Hello All! -
A LOT has happened since I first arrived here at YWAM Perth! It has been a great time of growing and building into relationships, and pressing into questions about God and life, and how we can live out those things we are learning. We've had lots of times of team building and adventuring together as a school (Frontline DTS), and as a base (YWAM Perth on a whole).
Some of the highlights for me so far have been getting to build into relationships with the people here, going on our day-hike to Bibbulmun Track, exploring the beaches and the city itself, and getting to be in a community of like-minded people who are excited to grow and learn to better impact others. I've also really enjoyed getting to know the staff and leaders here, to hear their heart for people as missionaries. The lectures have been great reminders of the truth of God's word, and challenges to live out that truth and remember it. I've also really appreciated the music we have together as a base, or individually as a school. Over all there is a really cool sense of community and intentional living.
I really have enjoyed living in the city of Perth as well, not just being involved with YWAM. There is a real sense of community in the city as well as at the base. Every time I go into the city there is something happening in the city square. Everything from street performers, musicians, community concerts, children's events, or street food, something is always happening. I'm excited for the opportunity to keep getting to know this city, and hopefully to know God's heart for this city. I hope to not just stay in my YWAM "bubble", but to get to know people in the community and ask what their stories are, and hopefully encourage them in where they are at in their stories.
For anyone wondering.. a day in the life of a YWAM student looks something like this:
6am - 6:30am: Morning work-out and training with our Frontline school
- This has included various activities such as track running, hill sprints, ultimate frisbee tournaments, planks, carrying each other up hills, planks, core work-outs.. oh, and did I mention planks? lol. It's been intense and super early, but I can honestly say I feel so much better during the day after morning exercise! (crazy, I know..) And I'm thankful for the endurance training it is implementing for when we go trekking on our outreach phase.
6:30am-8am: Free time/Quiet time/ Breaky
- At the base, it's really encouraged that we take time to be "still and know". It's important that we take time throughout the days, either during free-time or during this morning time, just to take some alone time to meditate on what we've been learning, read, and pray. It's really made a difference for a lot of us to have this encouragement to make intentional habits to have these quiet times. It is really refreshing to have time set aside to reflect and rejuvenate and refresh.
8am-8:30am: "Family chores"
- Since there are so many people that are involved at the base here (I think close to 200 with all the students, staff, and volunteers..), everyone that lives at the base takes part in different cleaning jobs around the buildings and homes that we utilize. For example, I meet in the morning with the people in my building that I live with, and we each have different tasks that we do daily to help keep things clean. (I'm actually quite thankful.. otherwise the bathroom I share with about 14 other girls would quite quickly become nasty!)
8:30am - 9:30am: Worship or specific class time
- On mondays we come together as a whole base for a time of music and worship. I have especially enjoyed these times. It has been such a blessing to see when we all come together to celebrate and praise God together. It is so cool to be in this type of place, and to be reminded of so many other people that are in a similar period in life is really cool. Also, just hearing a sea of voices singing together is really amazing. There is something so awesome and powerful in music, and when people come together through music, especially for the cause of our awesome God.
- Other days we spend just with music together as a school, or we will take time to talk about and pray about specific issues or places. Some of these topics have been praying for missionaries in other countries, or learning about different countries that we may be involved in during our outreach phase.
10:15am-12:30pm: Lectures
- Each week we have a different lecture topic and speaker. So far our topics have been: "Hearing God's Voice", "The Nature and Character of God", "Repentance and Forgiveness", and this week, "Worship and Intercession".
- Each week we've heard from different missionaries around the world that are connected to YWAM Perth specifically. We get to hear their life story and learn biblical teaching behind each topic. Each week has some kind of practical application and assignments related to the topic, where we are encouraged to see how what we have learned can apply to our own lives and what we think about what has been talked about. I really like that the lectures have been interactive and based in the word of God. We are also very encouraged to search out answers to our questions ourselves by going back to the bible and talking about it together after class. There are definitely elements of teaching that are more geared towards evangelism (missionaries, you know ;) ) But I really like that there is an emphasis on encouraging us to really figure out what we think and believe about things individually, and to live out what we learn intentionally and practically.
12:30pm: Lunch
- Self explanatory.. The base provides meals for us daily, including weekends. It has definitely been strange for me not being behind the scenes like I normally would be in the kitchen, but it has been a blessing just to receive. Another cool thing about the base is that a lot of the food they serve has been donated, so it may sometimes be strange things or mis-matched, but it is cool to see how they are being supported by the community. The other night we had SHARK for dinner! That was fun. :)
1:30pm-3:30pm: Work duties
- We each get split up into teams for a couple hours to help with some of the work needed to be done to keep the base running. That includes things like dishes, kitchen prep, maintenance, out-door care, and my job: media and promo. I have a unique job which is to help promote our school, mainly through means of the Frontline social media sites. I started up an Instagram page for the school and have been updating their Facebook and twitter accounts, as well as writing articles for the YWAM Perth website, and currently I am working on some video-updates as well. This has been a cool way to help show not only my supporters, but other people interested in the school what we have been up to, and what it is like to be apart of YWAM Perth, specifically on the Frontline DTS.
After 3:30 we have free time, and dinner is served around 5:30pm each night. Some nights we have events planned with either our small groups or as a whole base. On thursday nights we have a community service that the city is invited to, which is pretty cool. It makes for a long day, but it is neat to be able to meet people from the community and hear their stories.
Well, this has been a LONG update so far - thanks for reading! I am excited to see what the next weeks will bring. Next week we are going on a week-long camping trip outside of Perth. I am looking forward to that change of scenery and to be able to just spend time together as a school, without other distractions.
Some things you could pray for or remember would be:
- Energy and rest for the staff and students as we get into our routines
- Encouragement for myself and others as we are learning more about God's heart for our lives and for others
- That myself and the other people here short-term would have an understanding of God's heart for the city of Perth, and that we could have and make opportunities to make a difference in the city here.
- Further encouragement for rest and peace of mind as many of us are working through different heart-issues as we are here together. Last week's topic, "Repentance and Forgiveness", brought up a lot of situations and questions. There has been a lot of awesome response from that week, but a continual level of clarity and wisdom in how to keep working through those issues for myself and others.
- And finally, that we would continue to be challenged in how we are living our lives and how we want to live our lives. That there would even be clarity in steps for the future or understanding of God's direction for each of us personally.
Peace be with you! And love to you! I miss you and wish you well, and look forward to when I can see all of you again. Thank you for being apart of my life and caring about where I am. I would love to hear about what you are up to and where you are going! Fill me in!
Here are some pictures of my time so far in Perth, and a link to the article I wrote that is on the YWAM Perth website:
