Back in Bris!

Hey,
We are finally back in Brisbane after 2 weeks of living out of our backpacks and let me tell you that I am happy to have a bed and not solid ground! lol. I really did love my time out and about in Byron Bay and Mount Tambourine as well in the other places that we have been to that I am about to tell you about. It was definitely a blast and good to get out of Brisbane but it's wonderful to be back. Well after we went to Mount Tambourine to help set up and set down for the International Outlook conference in Australia we went back to Byron Bay which is where I last updated you from. We spent a couple of days there for teachings about Post-Modernism by Phil Mason. He is a pastor there in Byron Bay in one of the vineyard churches. It was very good! It was about a lot of the different perspectives throughout history and it really reminded me about my Social Studies class as we talked about Darwinism and other different theories and people. I really loved Social Studies so these lectures were absolutely amazing and packed with all kinds of information. Post-Modernism is not an actual teaching period on YWAM's schedule but our leaders put it in because Australia has a lot of New Age beliefs which go hand in hand with Post-Modernism and the Western Culture are also starting to get on this New Age belief system. After being in Byron Bay for 2 nights we headed to the Woodford property. The base in Brisbane bought this property a few years ago, it's a small cabin in the middle of nowhere. But it was fun nonetheless. We set up our tents and we saw our first kangeroo. We didn't get a very close view as it was pretty far away but we got to see it jump away from us. We had lectures about the Holy Spirit there and we had "quality family time" in the afternoon where we all gathered together sharing about what God has been doing in our life and breaking down some barriers that were set up before DTS and so on. Then we had a campfire and a time of worship that night. We had 3 lectures in the 2 nights that we stayed there by Nathaneal McGill who is the Go Team leader here in Brisbane. Then we went on our canoe trip... and I had such a blast! We went on Thursday up to Noosa Heads to get our gear and then we were off. My partner was David from California who just got here a couple of weeks ago. He was late in getting his visa but he made it and is here. Both of us however aren't very outdoorsy people and very much are the same in that we don't rough it that much. But we had fun. On the way to our campsite we crossed a lake and went down a river, it was supposed to take around 4 hours if not less for the average canoer. But we got lost on the way because we and 5 other canoes were not up to par in our upper body strength. We went for an hour and a half thinking and guessing we were going the right way. Thankfully we were. On the way when we were lost we did stop and go swimming in this gross brown river which was fun. It was hilarious seeing some of the other canoers and their partners. One kept on going from side to side of the river crashing and getting stuck numerous of times while asking each other "what are you doing" while another one was losing their paddles and having to dive in the gross water to catch them. Me and David did wonderfully well though and during the weekend we were still able to communicate. haha. We found out that we did go the right way and we arrived at our campsite around 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours later. Then we set up camp in our little Mozzie Domes (mosquito net tents) with tarps or flies to stop the rain. We ate then went to bed. Well that night was quite an experience in itself, as most of you know my upper body strength is lacking. I was hurting so much, it was like someone had stretched my arms out as far as they physically could go and then left me there to shrink them. So throughout the night I kept on waking up and wanting to scream, after much praying and sitting on my arms so they could fall asleep I went to bed. Rhoda actually was panting because it hurt so much and she actually woke up Stephen, her fiance, who was in a different Mozzie Dome beside her. The next morning after breakfast we went on a hike. We hiked up a trail to the Sand Dunes which were absolutely beautiful. It was so amazing to see! Just incredible, although we wished there was water. We had little filters that we had to pump water into out bottles before going up but once we arrived they were all gone. But we ran around up there and the guys were doing flips off of the hills. Then some decided to go on a 45 minute extra walk to the ocean but with no waterto drink a lot of us just went back down. It was a 4 hour hike round trip which wasn't bad, so once we got down there we all went swimming in the river. It was funny because we did have outhouses there (no showers) but they had signs about the Noosa Heads river and how "you never know what's down below" with a picture of a shark. Bow Sharks are I do believe the only shark that can swim upstream so most of the people were scared to get in. One girl wanted to come in but couldn't get over it so a guy put her in and she screamed and held our hand while she was in the river. Most likely in reality Byron Bay had more sharks then this river but the campsite wanted to cover themselves with these signs. Then we had dinner and went to bed as it was very draining. Then yesterday we made our way back to the base in Brisbane. This time it only took some people 3 hours to get back to shore, for me and David it took around 4ish hours but we were so lazy it didn't matter. For some parts we were just looking at the view and letting the river take us back. Then we drove the 2 hours back to Brisbane and got all unpacked into our new rooms. Our old room is now full of the old Frontiers school that just got back from outreach in Malaysia, India, and Turkey. Today is Sunday here in Australia so after going to the mall this afternoon with Michelle and Susan we watched a movie in our dorm and then after supper I went to church with Hans and Corina. We went to the Vineyard church here in Brisbane. A old YWAMer came and picked us up from the base, his name was Frank. The church we went to was quite small but it was good. They had a guest speaker from Canada come and then after the service he asked for different areas in which people had prayer requests in. So they got the people who needed prayer to go into groups of 3 then 3 people to surround them and pray for them. That was a amazing time, it feels so good to be used by God. It was funny because Hans has attended the church sometimes since he came to Brisbane but Corina and I hadn't been there at all but while we were praying God revealed a lot to us about them in that time. So that was my week away. O ya, we have all chosen our outreach destination. After much thought and prayer I decided that I was to stay in Australia. When they announced that the outreach teams would go to either Vanuatu, Malaysia, or Australia I felt drawn to Australia. Even though I came with complete intention on going to Vanuatu I felt like the Australian outreach was one where I knew I could thrive in. In this outreach we are going to be staying in hostel's and our focus is on reaching other backpackers. We are planning on cooking in the hostel's and inviting backpackers in hopes that we can witness to them. We are hoping that we will create many relationships so we can spread the gospel. I feel like this outreach is where my passion lies. As much as I would love to go to Malaysia or Vanuatu those outreaches are with churches and doing things like we did in our Mexico Missions Trip. In Australia it is different because we are planning on being active in evangelism and really spreading the Word. I know I will be stretched a lot in going out of my comfort zone. Backpacking hasn't ever been appealing to me but I really felt like the things I will learn and the work I will be doing that I will be able to take back to Canada and make use of them. I know that what we will be doing in Australia is a ministry I can use in Canada, in my own town, and in my own school. I felt God really confirmed that with me too as I asked some people to pray about it and one of my close friends told me that he felt strongly about Australia and that I should go there. I didn't tell him that I was thinking Australia in case that would influence what he would say but he totally got the same answers that I had got too. In Australia we are planning on meeting up with the backpacking DTS out of Byron Bay and starting or finishing our outreach with them. So that will be a blast, we have other things sort of planned but so far our schedule is not laid in stone. Our outreach had a limit of only 5 people just so that we would be able to really separate and not look like a team out to be with backpackers and force Jesus on them but rather a few friends who were backpacking. So our team is Susan, Corina, William, Luke and myself. We have two leaders Sarah (her real name is Megan) and Nathaneal. I know it will be a fantastic time although a very stretching outreach. Our team would really appreciate it if you could pray for our outreach time in these next few months for guidance in and wisdom in the destinations we should go to and the outreach activities we should plan or attend. Thank you so much!
Daneille