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| Home 'n' away! |
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| Nightcliff Jetty |
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| Nightcliff Beach |
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| Foggy morning at YWAM ...MOST unusual!! |
G’day, g’day! Thank you for tuning in to our blog! Heaps has happened over the the last few weeks! Amidst working in and around the Darwin YWAM base, Cher and I have spent a lot time discerning where God is leading us next .. After much prayer and careful consideration we’ve decided to take the plunge!! To the U.S. of A. that is, to work and train with John G. Lake Ministries (JGLM) in Dallas, Texas for 3 months! A few other Melbourne-based JGLM-ers will be joining us to Dallas and we’ve organized to travel as a team! We’ve already planned a short 2 day trip, after our arrival, to Tulsa to visit an inspiring teacher and preacher of the gospel. After that our visit will be kicked off by the national JGLM conference. Cher and I have volunteered to help John G. Lake Ministries in whatever way possible, as we study and train with them - so what exactly we will be doing after the conference remains to be seen. However we already know that there may be an opportunity to go to South Africa for a few weeks with JGLM as part of our training!
Apart from all this excitement Cher also had her birthday. We went out somewhere ‘special’ for lunch and after that I surprised Cher by taking her to a day spa clinic where she got treated to a body spa and massage - just coz it can be tough being a missionary sometimes .. ;-) YWAM had a little celebration after dinner too with cake and gifts.
I was blessed around this time too by receiving some dvd’s in the mail, which were meant as a present for me for my birthday, back in May. The (4) dvd’s are 2 sermons and 2 documentaries - very interesting stuff. I might share on them at a later time ..
Cher and I have also been making the most of a little library at a nearby baptist church. YWAM makes use of the Baptist church for weekly worship, intercession and staff meetings and for events and programs like Mission Adventures and DTS (Discipleship Training School). We discovered some awesome dvd’s in the library! One had 4hrs of amazing rare footage of the thriving underground church in China - which is being persecuted by the Chinese Government. Another dvd looked at persecution towards Indonesian Christian’s on the island of Maluku, by Islamic extremists - things you don’t hear so much about on the evening news! I praise God that we serve a God of love and yet how He warns us that we will suffer persecution for His name’s sake. And I thank Christ for the word of His teaching and the example He gave us in that we are to bless those who persecute us, to forgive and love our enemies and to overcome evil with good!
After our Mission Adventure’s trip to East Timor, Cher and I began settling into a somewhat normal YWAM Darwin routine and have been able to see how the base functions without the hectic MA (Mission Adventures) programs. Everybody on the base fulfills various roles and functions. Cher helped out with hospitality and researched a coconut jewelry business idea for the potential benefit of the people of Weberek in East Timor. I helped out with maintaining the base’s grounds and gardens and odd jobs that came up. Everybody helps with cooking dinner and washing up on their appointed night. Not to forget base clean-up on Friday mornings too! It’s a pretty ‘well oiled machine’ and everybody works well together.
At the close of July, we ‘farewelled’ a YWAM leader who was taking a hiatus back to Canada for six months. YWAM does parties well ..
Over the first couple of weeks of August, Cher and I were busy with a lot of on-base work. I worked some long, hot days in the gardens and then was assigned to a very (saw) dusty floor sanding job in a hallway. It turned out to be a little bigger than anticipated, requiring an extra belt-sander, extra men and extra days to be completed.
Around mid-August the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment course began, which Cher and I had already pre-enrolled for in July. It was run by 3 visiting YWAM lecturers. The course is nationally recognized and accredited, run by various training and education institutions around Australia. YWAM has tailored it for their purposes and has made it a prerequisite for all YWAM leaders. It purposes to teach new YWAM leaders how to train and disciple new YWAM students effectively, or at least according to ‘nationally recognized’ government and industry standards.
The course was interesting but pretty heavy going with many hours of homework spent in front of the computer each night. At least it was only going to be for 2 weeks .. or so we thought ..
Due to unforeseen circumstances Cher and I eventually found ourselves bidding farewell to our YWAM friends and flying back to Melbourne where we are now! God seems to have other plans and purposes for us, in the here and now ..
Stay tuned to see where and how God directs our steps yonder!
As always, Love and Blessings,
L & C
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| Outback Man! |
