I wish you all well during this holiday season. I know the holidays can bring mixed emotions, or bring up different memories and feelings. But my hope is that you may all find some joy and encouragement from loved ones, near and far. Know that you are loved and cherished!
Things are busy here as I'm finishing up the lecture phase at YWAM Perth. My school team has been busy learning more about the outreach locations we are soon leaving for. Christmas events have been piling up, and all of us are scrambling to finish the book reports and last minute travel details we need to accomplish before the end of the month! Last weekend our base hosted a free community event in the park called, "Carols By Candlelight". It was a blessing to be a part of the choir singing carols with the community, and to see all of the people there enjoying time together and being blessed by the music and refreshments. There were over 400 people that came out to the park for the event, and all of them were able to hear about Jesus and the message of hope he brings.
The sun is getting hotter (as I can attest to from a series of unfortunate sunburns.. all really my fault as I did not put on sunscreen!... Lesson learned!) I'm reminded lately of how blessed I am to have such incredible family and friends in my life that have made all the difference. Especially as the holidays are here, I am reminded of how much of a blessing it has been to grow up with the support and friendship from all of you. For that I say, "thank you!" You are in my thoughts now, especially!
As for Christmas in the sun, it has been quite funny to me to see different people walking around the city, in the sun, in the heat, wearing mix-matched attires of Christmas sweaters, shorts, santa hats, and flip-flops! There are festive decorations among the palm trees, and Christmas music playing in the stores as they have bathing suits and sunscreen on sale. It will be a Christmas of firsts: 1st Christmas away from family, 1st Christmas on the sunny side of the world, and 1st Christmas celebrating with a BBQ on the beach! I am excited for a new experience, although I admit to missing that cold white stuff that falls from the sky back home by the foot. And although I miss being close to family and friends that I love back home, I am thankful for the new family I have gained here in Perth. I've learned to really appreciate the heart of this season, regardless of what the cultural norm is for how it is celebrated. Christmas is about family. It's about giving. It's about peace. And it's about sharing love with one another, just as we have been shown the most incredible love by our "heavenly" Father.
Grace and Peace to you all as you are celebrating this season in your own favourite traditions! My hope is that you will be blessed with time together with your families and loved ones. May you be blessed with a new or renewed understanding of real love, real hope, and real joy.
Love from,
Melody
- Here are the teams from my program that will be heading out the week after Christmas for missions!
- These photos were from our "commissioning night", where we gathered together as a whole school with the other DTS teams who are leaving soon for their missions trips. We had a time of presenting and sharing about the past 3 months of lectures, as well as about what we will be doing on our outreach coming up. The base leaders prayed over us as a school to send us off officially with their blessing.
-We will all be going first to Kolkata, India for 6 weeks, then each team will head to a different location to serve for 5 weeks.
The "Great Commission":
"Go into all the world and share the Good News!" (From Mark 16:15, and Matthew 28:19-20 in the Bible)
Christmas Tea and "It's a Wonderful Life" with the school:
Indonesia Team:
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