It's the end of week 4 of my DTS and tomorrow marks 1 month of being in Perth! It has been a crazy month filled with many laughs and many tears, but it's been good and so worth it! I have experienced freedom here which I have not experienced before; freedom to just be myself and not have to live up to the expectations others have of me, because no one here even knew me! It's been an amazing month of spiritual freedom as well as I have been free to interact with and worship God how I want to without the various pressures and whatnot I often felt in other situations. Over all being in Australia is exceptionally freeing and I am hoping to reach a place during my time away where that freedom will also translate home when I return and will not be left behind.
The topic of teaching for this week was really interesting: Intercession and Worship. We didn't actually receive any teaching on worship, but we learned a lot about intercession and got to practice it a couple of times, which was amazing! It was really incredible the ways God moved and spoke to us in our intercession groups and the ways He led us to pray and intercede for those we would never have thought to intercede for without His input. There was a lot of practical teaching about intercession and prophetic actions and what they are and how to go about interceding, but there was also a lot of teaching on the biblical history of intercession, much of which was above my head and not really what I was interested in, but it was still good.
We also had a really busy week with lots of new and crazy events. When our school began at the beginning of October, the base here was about a third of the way through 40 days of prayer and fasting for what they call the precinct (the parcel of land around the base which God has promised them). Well this week was the end of the 40 days (Wednesday was the last day), so to end it off we as a base had 24 hours of worship. Each school and ministry and other groups of people on base took at least an hour between 8pm on Wednesday and 8pm on Thursday and we had groups of people worshipping for a full 24 hours . . . it was really incredible! Our school's time was 12 to 1 am Thursday morning which I wasn't thrilled about since I can hardly keep my eyes open past 10pm since we get up so early, but it ended up being amazing! I think probably because I was sleepy a lot of my inhibitions were down so I went full out worshipping God and everyone could really sense His presence with us. It was great! Luckily morning exercises were cancelled the next morning so we didn't have to get up at 5:45 and were able to sleep in a little bit. To end off the 24 hours of worship, the whole base gathered together for a potluck dinner and worship from 5:30-8pm on Thursday. The worship again was incredible and the food was OUTSTANDING! Our feasts at The Forge can get pretty nice, but this potluck was like nothing I have ever experinced in my life! We had about 250 people coming together to bring food and there was such an amazing variety. We had genuine Korean food, Indonesian food, Chinese food, etc. Everything was eclectic and so delicious! Once we had finished eating many people were wondering if they would be able to move at all for worship, but somehow we managed.
The other fun and exciting thing we did this week was Open Mic Night on Wednesday. First of all let me just say that I am in a DTS with incredibly talented people! The Open Mic Night was open to the whole base and lots of different people performed, but over all my October DTS had the most acts and they were all amazing! We have brillant singers, lots of song writers, some dancers, just a little bit of everything! We even have 4 of our guys who formed a band (with acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, drums, etc.) and wrote their own songs to perform. It was great! They are all only 18 or 19, but the musical maturity they have is incredible, and the songs they wrote were beautiful.
Now you may be wondering where the title of this blog fits in anywhere with what I have actually been writing . . . well here it is. I rode a camel yesterday! I honestly did! I also fed and pet kangaroos, and pet a koala, and pretty much it was just the best day ever! A group of people from my DTS went to Caversham Wildlife Park and it was crazy! First of all we had a little adventure on the way there and ended up taking 5 hours to get there (2 and a half of which were spent walking from where the bus dropped us off to where the park actually was!). To put that in perspective, we only took an hour to get home afterwards! But it was so worth it because we got to see all sorts of Australian animals like wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, tasmanian devils, dingos (which really just look like Golden labs!), and lots of other ones too. But as I already mentioned, my highlights by far were feeding and petting kangaroos, petting a koala, and riding a camel! It was so much fun, and the mix of our group was perfect because we all just really enjoyed hanging out together! It may be my favorite day so far because it was so much fun.
So this was a week which was unlike any other so far, and this week will also be unlike any other. YWAM Perth is hosting the National Leaders Meeting this week which is a chance for all the YWAM leaders in Australia to come together for meetings and teaching, and all of us students are going to be a part of it as well. We get to sit in on the meetings and attend the varous workshops. Our regular classes are suspended for this week because of this National Leaders Meeting, but it is expected to be an exciting week, though very busy! So please be praying for energy as we take on an even busier schedule than we already have, and also be praying for God to be speaking clearly as we engage with this week and that hearts would be open to Him. I am excited for what is to come this week and this month as much to my surprise I am already in November here! So continue to be praying for what's going on here and also be lifting us up as we prepare for outreach in the new year. We need to see lots of finances come in for many students and plans to be laid for our time there. Also be praying for our hearts to be prepared for what we will encounter in Mexico. Thank you for your prayers and sharing this journey with me!
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