Australia to the Rescue!

Well outreach is just around the corner now. Today we had to say good-bye to our Team Vanuatu and Malaysia. It was so hard to see them go and know that the next time we see them we'll only be together for 2 more weeks until we all depart ways. Plans for our outreach have really come together and it is definitely different than planned. Initially we were going to just backpack and stay in hostels as well as take a greyhound from Byron Bay all the way up to Carins for backpacker ministry. Well now things have changed so I have all the nitty gritty details as planned out as follows:
June 11th-16th we're in Byron Bay. We hope to be teaching some Religious Education classes and do other programs which the churches around there run. So during the week we will be participating in a big free dinner for backpackers, volleyball tournaments, a BBQ, and a trip to Nimbin. Nimbin is a very small town and basically the drug capital of Australia. There's supposedly only one street of shops but all the people who go on the bus tours there go for weed. Their are buses that go there everyday where people hang out and smoke as well as shop so that will be fairly interesting.
June 17th-21st we're going to Dalby. In Dalby we will be going to different primary schools there, helping the chaplain with random work duties as well as going to a old folks home and helping out there. This week is a lot of service for the community.
June 22nd-25th we're off to Frasier Island. This place is one of the most common stops for backpackers. When we went to Hervey Bay that town was basically a backpacker place only because they have tours to Frasier, without that it wouldn't have been a tourist place. Every backpacker tells you to go to this island. You can rent 4x4 Jeeps and go drive out on the sand and basically you just camp. So we're planning on meeting backpackers and maybe spliting the cost with some and go camping in Frasier. We'll be possibly doing volleyball etc with the many backpackers there.
June 26th-July 1st we're back at Hervey Bay doing a holiday camp for the Glendyne school. Its their winter break and Glendyne gets a lot of holidays compared to the other schools and during those holidays they run camps. So we will be running their holiday camp and basically plan out all of the games and activities. So we've been busy trying to come up with sweet games to play with the kids. We'll also hang out with the local church which teaches hip-hop Sunday afternoons so we'll be there making fools of ourself there with the kids. hehe
July 2nd-9th we're going for Affwan in the Gold Coast. Affwan is a ministry that goes on 4 times in their winter where there are teams that gather in the Gold Coast to minister strictly to Muslims. We'll have shirts that say "Love one another-Jesus Christ" and so those are walking trax and apparently they draw lots of Muslims to start conversations. We'll be handing out Bibles and trax as many Muslims come from Iran etc to escape their summer heat. So we'll be involved with the ministry teams there.
July 10th-16th we're in Airley Beach. We'll just be hanging out with backpackers and the ministry will be much like the Chai Tent except without the tent. We are hoping to do afternoon sport and hopefully some volleyball tournaments on the beach and at night we want to just hang out with the backpackers and create relationships with them as well as share the Gospel (as usual).
July 17th-22nd we're going to Bundeburg. Bundeburg is a normal town where backpackers go to work when they come to Australia. So many of the backpackers there have been there for awhile to save up money to go travel again. So we'll be staying in hostels there for our first time and just hang out with them there. If we do however meet some backpackers from Airley Beach and if they are travelling somewhere in budget with us we are free to go somewhere else. So these last 2 weeks are pretty free for whatever God has planned and the kinds of people we meet and where they're going etc. So these last 2 weeks are pretty flexible to whatever is in store.
July 22nd we'll be headed back to Brisbane to meet all of our other teams and have a couple of weeks of debriefing and then depart our ways back home.
I am so pumped for our outreach, it should be really good. Our team is so strong and we are very laid back people so it'll be pretty difficult for our team to actually have big personality clashes or arguements which is awesome. We are all really outgoing and very extroverted so I am looking forward to a awesome outreach and we are all anxious to see what God has in store for our outreach. As outreaches go, sometimes the schedules do change a lot so this is just what was planned but some things may not happen depending on different circumstances. But that was our outline for our trip. As we go I would like to ask you for your prayer for our team as well as the Vanuatu and Malaysia team. We would like prayer for: team unity, lasting impact, boldness, energy, intimacy with God/guidance from God and the obedience to do have that, and a life-changing, growing, and stretching experience. We will have computer access, I will assume, for a few of the weeks so I will try to keep you all updated (no promises though). Thank-you so much for your support as we head off to the Eastern Coast of Australia!