Outreach!!!

Wow!
So last friday, at the end of lectures, our leaders presented us with our options for outreach teams, and then gave us the weekend to pray over which one God may be leading us to!!! Yeahy! Now because of regulations, in regards to student visa's changing, in Queensland, over the past few months, we are actually going to be unable to leave Australia, let alone the state Queensland durring outreach.
Upon hearing this about two months ago, I began to ask God to place a certain region or people group upon my heart for outreach. The coast, "surf" culture, and coastal cities began to press one me.
So when Justin wrote that there was a team heading south down the coast reaching out to backpackers, I almost died a little, because it seemed to fit so perfectly.
I instantly became so sure that this was where God wanted me to go... I meen come on... it was so obvious! He'd confirmed it in my heart before even hearing locations!
HA! Was I ever wrong in my thinking. Oh God... how mysterious you are and how perfect your ways.
But regardless of what I felt... I decided to "be wise" and prayed over the weekend that God would confirm that the South team really was where he wanted me. But God started to do something within me that was quite unexpected & kinda uncomfortabler... He began to pull an tug at my heart towards the West team heading out to West to Mt. Isa, reaching out to youth. The one team I knew I did not want to go on, and I, in fact, dreaded God calling me to. HAHA... so when God began to pull me that way, I kinda freaked out in my insides a bit... and ended up battling all weekend with it.
Sunday night came, and I out of shear frustration & confusion with what I wanted and what God wanted, I headed out onto the little back poarch of my flat to have a little chat with God. I prayed and prayed... and kept asking God "are you sure you want me to go west? I really don't want to go west... are you sure?" (HA.. me questioning God... kinda hilarious when you think of how pathetic it is!)... after much toiling, I finally I gave up... and said "God... I'll go West! I know your ways are far beyond my ways, and your plans for me are far beyond anything I could hope or dream for myself! I submit to your way!" After this submission within my heart, I felt incredible peace and decided to head to bed...
Decided to wake up next morning... and durring my quiet time... I heard God say to me "Julia.. you can South! I was just testing you... seeing if you would go my way! Seeing if you would trust me regardless of how you felt! Seeing if you would give up your dreams for my dreams for you!"
WOW! What a lesson for myself! I'm going God's way from now on. He trully does have my best interest in mind... and wants to bless me with my heart's desires!
Next neat little story that ties into all this is: Monday my DTS mates and I handed in our little sheets of paper to our leaders numbering our outreach location choices from 1-3.
At this time my leaders informed us that it would take a week or two at best to give us the official teams. Hours of sorting through names, choices, locations, and switching and shuffling would need to be had, in order to arrange things perfectly. There would need to be only 9 students and 2 staff per team.
That evening, Outreach prep. came, and our leaders stood before us quite flabergasted... "Your teams have been made...and it took less than an hour!" HA....
Each person... all 29 of us... had been granted our first choice for outreach location, and the numbers for teams worked out perfect... no changes were made. God had called each of us to a specific location, and each of us had listened. Amazing!!!!
So I'm headed South reaching out to backpackers, with the radest, craziest team ever. We have quite the number of "strong individuals." We're headed up to Cairn's for New Year's Eve, and will then be making our way down the Australian coast over the course of two months, eventually ending up in Airlie beach, hitting all the backpacking hotspots as we head down (mission beach, maggie island...)
We are all exctatic!
So yah!! Things have been amazing!!
Lectures have been incredible... The past week was "relationships" week with Faith Dutton. Amazing! And tommorow we begin "Freedom In Christ" week with Dave Cole. It's trully hard to put in a blog entry all that I am learning... so I'm not gunna try tonight! The heats fryed my brain as well! It's sick!
Feeling so much freedom being here... I have such a massive love for God, and huge hunger to know more and dig in hard and deep to all that God is! I hardly know what to do with myself! God's amazing... he's working... and he's so real...
Take care! Love you all so much!
(p.s-watched a snowboarding video last night, and ive been pretty homesick ever since... enjoy the white wonderland you live in people... palms trees & beach is all grande & wonderful, until you begin to drown in your own swet, can't dry off after you shower, feel like a constant grimeball no matter how much you shower... lovely... just lovely! er)