Heading out, and a financial update!

Just a heads up, I'm leaving tomorrow for 3 weeks, so I won't be able to keep up the blog during that time. The video below describes what I'll be doing!

Financially, I have approximately $1500AUD to go for my first deposit for outreach, and then the final cost will be announced after the trip is all planned (about 1000-2000 AUD more.) I have no doubt that God will provide, He always does when he calls His children to GO!

Here is an update vlog for you!

GOD BLESS YOU TODAY!

TALK TO YOU IN A FEW WEEKS

Buzzing with Anticipation!

The outreach teams have returned from the September MAD DTS, and we've found our base has nearly doubled in size!  Things have certainly picked up here at YWAM, and there is hardly a quiet corner all through the base.  What a blessing to get to know all these new faces and hear their stories of how God has worked through them in growing the kingdom in the countries they've traveled to!  This is getting me all the more pumped up to go to Japan in a few months.

Our speaker is this week is going through and lightly dissecting the whole Bible with us.  We've split off into teams of four or five and have been given a section of the Bible to act out in a skit, starting from Genesis, going all the way through Revelation! It's so fun to see how creative telling the story of the Bible can be, and how interactive.  This is such a great tool for evangelizing in the world, as it becomes engaging, entertaining and meaningful at the same time.

MAD DTS on Brisbane base is buzzing with anticipation of being on the road for the next 3 weeks!  Week one we'll be helping out at Easter Fest, which is a large Christian music festival in Toowoomba, Australia.  We'll have a massive YWAM tent and be helping set up the festival, camp out, and do several activities during.  The following week, we'll be going to Byron Bay to study and do some outreach.  The third week is what we call the Pass It On tour, where we are given a baton and literally run from town to town in Australia, passing on the word of God to each town, then passing it over to another country where they will do the same thing.  During this week we'll also have outreaches in these towns.  I'm excited to find out everything that is planned through all this, and to see how God grows, stretches and bonds us all as a team and to be a part of watching His kingdom grow in Australia through this.

I cherish your prayers in these areas:

• Health.  Many of us have been coming down with sickness this week, so prayers for speedy recovery and that nothing else strikes us during out three week treck!
• Energy.  Several of us are really starting to be drained of the energy juice! Pray that God is our energy source and re-fills our cup.
• Openness. Openness of mind and heart to where the Spirit is leading us, as well as the hearts of those who we will be reaching out to.

Many blessings!

~Lilly

Boo Yeah!

Outreach teams have been announced!

After intercession on Thursday, our staff team had a little surprise game planned for us. They split us into two teams and asked us trivia questions about the different outreach location options (Japan; Finland and Sweden; Norway; Germany and Netherlands.)  When a person had the answer, they would run up and slap Lana's hand, and when the answer was correct a staff member gave them a puzzle piece with a part of a picture of their location. After everyone got a piece, each separate team put the pieces together, and we were together finally for the first time!

I'm going to Japan for a 7-8 week outreach in a few months! 

So excited to see what God's got up His sleeve, and to watch the kingdom grow through this ministry!

If you could please pray for the following points:

• God's will will be done and the glory will go to Him! That we'll be open to His Spirit and callings as we go overseas.
• Finances! I have a long way to go. I'll keep you updated when we find out the total cost!
• Unity in our new team
• Planning, that it will go smoothly, that we'll get the visas we need, all paperwork done, plane tickets, etc.
• Health! May we all stay fit and healthy to keep us kicking for Jesus name!

This below is my new team when we first found out from left to right: Davin, Micah, Lilly (me,) Essie, Sarah, Lindsey, Rachel, Kim, Lena, Anna. So excited to go with this wonderful group of people!

Exciting news inside!

So much has happened in the three and a half weeks of being here, I can't even imagine what will happen in 6 months! God's got a whole lot more greatness up His sleeve for us than we ever could have imagined.

A new speaker comes each week to lecture for us on a certain topic for 3 hours each morning. Our speaker was Jan Denharder for the first week, and he preached on the character and nature of God.   A couple highlights I learned are that God equips the called, not necessarily calling the already equipped, and how evangelism is about capturing people’s hearts, not simply preaching at them.  The second week, a new speaker from our own base taught us about hearing the voice of God.  It is so encouraging to hear the speakers' many stories from their journeys as missionaries, of how God has provided endlessly and protected them.

Every Wednesday morning, a pair of us is doing a presentation on a nation that is greatly un-reached in the gospel, a project we call “Adopt a Nation.”  This is such an eye-opening project; I’m realizing more and more how much I really have living in the western world, and how so many people survive on so little, as well as the shocking statistics of people in the world who have never heard of the salvation of Jesus Christ.  This is getting me so excited for outreach in a few months! 

*****

Our location options for our 7 week overseas outreach were just announced a couple days ago!  I'm not aloud to announce where I'm going yet until all the teams are firmly established, so wait for more exciting information to come, and I’ll keep you updated! Please pray for clarity and peace in the choices of where to go as all of the teams come together.

*****

We are also involved in local outreach. Specifically, every Wednesday afternoon we give a free barbecue to the community in the park, play sports, do art, and play music.  This is a great opportunity for us to invest in the people of Brisbane and Mitchelton and show them the love of Christ.

As far as music goes, throughout the week we have activities called “Creative Encounters” where we all gather as musicians, artists, or dancers, and share our creations with one another.  We discuss how we can best use our gifts to bring glory to God and make His name known.  

God is constantly reminding me that these six months are not the end of anything, but only the beginning of something bigger than I can imagine which God has planned.  I’m so excited to continue this journey by His leading hand!  Some prayer requests that I have are for continued unity within our YWAM family, as well as physical health, the courage to step out in faith when the Spirit calls us to do something outside of our comfort zones.  Also, if you could pray for the overseas outreach teams that are being put together right now, that as groups we can work together and hear clearly from God all the things He wants us to do, and for good planning.

Many blessings!