I've recently noticed that a lot of people I know make lists to remember things. I previously thought this was a silly and even ludicrous idea, but now I know otherwise. I have also come to realize that if I forget anything here in Australia I am slightly stuffed, because it doesn't look like I'll be back in the next 6 months.
Flight times: Check
Personal Effects: Check
Gifts: Check (almost)
Sweet people at home: Check
Sweet people here that I have to say goodbye to: Check (sniff)
A heaps good experience in Australia and the presence of God: Check
I'll see you when I see you. Cheers.
Feb 24, 2009
Feb 11, 2009
Anxiously Awaiting...
As my days in Australia go by I have found myself anxiously awaiting a lot of things. Before I go any further I suppose I should make myself clear. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Australia with Youth With A Mission and have been blessed by God through so many different people. From YWAM Adelaide, to Brisbane, to Newcastle it has been a growing and learning experience, along with a lot of fun.
Friends and Family. That's what I am anxiously awaiting the most. The people in my life are important to me and would be the only real reason I miss anything about home. Talking, laughing, and just being dumb with Riley. Having conversations with my mom. Making fun of Jen and Karli. The list could go on. Let's just say I'm pretty stoked to spend some time with people at home.
Where God is taking me next. That's the other thing I'm anxiously awaiting. I know He has some cool and ridiculous plan for me and I'm excited to live it out and learn from Him. He's taught me about myself, Himself, relationships with others and so many other little things along the way. The options are limitless and it's exciting as well as a little unnerving at times.
Aspects of winter. This might blow some of you away but it makes perfect sense to me because I haven't had snow since last winter. I'm looking forward to snowboarding, playing hockey, going sledding, and having the fire going. Watching the snow fall near the street lights in the evening. Yep, looking forward to it all.
Off the top of my head those are the things I'm looking forward to most. The list of people and things that I will miss after I leave Australia will probably keep growing the longer I'm at home, but right now I am perfectly content with going home in two weeks. Anyhow, that's all I've got for today and I'll see you all in the snow when I get home. Blessings and thanks for your prayers.
Friends and Family. That's what I am anxiously awaiting the most. The people in my life are important to me and would be the only real reason I miss anything about home. Talking, laughing, and just being dumb with Riley. Having conversations with my mom. Making fun of Jen and Karli. The list could go on. Let's just say I'm pretty stoked to spend some time with people at home.
Where God is taking me next. That's the other thing I'm anxiously awaiting. I know He has some cool and ridiculous plan for me and I'm excited to live it out and learn from Him. He's taught me about myself, Himself, relationships with others and so many other little things along the way. The options are limitless and it's exciting as well as a little unnerving at times.
Aspects of winter. This might blow some of you away but it makes perfect sense to me because I haven't had snow since last winter. I'm looking forward to snowboarding, playing hockey, going sledding, and having the fire going. Watching the snow fall near the street lights in the evening. Yep, looking forward to it all.
Off the top of my head those are the things I'm looking forward to most. The list of people and things that I will miss after I leave Australia will probably keep growing the longer I'm at home, but right now I am perfectly content with going home in two weeks. Anyhow, that's all I've got for today and I'll see you all in the snow when I get home. Blessings and thanks for your prayers.
Jan 31, 2009
Back in Adelaide
This past Tuesday morning Graham and I decided to make the trek from Newcastle back to Adelaide. We're not the sort of guys to stop overnight and pay for any sort of hotel, so we decided to drive straight west from Newcastle to Adelaide. When we left just before three in the morning it seemed like a beautiful day to be driving, rain and slightly overcast. By the time we made it to wester New South Wales it was hot. I don't mean 30 degrees summer day. It was the hottest day on record in five years in South Australia, 43, but driving through the outback in a car without air conditioning it must have been close to 50 degrees. Go ahead and dream about, but I'm sure some of you would agree that -30 is better. Anyhow, after 16 hours of driving virtually non-stop we arrived back at the YWAM Adelaide base. It felt like we were coming back home in a sense, not that this is my home, but it was nice to see familiar people in familiar surroundings.
This past week saw a few days of work and yesterday was a base cleaning day because we had fire inspectors coming to check out the building. It's been incredibly hot out this last week and I've heard from several people in different parts of the world that Adelaide has been on the news as one of the hot spots. These next couple of days will be my last days with Graham because on Monday he's flying to Perth for his fitness trainers course and won't be back in Adelaide until well after I leave. He'll be reading this so I can't say I'm happy to see him go, ha ha. I'm glad to see how he's continuing on doing what God has in store for him and I'll be looking forward to seeing him at home again. Speaking of home, it's less than one month until I'm back on frozen Canadian soil. I am definitely looking forward to seeing people at home but am also treasuring my last month here. It's not every day you spend six months in Australia. This last month in Adelaide will probably be full of base work for me because we haven't had anyone doing maintenance regularly since Graham and I left the base in December. Other than work there's a new DTS starting in a couple of days and I decided to name February dessert month, so we'll see what that brings.
I'm off for now because sometimes it seems too hot to even be typing. Cheers.
This past week saw a few days of work and yesterday was a base cleaning day because we had fire inspectors coming to check out the building. It's been incredibly hot out this last week and I've heard from several people in different parts of the world that Adelaide has been on the news as one of the hot spots. These next couple of days will be my last days with Graham because on Monday he's flying to Perth for his fitness trainers course and won't be back in Adelaide until well after I leave. He'll be reading this so I can't say I'm happy to see him go, ha ha. I'm glad to see how he's continuing on doing what God has in store for him and I'll be looking forward to seeing him at home again. Speaking of home, it's less than one month until I'm back on frozen Canadian soil. I am definitely looking forward to seeing people at home but am also treasuring my last month here. It's not every day you spend six months in Australia. This last month in Adelaide will probably be full of base work for me because we haven't had anyone doing maintenance regularly since Graham and I left the base in December. Other than work there's a new DTS starting in a couple of days and I decided to name February dessert month, so we'll see what that brings.
I'm off for now because sometimes it seems too hot to even be typing. Cheers.
Jan 25, 2009
A Week in Newcastle
I won't go into great detail about this week but I'd like to let you all know what I've been up to as well. Last post I mentioned we'd be working on shipping containers to try and turn them into office space in a recently acquired warehouse. Let me tell you, it is not all as easy as it sounds. The first few days of this week were spent grinding out huge holes in the sides of containers for windows and doors. I don't have an exact number but we probably went through 15 grinding blades on the nine inch grinder alone, in one week. We also drilled wooden studs into the containers so that we had something to secure the walls and ceilings too. One of the most fun parts, as well as impressive parts, was moving the containers into place. One thing about Australia is that they don't know what a big truck is, so the biggest vehicle we had at our disposal was a Toyota Land Cruiser with a V8. I will be honest, I had my doubts that an SUV could pull a 2 ton shipping container on a concrete floor, but Toyota proved me wrong. The only time we needed two Land Cruisers is when we had to squeeze one container into a tight and awkward spot. Anyhow, that was the bulk of the excitement for the week.
One of the other things that we got done this week was a massive work bench that will come in handy over the next year as they continue to build/renovate their 'new' warehouse. The Lord continues to provide for YWAM Newcastle because I also heard a rumor that they found a supplier for the remaining shipping containers that they need. Previously they couldn't get a price cheaper than $1800 per container, but God provides and they will hopefully get 4 or 5 for $800 a piece. Besides 40 degree weather in a sweltering warehouse the rest of the week was fantastic. I'm excited to be heading back to Adelaide and there's a possibility that Graham could be coming back to Newcastle sometime in the next few months to continue helping out in the warehouse. It's a short post, but like I said, there wasn't much else to talk about besides work this week. That's it for me.
One of the other things that we got done this week was a massive work bench that will come in handy over the next year as they continue to build/renovate their 'new' warehouse. The Lord continues to provide for YWAM Newcastle because I also heard a rumor that they found a supplier for the remaining shipping containers that they need. Previously they couldn't get a price cheaper than $1800 per container, but God provides and they will hopefully get 4 or 5 for $800 a piece. Besides 40 degree weather in a sweltering warehouse the rest of the week was fantastic. I'm excited to be heading back to Adelaide and there's a possibility that Graham could be coming back to Newcastle sometime in the next few months to continue helping out in the warehouse. It's a short post, but like I said, there wasn't much else to talk about besides work this week. That's it for me.
Jan 19, 2009
Tour de YWAM
It has been quite busy since we left Byron Bay and Graham and I have managed to cover a fair few kilometers between then and now. I could tell you where we are now and what we're up to, but than you'd miss out on some of the good parts; so here it is.
After Byron Bay Graham and I had plans to visit our dear friend Amy at the YWAM Brisbane base, which is only an hour and a half north of Byron. We made it to the base with no problems and Amy was just waking up (mid-afternoon I might add) from her 24 hour sports marathon. As we soon found out, it would be very easy to identify all of the other people on her sports DTS because of the way they walked. Although after 24 hours of sports, wind sprints, cross-carrying, and lack of sleep, who wouldn't be walking funny. We managed to spend the weekend with Amy and a few of her friends on base and I really enjoyed my time with them. It was nice to see a familiar face from home and she was more than excited to see us. Between going out for ice cream, going to Macca's, going to the cinema, laughing non-stop (courtesy of Mable and Kathleen), and just hanging out it was most definitely a fun and relaxing weekend. One of the funnier moments came when Graham and I were about to leave early Wednesday morning. Salome and Amy decided it would be funny to toothpaste our car with random sayings, some of which were quite complimentary I might add. They did it late Tuesday night and I'm sure they thought that they were both sneaky as well as hilarious. The only problem is that two blonde girls in the dark have the trouble distinguishing an '84 Mazda 323 from a slightly newer, more reliable, and ultimately superior Toyota Corolla. Needless to say, Graham and I both left Brisbane with smiles on our faces.
From Brisbane we made our way down to Newcastle, which is approximately a ten and a half hour drive. Our plan was to show up at YWAM Newcastle, who we had been keeping in contact with, and volunteer for the week. As it turns out Newy's base was chock full of new DTSers as well as a youth camp that wouldn't be over until Saturday evening sometime. Lucky for us, Natalie's family lives less than an hour outside of Newcastle and they were kind enough to let us stay there for a couple of days. We met Nat's parents in Byron Bay as well as three of her siblings. Nat and Caitlin were also staying there for a few days so it made for a full, yet fun, house. It was actually at Nat's house that I was able to Skype my parents and see them for the first time since I left home, so thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Broome for that. On Saturday evening we made our way back up to Newcastle and YWAM had a place ready and waiting for us, which was nice considering our escapade earlier in the week. Even though we've only been at the Newy base for a few days we have already had some awesome times with people here. I've managed to go skateboarding and even recover some of the old tricks I thought I'd lost, stay up way too late, and start working, which has been awhile. Although we'll only be in Newcastle for a week we're looking forward to helping out the base with preparing their recently purchased warehouse. The plans are fairly incredible and I can hardly describe what it will look like in the end. The main idea is that it will use recylced and vintage items. Picture this, offices in shipping containers, huge I-beam rafters, and old street signs kicking around. That's just a glimpse of it. Praise the Lord for making new friends and doing work with YWAM again, it's safe to say that I really enjoy it. By next Monday or Tuesday we'll be off to Adelaide and it's only a matter of weeks from than until I'm on my way back home.
So that's been our Tour de YWAM. In two weeks it will have been quite a few. Byron Bay, Brisbane, Newcastle, and Adelaide, as well as Perth for Graham. I should get going but again I thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers as well as encouraging e-mails. Hang tight through the cold at home and I'll be hangin' ten until I join you there. Cheers.
After Byron Bay Graham and I had plans to visit our dear friend Amy at the YWAM Brisbane base, which is only an hour and a half north of Byron. We made it to the base with no problems and Amy was just waking up (mid-afternoon I might add) from her 24 hour sports marathon. As we soon found out, it would be very easy to identify all of the other people on her sports DTS because of the way they walked. Although after 24 hours of sports, wind sprints, cross-carrying, and lack of sleep, who wouldn't be walking funny. We managed to spend the weekend with Amy and a few of her friends on base and I really enjoyed my time with them. It was nice to see a familiar face from home and she was more than excited to see us. Between going out for ice cream, going to Macca's, going to the cinema, laughing non-stop (courtesy of Mable and Kathleen), and just hanging out it was most definitely a fun and relaxing weekend. One of the funnier moments came when Graham and I were about to leave early Wednesday morning. Salome and Amy decided it would be funny to toothpaste our car with random sayings, some of which were quite complimentary I might add. They did it late Tuesday night and I'm sure they thought that they were both sneaky as well as hilarious. The only problem is that two blonde girls in the dark have the trouble distinguishing an '84 Mazda 323 from a slightly newer, more reliable, and ultimately superior Toyota Corolla. Needless to say, Graham and I both left Brisbane with smiles on our faces.
From Brisbane we made our way down to Newcastle, which is approximately a ten and a half hour drive. Our plan was to show up at YWAM Newcastle, who we had been keeping in contact with, and volunteer for the week. As it turns out Newy's base was chock full of new DTSers as well as a youth camp that wouldn't be over until Saturday evening sometime. Lucky for us, Natalie's family lives less than an hour outside of Newcastle and they were kind enough to let us stay there for a couple of days. We met Nat's parents in Byron Bay as well as three of her siblings. Nat and Caitlin were also staying there for a few days so it made for a full, yet fun, house. It was actually at Nat's house that I was able to Skype my parents and see them for the first time since I left home, so thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Broome for that. On Saturday evening we made our way back up to Newcastle and YWAM had a place ready and waiting for us, which was nice considering our escapade earlier in the week. Even though we've only been at the Newy base for a few days we have already had some awesome times with people here. I've managed to go skateboarding and even recover some of the old tricks I thought I'd lost, stay up way too late, and start working, which has been awhile. Although we'll only be in Newcastle for a week we're looking forward to helping out the base with preparing their recently purchased warehouse. The plans are fairly incredible and I can hardly describe what it will look like in the end. The main idea is that it will use recylced and vintage items. Picture this, offices in shipping containers, huge I-beam rafters, and old street signs kicking around. That's just a glimpse of it. Praise the Lord for making new friends and doing work with YWAM again, it's safe to say that I really enjoy it. By next Monday or Tuesday we'll be off to Adelaide and it's only a matter of weeks from than until I'm on my way back home.
So that's been our Tour de YWAM. In two weeks it will have been quite a few. Byron Bay, Brisbane, Newcastle, and Adelaide, as well as Perth for Graham. I should get going but again I thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers as well as encouraging e-mails. Hang tight through the cold at home and I'll be hangin' ten until I join you there. Cheers.
Jan 11, 2009
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.
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.
Jan 1, 2009
New Years in Sydney
Wow. There's really not much that can be said to do justice to a Sydney New Years Eve celebration. The city was packed. People from seriously every nation and culture were there, or so it seemed.
My New Years Eve day ran something like this. Graham and I saw Caitlin to the airport and then took a train back into the city because we hadn't heard back from Anne yet. Anne is a girl from Germany that we meant at YWAM Adelaide and her family was with her for New Years and traveled to Sydney. Graham and I decided to take the ferry back to Aunt Mary's to pick up food, drinks, and all that other outdoor New Years party gear and meet Anne and her family back in the city. The public transport was wild though, we decided to take another ferry to Cremorne Point where we'd be watching the fireworks. Graham and I arrived there at 3 pm(ish) and hardly managed to find a spot on the ground big enough for six people, let alone comfortable. No complaints though, we had a nearly clear view of the Opera House as well as the Harbour Bridge. The Harbour water was only 30 feet from where we were sitting and it was a good place to cool off on a fairly warm New Years Eve; not to mention the way that the lights dance and glow off the water once the sun goes down. The Harbour is beautiful before the fireworks start, but once they start it just comes to life. The fireworks seem bigger and brighter because of the water and the Harbour Bridge becomes completely illuminated at times. The fireworks were launched from several different locations including just in front of the Opera House and off the top of the Harbour Bridge. There were fireworks in almost every direction and they were stunning. The one thing that sort of got me was that they didn't have any sort of countdown. I guess because there's millions of people in different locations it would be quite hard to co-ordinate a countdown. Once the fireworks start it's "Happy New Year" and wild screaming and picture taking.
There's really not too much more that can be said about the night's events. It was most definitely a once in a lifetime experience and I will remember it for some time to come. Happy New Years to those at home who haven't celebrated yet and I will see you sometime in 2009. Blessings.
My New Years Eve day ran something like this. Graham and I saw Caitlin to the airport and then took a train back into the city because we hadn't heard back from Anne yet. Anne is a girl from Germany that we meant at YWAM Adelaide and her family was with her for New Years and traveled to Sydney. Graham and I decided to take the ferry back to Aunt Mary's to pick up food, drinks, and all that other outdoor New Years party gear and meet Anne and her family back in the city. The public transport was wild though, we decided to take another ferry to Cremorne Point where we'd be watching the fireworks. Graham and I arrived there at 3 pm(ish) and hardly managed to find a spot on the ground big enough for six people, let alone comfortable. No complaints though, we had a nearly clear view of the Opera House as well as the Harbour Bridge. The Harbour water was only 30 feet from where we were sitting and it was a good place to cool off on a fairly warm New Years Eve; not to mention the way that the lights dance and glow off the water once the sun goes down. The Harbour is beautiful before the fireworks start, but once they start it just comes to life. The fireworks seem bigger and brighter because of the water and the Harbour Bridge becomes completely illuminated at times. The fireworks were launched from several different locations including just in front of the Opera House and off the top of the Harbour Bridge. There were fireworks in almost every direction and they were stunning. The one thing that sort of got me was that they didn't have any sort of countdown. I guess because there's millions of people in different locations it would be quite hard to co-ordinate a countdown. Once the fireworks start it's "Happy New Year" and wild screaming and picture taking.
There's really not too much more that can be said about the night's events. It was most definitely a once in a lifetime experience and I will remember it for some time to come. Happy New Years to those at home who haven't celebrated yet and I will see you sometime in 2009. Blessings.
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