!!c-A-i-r-n-S!!

I'm back in Townsville, from Cairns, for a night to do laundry and repack, then my team is headed down to Mackay for five days tomorrow morning.
What an an amazing week!!!! Upon arriving at our "hostel"... oh wait... camp sight in a sketch trailor park (AH), we felt like God most definetly had us there for a reason.
We had heard from past Outreaches and groups that Cairns was a "hard" city to break into with God's love and truth, and upon spending the first evening scouting out the streets, my team began to understand why. This city is one that has been totally overtaken by tourism, consumerism, and... well.. however you want to put it... worldliness?!? Everyone has an agenda... going somewhere, doing something, no time...; if they're not already in deep conversation with their close friends, they're running up and down the streets heading to the next attraction, shopping market, or flippen great barrier reef.
But my team continued to press on and press in, and trust God to break through... and he did! One day we decided to have public worship down at the Esplanade (Cairns' beautiful outdoor, ocean connecting pool)... while doing so, we drew the attention of those around us... but in a good way! Conversations were started... pondering questions were asked... testimonies were shared on a one-on-one basis, and the gospel brough to life.
From that day on,... we would have random people asking us when we were going do "that worship music thingy!? again..." The next day we blessed the backpackers and people of the community with free french toast on the barby down at the pool.... God pointed out a lonely swedish backpacker to me... I obeyed his call and nervously joined her in brekky... turning into a 2 hour conversation about life and God! AMAZing God moment! It was not I speaking but God speaking to her through me.... I was really able to speak truth and love into her life and challenge her in her beliefs causing her to think about making a decision to give her life to Christ NOW... not later...
Anyways! My team became known in the square... people knew who we were, what we believed... just in the way we lived our lives and talked with them and one another. God was moving and his presence was evident!
We met heaps of killer people.... (I swear the whole country of Sweden is backpacking in Australia right now! HAHA!)
Much more happened... and I wish I could share it with you... but I've gotta repack and head to bed. We're headed down to Mackay tomorrow for a week of service, and youth ministry! EXCITING...
I flippen love outreach! It's becoming a way of life... not just a thing we do or a six month program... I am seeing things that I learned durring lecture phase come to life and put into practice... (i.e-hearing God's voice, evident answers to prayer, God's grace and power moving within us, spiritual warfare, intercession....) LAAAAAAAAAA....
Hope all is well... love and miss you all so much.....
(p.s-I GOT to get attacked by six young islanders... and loved every second of it... i then got to spend a whole afternoon dragging these little girls around the Esplenade {pool}... {{sIgH}} so wonderful... )

Note Before Outreach...

Tonight amidst flat cleaning & packing I was looking over lecture notes from the past few months and came across the following quote from "Identity In Christ" week. The follow speaks exactly how I've been thinking, including the thought struggle I've dealt with and then the glorious triumph I have found in Christ alone:

[“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond all measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You’re a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people the right to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” -- Nelson Mandela]

more stuff

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, ever person that may read this!!
After over 20 days of non-stop glorious work, as the business finally came to a close, I braced myself for my first Australian Christmas.
With the holidays, did come heaps of homesickness... but God has been faithful through it all, blessing me in so many ways with the familly he has given here at my YWAM base. Many a distraction from the fact that I am thousands of miles away from my familly....
After hours of preparation in the kitchen, for the the Christmas day feast, we all gathered together for a Christmas Eve party full of much cheer and bliss. Afterwards, all the DTS girls joined together for a sleep/awakeover, and had the guys join us for christmas morning breakfast! Gotta tell you... it can really screw you up when your flipping pancakes on a BBQ out in the blazing tropical heat.... on christmas morning... gives me the wierded-out shivers thinking about it!
At noon, the entire base gathered together in our-condition cranked auditiorium for more feasting, gift-exchanges, australian jingle-bells,... & it was wonderful!
Boxing day half of the DTS headed on a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef, whilst due to finances... or lack there of, a group of us took the ferry out to Magnetic Island for 2 days to chill! Everything I could have a dreamed for in a tropical island was found on this lovely little island... aqua blue water, mile long vacant natural sand beaches, wild koalas, winding mountain roads, and elevator toilets... (sigh) amazing!
Stayed over night at a lovely hostel and headed back home the next morning... so as not skip out on my work duties.
And now I pull myself (physically, and mentally) together and prepare to head on outreach in three days!!! I'm so ready... not quite physically... but spiritually very ready! I have such an anticipation in my heart in what God's going to do through my team. I'm feeling so hungry to just GO and put into practice all I've been learning throughout lecture phase, boldly proclaiming and sharing the truth to such a spiritually parched and dry land.
Wednesday morning we're heading out Maggie Island for five days, camping at a hostel on the beach, building relationships and evanglizing to the backpackers on the island. Then we'll be headed up to Cairns for a few days doing much the same... from there on we'll be heading south of Brisbane, working within churches, youth groups, schools, and other backpacking hotspots, eventually ending up in Airlie Beach.
Can't even describe how excited I am... hard to explain...
I feel God has been preparing my heart and mind for this time, and I am now ready to step out in faith, confidence, power, and authority he has given to walk out in obedience in whatever he may call me to do over the next two months. Whereever...whatever... all for God's glory, and the benefit of his eternal kingdom!

Stable and Such!

Camping, Impact Summer, Stable on The Strande!

Oh wow it's been so long... so sorry!
I am absolutly wonderful!!! (still)
I just got home from two incredible weeks of camping in the Outback. I feel like I've been totally transformed once again! HAH! God met with me durring camping and, showed up in ways I never thought possible for myself... I've trully began to dream with him! He's putting in me little tidbits... little dreams, here and there... giving me pieces to a puzzle that's he's already figured out... and with each piece I get more and more excited for where he's taking me with this life he's blessed me with!!! Yeah for peace and contentment!
Ontop of that our DTS grew closer together as a familly, while enjoying heaps of cliff-jumping, creek sitting, talent shows, chasing by snakes, and me scraping my face on a log when diving for turtles! It was grande!
Anyways! The next few weeks are gunna be crazy busy, and thus you guys won't be hearing much from me for quite awhile!
Basically our DTS has unexpectedly moved into a a different phase. Amidst "normal" DTS lectures on evangelism and missions, starting on friday we will be staffing a nine-day mini-DTS youth camp called Impact Summer held here at the base! You can check it out at: (http://www.reeftooutback.com/is.aspx)
Durring Impact Summer not only will we be helping run Stable on the Strande, which is Townsvilles five day christmas festival but also leading our campers in evangelizing to the people of Townsville who are attending the event.
Our main focus will be on a massive youth tent that we set up for concerts and games, equiped with stages and a massive skate park/ramp set up right on the beach! It's gunna be... uh... quite the time! I'm quite beyond excited! (www.stableonthestrand.com.au)
This will then lead right us up to christmas eve and a week later we'll leave on outreach! AH!!!
Wish I could share more of what's been happening, but I've trully gotta run. I love you all.... and love hearing from you! Each note/word means so much to me, even if I can't get back to you guys right away... things are just nuts... thats all!

HA! I almost DID die!!

Soooooo... I did almost die! HAHAHA... and it was hilarious!
Yesterday whilst doing my work duty in the kitchen, I found myself cramped in the wide frames of the windows, dusting away. Upon finishing I arose and was about to prance off the countertops when out from somewhere... WHACK!!!! Flippen ceiling fan sliced through the air and ripped through the side of my head.... not quite sure of what happened, I look around and see about 20 faces starring with eyes wide, and mouths open in shock and horror at me.
Still dazed, I do what any half-normal Julia would do, and burst into hystericall fits of laughter trying to reassuring everyone that I was totally fine.
"No you are not fine!" Meredith says as she caringly yanks me to a sitting position, and cups here hands to catch the streams of blood rippling down my face. HAHAHAHA... ("this is hilarious" I think to myself "I just got hit with a ceiling fan! HA!! and i'm bleeding everywhere!")
Hannah, our RN on base, comes rushing over from the offices, in sheer excitement that she finally gets to use her nursing skills on a real live head wound. After inspection, I am taken on my first ever trip to an australian hospital.
I was taken care of by a lovely Belgian doctor who thought I was from Ireland. He thought I'd be a quick fix... but upon looking at the gash, informed me that the fan blade had cut through "the layers" down to the bone... and... in fact... dented my skull... leaving paint chips from the fan in my head!!! HAHA!!!! Priceless...
So, as I lay giggling to myself under the a paper sheet, he injects me anethetics and begins the sewing process of putting me back together again.
I giggled and smiled the whole time.. thinking how great God was and how he "blessed" me with this story and experience!... (crazy.. i Know!!!)
So my head shall be mummified till tommorow when I can take this massive head bandage off and shower once again.
Great thanx go out to my flatmates who so tenderly woke me up every two hours through the night to see if I was still alive... and to Meredith who held my blood and head in her hands with such tender love... and thanx to my Dad! I have pictures sticky tacked above my head, so I can fall asleep to the faces of my family and friends, and Dad... your face was the one I looked upon, and focused on when the room began to spin out of control, and my eyes rolled in circles to the back of my head!!!! Oh concussions... how glorious and wonderful!!! haha...

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)