Outreach Location!!!

Whenever I told people I was doing a DTS, their first question after finding out I would be in Dunham was, "Where are you going for outreach?" (In YWAM we have three months of lectures, then 2-3 months of short-term missions where we put into practice what we've learned.) I would have to tell them I didn't know, because even our leaders weren't sure yet.

Last week, they were going to tell us the three locations for outreach on the Friday of Relationship week. But then we had lots of things to process that weekend, and we had art projects to work on. So they were going to tell us on the next Monday. (Father Heart of God week.) But then it got pushed back to Wednesday, and pushed back again to the Friday of Father Heart of God week.

Meanwhile, everyone was wildly speculating about different locations, and bugging the staff about it. If any of the staff mentioned anything about a foreign country, they'd be asked "Is that where we're going for outreach?" The suspense was intense.

So on Friday afternoon (FHoG week) we all gathered in the worship room, where three folding screens were set up, and we played Hangman to guess the letters and names of the countries we would be going to.

They are. . .




. . . Drumroll please. . .




ARGENTINA!
FRENCH POLYNESIA!
MAURITIUS ISLAND!

Each of the team leaders explained a bit about the country and what we'd be doing. Then we had the weekend to pray about which location we would be going to. We weren't allowed to talk about it with anyone, so that we couldn't be influenced by our friends' choices. It was so hard keeping quiet! We were all about to explode from curiousity.

We wrote down our first and second choices on paper, and why we chose that location. Then, on Sunday night (this Sunday, Fear of the Lord week), we all gathered together and had a big dance party, where we put our papers into a bag. The staff would then take them, pray about them, and decide on the final teams. We still couldn't talk about the location we felt God was sending us to, just in case people had to switch teams in the next few days.

The suspense was killing us all! Some people gave up and told where they were most likely going (not me). It was worse knowing where I was going and not knowing my team than not knowing where we were going.

But today was the Big Day; our teams were revealed! The staff blindfolded everyone, moved us into our groups, and then had us remove our blindfolds all at once.

I'M GOING TO MAURITIUS, and this is my team!

 

 

(Anticlockwise from me) Me, Céline, Aurélie, Ben, Stephan, Billy. Ben (with the beard) is our leader.

 

I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS OUTREACH!!!

So, Why Mauritius?

Because that's where the Dodo Bird lived, obviously. And there's an underwater waterfall.

No, really there's more of a story than that. And those aren't the reasons why I'm going. In short, I'm going because that's where God told me to go. In long, here's the story:

Even before we knew when the outreach locations would be announced, I was thinking about where it would be cool to go for outreach. I was hoping for somewhere in Africa, or a Pacific Island. And then I heard that still small voice say, "You're going to Mauritius," and my response was, "Is that me or God? I don't even know if Mauritius is an option yet." (There was a fairly high likelihood, since YWAM Dunham likes to send teams there as often as possible, but it wasn't a sure thing.)

On Monday, the day we were supposed to find out our locations and the meeting got postponed, I was reading a prayer letter. The letter was for YWAM Canada, and it was hanging in the prayer room. I wondered what prayer requests Dunham had. I looked, and it said, "Please pray for our AMDTS students as they go on outreach to Argentina, Tahiti, and Mauritius." I had accidentally discovered the locations. So I kept them secret from the other students until Friday. I'm glad, though, that God gave me the extra time to think about it.

Now I knew Mauritius was an option. So things were becoming a bit more sure. But I've wanted to go to the Pacific Islands for a long time. I prayed more.

You need to know something about my character for the next part. I hate making equal decisions between two things, and I like it when I can find a way to do both things at once. So if I have to choose between a filmmaker's intensive weekend, or working on a drama-documentary, I'll find a way to do both.

When I thought about how I wanted to go to Africa and/or the Pacific Islands, God pointed out that Mauritius is technically part of Africa--and it's an Island! I could do both! (I also got the distinct impression that now is not the time to go to the Pacific Islands.)

My excitement and peace about going to Mauritius grew and grew. On Friday, when the locations were announced, Ben was talking about what we'd be doing, and at the end he said they want us to do media stuff. And I thought, "Yes, that's it. I'm going." It was sealed. I have complete peace and excitement about going to Mauritius.

And even though it was really hard keeping our thoughts to ourselves, and not telling people what locations we were going to, I'm very grateful for it. It means that I KNOW God told me to go to Mauritius, and when the teams were revealed, I wasn't upset at all. It wouldn't affect my decision knowing who was going or not. And actually, I am delighted with my team! The only sad thing is that we're separating from the rest of the DTS as they go to Argentina and French Polynesia. :(

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT GOING TO MAURITIUS!!!

Valentine's Day

So I woke up this morning and this was on the door:

 

 

Reading again about God's love for me was a pretty amazing way to start the day.

 

Then we went downstairs for brunch. The room was decorated with heart garlands. The tables were set with napkin flowers and fake roses, and this was on the chalk board:

 

 

And that's not all! All of the men of the base were dressed up, in button-up shirts, waistcoats and/or suit jackets. That's when we knew something else was happening. They told of all us girls to sit down at the tables. After waiting for a bit, with all the guys in a huddle talking in low voices to each other, they moved to the front of the room. There, they said that they wanted to honour us all as women, and sisters in Christ, and that they were going to serve us brunch. So one man went to each lady, asked her what she wanted, and then brought back a plate full of pancakes, fruit, bacon and yogurt. They had prepared all of it (and they were going to do the dishes too)! Brunch was delicious!

 

And that's not all! Next, while we were eating, the guys moved to the front of the room again, and they sang a song that John and Dillon had written for us all. It might be too small to read in the picture, but here's a taste from the second part of verse 1:

 

I hope this isn't seedy, I hope I don't impose

We're not tryna win your heart, we're not going to propose

But we love you, we need you, the women of the world,

The mothers, the daughters, the sisters and the girls.

 

It was so beautiful, and I was smiling so hard!

 



 

And that's not all! The guys disappeared for a little bit, and then came back with a red rose for each of us! I was amazed, and felt so loved in a sister-in-Christ sort of way. This whole morning has been a huge blessing, and it really touched my heart and put a smile on my face. I am very grateful for all the amazing men here at YWAM Dunham. 

 

 

 

Me, Shaynna, Aurélie and Maria with our roses.

 

 

Shaynna and Aurélie, ready to tango.

A Week in the Life of This YWAMer

Hi! I'm still alive. This last week has been about Relationships. While the last week, on Evangelism, was intellectually intense, this week has been emotionally intense. It's really neat to see how what each speaker says prepares us for the next week, and ties up things from the previous week. And the speakers don't talk to each other beforehand! What God has to say comes out loud and clear. Funnily, each speaker has mentioned the Fish Barbeque in John 21, so maybe God is saying barbeque some fish? :)

Actually, here's what the speakers said about the Fish Barbeque:
Recognizing the Voice of God: When Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me more than these?", "These" refers not to the disciples, but the fish, and thus, Peter's job.
Evangelism: We can spend amazing time with Jesus, but that doesn't mean we're going to automatically be radical for Jesus. Peter went right back to fishing after Jesus died. But after he met the resurrected Jesus, he changed.
Relationship: Jesus cares about his disciples, and wants to spend time with them. He was cooking breakfast for them on the beach, so they could all enjoy fresh fried fish together.


I would also like to give you an overview of what a normal week looks like here at the base.

A normal weekday is class from 9:30 (or 10am) to 1pm.
After lunch is 'creative release' time. This is when we're encouraged to go do creative stuff in one of the studios (dance, recording, visual art, sewing, etc.).
Then we have 'home projects', aka work duties. This lasts for two hours, but since I'm on the supper dishes team, I have free time. Yay! It's a great time to think, or do artsy stuff, go for a walk, or just have quiet time with God.
At 5pm we, the dishes team, clean a bit of the kitchen. Then we have supper at 5:30. After supper I do dishes with Shaynna, Anna-Elisabeth and John. We turn music up loud and generally have a good time singing at the top of our lungs while cleaning dishes.
Free evenings involve hanging out with friends, maybe playing games, or working on projects, or having quiet time.

Monday: We have cultural breakfast! We have to get up early, but it's worth it. Each week, people from certain countries make traditional food from their culture. So we've had Mexican bean sandwich things, Australian cheesy-vegemite scrolls, Tunisian Ojja (tomato-ish sauce with egg, eaten with bread), and South African pannekoeks. Swiss breakfast is next week!
Then we have a worship time with everyone on the base before class (DTS, staff, hospitality and maintenance people, french students and more. About 50 people total.)

Tuesday: First off is home cleaning. I clean the third floor of the old wing with one of the base staff. (I've now learned how to clean toilets. . . Useful skill to have.)
Next is an intercession time specifically for our DTS. We adopt an artist to pray for each time. Last week it was Tom Hanks, a couple weeks ago Cirque de Soleil.
Instead of 'creative release', we have community outreach. Stephanie, Céline, John and I go to the local home for aged persons, Residence Dunham. We play music and deliver snacks and chat with the peope there.
In the evening we have small groups, where we discuss books and life and eat snack food.

Wednesday: First thing in the morning us girls have Hawaiian Dance Workout with Jordan. Yay! So much core strength required.
(Also, speaking of Jordan, she and I usually on Wednesdays have a time where we get together one-on-one, just to talk and see how the DTS is going.)

Thursday: We have intercession time all together as a base in the morning. Our focus in February is Africa. Though this week we had a special time to pray with YWAM all over the world about visas and open borders.
During creative release time, we have art workshops. So far, we've learned about Biblical Warrior Worship, Sculpting, and Singing. Photography is next week.
In the evening we have Accendo, which is where we all go to the pub, have drinks (don't freak out, I drink juice), listen to live music, and then hear stories from our speaker of the week. It's a cool time to meet people from the community too.

Friday: We have home cleaning again, and then a worship time with just the DTS. Most of us in the DTS signed up for worship teams, so I'm making music with Stephan, Nicolas and Aurelie next Friday.
The class on Friday is also an application time, where we do more practical stuff, like make lists of people to forgive and then burn the list, or come up with a creative way to bless people in the community (like going to the corner store, buying chocolate and leaving it on the counter for the cashier. John did that, and I was with him, and it was fabulous).

On the weekends we rest, have Brunch on Saturday morning, and work on our journals. We also hang out and play games. Or go places. On Sunday, most of us go to churches in the surrounding area. I'm part of a very small church that meets in a community centre. We have testimony times, and sing along with YouTube videos, so it really feels like Haynes Community Church back in Alberta.

So that's a bit of what a normal week looks like here. The weeks are so full, but they fly by way too quickly! I've now officially been away from my family for the longest time in my life, but I'm only microscopically homesick, because my time here so far has been AMAZING.

Forgiveness

How to sum up the past few days? One word: Intense!

Yesterday, Derek talked about forgiveness. I'll quote him here:

"I truly believe that our only path to freedom is through repentance and forgiveness."

Repentance is not apology. Apology means saying, "I feel bad that I hurt you." Repentance is asking for forgiveness, deciding to change and then making a change.

I've struggled with forgiveness, because I didn't really know what it means. What does it mean to forgive people? From our class, here is are some lists that might help.

Forgiveness IS NOT

• Excusing, minimizing, justifying, overlooking or tolerating sin
• Getting even
• Conditional (If they say sorry, then I forgive. If they do X, then I'll forgive.)
• An obligation to trust
• A feeling
• A process (There can be process before and after forgiveness, but forgiveness is a choice.)
• Forgetting
• A one-time event (You may have to forgive the same person or action multiple times.)
• Impossible

Forgiveness IS

• A choice based on faith and obedience to God
• Doing to others as God has done to you
• A healing agent for your relationship with God
• Letting go of your rights to justice and anger

Our youth leader often says that forgiveness is taking someone of your hook, and leaving them to God.

Forgiveness is super important, because Jesus said that if we don't forgive others, God won't forgive us. Forgiveness has nothing to do with the other person; it's about our relationship with God. It begins and ends with God. Because God has forgiven us, we can forgive others.

We had some time where Derek let everyone write down who God wanted us to forgive, and why. Then we went through the list, and prayed to forgive those people. At first I thought, I don't know if I'll have many people to forgive. After all, I've grown up in a loving, stable home and community, and haven't had any crazy awful things happen to me. But I ended up with a page and a half of people to forgive.

God showed me that my response to people hurting me has been to overlook it, to say "Oh, they didn't really mean it, so I'll just let it go." And I thought I was forgiving. But forgiveness is not ignoring, excusing or justifying the sin and the hurt it causes. God made it clear that I had been wronged, that it was ok to be mad and hurt, because it was never meant to be this way. And strangely enough, that was what paved the way for true forgiveness. I had to admit that the other people hurt me, and that there was something to forgive.

After we prayed and forgave the people on our list, we went upstairs and threw the lists in the fire. It was done. Forgiveness really does bring freedom. I asked God to show me what forgiveness is, and he showed me part of it. Forgiveness is realizing that someone has wronged me and sinned against me and hurt me, and yet with God's help, I CHOOSE to give it over to God, turn the other cheek, and bless those people instead of curse them (however many times are necessary). That's what Jesus did.

There is no other word in English that means the same thing as forgiveness. It is its own thing, and the definition is found in Jesus.

Recognizing the Voice of God

Hello!

Wow, this last week has been so full! I'm learning so much about God, and living in community, and having lots of fun doing it!

Here are a few things that I've done in the past week:

• Fed the dragon. (aka the wood-burning furnace/water heater)
• Learned how to say "Je ne comprends pas" and other useful phrases in French.
• Sang many worship songs in French (and English).
• Spent time in the prayer bathtub.
• Washed dishes for 40+ people. Multiple times.
• Tidied up the costume closet with Anna-Elisabeth, and learned more about life in Germany. Then had a dance party afterwards, when Stephan and Billy came to help.
• Had a couple great deep conversations with my amazing one-on-one, Jordan. (Who's a girl, by the way. Don't get ideas.)
• Learned the basics of Hawaiian dancing.
• Spontaneously broken into song with people many times.
• Eaten home-made maple syrup.
• Learned about different ways of worshiping (spinning, shouting, kneeling, raising hands, dancing, and more), and tried a few of them out.

It's so hard to describe all the things that have happened, and all the things we're learning in such a short blog post.

~~~~~~

This week our speaker is Derek, from Hawaii. He's talking about Recognizing the Voice of God. Note that it's not hearing the voice of God, but rather recognizing. God is speaking; our main problem is that we're not listening, or that we don't realize it's Him.

Derek has been talking about the character and nature of God for the last three days. Because after all, if we want to recognize someone's voice, we have to know who that person is and get to know them before we can recognize what they're saying. God is Creator. God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. (Ex 34:6-7) He wants relationship with us. You can't have relationship without speaking and listening. God wants to speak to and with us.

Talking about recognizing the voice of God, or saying "God told me. . . ." to other people tends to make me uncomfortable. Mostly because I don't want people to have the idea that I'm super-spiritual, and that's why I can hear God's voice. I'm not super-spiritual. I believe that hearing the voice of God should be a normal thing, most especially for Christians. Derek said today that there is no such thing as becoming more spiritual, which I thought was a cool concept. We already have a spirit. It's like saying I'm trying to become more human. Or more female. Our spirits can be healthy or unhealthy, but you can't get more (or less) of them.

So when I say, "God told me" or "God said", I'm not trying to be better than you, or impress you with my uber-Christianness. I have a relationship with God; therefore, we talk. And that's that.

Soooo. . . . Now I'm going to tell you a story. I love the way God is concerned with the everyday details of our lives. On Sunday I had finished my quiet time, and didn't know what to do next. So asked "God, what should I do now?" and He said, "Why don't you go downstairs to the encouragement board?"

This is where we put little notes and things to make people smile.



And my response was "Pfffft, why? I bet no one has put anything in my jar." And it was like God just smiled and said, "It's up to you." But I didn't really have anything else to do. So on a whim I grabbed my pencil and some sticky notes, and headed downstairs. Sure enough, my jar was still empty. But then I had an idea for a note. And then Shaynna and Anna-Elisabeth came down the hallway. And to make a longish story shorter, we had a grand time writing notes, and soon everyone's jar held something. All because God had a cool idea, and I actually paid attention.

You might be wondering, "What does it sound like when God speaks to you?" Well, I've never heard an audible voice. Usually, it sounds a lot like my own thoughts, only better. It always lines up with the Bible and God's character (if I hear a voice telling me to hang onto bitterness, for example, it's not God). Sometimes it's a crazy idea. Sometimes it's an impression. And sometimes it's an actual sentence. And I'm still learning how to recognize Him.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's class on recognizing God's voice, and practical steps to do that.

~~~~~~

PICTURES!!!

 

Me and Jordan, ready for bowling!

 

 

The woods across the road, which YWAM owns.

 

Artsy pictures from the woods.
Because this IS and Arts and Music DTS.

An Introduction to the Base

We're only halfway through orientation week, and wow, we've had some jam-packed days! I can't believe it's only Wednesday, and I've only been here for five days.

There are 18 people in our DTS, and five staff members. Sarah and Dan are the leaders, and they're from Ontario. Then we have people from all over the world. There are lots of people from Canada (mostly Ontario and Quebec). Four of us are from Canada and another country: Australia, Burma, Tunisia and Mexico. Then we have others from Switzerland, Germany, Australia, and South Africa. Other people on the base come from Cameroon, Ghana, France, and other places. It's such a neat international community! I'm learning a bunch of French, and a tiny bit of South African and German.

This week has been focused on getting to know each other, and getting to know the house and the routines here. We had an introduction to YWAM, and what our DTS will be like. We've had tours of the house. We've been assigned to different teams (I'm on dishes), and chosen our laundry times.

Today and yesterday we spent fifteen minutes each telling the other DTS members our stories, sharing about how we met Jesus, and what brought us to YWAM. It's been really neat to hear how unique and inspiring every person's story is.

We also have lots of fun here! We played Sardines a couple nights ago, in the dark creepy-ish basement that goes on and on and on. It was a good introduction to the house :) . The next day on our tour of the property we had an impromptu snowball fight. And last night we were told to dress up in crazy costumes, the crazier the better, and then we were going to drive somewhere. The staff didn't tell us where we were going. After about half an hour, we arrived at a bowling alley. It was grand fun bowling in our crazy outfits, hollering and yelling encouragements at whoever was up next. I'm not sure what the professional bowling league next to us thought. I'm terrible at bowling, but it was still super fun. We've also had times to sit and talk, and play card games.

My favourite thing so far is living in a community.

You probably want to see some pictures of where I'm staying. Firstly, go to  http://ywamdunham.com/photos.htm and look at "Our Property and Community Activities".
The pictures are like real-estate pictures, but in reality things are much more comfortable and less spiffy than they look in the picture. And yes, the Prayer Room really does have a prayer bathtub.

Here are some of my pictures:

 

The hallway in the New Wing where the girls live.

 

 

The front of the house.

 

 

The east (?) side of the house. The large grey part is the gymnasium.
Can you spot our mammoth?

 

 

The back of the house where the old, middle and new parts meet.

 

 

Artsy things on a random window.

 

 

The west (?) side of the house.

The room where Stephanie, Shaynna and I live is on the second floor of the New Wing.

 

The entry way. Note the heater under the YWAM logos. That's what helps keeps the house warm. We have an actually fire furnace, that burns wood. Because the house is old, it's fairly chilly.

Dunham

I've arrived safely in Dunham. Thanks for praying! The flight was very smooth - no turbulence. But that may have been because I was sitting right over the wings.

I met the YWAM representative at the Montreal airport, and we waited for two other girls to arrive. After meeting Dorianne and Anna-Elisabeth, we drove for an hour or so to the village of Dunham. Dorianne is from Switzerland, and Anna-Elisabeth in from Germany. Both of them speak French and English.

We received an enthusiastic welcome from the staff when we arrived at the house, and then got shown to our rooms. I have two room mates, Stephanie from Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Shaynna from Shelburne, Ontario. We then went on a tour of the house, and met more people. I'm still learning everyone's names. There are people from Quebec, from Nova Scotia, Germany, Switzerland, three people from Australia (Yay!!!), a couple from South Africa, and others from other places that I don't remember. The one staff girl from Nova Scotia pioneered a DTS in Sydney, Australia, so she knows about Nowra!

The YWAM house is huge, and old. The main part of the house was built in the late 1800s. One extension was built in the 1910s, another in the 1930s and the newest section was built in 1963. There are class rooms, a dance studio, recording studios, arts room, prayer room, gym, library, and all that in addition to the usual kitchen, bathrooms, dining rooms, and so on.

Now we're going to go explore the house, and then go explore the village of Dunham. DTS starts tomorrow night. Yay!