you know that I could use someBODY

"Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." (John 6:53-56)

"On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" (John 6:60)

"As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him." (John 6:66)

 

Jesus tells us that his flesh is REAL food, his blood REAL drink. We can read in black in white that Jesus makes no mention of a metaphor from here we can understand that if what He said was merely symbolic and all we had to do was eat some bread and drink some wine to gain eternal life, well that would be easy and everybody would sign up for this kind of salvation. But His disciples, people who knew Jesus, who had left literally everything they had ever known to follow Him, family, friends, a job, said to Him "this is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" These people didn't just show up for one day to hang out with Jesus they knew Him and trusted Him with their welfare. If all the disciples had to do was eat bread and drink some wine then it wouldn’t be hard. Jesus tells his followers eat my FLESH and drink my BLOOD and because of this "many of his disciples returned to their former way of life." These people knew Jesus meant what he said (either that or thought he was insane) regardless they knew he MEANT what he was saying. Men who left all they'd ever known, possibly miles from their homes, maybe even had to sever ties with family to be with Jesus left him because of this teaching and Jesus let them go. Jesus let them go because he knew that if they couldn’t accept this teaching then they would miss out on so much more, that this was one of the most important things he was offering to us, His people on earth and ultimately when they rejected his body and blood, they rejected Jesus.

 

Jesus is REAL body, blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist and thank God for that gift. I was really inspired today during prayer listening to a podcast from Father Michael Schmitz on the Eucharist so I just thought I'd share with you all.

 

AMDG

 

 

 

Looking Back.

Looking back on my year on NET, the simplest statement about it I can make is “it was an adventure.” It certainly had its many ups and downs but now, sitting here with the year all done and dusted I can hands down say it was the best year of my life. For me personally, my year, even though I didn’t intend on this being the case, was about my growth and learning who I am, growing into an adult and coming to see myself the way that God sees me. Learning about who I am, outside of the name I created for myself at High School and in my community which in itself was a HUGE challenge. One I want to pose to you, whoever you are that is reading this; remove yourself from your achievements, be it academic, sporting or cultural, take away the opinions your friends and family have of you whether you’re the ‘funny one’, ‘nice one’, ‘trustworthy one’ or whatever else, forget about the people you hang out with or the activities you participate it and then reflect. At the core of who you are what kind of person are you, is it who you want to be? How does God see you at the very core of your being and is it how you want him to view you? This is what my year has been, reflecting on who I am. Constantly striving to be a woman of integrity, which of course is who you are when no one else is around to see.

As for a day in the life since I was on the National team we were CONSTANTLY on the move, in the 10 months I was on NET our team went to approximately 72, yes 72!! Places, some of them were double ups true, but we went all over Australia, a truly amazing country, we went to every state or territory, excluding Tasmania and ministered to over 7000 young people. From Brisbane to Darwin, From Perth to Adelaide and just about everything in between. We stayed in large cities like Sydney and tiny ‘towns’ like Theodore population of only 600 including the surrounding area. We ministered to a large array of ages from young adults to year 4 students. God worked in us and we worked for God, without Him at the centre of everything there is no way we would have been able to accomplish everything we did this year.

This year was incredible, inspiring, challenging, scary, tough, fun, crazy, silly, awesome and so much more that can simply not be put into words.

So here is my year in pictures, well a few anyway.

 

 

 

No longer a NETter

It's official, NET is OVER! Well technically speaking it’s been over since Saturday, that’s when we were officially “released” from our titles as NETters. We ended the year with a thanksgiving Mass followed by a banquet and then… nothing. We’ll not quite nothing but that was of any formal NET duties. We all still hung out with each other until the very end made the most of the few days between banquet and heading home. It’s very weird sitting in my home back in New Zealand and no longer being a NETter. I’m of very mixed emotion about my current place in life but for now it’s nice to have a bit of a break in comfortable surroundings. I’m sorry this isn’t a more interesting update but….
 
AMDG

the beginning of the end

The National team, we travelled all up and down east and west through this amazing country and now? Well we're finished travelling. We arrived back in Brisbane, where this journey all began. We arrived few days ago and we will stay here (with the exception of going to Peregian for debrief) until we leave to go back to our respective countries. It's weird, I never had the ability to feel particularly settled here in Aussie considering we were always on the move but I really do feel like I'm preparing to say goodbye to my home, or at least to my family, my team, which will break my heart but that's okay because For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecc 3:1). I know I was here for a time and that is quickly coming to an end but all is well because I served my purpose and learnt so much along the way.

We have a week left of retreats here in Brisbane, which will be super busy and full on but also so good. We recently had an overnight retreat in a place called Harrietville with a group of year 10 students and it was possibly one of my favourite retreats EVER. The students were so open and happy to be there and it was truly beautiful to watch the students respond to God during the quite time of pray and reflection. I always feel so very privileged to play a part and be a witness to students responding to God, it is my favourite aspect of what we do here. A random little story for you all, on the retreat I was just talking about one of the girls there started fainting and got pretty sick. The first day everyone thought oh shell be fine but it kept happening and she started passing out more frequently so on the second day the teachers called an ambulance for her. We naturally agreed to move all the other young people into a different hall on site so the girl and the paramedics could have some space. We were all gathered and settled in the second hall and I was giving a talk to the group when the girl who was sick walked into the room and promptly passed out, in front of everyone. Talk about a distraction....

I am doing well, recently I had been getting pretty sick so I was told to cut gluten out of my diet so that has been an interesting adjustment to make but it was improved my health dramatically so that's good. Please pray for my during this time as I prepare to leave these people that I have come to call my family but also that I would be fully present and alive in every aspect of ministry we have left this year.

AMDG

Church is Boring?

Jesus, God, Father, Holy Spirit, Church, Christianity, Catholicism, are so often described as boring, out dated, an institution for those who are not free. Clearly myself along with about 1000 other young people missed this memo. Over the last few days IGNITE (the largest Catholic Youth Conference in Australia) has been taking place. The National team, along with 3 other teams had the privilege of being able to volunteer, help out and attend the conference with varying level of involvement. The conference ran from Thursday 27 – Sunday 30^th. The theme for Ignite was “Awaken” – Wake up sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Ehp 5:14. First off the whole thing was A-MA-ZING!! For the Kiwi’s reading this it’s sort of like Setfree but WAY bigger and on steroids.
 

The National team was responsible for running the “blaze” stream, which were grades 8-10. Basically what that means is that every day we ran and 1½ session with them and we were the small group leaders for that age gap. Other than that we had to do various odd jobs, like being an usher, or manning the NET ministries stand. With that said we also got to attend the conference and WOW it was crazy good. Every morning we kicked the day of with a rally, which consisted of praise and worship, a fabulous speaker, prayer and more praise and worship. All of the music was led by Emmanuel Worship, so obviously it was epic. Throughout the day, we were fed copious amounts of food, had workshops, listened to talks, small groups, did some random stuff and ended each night with a rally, similar to the morning rally. So much goodness, so much God, so much joy.
 

Church is boring. The statement is so flippantly thrown around but for me the  only way to make the statement true is “Church is boring?” it has to be a question, a shock, a surprise, because God is anything but dull and the Church is certainly alive and overflowing with joy. Ignite Conference 2012 was so good and for many people it was life changing, God was truly present and he alone is responsible for changing lives.

 

AMDG

 

Just another day in the life

My exciting daily life, well perhaps that's not exactly true. My life is super exciting but not on a day to day basis, I only tend to realise just how not normal my life is this year when I reflect on it.

This is what the past few months have looked like for me, we started in Brisbane then Toowoomba, then Brisbane, Hervey Bay, Brisbane, Gatton, Brisbane, Evans Head, Brisbane, Biloela, Blackall, Claremont, Mackay, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Yeppoon, Theodore, Yeppoon, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Coffs Harbour, Goulburn and now finally Traralgon. I have been in all these places, toing and frowing for as short as one night up to a week in the past two months. WOW.

Now, here's a breif peak into what my life has been looking like. In Clarmont we got to milk cows, ride horses, drive four wheelers, and have bonfires. In Rockhampton (aka "Rocky") we helped to run the Rockahpton Youth festival in which we got to team up with the Emeral team and do some ministry, it was so refreshing to hang out with them and save souls (or at least do our best) with them. Theodore had a population of only 600! By FAR the smallest place we've worked in. In Yeppoon a few of us girls went out with a mutual friend of one of my team mates, we went to see some of Yeppoon’s night life, we went on a mullet hunt and went down "pie alley" a (somewhat sketch) alley way in which at any hour of the night there is someone in the back of the bakery waiting for a knock on their garage door and willing to sell pies to those who have been out on the town, we of course thought the whole thing was a joke but we were not disappointed! In Bundaberg (Bundy) we did a lot of work (and simply hanging out) with the young adults group there. One of them, whose name is Brent, is heavily involved with the community theatre and he invited our whole team to go see their production of "Little Shop of Horrors" totally free, exclusively for us and before the show even opened. We also had our supervisor visit in Bundy, it was pretty chill and we did a lot of fun stuff like went to the Bundy ginger beer factory, took a tour there and got to try all 16 of their non-alcoholic drinks, we also got to try sugar cane, for the first time for most of us and just generally had an awesome time. After Bundy it was a 3day drive to get to Traralgon, which is where we are now. On Sunday we took a day trip to Melbourne to visit Megan, which was fun, Melbourne is such a stinking hip city, it was awesome. I guess it’s just another day in the life of the Natty team.

On a personal level I am doing well, I'm exceptionally tired and exhausted all the time but I love the ministry and I live such a blessed life. Next week we are back in Brisbane for the Ignite youth conference, the largest Catholic youth Conference in Australia, which we as the National team, along with the Sydney, Emerald and Mazenod (Melbourne school team) will be taking part and helping with. Please pray for Ignite and the young people who will be there. Also I seriously miss everyone back home so please if you get the chance send me an email so I know how your lives are going. I will try and repost sooner in the future. For photos check out my facebook, sorry my internet here is to slow to upload any for the blog.

AMDG

Half way there.

Back to reality… Well my reality of early mornings, long days, late nights, students who think you’re the lamest person who was ever born and students who worship you almost as much as we worship Jesus. Ok so my week of work really hasn’t been that tough but we have worked with quite the array of students, our first retreat back was 140 year 11 students and tomorrow our final retreat of the week will be 23 year 7s. No two days are ever the same and God chooses to work and show himself through it all.

Since getting back we had a week of training up at Mount Tambourine at a campsite called Bornhoffen and in true NETters of 2012 fashion we were rained on the entire time when historically speaking it is sunny every year, seems to be a recurring pattern whenever all of us are in one place. Training was awesome, to get to see people from other teams to see Sam and Katrina again, it was just so awesome to see faces that are familiar and loving outside of my team. I often forget that there are other teams doing ministry just like us in local areas and it’s so reassuring and inspiring to hear of their victories and know that we are not alone in this mission here in Australia. The campsite was beautiful, located up in the mountains with many nature walks to take and an awesome waterfall, and topped off with a large cross on the side of the mountain, once again God showing that he is everywhere. This half of the year brings with it many new changes for our team with two people leaving, and a new team member coming aboard, shifting from 11 to 10 people on team, please pray for our “new” team.

It's really amazing, daunting, scary to think that I'm over half way done here. I look back and think WOW I'm so blessed to have seen pretty much all of Australia and met well over 3000 young people, stayed with and experienced many different families, cultures and seen God in so many different ways but OMGOSH it went so quickly and this half of the year is so much shorter, it's a bit freaky really. The biggest thing I've learnt this year is beyond anything people need to know they are loved, if they're an athiest or Christian people need to know they are loved. As Christians we know that God is love so what people really need is God, that is obvious but for those who don't believe they need to fist experince human love in order to accpet or even begin to understand a divine being that is all love, please, please, please I beg of you, whoever you are that is reading this, love more, and PLEASE pray for me to do the same.

I don’t really have anything amazing to report, I am doing well and am praying for you all back home and for anyone who may be reading this. I also ask that you pray for the hearts of the young people we are still to meet this year that they will be open and attentive to whatever God wishes us to say to them.

AMDG

Mid Year Musings

Since you last heard from me a lot has happened... I am currently back in NZ for my two week break, it is cold, VERY cold. But let's rewind for a bit and I'll give you a glimpse into my life prior to coming back across the ditch.

We spent an entire month in Perth and I simply LOVED, loved, LoVeD Perth! WA is such a special state, so different from the rest of the country. During our time in Perth we frequently visited Fremantle which is a super cute, super hip beach side town. Other than the fact I loved the place we also did some pretty awesome ministry. We were allowed into a youth detention centre where we spent two one hour block with two different groups of young men, even though it was such a short time it was also incredible,  so sad too, these were talented, funny, outgoing guys. Who we all thought were awesome, so whoever you are that is reading this please pray for those young men that when they get out they will make a change in their lives, cause they deserve SO much more. We also did our largest ever retreat which consisted of 165 students, that was fun (and I'm not being sarcastic either). We also travelled to a few neighbouring cities to do ministry, one of these was a place called Pemberton. It is a very small countrey town with a very tight knight gourp of amazing Catholics, seriously the youth we worked with their were around 10-13 years old and they were some of the holiest young people we've met all year! There isn't much in Pemberton BUT they do boast of the third tallest tree house in the WORLD and we climbed that sucker. It was 61m high with metal rungs sticking out of it, no netting to catch you, so if you fall... Well let's just hope you don't. Nonetheless, AWESOME.

Going up? (this photo in NO way does it justice)

 After Perth we started the long drive back to Brisbane, yes we drove the entire way. It took us 6 days, along the way we stayed at places with funny name, did stupid things, saw amazing sights and had an incredible time. Our journey took us firstly to Norseman then Eucla, Streaky Bay, Broken Hill, Coonabarabran and then finally Brisbane.

On this journey we also took on the famous Nullarbor which saw us crossing the longest straight road in Australia which is 145.6km but that was only a very small section of the Nullabor which took about two days in total to cross. There is a tradition among the National teams that you leave behind a package for the next years National team to find whilst on the Nullarbor. We heard about this in January and we waited patiently until it was finally our time to search for these mystery packages and also leave behind our own. Last years National team never found the package that was meant for them so we had the pleasure of also finding theirs which was located at a tree dubbed "the NET tree" in the package were affirmations, toothpaste, a colouring in book, markers, a prayer book, as I'm sure you understand it was a completley random collection of item but still so exciting to find! The next package was located at THE cow grate, driving from Perth it was the first cow grate we'd come across in two days. We didn't exactly find the package left for us by the 2011 team we assume it was ravaged by animals because we looked HARD! We found a small portion of it which was one of our vans missing head rests which now resided on the back seat, somewhat discoloured and a handwritten note on a jandal. When it came time to leave our package it only made sense  to leave it exactly in the middle of the cow grate, so as Phil (our male team leader and the person in charge of risk assessment) tries to force the large package through this small gap a HUGE road train starts coming down the road firing it's horn madly and doing at least 110km, but Phil was committed he was going to make this package fit so amidst screaming, tooting and near death Phil made the package fit through and jumped to safety.

The longest straight road in Australia, found on the Nullarbor Plains.

We also had the incredible blessing of getting to see the Great Australian Bight, as the National Team we have been to every coast of each state (excpet Taz) and it is truly an AMAZING country but as it often is with God's creation nothing could prepare me for the excitment and beauty I would find there. Australia simply stops... sheer cliffs up to 60m high and then just ocean, you've reached the end of the country. It was awesome and it was as though God himsef greeted us when we God there as we stood at the edge of the cliff a pod of about 20 dolphins swam passed and we even got a rainbow. I love nature and for me it's one of the way God shows me he's present.

The National Team sisterhood on the edge of the Nation.

As for the rest of the journey, it was awesomse too. It was nice to have time just to be and enjoy each other's company in fun random locations. When we got back to Brisbane we had a 2 1/2 day retreat with year 12s, that was nice to be with youth for more than a day and actually form relationships and get to know people in a deeper way. After that we had mid year debrief and retreat AND we were reunited with all the other NETters which was so good to see friends and faces that I've been missing and praying for over 5 months. On the final night of debrief the staff even honoured us by setting up a beautiful dinner and waiting on us so we all got dressed up and had a great night. Then two days later I headed back to NZ, I can't wait to get back to my team, Australia, the ministry but for now I'm grateful for a break.

My beautiful sisters all dressed up.

Without trying to drag on and on I think I will leave it here for now, I will upload more photos to facebook in the coming days. Thank you for reading I'm praying for you.

AMDG

Let's play catch up.

Where to begin.... I think the best place to start is with sorry for being so awol over the past little while, I haven't had proper internet in over a month. Since leaving Brisbane we have travelled through Sydney, Goulburn, stayed in Ballarat for 2 weeks, then to Port Peirie, Port Lincoln, Adelaide (we were there for a week over Easter) then the team drove up through the centre of the country onto Katherine, then Darwin for 1 week, then 8 days of travel passing through places like Turkey Creek, Kurratha, Cununbarra, stayed in Broome for 2 nights and then some more travel and now we have been in Bunbury for 1 week and today we are going to Perth for 3 weeks. So far my favourite places have probably been Broome and Bunbury and Ballarat - I guess all the 'B' places.

Some fun lil bits of information to share with you all, we had one girl faint on us at an Eday of like 95 girls, we have seen a buch of road kill kangaroos, seen fossilised ferns that are supposed to be as old as the dinosdaurs, had Alyssa (the 19 year old Canadian girl) run into a small metal bench at night and make a HUGE dent in her shin which resulted in a trip to the hospital and her being on crutches (she's okish now). We stayed on a drama stage for like a week and had to hunt out a possum which had been stealing our food during our stay there. Got to hang out with a large group of aboriginal students in Darwin. Went surfing in Adelaide, Seen the most BEAUTIFUL views of an incredible country. Feel free to check of photos on facebook.

I'm not really sure what else to tell you all, I am doing well, I love my team to death, I am continuing to come to know Jesus in new and exciting ways, becoming more confortable with speaking to adults and youth alike (though I'm still pretty socially awkward). I love sharing talks on Edays and EDLing, I love seeing the young people accross Australia allowing Jesus into their lives and having the chance to pray with them, I love getting to share in the lives of the young people and hearing their stories as well as sharing my own, hearing the response of the youth and teacher. I may have given up a year of my life to do NET but what I'm recieving in return can never be fully measured by any amount of time, I am so blessed, I seriously get SO much out of what I do. I don't know what else to say... I'm just loving life right now, God is good and I am privileged enough to see that on a daily basis.

Please continue to pray for me, the National Team and our ministry and the youth we are still to encounter. I love you all and am praying for you.

AMDG

you are good enough.

In life there are so many restriction placed on us, so much pressure to conform, to be a certain way. Ultimately we are constantly bombarded with the message that you are not good enough, you need to be someone other than who you are in order to be good. Often we buy into this; I know I’ve certainly been guilty of it. But when we believe this lie we deny ourselves so much and we tell God he’s not good enough because God created us in HIS image and HIS likeness, when we are dissatisfied with ourselves we must also be dissatisfied with God, in whose image we were created. Our God is perfect in every way, that means you too are perfect, don’t let the lies of society bring you down, don’t place those restrictions on yourself, of trying to be someone you’re not or believing you’re not good enough because God, the source of all that it good, believes you are good enough.

AMDG

Australia the AMAZING

I won’t lie as far as I was concerned Australia simply wasn’t beautiful. Perhaps I’m biased or have too much pride in my own country, every view we saw that made the Americans “ohh and ahhh” didn’t do anything for me, because New Zealand had it too as a matter of fact we had it better. However I was proved wrong, Australia is amazing. On Wednesday 28^th some of the team went on an adventure to Halls Gap, about 1½ hours out of Ballarat, but more specifically to Mackenzie Falls and The Balconies.

We went to a gorgeous waterfall, simply stunning, like the kind of nature I miss from home, I was happy and content. We climbed some rocks and even went for a swim at the base of the waterfall; we’d had a good day and were ready to leave. We started to drive home and on a whim we decided to take a turn off to The Balconies, to some protest, but it was so worth it.

Amazing, incredible, beautiful, words fail me, they do not seem adequate, and they simply do not do the view justice. With little to no doubt in my mind it was THE most breath-taking view I have ever seen. We stood on a cliff overlooking a valley covered in trees, completely untouched by humans, it felt like we were on the edge of the world. God’s immense beauty was magnified in his creation; you couldn’t see this and not praise him. Australia is beautiful and I am SO blessed to be able to see almost all of this incredible country, as the National team we will get to see beauty like this more often the all the local teams combined, I am blessed.

Below are just a few pictures, for more check out my Facebook page

That tiny pink dot in the picture above is me, sitting on the edge of the world.

AMDG

Bye Bye Brisbane

It feels right, official, just the way it should. We have finally left Brisbane, well actually we left last Friday, but none the less, it feels SO good to finally be out of Brisbane, it feels as though we are finally starting our life as the National Travelling team! Last Friday we drove 17 hours, yes that’s right, it was not a typo SEVENTEEN HOURS to Sydney, it was our first ever travel day and we went all out. We stayed overnight with the Sydney team, that is Sam’s team, which was so cool to get to see familiar faces, as we didn’t think we would get to see anyone till mid year. The next day we drove 2 ish hours to Goulburn and stayed with / celebrated St Patrick’s day with the Goulburn team which again was so good to get to see other netters, people I’d grown so close to over training and just talk with them and hang out. Then another long day, 9 hours of driving on Sunday I think and that took us to Ballarat, the town we are still in. We are here for two weeks and have currently been here just under one.

For our time here in Ballarat, which just to put that in perspective is 1½ hours out of Melbourne, we are at an all-boys school. For all of last week we ran the same Encounter day each day (for a different set of classes) which was for year 7 and the theme was leadership. Next week we will be doing year 10 and the theme, I’m fairly sure is self-image. At this point we have ministered to over 1600 young people, ministry life is crazy, AWESOME and often challenging but so blessed.

Ballarat is COLD!!! Like 6degrees cold getting up to maybe 12 at mid-day? So I do feel slightly lied to by Australia because I was not expecting this, especially after being in Queensland for 2 months where it ranges from 27-40, so my body is in a little bit of shock right now.

 I love it here, even though I’m challenged and forced to grow in so many ways, there is no place I would rather be at this point in my life, but it is hard and far different than I could have anticipated but it is good, because God is good.

We are currently on “Supe visit” which is where our Supervisors come out to meet with the team and talk to us, see how we’re going, etc. I am really loving it because we are getting the chance just to be, just hang out with each other and enjoy everyone’s company which is something we don’t get to do a whole lot of. So today we had “Hood time” which is where the guys and girls split up and us girls had a D’n’M with Sarah to get everyone caught up on each other’s lives (our female Supervisor) and then watched a movie and ate junk food. Tomorrow we get to go into Melbourne which will be really fun and I will hopefully be able to update you all on that soon!

For now I must go because internet is hard to come by and in high demand.

AMDG

NET says no to sleep.

NET says no to sleep has been the running joke for me and Alyssa this week, she is the sister I was hosted with this week and had the pleasure of telling her this every morning at 4am. Over the past week we have had an encounter day everyday with the expectation of only half the team running an E-day for 17 people and the other half filming a drama, which is performed to the song “Dare you to move” by Switchfoot which will be used by a Priest who is a great speaker. Today is our only day off and we have another E-day tomorrow on Sunday. This week we have had very little sleep, we are expected to fully invest in the lives of our host family, which is an awesome part of our ministry this year as the National team but it also means we generally have late nights and super early mornings, gotta love natty team. I have had such an awesome hose family this week we have literally been living across the road from the beach, it reminds me a bit of The Mount, it’s a place called Moreton Beach at Redcliffe.

My life on a personal level is good I miss home and my life and friends and family a lot so please pray for me about that. On a ministerial note it certainly is a mixed bag each school is TOTALLY different the kids are all disciplined differently and you never really know what to expect when you walk into a school. Over this week I have had my first chance to EDL (Encounter Day Lead). The EDL is the person who writes the schedule for the week and is pretty much the MC for the day in layman’s terms, you have to be approved by staff before you can do it and I was approved last Wednesday so it was pretty cool, I was EDL to a group of Grade 9’s and the theme was “Worth What” and that is self-image. I also gave my first talk on Thursday to a group of grade 6 and 7 on “Steppin Up’, Worth what and He said, she said” which is leadership, self-image and peer pressure. Normally we only have one them but a school can request as many as they want which makes life interesting some times but I really enjoy speaking, I don’t think I did a particularly good job but I’ll get better with time, I hope.

Below is our official NET photo as the National Team, enjoy. Also I will try and write more in detail and with less grammatical errors in my next update.

 L-R Adrew 19 from America, Kevin 18 from Brisabne but orginally El Salvador, Phil 22 our male Team Leader from America, Lyle 28 from Sydney, Big Mike 21 from NZ. Girls L-R Megan 21 from Melbourne, ME!!!!, Grace 19 from America, Danielle (Dani) 23 our female Team Leader from America and Alyssa 18 from Canada!

AMDG

Adjusting

What to say, what to say....

This past week has been a complete whirlwind; we have had an encounter day every day this week, ranging from year 7 to year 12 from leadership to sexuality and even a couple days of only boys. It has been challenging but also completely awesome to begin to get a taste of what my year will be like.

Every day this week I have woken up between 4.30am and 5.30am so to my friends and school don't even talk to me about getting up early! I actually don't mind getting up that much it's just a matter of adjusting. I also feel like people don't seem to understand why it is we get up so early so here is what is expected of us. Wake up do and to 45 minutes to 1 hour of personal prayer in the morning, obviously get dressed, eat etc. Get picked up and collect everyone which normally takes between 1-2 hours depending on traffic and then drive to our location, which we are expected to arrive at 1 hour before start time in order to set up, get organised and pray. Hopefully that helps people to understand our early mornings.

We have been very busy this week and I am pretty exhausted after only 1 week so this year shall certainly be interesting. Next week is slightly less busy as we have a couple of days in the office in order to practice dramas and skits and whatever else needs going over, as well as we have 3 encounter days, I think. I don't have a whole lot to report on my end but feel free to email or comment with questions if there's anything you'd like to know about my life because I really don’t know what to tell you.

Today was a day off so other than skyping as many people as I could in a short space of time, Dani and I went into Brisbane city and went to the science museum and the "GoMA" (Gallery of Modern Art). Perhaps I am not the best person to appreciate modern art, in fact I'm probably the worst but it was certainly entertaining and fun, even if I wouldn’t quite call the displays art.

Please pray for our upcoming encounter days and also for the local teams that they are settling into their new lives.

AMDG

Firsts and lasts

Over the past week we have run our first two encounter days (which is NET terminology for retreat days). The first was a group of grade 9's and it was on sexuality, the second was a group of grade 7's and it was on leadership. They were both very different and posed many different challenges. They both however have one thing in common; they went by very, very, quickly. It took us 6 weeks to become equipped for something that lasted 5 hours... Obviously training was a lot more than just learning about how to run encounter days, so don't think I'm putting down training, even for a second because it was quite possibly the most incredible time of my life. But it was just like wow; this is what we came here to do, especially as the National team as we will be running Encounter days nearly every day. The days were both exceptionally long we had to wake up at 5.15am and then 4am the next day, I'm beginning to think maybe this year won't be so easy, but the Encounter days were so worth it, anything is worth it for Christ's sake.

Today was our Commissioning Mass, so it is official I AM A NETTER! It also marked our last contact with the other teams. We are not supposed to remain in contact with anyone from other NET teams, they do have legitimate reasons for this but it doesn't make accepting the rule any easier. Saying goodbye was tough! For the people I'd already known well before coming to NET but also the people I've met while here, if any of my readership ever done NET or plan on doing so then you might understand otherwise it is impossible to explain just how close you can grow to people and how deep of a relationship you can form in 6 weeks. Tomorrow all the based teams will head off to their local areas, as for us we have a month in Brisbane so we shall be staying put and just changing host homes.

I am doing well, learning lots and eating more junk food than I ever have before. On a serious note I ask please for your prayers next week we dive head first into our ministry running 5 encounter days, without the assistance on NET staff, we are on our own. Please pray for our team and also for the youth we will meet.

AMDG

Back to Brisbane

We have just finished training at Peregian and are now back in host families in Brisbane city. We still have about 10 days of training, in which time we will run two (practice) Encounter days, which is just a NET term for retreat, they call them “Encounter Days” because they are a chance for the young people to encounter Christ.

So reflecting back, a day in the life of training thus far has consisted largely of getting up at 6.30am and going to bed at 10.30pm, a very similar time table to school. We have between 3 and 6 sessions a day, some of them FAR more entertaining than others but all super draining, so much more than school ever was and we haven’t even begun ministry yet, God help me, PLEASE. We did all sorts of things from lessons on how to mingle, to drama training, to child protection policy’s, how to write talks and EVERYTHING in between. We went to the beach A LOT and I think I’ve got a pretty good tan thus far, even if I do say so myself.

At the beginning of training the Executive Director, Shanelle Bennett stood before all us netters and said by the end of training you will be like family, you will all love each other and know each other intimately. I didn’t believe her. Nearing the end of training however I can see she was and is right. The people I’ve meet on NET I know well, so well, we are all one big family and I will be beside myself when we hit the road and I won’t get to see the other netters until mid-year. The friendships I’ve made on NET are hard to explain because we know little about the surface level of each other but know the desire and fears of each other’s hearts well. Even the staff are more like friends than anything else.

Below are just two pictures of me and my team sisters enjoy. Oh and let it be know today I am a woman, February 11^th 2012 I GOT MY EARS PIERCED! Pictures to come ;)

Time for Teams

I guess I should start from the point that most people will have been waiting to hear… Where will I be going? To put it simply EVERYWHERE, I’m going to be part of the National traveling team and we will be going ALL over Australia from Brisbane to Perth to Darwin and lots of places in between, we will drive all across this nation in a 12 man van.

Before leaving I know I said I wanted to be based, I simply HAD to be on a local team and in all reality I stood a pretty good chance. I mean there are eight teams and only ONE is travelling, statistically speaking I had a very good chance of getting my way. But God doesn’t go by the statistics. Growing up I used to get very homesick and I’m still completely opposed to change, Mum suggested moving the place where the Christmas tree is ALWAYS located this year and I simply couldn’t handle it, when the pictures around home change I find it distressing, needless to say this will be a year of challenge for me. However even in my desire to be based God worked through me and my heart align with his, for it is His ways that I desire, this is something I will always be sure of. Within a few days of arriving on training, which began with a weeklong retreat for us, God changed my heart. I never made a choice I never dwelt on it for too long, my only prayer was “Your will be done Lord, this year is for you” I knew very quickly that I would be on the National team, God had placed it on my heart without my even knowing and I was ok with that. It didn’t frighten me, in fact it gave me a great sense of peace. My new fear was no longer “Oh no what if I’m put on the National team” but rather “What if I’m not” for I knew that it is what God planned for me and I just had to hope that the staff realised that too. This isn’t to sound presumptuous or stuck up, but to simply share with you my mind and heart so far. Thankfully the God gave the staff the same message and put me on the “Natty” team, all teams were announced on Monday 23^rd so at this point I’ve had some time to get to know my team on a deeper level. I was lucky enough to be put on team with one girl who I initially met at “The Beat” music school and who was then in my small group all throughout our retreat period and had quickly become one of my closest friends here, in saying that however ALL my team is amazing and I can’t wait to get to know them all on a deeper more intimate level. The National team consist of 11 people 5 girls and 6 guys. We still have quite some time here at Peregian (Peru-gee-in) the township where training is but I’m very excited to start ministry with these people.

All other news, in my opinion, seems to pale in contrast with team announcements but for a brief recap: it has rained almost solidly since arriving on training (which is very odd or so I’m told, so I think I brought the BOP weather with me) kangaroo’s casually hop around the property (no joke, although you can’t pat them cause they’re dangerous but they make great photo opps) we have had a week of retreat and getting to know each other (which has been the most blessed, fruitful, amazing, challenging time of my life) we have visited Noosa and a bunch of other beach side towns, played sport, laughed, cried, joked around a lot. NET training thus far has been so awesome and so difficult, praise God.

 PS check Facebook for photos! xx

 AMDG

Aussie Update

Australia, the land of baby eating dingoes and a vast array of deadly spiders and snakes is surprisingly not as inhospitable as it sounds. I have patted a dingo and no young children were harmed in the process and even a snake and lived to tell the tale. At this point I have just finished my time at “The Beat” music school which was amazing but also stretched my musical ability and forced me out of my comfort zone. We had numerous “hands” workshops in which we focused on our particular instrument, which for me was acoustic guitar along with this I also took a lesson on how to put psalms to music for mass, how to lead worship and had the chance to play in a band. During our time at “Beat” we also had an event called “Heartbeat” which for those of you who have been to “Setfree” or participated in a “FOP” it was a similar experience to this; it was held on the Sunday night and was an amazing experience of praise and prayer.

Aside from the hands on side of music training there is also definitely a social aspect, there were 20 some “netters” at “beat” and it has been so awesome getting to know them, along with some of the staff. I went to “Lone Park Koala Sanctuary” in which I saw PLENTY of koalas, patted a dingo, kangaroo, snake and a lizard the size of me forearm it was so much fun to play the tourist and take in some good old Australian wildlife. Tomorrow (Wednesday 11^th) I will be going into Brisbane city with of a few other “Netters” and we hope to go to Southbank which is a manmade beach as well as taking in the sights and sounds of the city. For the duration of music training I have been staying with a host family which already has four children, a very big change from my life as an only child but they are all so lovely and kind I was also lucky enough to be put with Katrina so she and I are staying together at the same host family. As of today (Tuesday 10^th) I have two days off and then orientation and on Saturday will be heading off to begin the actual five week training. At this point the hottest day we’ve had got up to 40*c but luckily it’s a FAR drier heat than NZ so I can maintain my straightened hair, which is such a blessing!!

Today (Friday 13^th) was our orientation it was so much fun to meet everyone who will become my brothers and sisters for the next year, a big change from being an only child! Tomorrow (Saturday 14^th)  we are driving to where we will be having training for the next five weeks all the locals say it’s absolutely beautiful but I shall have to wait and see, as I have high expectations coming from NZ which is debatably the best country in the world, although I’m biased.

I am having such an awesome time with incredible people, well that’s about it for now, all the best and hang tight for the next update as I think my access to internet will be even less than it had been but I WILL update you when I can promise!

I love you all so much and am having such a fantastic time in Australia, I am truly blessed.

AMDG

PS. Please note I wrote this in advance of the date I was able to publish it because internet is scarce so I never know when or if I’ll be able to post. Also When I am able I will post pictures on my Facebook page but that may not be for quite some time yet but I will do my best.  Lastly please excuse the mismatch of dates this post was written at different times.

so long farewell auf wiedersehen goodbye

Tonight is my final night here in NZ before I depart for NET Australia tommorow. I am filled with mixed emotions but regardless of how I currently feel I know it will be an adventure that will change my life and that God knows what he's doing with me. I wish I had time to write a long message but I really don't I left my packing a little to long and now I'm a bit stressed, but that's just me forever a procrastinator.

To my friends I love you all very much and please pray for me, I promise I'll be praying for all you NZ'ers and of course my non kiwi friends too.

I will do my best to keep this updated with what's going on in my life, with my thoughts, madness and ministry. However please be patient as I don't know how much internet access I will have, especially during training but I promise an update will happen as soon as I can manage.

That's about it, off to start a new adventure and God help me.

AMDG