Impact Summer Byron Bay

Once again it has been ages since I have updated people on my life in Australia. The last week has been really busy. Graham and I drove from Sydney up to Byron Bay on January 2nd and joined most of the Adelaide base at an event called Impact Summer. Impact Summer is a two week missions event run by YWAM Byron Bay. They do things like beach volleyball, beaceh soccer, live music, free pancakes and chai, and just talking with backpackers and exchanging stories with all different kinds of people.

Byron Bay is one of the vacation hot spots for backpackers in Australia. People from every nation walk down the streets everyday and it's not uncommon to find people barefoot and shirtless in Woolworths or just walking down the street. Graham and I arrived in time for the second week of Impact Summer and got involved immediately after we moved in. We stayed in a church called Surfside and slept on the floor for most of the week. The churches in Byron Bay really blessed us with places to sleep and eat and are a huge part of Impact Summer. I really don't even know what to say about Impact Summer though, I mean God touched so many lives in so many different ways. With the diversity of YWAMers and the diversity of the backpackers that come through Byron Bay it was amazing to see different YWAMers just connect with people of their own culture and background. Graham and I even connected with some mennonites who are a part of Byron Bay and reminisced about farmer sausage, sommer borscht, and all the mennonite foods you can think of. Whoa, just got side tracked there for a second on food. God did work in marvelous ways though. So many people had amazing opportunities to share what God has done in their lives and the stories are endless. When we first arrived there and it came time for evening 'evangelism' (pretty much just chillin' with people and taking the opportunity, if given, to share our stories with them) I just prayed and asked God to show me people to talk to if there was somebody he really had prepared for me. I prayed that same prayer every night and for the first three or four nights I found myself just praying for most of the night. I never fancied myself as a prayer warrior but it was an excellent chance to just back up brothers and sisters by interceeding for them throughout the night. I will honestly say that I felt disappointed the first few nights at times, but God just kept encouraging me with stories and testimonies of other people. Near the end of the week I had managed to have three conversations with an older guy named Greg who was already a Christian. I also had the opportunity to pray with him for a friend of his who didn't know the Lord. One night I was going to pray with Greg but he got talking to somebody else and didn't see him for the rest of the night. I decided just to start praying for his friend George and that Greg would be able to have open conversations with him and that God would just make himself known to George. At the end of Impact Summer when we were doing a debrief at one of our churches Greg showed up and I talked with him for only a few minutes but what he told me blew me away. While George was inland at his dads house for a few days something must have happened between him and God. Greg wasn't sure what had happened but when he said goodbye to him George said to him "Greg, stick close to God and you'll be alright". It blew my mind that somebody so hard hearted and so closed off to the message of Christ and Gods will for his life came to have some sort of trust in his Creator. Praise the Lord for answered prayer.

I could go on and on with stories and testimonies of the past two weeks but I'll just leave you with that short experience. Sometimes it feels like God just works in bursts, but He is always, always faithful. He is constantly providing for Graham and I while we are on the road and I know he will continue to provide for us. Graham and I are currently in Brisbane at the YWAM base hanging out with our good friend Amy Doiron. We only have one weekend here with her and so I should probably get going and hang out with her for awhile. A few prayer requests is that our contacts with Newcastle with work out and we would be able to mission build there for a week or so. Graham would also appreciate prayer for finances for his fitness trainers course in February as well as his DTS in July. Thank you so much for supporting me both financially and prayerfully and I love hearing from people at home. Blessings to all of you guys and Praise the Lord for the ways in which He is working in the lives of His children. Cheers.