So here we are in 2011! I can hardly believe how fast 2010 flew by--especially the last 6 months of it. As you know, I was in Newcastle, Australia doing my Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth With A Mission (YWAM). My experience was completely and utterly life-changing. I participated in 3 months of lecture or classroom phase on the base in Newcastle. Then we went to Papua New Guinea for 2 months of outreach. Finally, I spent 1 more month after graduation back on the base as a “mission builder” (someone who lives on the base to work in any and all areas of need---admin, outreach, maintenance, etc.) to build community as well as determine whether this was my call to return.
Discipleship Training School.
The whole purpose of DTS is to prepare students for missions, both intellectually (lecture phase) and practically (outreach phase) so that whether in our home town or on some far-away island, our hearts are mission-focused. During the first phase, we typically had about 15 hours of lectures every week, many worship/chapel times, evangelism times (in the city of Newie), meetings, and heaps of homework on top of that. Lecture topics included Fear of the Lord, The Father-Heart of God, Freedom in Christ, Clear Conscience, The Holy Spirit, Missions, Evangelism, Relationships, etc. Every day on the base was jam-packed, starting at 5:45 AM and flew by at breakneck speed until curfew at 10:45 PM. In addition to classes, and homework, we were responsible for cleaning, basic maintenance and cooking meals for our group of 80!
Saturdays found us staffing YouthStreet all day long at a converted warehouse (think Boys and Girls Club activities and energy level and add a Christian spin on life). We split into teams to work in smaller groups with the youth (I helped lead the dance team, and others did drama, surfing, music, etc.). When I got to Australia, I was really expecting the youth to be open and stoked on life, but I found them to be closed off and desperately needing love. The suicide rate is alarmingly high in Australia, especially amongst the youth aged 15-24. The culture is very cold towards Christianity, and although the mega church, Hillsong, is located in Sydney, most teens are completely ignorant about who Jesus is and what he did for them. These youths have a huge need to be loved and an even greater capacity to love! Learning how to effectively love on and minister to these kids has been an immense blessing, as working with youth has always been a huge passion for me. Watching the “crew” (as we call the youth who attend YouthStreet) grow in their faith is truly inspiring, and makes me want to learn how to love better, in order to further God’s kingdom.
The crazy pace of lecture phase allowed for little free time, but I loved it! Working together, studying with other friends on my school, drinking tea, watching footie (rugby) with the crew, or working on music….all of it built deep friendships, and challenged me in new ways. During this time, I was also pushed and encouraged in my music. I had the opportunity to lead worship a great many times while I was on base; a thing that first terrified me, and then in which I found a new passion.
Those three months raced by; it was an intense period of time where we were pushed to understand God in ways we never have before. At the end of it all, I gotta confess, we really felt like we knew it all...
But then we went on outreach.
My team went to Papua New Guinea, a poverty stricken island nation near Indonesia, where we were really forced to put what we’d learned over the lecture phase into action. It became very clear why outreach is called the practical phase. It is one thing to talk about the attributes of God in the comfort of a classroom, and another thing entirely to be forced to apply that knowledge for real. We spent 5 weeks in the highlands of PNG hiking from village to village where we lived for a week or so at a time, leading church services and open air evangelism meetings. Culture shock was intense. Toilets there are simply holes in the ground swarming with bugs of every kind; baths, when they happen, are taken in the river; vegetables are whatever weeds you pull from the ground (I will not be wanting sweet potatoes for a LONG time); homes are huts made of woven reeds, and it isn’t uncommon to find spiders bigger than your face crawling around, or rats chewing through your backpack. In spite of these things, we found that the common stereotype of cannibalistic savages is completely wrong. We were continually blown away by their genuine love, generosity and kindness. These people, who truly have nothing, were so grateful to us for bringing them hope.
We spent our last 4 weeks of outreach in the coastal capital city of Port Moresby, which has the dubious distinction of being the most dangerous capital city in the world---second only to Baghdad. It does not feel like a huge city, as it is divided up into villages where entire extended families live together. We were initially disappointed when our original plans to work with a pastor fell through, but God had something amazing in mind. We found ourselves staying in the village of Vabukori with the Moses family (that really was where God led us!!) and were so blessed by their love and hospitality. In response to the tragic loss of their oldest son, the entire family is preparing to become missionaries to-----Australia! They intend to provide their house in Vabukori as home for missionaries passing through, so one of the main projects we worked on was Extreme Home Makeover Vabukori Edition! We also led many church youth events, and I was further challenged to use my love for music for God. The Moses family is well-known locally, and we sang at several large concerts with them, and I even was asked to perform live on a national radio show. None of that was in our original plans, but God had it mind all along! We also had the opportunity to pray for and minister to the patients in the overflowing AIDS/TB ward (yes, they are combined in one large room) at Port Moresby General Hospital. The harsh reality is that most hospital patients in PNG never fully recover FROM ANY ILLNESS. Please pray that God would send His healing to the people of Papua New Guinea!
While we were in PNG I was hit hard with sickness and serious adverse reactions to malaria medications which landed me at the hospital twice. At first I let these setbacks get me down, but after a while I learned to laugh in the face of such circumstances and cling to Jesus as my joy! Even in that, God encouraged me, as one of the doctors who treated me in the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea was from Boise! We were blessed to see miracles first hand, and the greatest thing I learned in PNG is that God will not stay in any box---He is much bigger than I had ever believed!
After outreach we made our crazy voyage back to Australia and civilization. We had one more week on the Newcastle base for debriefing, preparation for re-entry (going home), and graduation. Following graduation, I went on Base Retreat with the rest of the staff. It was so good to get away and focus on my relationship with God, and to process all that I had learned. He showed me many things about himself and his plans for my life and my future.
As I write all of this I can only think that I would not have had the opportunities to do all of these things if it had not been for your generous support and prayers while I was gone. I am so immensely thankful to you for your support and will be forever grateful. I know for some of you, your gifts to me were sacrificial. I have been blessed beyond words. Thank you.
As great as it is to be home, God has really laid it on my heart to go back on staff at the base in Newie, almost immediately. I was asked to come back to work in the Creative Department on the base and I am heaps stoked on it! Working in Creative is basically my dream job, and God has definitely blessed me with this opportunity. I believe He has called me to be there by the end of February. I will live on the base with all of the other students and staffers, which while not free, is definitely cheaper and more fun than finding a place on my own. I will be heavily involved in working with the Worship Team ministry, photography, video editing, event coordination/production, lighting, sound, and youth ministry. I will also be working hand-in-hand with the YouthStreet department, and continuing to build relationships with the kids there. I am so excited about what God will do!
I have committed to returning to Newie for a 1 year minimum. This is a full-time missions position which is unpaid, but I will still be incurring costs of living. God has provided temporary employment for me in Idaho (waiting tables with a smile!), but I will still need help, and am working on raising support. To cover a year of staff fees, living expenses (health insurance, gas, visa, activities with YouthStreet,etc) and my flight to Australia I need to raise approximately $9,000 for the next year. The blessing this time is that I don’t need to have it all raised at once. Ideally, I need to have $3,000 raised by the time I leave (February 28th), which will cover one time up-front expenses (plane ticket, health insurance, visa) and two months of tightly budgeted expenses. I know this seems like a crazy amount of money, and believe me-- I do not take this lightly. I know these are tough economic times, and that is why this will take faith.
Please understand that this is not about Christy’s Awesome Australian Vacation! This budget does not include trips to the hair salon, souvenir shopping, a visit home, or travel, and I am dedicated to good stewardship of the funds generously and often sacrificially given. But here’s how it looks if we break it down for one month:
$300 Staff Fees (room and board)
$30 gas (we all chip in $2 every time we get a ride into town)
$50 activities with YouthStreet
$60 laundry and food (we have a steady diet of cheese, and day-old bread on the base!)
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I know this is touchy. Everyone I know has told me that raising support is the biggest hindrance to most missionaries. They have also suggested that finding monthly supporters is extremely helpful, as it is usually more do-able for most people, and is helpful on my end to have an expected amount to work with monthly. I know most of us don’t have extra money at the end of a month, but it might be helpful to break it into smaller amounts. Think of it this way: if you go to Starbucks 4 times a month, that’s about $25. For the price of 4 lattes you could support me for one day. Maybe you take your family out to eat every Sunday after church, and that runs you about $40 each time; if you skipped out on that tradition 4 times you could support me for a whole week of fees! Or, say you are a snowboarder and you buy yourself a new board and threads every season—what if this year, you considered helping me out with a month of staff fees? I’m not saying that any of these are easy sacrifices; I know giving up things that we’re used to is hard. Will you pray about helping to help send me where God has called?
If this is not something you are able to do, I totally understand. I would ask you to support me in prayer, and to ask God how he intends for you to be involved in missions----we are ALL called to share the Gospel, and there is no greater blessing! I am so excited about this new phase of my life!
Thanks for taking the time to read this!
PS: If you would like to support me, message me at www.facebook.com/christygrrrl and I will get you more info on how to do so! Thanks again! <3
