as possible and some of us are taking off to the beaches. One thing about Western Australia is that the flies, especially during these hot days, are ferocious. They literally cover you and try to get into your mouth, ears, and nose looking for moisture. It's pretty gross, another reason to stay inside. Also, the 200 staff members who normally run the base have left on a one week retreat. They have left the base in the care of the students who now take over all the duties. Two girls, Amarra and Grace as well as myself run our DTS school with the speaker this week, Andrew. So far everything seems to be running smoothly but continue to be in prayer about the base and that we will be safe and protected during this time.
Thank you for those who have been praying about my decision for outreach. I really appreciate your prayer support.
Take care,
Jeremy
Team #1: Stay in Jakarta for all 3 months
Team #2: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for East Africa return to Jakarta
Team #3: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for Ethiopia/Djbuti return to Jakarta
Team #4: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for Central Republic of Africa return to Jakarta
Team #5: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for North Africa return to Jakarta.
We were allowed to choose one out of the five teams but only 11 people were allowed on each team. The base leaders stressed how important it was to pray and listen to God about where we were going. They believe that each person has something unique to contribute and, therefore, they it was important that we were led by God in our decision. After praying and fasting over my decision I made the choice to go to Team #3 headed for both Jakarta and Ethiopia. I had an agenda to go with Team #1 which would be staying in Jakarta all 3 months. But after praying and listening God corrected me and led me to go on the Jakarta/Ethiopia trip. We will be also spending a week or so in a country close to Ethiopia, Djbuti (Ja-Booty).
The announcement of who was on which teams was made this morning. It was official, after spending a month in Jakarta I will be going to Ethiopia for 2 1/2 weeks and another week in Djbuti. I'm happy about the members of my team. Some of them are friends I regularly hang out with. One of them is in my small group. The two leaders of the trip, Eric and Alicia, are both Americans and Eric happens to be my small group leader. The cost of the trip will be about $5500, so I'm continuing to pray for support.
In other news, after having spent a wonderful cool month in Perth, it has began to become warm. The temperature today was 39 degrees Celcius which equals to about 102 degrees Farenheit. Most of us are staying indoors as much as possible and some of us are taking off to the beaches. One thing about Western Australia is that the flies, especially during these hot days, are ferocious. They literally cover you and try to get into your mouth, ears, and nose looking for moisture. It's pretty gross, another reason to stay inside. Also, the 200 staff members who normally run the base have left on a one week retreat. They have left the base in the care of the students who now take over all the duties. Two girls, Amarra and Grace as well as myself run our DTS school with the speaker this week, Andrew. So far everything seems to be running smoothly but continue to be in prayer about the base and that we will be safe and protected during this time.
Thank you for those who have been praying about my decision for outreach. I really appreciate your prayer support.
Take care,
Jeremy
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
My Small Group
Over here in Perth I have my own small group. It's led by Eric one of the staff leaders here on base. Along with myself there are three other guys: Paul, who has been around YWAM for a long time. His parents are actually YWAM missionaries. Moon, is from South Korea. And finally there is Josh from Canada.
So far we've had some great times. Our second meeting we actually went out fishing. Eric is a advid fisherman. He grew up in Minnesota and spent most of his free time fishing. He took us out to a little lake not far from the base. The area around the lake reminded me of the lake around Santa Margarita. There were expensive looking condos and apartments as well as a nice restaurant very close to where we were fishing. We settled down with our poles as Eric showed us how to hook the bait, which were raw shrimp prawns. While I was still trying to get my line out far enough, Moon got a tug on his line. He pulled it in as he did we were surprised that he caught a fish so soon. We all attributed it to beginners luck but by the time the night was over he had caught six fish. I caught three myself and we all had a good time just relaxing.
The next week was my favorite. Eric collected some money from us all and he went out to buy groceries for pancakes. These were probably the best pancakes I ever had. They were half an inch thick and incredibly delicious, especially when we're so used to the base's food. I who had boasted I could eat eight, only ended up eating four along with some bacon that Eric had bought. The night ended with two hours of intense Mario Cart playing. (It's a video game) I didn't win a single race. Some things never change.
Tonight, we headed to one of Perth's beaches. Incredibly beautiful, it amazed me to see that the beach was almost empty of people. In California, there would definitely be a number of people still enjoying a walk on the sand and enjoying the last rays of sunlight, but here in Australia Aussies don't really go to the beach until late November. As we cooked our Schnaggers (sausages in Australia) we met a group of women who were cooking their chicken at the same stove. I introduced myself and made some comments about how good their chicken looked. I got to talking to one of the young ladies who I could tell by her accent was definitely not from Austrailia. She introduced herself as Christiana, a German student who was getting her Phd in Chemistry along with the five other girls who were with her. She asked what we were doing at the beach. I explained to her we were at a school for missionaries. She seemed politely interested in what we were doing the objectives for our school so I explained a little bit of what we were about.
What insued was a short discussion about Christianity. I explained our mission in helping people know the Gospel. I then, unfortunately, attempted my last remaining bit of German I knew and tried reciting John 3:16 in German. I only ended up embarrasing myself and botching my German and forgeting half of the verse. So I attempted once again to explain simply using English. So much for the five years of German I took in High School and College.
She told us that she was an atheist who, from what I tried to gather through our conversation, believed in an inner power. The thought of a deity creating things at will just seemed incomprehendible to her. Realizing this woman was very intelligent I took the approach of explaining my belief that the world and nature seem to suggest that there is a Creator. The world has too much order for it to be just a result of random chance. We concluded our little chat. I wished her good luck with her studies and we parted ways. I knew that this was probably her first exposure to the Gospel. I wasn't expecting her to give her life to Christ but the important thing is that she has heard. Hopefully God will lead her to other people who can really live out the Gospel and who can really connect with her on an intellectual level.
So far we've had some great times. Our second meeting we actually went out fishing. Eric is a advid fisherman. He grew up in Minnesota and spent most of his free time fishing. He took us out to a little lake not far from the base. The area around the lake reminded me of the lake around Santa Margarita. There were expensive looking condos and apartments as well as a nice restaurant very close to where we were fishing. We settled down with our poles as Eric showed us how to hook the bait, which were raw shrimp prawns. While I was still trying to get my line out far enough, Moon got a tug on his line. He pulled it in as he did we were surprised that he caught a fish so soon. We all attributed it to beginners luck but by the time the night was over he had caught six fish. I caught three myself and we all had a good time just relaxing.
The next week was my favorite. Eric collected some money from us all and he went out to buy groceries for pancakes. These were probably the best pancakes I ever had. They were half an inch thick and incredibly delicious, especially when we're so used to the base's food. I who had boasted I could eat eight, only ended up eating four along with some bacon that Eric had bought. The night ended with two hours of intense Mario Cart playing. (It's a video game) I didn't win a single race. Some things never change.
Tonight, we headed to one of Perth's beaches. Incredibly beautiful, it amazed me to see that the beach was almost empty of people. In California, there would definitely be a number of people still enjoying a walk on the sand and enjoying the last rays of sunlight, but here in Australia Aussies don't really go to the beach until late November. As we cooked our Schnaggers (sausages in Australia) we met a group of women who were cooking their chicken at the same stove. I introduced myself and made some comments about how good their chicken looked. I got to talking to one of the young ladies who I could tell by her accent was definitely not from Austrailia. She introduced herself as Christiana, a German student who was getting her Phd in Chemistry along with the five other girls who were with her. She asked what we were doing at the beach. I explained to her we were at a school for missionaries. She seemed politely interested in what we were doing the objectives for our school so I explained a little bit of what we were about.
What insued was a short discussion about Christianity. I explained our mission in helping people know the Gospel. I then, unfortunately, attempted my last remaining bit of German I knew and tried reciting John 3:16 in German. I only ended up embarrasing myself and botching my German and forgeting half of the verse. So I attempted once again to explain simply using English. So much for the five years of German I took in High School and College.
She told us that she was an atheist who, from what I tried to gather through our conversation, believed in an inner power. The thought of a deity creating things at will just seemed incomprehendible to her. Realizing this woman was very intelligent I took the approach of explaining my belief that the world and nature seem to suggest that there is a Creator. The world has too much order for it to be just a result of random chance. We concluded our little chat. I wished her good luck with her studies and we parted ways. I knew that this was probably her first exposure to the Gospel. I wasn't expecting her to give her life to Christ but the important thing is that she has heard. Hopefully God will lead her to other people who can really live out the Gospel and who can really connect with her on an intellectual level.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Intercession and Worship
The teacher's name was Cliff. I looked at him and immediately saw there was nothing impressive about him. He was a mid-height, balding, skinny man entering into early middle-age, his voice a little too soft and a little too high for a man. On top of that his last name was Wiener. But he, nonetheless, was one of the most powerful teachers I have heard speak. He was an exhorter, speaking to us last week on Intercession and Worship with the energy of a high school quarterback. He was in our face, jumping from each side of the classroom, using his hands and body language to do half of the talking, teaching well and making humurous comments, and most of all getting us to participate, not letting us just sit there with our eyes glazed. He was calling us to action.
I've been looking over Cliff's notes from the past week and I can't help feel that we would all benefit from some of the thing we have learned. I wanted to summarize some of those notes so that we can all be blessed from them.
The most important section of Cliff's teaching was on hearing God. Cliff used the example by taking a basketball and asking us, "When you're playing in the NBA and you want the person to pass the ball to you, what do you do? What do you do with your hands, with your body language?" He then showed by using two of us how the right posture is when you have your hands wide open. You're ready to catch that ball and you're probably calling the person's name who has the ball to pass it to you. "Jeremy! Hey Jeremy. Jeremy! Pass me the ball! Pass me the ball!" You don't have your arms crossed looking cool and not really interested. Cliff then makes the connection with this and hearing God.
We can all hear the voice of God, Cliff explains but the posture of your heart has to be right. You have to keep your heart in a state of openess, of eagerness, ready to catch that ball. When we go to God we shouldn't have this indifferent or bored attitude. The people who hear God the most are those who are eager to hear Him, who are in a state of constant readiness to hear Him and this is an everyday, every situation kind of thing, where we go through our day in the posture of someone who wants the ball. To those of us who haven't heard God much or at all, it isn't that God doesn't want to speak to you or would rather speak to others. It's all about the position of your heart. Are you eager to hear Him? Do you want to hear Him? Do you want to catch that ball?
The first reason why we listen to God is because He is worthy! I can't tell you how many times I wanted to hear from God just to get my questions answered. The most important thing in prayer is not getting our questions answered but listening to Him. Intercession is not just prayer but it's prayer with a purpose. In Intercession we listen to God and get specifics from Him about how we are going to pray for an individual, a group of people, or a situation. We hear God's heart and we pray it back to Him, and we stand in the gap between Man and God and Man and Satan.
It's like in movies where we see the special ops soldiers. They come in quietly into enemy territory. They are in constant communication with the command center who can see from their satellites the bigger picture. The command center gives specific commands to these soldiers, "Go to your left. Turn right now. Ok wait here for one minute. Now see that door in front of you. Go and open it. That person to your right, take him!" We are meant to be connected to God in this way and we're given leadings to help, serve, and tell others the Gospel in this way. The Holy Spirit leads us and every day we come to Him and ask, "Ok, what do you have for me?"
But now there are things that can cause "static" in our connection with God. Things like fear (of what He will say or ask us to do), unbelief, apathy/indifference, self-idolatry (being too worried about what others think or placing what I think and what I want to do too highly), and false-comfort. False comfort is a huge one I think especially because it goes the most undetected. You know what it is? Instead of going to God's voice for comfort, God who can genuinely tell us how much we're really worth and make ourselves feel better, we go to something else to make ourselves feel better. Maybe it's food like chocolate and ice cream, or watching tv, playing video games, or even other people. What do you use to replace the comfort of God?
If you want to hear God you need to have a soft heart. The Bible speaks in Hebrews 3 about not hardening your heart like Israel did in the desert. The way you develop a softer heart is by being eager to obey God in the little things. You know, when God gives you a tap, tap, on the shoulder to go help someone or to go encourage somebody, or even from refraining from doing something. It may not make sense to us but whatever God is asking us to do it's better just to do it. We like to require more information from God because we're afraid of obeying. We don't want to look weird or we're afraid of what the person/people will think. But when we obey God without requiring more information we bring a softness and a tenderness to our hearts.
God wants this kind of relationship, where we hear from Him, with everyone. Unfortunately we can get caught up in thoughts like, "Hearing from God is only for certain Christians" or "I don't think God would really want to talk to me." You need to understand that God has no reluctance to speak to you. You're His child, how could He not want to speak to you? Hearing from God, however, is a discipline. It's something you can only benefit from when we get in the habit of everyday assuming that posture of, "I want the ball God," being eager and ready to listen to Him.
Well there's heaps more. One more things is that we should all keep a record of what God has spoken to us. It's a great discipline to have especially when we fall on hard times we can look back on what God has spoken over us.
Thanks Cliff for all your teaching!
I've been looking over Cliff's notes from the past week and I can't help feel that we would all benefit from some of the thing we have learned. I wanted to summarize some of those notes so that we can all be blessed from them.
The most important section of Cliff's teaching was on hearing God. Cliff used the example by taking a basketball and asking us, "When you're playing in the NBA and you want the person to pass the ball to you, what do you do? What do you do with your hands, with your body language?" He then showed by using two of us how the right posture is when you have your hands wide open. You're ready to catch that ball and you're probably calling the person's name who has the ball to pass it to you. "Jeremy! Hey Jeremy. Jeremy! Pass me the ball! Pass me the ball!" You don't have your arms crossed looking cool and not really interested. Cliff then makes the connection with this and hearing God.
We can all hear the voice of God, Cliff explains but the posture of your heart has to be right. You have to keep your heart in a state of openess, of eagerness, ready to catch that ball. When we go to God we shouldn't have this indifferent or bored attitude. The people who hear God the most are those who are eager to hear Him, who are in a state of constant readiness to hear Him and this is an everyday, every situation kind of thing, where we go through our day in the posture of someone who wants the ball. To those of us who haven't heard God much or at all, it isn't that God doesn't want to speak to you or would rather speak to others. It's all about the position of your heart. Are you eager to hear Him? Do you want to hear Him? Do you want to catch that ball?
The first reason why we listen to God is because He is worthy! I can't tell you how many times I wanted to hear from God just to get my questions answered. The most important thing in prayer is not getting our questions answered but listening to Him. Intercession is not just prayer but it's prayer with a purpose. In Intercession we listen to God and get specifics from Him about how we are going to pray for an individual, a group of people, or a situation. We hear God's heart and we pray it back to Him, and we stand in the gap between Man and God and Man and Satan.
It's like in movies where we see the special ops soldiers. They come in quietly into enemy territory. They are in constant communication with the command center who can see from their satellites the bigger picture. The command center gives specific commands to these soldiers, "Go to your left. Turn right now. Ok wait here for one minute. Now see that door in front of you. Go and open it. That person to your right, take him!" We are meant to be connected to God in this way and we're given leadings to help, serve, and tell others the Gospel in this way. The Holy Spirit leads us and every day we come to Him and ask, "Ok, what do you have for me?"
But now there are things that can cause "static" in our connection with God. Things like fear (of what He will say or ask us to do), unbelief, apathy/indifference, self-idolatry (being too worried about what others think or placing what I think and what I want to do too highly), and false-comfort. False comfort is a huge one I think especially because it goes the most undetected. You know what it is? Instead of going to God's voice for comfort, God who can genuinely tell us how much we're really worth and make ourselves feel better, we go to something else to make ourselves feel better. Maybe it's food like chocolate and ice cream, or watching tv, playing video games, or even other people. What do you use to replace the comfort of God?
If you want to hear God you need to have a soft heart. The Bible speaks in Hebrews 3 about not hardening your heart like Israel did in the desert. The way you develop a softer heart is by being eager to obey God in the little things. You know, when God gives you a tap, tap, on the shoulder to go help someone or to go encourage somebody, or even from refraining from doing something. It may not make sense to us but whatever God is asking us to do it's better just to do it. We like to require more information from God because we're afraid of obeying. We don't want to look weird or we're afraid of what the person/people will think. But when we obey God without requiring more information we bring a softness and a tenderness to our hearts.
God wants this kind of relationship, where we hear from Him, with everyone. Unfortunately we can get caught up in thoughts like, "Hearing from God is only for certain Christians" or "I don't think God would really want to talk to me." You need to understand that God has no reluctance to speak to you. You're His child, how could He not want to speak to you? Hearing from God, however, is a discipline. It's something you can only benefit from when we get in the habit of everyday assuming that posture of, "I want the ball God," being eager and ready to listen to Him.
Well there's heaps more. One more things is that we should all keep a record of what God has spoken to us. It's a great discipline to have especially when we fall on hard times we can look back on what God has spoken over us.
Thanks Cliff for all your teaching!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
My Greatest Weakness
Well everyone knew it was bound to happen. Yep, I couldn't control myself and gave in. I guess I'll have to go confess and repent for this one...
I taught line dancing.
It's been almost a month since I did it and well, I went through withdrawal, until finally some of the girls here at the base asked me to teach a lesson. So last Saturday at 8:00pm, I put on my belt buckle, tucked my shirt in, found a little speaker system for my iPod and taught a group of about 10 girls Black Velvet and Copperhead Road. Some people around the base came in to see what we were doing. A couple of the girls loved it so much that we might make it a regular thing.
Here's a little sample for you...
I taught line dancing.
It's been almost a month since I did it and well, I went through withdrawal, until finally some of the girls here at the base asked me to teach a lesson. So last Saturday at 8:00pm, I put on my belt buckle, tucked my shirt in, found a little speaker system for my iPod and taught a group of about 10 girls Black Velvet and Copperhead Road. Some people around the base came in to see what we were doing. A couple of the girls loved it so much that we might make it a regular thing.
Here's a little sample for you...
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Life on the base so far...
Life is busy here on the base. At 5:50 in the morning I wake up with the others in my dorm room. We hurry a couple blocks away from the base where we all meet for morning prayer and breakout into groups for different excercises. We have the option of volleyball, walking, or running. I've been running the past two weeks. Yes, to those who are familiar with me I know that sounds funny but running is challenging to me and I work on bettering my time every day. We run east of the base down a bike path to the Swan river. It's a gorgeous view from the bike path, with the sun rising in the distance and I usually stop in the middle of my run to enjoy the view and to also work on my abs and triceps. I walk back just in time to have my breakfast, my quiet time and then to begin morning work duties.
Class begins normally at 8:30. We begin with worship and sometimes prayer for one another and then continue with our session until noon. After lunch at 1:30 I'm needed in the back where I re-stock the large pantry and coolroom for the whole base. Yesterday, I made a pickup of groceries with Rob, a former pastor who now works at YWAM. We go to Cash and Carry the Australian equivalent of a Costco and with five large trollies of goods, millk, frozen foods, pantry items, and massive ammounts of toilet paper, we checkout and take them one by one to van. It's hard for me to belive that the huge spread of items is only for one week. We will come back next week and pickup the same amount. It's just me and him. He's an older man in his early sixties. We talk about his past, what he did when he was a pastor, where he came from, and how he became a Christian. He becomes my tour guide on the way to the Cash and Carry and tells me everything I could want to know about Perth. By the time we're done re-stocking everything back at the base it's close to 5:00. We take a break drinking ice coffee before we finish up and I take a seat for dinner.
The night's activities vary depending on the day: Monday night we have class, Tuesday night is small group, Wednesday night is free, Thursday night is evangelism, and Friday night is the service we have at the base which runs until about 9:00pm. I'm reminded as I write I once heard the rumor that one church support their college students to go to YWAM because it was too much like a vacation. Nothing could be farther from the truth here at the base in Perth.
Being so busy has been difficult for me. Normally I like having time to my self but in this environment it has become hard for finding personal time. I have been a little frustrated because of this until recently I had a conversation with one of the staff here. We had taken tonight to have dinner at the home of a staff family. YWAM is not only made up of young people but there are actually many families here who are here on staff.
This evening I had dinner with Danny and Laurie Taylor. Although YWAM's mission is focused on youth, many of the staff have their own families. Danny is a tall bald headed man who looks like he could be a football player. Laurie is a short burnette who is pregnant. They have an 18-month year old. Sam, who is bulky like his father, has a fascination with wheels and loves his little wagons and cars.
As we relaxed in their tiny living room, I told Laurie about the problems I had been experiencing having very little time to myself. She explained to me that she had felt the same way when she did her DTS but she learned something through that experience: There is a flow of the Spirit that comes into our lives when we sacrifice things like personal time. It caused her to rely on God for her strength rather than taking personal time to be alone. Her comment surprised me and I meditated over it that night. DTS is about making room for God in the sacrifices we make. We all came here giving up the comforts of home and many times the comforts of a marginal Christian life. The sacrifices we make, although uncomfortable at times, are necessary for us to really get the most out this experience here and I feel at peace with this.
Class begins normally at 8:30. We begin with worship and sometimes prayer for one another and then continue with our session until noon. After lunch at 1:30 I'm needed in the back where I re-stock the large pantry and coolroom for the whole base. Yesterday, I made a pickup of groceries with Rob, a former pastor who now works at YWAM. We go to Cash and Carry the Australian equivalent of a Costco and with five large trollies of goods, millk, frozen foods, pantry items, and massive ammounts of toilet paper, we checkout and take them one by one to van. It's hard for me to belive that the huge spread of items is only for one week. We will come back next week and pickup the same amount. It's just me and him. He's an older man in his early sixties. We talk about his past, what he did when he was a pastor, where he came from, and how he became a Christian. He becomes my tour guide on the way to the Cash and Carry and tells me everything I could want to know about Perth. By the time we're done re-stocking everything back at the base it's close to 5:00. We take a break drinking ice coffee before we finish up and I take a seat for dinner.
The night's activities vary depending on the day: Monday night we have class, Tuesday night is small group, Wednesday night is free, Thursday night is evangelism, and Friday night is the service we have at the base which runs until about 9:00pm. I'm reminded as I write I once heard the rumor that one church support their college students to go to YWAM because it was too much like a vacation. Nothing could be farther from the truth here at the base in Perth.
Being so busy has been difficult for me. Normally I like having time to my self but in this environment it has become hard for finding personal time. I have been a little frustrated because of this until recently I had a conversation with one of the staff here. We had taken tonight to have dinner at the home of a staff family. YWAM is not only made up of young people but there are actually many families here who are here on staff.
This evening I had dinner with Danny and Laurie Taylor. Although YWAM's mission is focused on youth, many of the staff have their own families. Danny is a tall bald headed man who looks like he could be a football player. Laurie is a short burnette who is pregnant. They have an 18-month year old. Sam, who is bulky like his father, has a fascination with wheels and loves his little wagons and cars.
As we relaxed in their tiny living room, I told Laurie about the problems I had been experiencing having very little time to myself. She explained to me that she had felt the same way when she did her DTS but she learned something through that experience: There is a flow of the Spirit that comes into our lives when we sacrifice things like personal time. It caused her to rely on God for her strength rather than taking personal time to be alone. Her comment surprised me and I meditated over it that night. DTS is about making room for God in the sacrifices we make. We all came here giving up the comforts of home and many times the comforts of a marginal Christian life. The sacrifices we make, although uncomfortable at times, are necessary for us to really get the most out this experience here and I feel at peace with this.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The Longest Day
Our topic for the week had been confession and repentance. Caleb, our DTS leader, was teaching this week. Friday was to be the application for our teaching. Many people were nervous that day. We were doing something that was kind of radical. In the morning we finished the teaching for the week's topic and then we were given a half an hour break for us to prepare our hearts before God.
When we came back the classroom had been completely changed. Chairs had been placed around the room in a circle and in the center of the room mattresses were laid down, in case people wanted a more comfortable experience. In the front of the classroom there were three chairs. We had a bit of worship before we began.
This day we were given the opportunity to openly confess our sins to God in prayer to Him and before our class. The three seats in the front were for you, your small group leader, and the third for Caleb who would both pray for you after your confession was over.
The application was completely optional. No one is forced to do it, but one by one we all go up. Most of us break down when we get up there. You are completely exposed and vulnerable. The Holy Spirit works and you don't hold back. In front of sixty people (40 girls 20 guys) you ask God to forgive you and you release those who you've been withholding forgiveness. After the two leaders are finished praying for you, you take your sins which you have written down and nail them to a cross which has been waiting in the back of the room.
I don't know if it's because I'm a little older and I have come to terms with what I've done or whether it was because I've been in an accountability group for years but I felt like I had the courage to go up first but I ended up tenth in line.
There are two great things that come of this. One is that you have completely opened yourself up to your fellow classmates. There's no more pretenses, no more masks. You've confessed your deepest and darkest secrets to them which means you can't hide from them. Secondly, it prepares you for the ministry God is going to do through you. You're not carrying anymore the burden of unconfessed sin. To all of those of who are reading this, we did what the church has really yet to be able to do and that is become a place of safety where people can openly confess and repent of their sins without the thought of rejection from others.
We continued throughout the night. We finished at one o'clock in the morning.
When we came back the classroom had been completely changed. Chairs had been placed around the room in a circle and in the center of the room mattresses were laid down, in case people wanted a more comfortable experience. In the front of the classroom there were three chairs. We had a bit of worship before we began.
This day we were given the opportunity to openly confess our sins to God in prayer to Him and before our class. The three seats in the front were for you, your small group leader, and the third for Caleb who would both pray for you after your confession was over.
The application was completely optional. No one is forced to do it, but one by one we all go up. Most of us break down when we get up there. You are completely exposed and vulnerable. The Holy Spirit works and you don't hold back. In front of sixty people (40 girls 20 guys) you ask God to forgive you and you release those who you've been withholding forgiveness. After the two leaders are finished praying for you, you take your sins which you have written down and nail them to a cross which has been waiting in the back of the room.
I don't know if it's because I'm a little older and I have come to terms with what I've done or whether it was because I've been in an accountability group for years but I felt like I had the courage to go up first but I ended up tenth in line.
There are two great things that come of this. One is that you have completely opened yourself up to your fellow classmates. There's no more pretenses, no more masks. You've confessed your deepest and darkest secrets to them which means you can't hide from them. Secondly, it prepares you for the ministry God is going to do through you. You're not carrying anymore the burden of unconfessed sin. To all of those of who are reading this, we did what the church has really yet to be able to do and that is become a place of safety where people can openly confess and repent of their sins without the thought of rejection from others.
We continued throughout the night. We finished at one o'clock in the morning.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Some thoughts about my first week...
This has been an amazing first week. God has already been moving in the lives of the people here. Our first week lectures were on the character of God. We talked about God's attributes, His love, His wisdom, His faithfulness, His righteousness, justice, and faithfullness.
But already our base has experienced some spiritual warfare. One of the girls that is here had experienced a demonic attack. Whatever it was, came in the middle of the night and held her down and began to choke her. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, but at last she spoke in her mind the name of Jesus Christ and the demon fled.
One of my room mates also had an experience in which he approached three aboriginal men. One of them came close looked at him and suddenly his whole face changed. He grabbed my room mates' cross necklace and held it. My friend was about to fight him to get it back and the strange man gave it back but then grabbed it again. My room mate said that he could see in the man's eyes an un-human presence. It was a strange and frightening experience for my room mate who is used to settling disputes and fights physically. He knew after meeting the possessed man, it had been the first time he couldn't confront a situation like that with his fists. Spiriutal warfare for the first time became a reality to him.
The first week, we all have been busy with our creative journals. These journals help us really think over what we're learning here. We've also made a trip to Serpent Falls this Saturday which is an extremely beautiful waterfall with a large pool beneath that you can swim in.
As part of our discipleship here we all have certain chores and duties everyday. There are "family chores" which begin around 8am that are simple house-cleaning things we do. Then, during the later part of the day we all have about 2 hours of duties like dish cleaning, lunch/dinner prep, data entry, answering phones, etc. My particular responsibility is keeping the cool room, the bases' refrigerator in order. That means taking all the food supplies we get each week and arranging them so they're not only are they organized but they are in order of when they'll be used.
A prayer request this week is for better health. Almost all of us on the base have colds that we're going through. I had a sore threat a couple of days ago. I'm doing fine but I could be doing better. Thanks everyone for keeping tabs on me. Talk to you next week.
But already our base has experienced some spiritual warfare. One of the girls that is here had experienced a demonic attack. Whatever it was, came in the middle of the night and held her down and began to choke her. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, but at last she spoke in her mind the name of Jesus Christ and the demon fled.
One of my room mates also had an experience in which he approached three aboriginal men. One of them came close looked at him and suddenly his whole face changed. He grabbed my room mates' cross necklace and held it. My friend was about to fight him to get it back and the strange man gave it back but then grabbed it again. My room mate said that he could see in the man's eyes an un-human presence. It was a strange and frightening experience for my room mate who is used to settling disputes and fights physically. He knew after meeting the possessed man, it had been the first time he couldn't confront a situation like that with his fists. Spiriutal warfare for the first time became a reality to him.
The first week, we all have been busy with our creative journals. These journals help us really think over what we're learning here. We've also made a trip to Serpent Falls this Saturday which is an extremely beautiful waterfall with a large pool beneath that you can swim in.
As part of our discipleship here we all have certain chores and duties everyday. There are "family chores" which begin around 8am that are simple house-cleaning things we do. Then, during the later part of the day we all have about 2 hours of duties like dish cleaning, lunch/dinner prep, data entry, answering phones, etc. My particular responsibility is keeping the cool room, the bases' refrigerator in order. That means taking all the food supplies we get each week and arranging them so they're not only are they organized but they are in order of when they'll be used.
A prayer request this week is for better health. Almost all of us on the base have colds that we're going through. I had a sore threat a couple of days ago. I'm doing fine but I could be doing better. Thanks everyone for keeping tabs on me. Talk to you next week.
Monday, October 8, 2007
DTS Begins!
Well today was the first official day that DTS has started. We began today with morning Monday worship. It was so good. Lots of people gave words of encouragment to us to pursue God during this time.
We had our orientation as well today where we got familiar with the base activities we'll be doing. We even were taught some Aussie words like "arvo" (afternoon) and snacker (sausage, which is a totally random word to know).
Basically our day starts with morning excercises, after which we have free time to have our quiet times. We then have morning tea, afterwhich our classes begin. To those who wanted to know a little bit more about YWAM and what actually takes place, the base is very much like a school. You come here to learn, so they have reports for you to do and books to read. We all have daily chores to do. Most of us will help prepare dinner or lunch. I might be working in the media team. We'll see how that goes.
Anyway, God's blessed me heaps while I've been here. I've met so many people who are just here to give themselves to God and be at it for Him.
Love you all,
Jeremy (Heesh)
We had our orientation as well today where we got familiar with the base activities we'll be doing. We even were taught some Aussie words like "arvo" (afternoon) and snacker (sausage, which is a totally random word to know).
Basically our day starts with morning excercises, after which we have free time to have our quiet times. We then have morning tea, afterwhich our classes begin. To those who wanted to know a little bit more about YWAM and what actually takes place, the base is very much like a school. You come here to learn, so they have reports for you to do and books to read. We all have daily chores to do. Most of us will help prepare dinner or lunch. I might be working in the media team. We'll see how that goes.
Anyway, God's blessed me heaps while I've been here. I've met so many people who are just here to give themselves to God and be at it for Him.
Love you all,
Jeremy (Heesh)
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Kangeroo Island
Being here early definitely has its advantages. You have time to meet people before the DTS starts. You also have the opportunity to going to some cool places. Yesterday we went to Kangeroo Island. It's not actually an island but its more a park you can go to. It's surrounded by water from the Swan River here in Perth.
We heard about this island the day we arrived and we had to go when we were told not only there would be kangeroos but they are so familiar with humans that they're almost completely domesticated. We took a long walk around the city of Perth and followed a bike trail to the river. Once we got to the river we made our way to this beautiful field. Finally we arrived, at the penninsula that is called Kangeroo island. Several girls and I were remarking at some of exotic birds not even noticing that all of the others were actually petting the kangeroos who they had found.
Amazing. These kangeroos will actually let you pet them. They keep a wary eye on you but they'll actually stop and you can quietly walk toward them. I can only say that their fur feels a little bit like rabbit fur. We all took pictures and I shot video. I'll post the pictures later but right now internet connection is sketchy at best. Dean our Irish friend did his best Steve Erwin (Crocodile Hunter) impression as I was filming. It should be funny to watch.
Hope all is well with you and God Bless!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Here in Perth
Well I made it. After the grueling experience of going through 21 hours on a plane I'm here in Perth. One thing about Australia, is that they have the tightest security imaginable. Imagine, you exit the plane and enter into customs and immigration. You first pick up your luggage and then commence standing in a line that is approximately the size of the line for Space Mountain.
After finishing the line you are questioned as to the contents of your luggage. If you're lucky like I am and you have nothing to declare your luggage is then thouroughly examined and your questioned about its contents. It is then X-rayed once again before you are allowed to continue. If you do have something to declare, even if it is as trifle as some chocolate you picked up in another country, you are sent into another line which is even longer and your luggage is even more thoroughly checked. You have to empty your bag completely and every item is checked and you must give an explanation of what each item is.
Everyone goes through this process! No one, including Aussie nationals are exempt. What's more surprising is finding out why the Australians are so anal about checking what is in your bag. It has to do with preventing foreign seeds and plant material from entering into the country.
I was taken to the YWAM station here in the city. I'm staying in a classroom that has been emptied out with the exception of five bunk beds and some modest drawers for putting our clothing in.
Since I got here I've been really busy. I've adjusted already to the time here so I've been sleeping pretty well. The one thing that has surprised me is how cold it is. I've brought a couple of jackets which I'm really thankfull that I've brought but I'll probably go out and buy a new blanket.
Aussies never do anything small here. They announced the birthday of one of the staff's babies. The whole dinning room errupted into a birthday song that I'd never heard of. The shouting filled the hall and the song was intermintent with banging on the table and clapping. It was loud and when it ended it was concluded by a round of Ausie! Ausie! Ausie! Oi! Oi! Oi!.
Or even eating a cookie, the Australians have to turn it into an art. Last night we had Tam-Tam shouts. Take a chocolate biscuit and bite two ends of it. Suck your choice of hot beverage, most likely coffee or hot chocolate until you can taste the liquid through the cookie and then shove the cookie in your mouth. If you do it right the hot liquid melts the cholocate cookie and your mouth explodes into a chocolately mass of goodness.
Well I have to go. Love you all heaps.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Spirituality in an Eggshell
I was once told by an old wise woman that our spiritual walk is much like an Easter egg hunt. When she was a young mother she used to hide Easter eggs for her kids. When they were young, three or four years old, she used to hide them in obvious places. Maybe sitting there right on the carpet or on a coffee table in plain view. Gradually, as they got older, she began hidding them in less obvious places making it harder to find.
The analogy is that in the beginning of our walk with Christ, God makes it very easy to find Himself. Things just come easy in understanding Him. The Bible opens up to us. We find it so easy to pray. Eventually, as we mature, God begins to hide Himself and the things of Himself from us. The search is more difficult, we enter dry times with the Lord, we're tested, and find it more difficult to do the simple things of our spiritual youth but it teaches our hearts to seek after God and in the end we're rewarded with new insight, a closer relationship with Him, those sweet little Easter eggs are found.
This trip for me is the Easter egg hunt. Why I am going on this trip? To have a nice vacation? No, it's to seek the Lord and to give Him my heart. I've come to a place where God is calling me to find Him in another place. I heard His voice calling to me as soon as I found out about the lay-off. It was the voice calling, "Come find me, Child."
This last week has been amazing time spent with friends and family. I've had my last night line-dancing, had a couple of going-away parties with some of my closest friends and family, went to Disneyland today, and tomorrow I will have to say Good-bye to you all. Thank you once again for all your support and prayers. May God richly bless you, may His face shine upon you, and may your heart always seek Him.
And as for You, Lord...
Ready or not here I come!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Temp-job
A few days ago I received my official acceptance to YWAM. I'm continuing to prepare for my trip with prayer.
After connecting with two temp agencies and waiting for almost almost a month I have a temp job. I'm working at a local insurance company in Mission Viejo. I learned an important lesson though during that time.
I was so adamant about getting a job. I wanted to feel like I was doing everything to support my trip. A friend of mine though pointed out that God might not want me to have a job yet. It may be that He wanted me to use this time to prepare me. I knew if He wanted me to have a job He could provide me one. I surrendered this to God in prayer and He answered. About a week after that my temp agency told me they had a job for me.
Turned out that it was about a couple of miles away from my Nana. We have lunch together everyday. I believe God wanted me to have this particular job because it was close to where she lives and He knew I would miss her.
God has really blessed me through so many people. I've received so much support and just wanted to say "Thank you!" once again to those of who are praying for me and who have supported my trip financially.
Two more weeks...Almost there!
After connecting with two temp agencies and waiting for almost almost a month I have a temp job. I'm working at a local insurance company in Mission Viejo. I learned an important lesson though during that time.
I was so adamant about getting a job. I wanted to feel like I was doing everything to support my trip. A friend of mine though pointed out that God might not want me to have a job yet. It may be that He wanted me to use this time to prepare me. I knew if He wanted me to have a job He could provide me one. I surrendered this to God in prayer and He answered. About a week after that my temp agency told me they had a job for me.
Turned out that it was about a couple of miles away from my Nana. We have lunch together everyday. I believe God wanted me to have this particular job because it was close to where she lives and He knew I would miss her.
God has really blessed me through so many people. I've received so much support and just wanted to say "Thank you!" once again to those of who are praying for me and who have supported my trip financially.
Two more weeks...Almost there!
Monday, August 13, 2007
The Layoff continued...
Well, I continued praying about my decision but at last I knew what I was going to do. For the past few years several of my close friends had gone out with an organization called YWAM, Youth With A Mission. All of them had stories of how God had changed their lives through leaving what they knew behind and following God to a foreign country. I had researched YWAM a bit and saw that their values closely reflected my own. The more I thought about it the more excited I became.
There were of course those safe, reseasonable voices in my head that told me what I wanted to do wasn't as good as staying at home, finding some secure job and continue on my way to affording a home and settling down. "Don't do anything risky, or foolish like wasting money and time, when you could be out there finding yourself a job or getting your Master's degree." But those voices didn't affect me long.
"Since when has God called us to be safe?" I asked. "And why would God choose to lay me off now from my job? "There's a sepcific reason why he did this", I thought. "And what was this feeling, this desire in my heart, this longing to seek God beyond the horizon." I realized then that this had to do much more than going on a little trip somewhere. This had to do with the priority of my heart. What was going to have a higher place in my life - my plans for success, of a home, a education, of a bigger salary or was it my quest to know God and to radically seek him?
I looked through a YWAM magazine I had taken from a missions conference and browsed through all the places I could go to. Finally, that night I made my decision. I was going with YWAM. I could not think of anything better than to go through a 3-month period in another country that I would use to study and come closer to God and another 3-month period following where I would be challenged to share my faith everyday and to serve him 24-7.
After looking in the magazine for several days and after speaking with some friends of mine I decided to go to Perth Australia. Why Perth? Why Australia? YWAM is everywhere. You can be overwhelmed with the possibilities of where to go. If I wanted to stay in the States I could, in fact there is a YWAM station in both San Diego and in LA. But I realized that part of this challenge was being out of my element, far away from what was familiar. YWAM recommends that you go to a station in a country that you've may have always wanted to visit, so I picked Australia.
Two weeks ago I bought my plane tickets and I've sent in my application.
There were of course those safe, reseasonable voices in my head that told me what I wanted to do wasn't as good as staying at home, finding some secure job and continue on my way to affording a home and settling down. "Don't do anything risky, or foolish like wasting money and time, when you could be out there finding yourself a job or getting your Master's degree." But those voices didn't affect me long.
"Since when has God called us to be safe?" I asked. "And why would God choose to lay me off now from my job? "There's a sepcific reason why he did this", I thought. "And what was this feeling, this desire in my heart, this longing to seek God beyond the horizon." I realized then that this had to do much more than going on a little trip somewhere. This had to do with the priority of my heart. What was going to have a higher place in my life - my plans for success, of a home, a education, of a bigger salary or was it my quest to know God and to radically seek him?
I looked through a YWAM magazine I had taken from a missions conference and browsed through all the places I could go to. Finally, that night I made my decision. I was going with YWAM. I could not think of anything better than to go through a 3-month period in another country that I would use to study and come closer to God and another 3-month period following where I would be challenged to share my faith everyday and to serve him 24-7.
After looking in the magazine for several days and after speaking with some friends of mine I decided to go to Perth Australia. Why Perth? Why Australia? YWAM is everywhere. You can be overwhelmed with the possibilities of where to go. If I wanted to stay in the States I could, in fact there is a YWAM station in both San Diego and in LA. But I realized that part of this challenge was being out of my element, far away from what was familiar. YWAM recommends that you go to a station in a country that you've may have always wanted to visit, so I picked Australia.
Two weeks ago I bought my plane tickets and I've sent in my application.
Friday, July 27, 2007
The Layoff
My story begins a month ago. I was on my way home from work. I was sitting in my car and had been talking to God. "God I'm not really happy where I'm at right now. I love the place that I work and the people I work with but I'm not happy with what I do." I felt that I needed more challenge.
My job responsibilities were fairly light. I was the administrative assistant to one of the pastors at Saddleback Church. I had started working on the Missions Team of the church more than a year ago, becaues I had been excited about being part of a revolutionary plan to mobilize millions of Christians to do the Great Commission. I did office work: filing, organizing, some basic accounting stuff but I felt like I needed more.
As I sat there I soon became a little worried. I had been in this situation before two years ago only I was working in a different place. Seeing that my circumstances were the same as before I began to ask myself, "Is my life really going anywhere? Why do I keep on running into these situations where I get into a dead-end job?"
"What do I do God?" I asked. "Should I quit my job and look for something else or do you have something for me where I'm working at and I just don't know it?" God spoke to me after I was finished. He said very simply, "I'm not going to give you my answer now but you need to wait for my answer." Great, well everyone who has ever waited on God for an answer to prayer knows that God's timing could mean weeks or even months and years down the road but I had been in that place a couple of times so I wasn't really expecting God's answer to come a week later.
I remembered how I felt when I first heard about the lay-off. I was sitting, listening to my boss, Skip, as he explained to our team at our last lunch together that there were certain changes coming to the Missions Team at Saddleback Church and there would be lay-offs. Skip couldn't tell us how many people or who exactly it would be let go but as he spoke I had the feeling, the kind of nervous anticipation one feels before you get on a roller-coaster. You sit down and then the protective harness comes down. You know its going to be fun but you can't help be a little scared. I realized then before I was actually let go that I wanted I truly wanted to be laid-off. I wanted to leave. It would have meant a fresh start in something new. "It could mean anything," I thought and I began imagining the possibilities. "Was this how God was answering my prayer?"
And then I walked into the office after our meeting. Some of us were still clinging to hope that the changes to our team wouldn't be so radical. We sat at our desks still trying to laugh and joke our way out of our nervousness. We were all expecting to hear the news of who was laid off the following day but one by one they called us into a separate office not two hours after we had come back from lunch. My friend Courtney was first and then James and finally they called me in and it was done. My last day would be Friday.
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