hear and understand

I couldn't adequately sum up the last three weeks if I tried. My words will surely fail to wrap up all that I've learned, heard, felt, seen, been touched by - but I'll do my best (cause that's all I can do).

The Nitty Gritty Stuff - What do we actually do here?

I'm sure a lot of you are confused about what I am actually physically doing here day-to-day - that's valid, so am I most of the time. So I'll start just by explaining a bit about how YWAM operates and lives as a community.

YWAM Brisbane runs many other training schools outside of the MAD (Music, Arts, & Dance) DTS that I am a part of. Many of us students, including myself, live on base in dorm-style housing in rooms with 10-12 other people. Some of our staff live on base as well, but many live in houses in the surrounding neighborhood.

This is our basic schedule each week.

We start each day at 8:30 with worship or intercession either as an entire base or as individual schools. Then we have lecture from 9:30-12:30, with a few breaks in between including our morning tea in the courtyard with all staff and students.

In addition to lectures, we are assigned various work duties around the base to make sure our home is being taken care of physically. I was assigned the duty of housekeeping, so I have a few offices on base that I clean throughout the week. Cleaning definitely has a therapeutic effect on me so I've actually really enjoyed this time of solitude and vacuuming.

On Mondays and Thursdays we have our Art Focus Afternoons (AFAs) with our specific art tracks. I'm part of the film track, and it's been such a pleasure getting to know all of my fellow film gals (we're an all-female squad!!) and share all of the old, embarrassing videos we used to make with our friends. Our first film projects will be due in two weeks, and I really look forward to sharing that with all of you. Please enjoy some un-retouched photos below from our AFAs yesterday (they're un-retouched because I don't have Photoshop ha).

The other day in AFAs we had fun with STUDIO LIGHTING!

One of our lovely staff, Gretta, was gracious enough to model for us.

On Thursday nights we meet in smaller groups - also known as small groups, how clever - to debrief how we're feeling and study scripture together as a community. My small group leaders have already been such a source of support and love to me through this transition, and I'm super grateful for the chance to connect with them and with all of the wonderful women in my small group.

Outside of small group, we also have individual meetings throughout the week with one of our small group leaders called our "one-on-one." We have these meetings to check up on each other and share more personally about what we feel God is doing in our lives (because a lot happens in just one day here and we all need someone to talk to about it).

My one-on-one mentor is the absolute SWEETEST sweetheart that ever could be. Her name is Aino, she's from Finland and she's currently completing the Basic Leadership School here. It has been so lovely getting to know her heart and I can't wait to continue to see our friendship deepen.

This is Aino!! She's a cutie for sure!!

Each week we have a few assignments to complete which help us process what we've been learning and what God has been doing in us. Our weekends are usually completely free for us to do whatever we want - going into the city, going to the beach, working on assignments, or just straight chillin'. We're encouraged to attend church on Sunday and there are plenty of churches in the area to choose from.

The Heart Stuff - What are we learning here?

The first three and a half months of this DTS will be divided into a series of lectures exploring different topics with the intention of deepening our understanding of who God is. So far we've covered the following topics - God's Nature & Character, Hearing the Voice of God, Intercession, The Father Heart of God, and a Biblical Worldview.

In all honesty, I wouldn't say that any of these lectures have given me new information, but I would say that they have given me new understanding. Growing up in the Christian faith, we hear all the time about how big God is and who He is. That He speaks to us. That He hears and responds to our prayers. That He is our Father.

But do we dwell on that? Do we understand that? I've been realizing lately that for me, the answer is no.

I'm still trying to understand how big He is, how many different things He is, and how deep His love truly is for me. I still struggle to feel this love and believe that it's for me just as much as it is for everyone around me.

I'm still trying to understand the fact that He speaks to us. He uses words, pictures, sometimes even just feelings - but He communicates with us on a very real and personal level. He comes to us as we are and speaks to us in the way we would best hear and understand Him. I still struggle to believe that He will speak to me and I sometimes enter time with Him expecting silence.

I'm still trying to understand that He hears our prayers and that he truly cares about what we pray for. Oh my gosh. I've been told a billion times that prayer is important and that it matters - but if I truly understood that, I would be praying so much more often and for so much MORE.

At YWAM, intercession is a lifestyle. We come together and pray for countries we've never heard of, people groups we will probably never encounter, issues big and small because ALL OF THIS matters to God. He calls us to partner with Him in what He is doing in the world, and prayer can play a huge part in what He's doing. I still struggle to believe that He hears and cares.

I'm still trying to understand that He is our Father - that He is my own personal Father. That He wants me to come sit on His knee and bring all of my mess along with me. I still struggle to believe that I can just rest in His presence without even saying anything - and that He actually wants this from me. Just presence, no conversation.

Overall, lectures have been incredibly eye-opening to me. I didn't know how much I needed to be reminded of these things I've heard a billion times over, but it really is so easy to forget who God is when we don't spend time with Him and let Him remind us who He is. I'm blown away by how much my heart has opened to Him in just the three weeks that I've been here, and I can't wait to continue absorbing all that I can in this phase of the school.

The Next Stuff - Where do we go from here?

The lecture phase is amazing, but it's actually preparing us for something a little bit bigger and more stretching - the outreach phase.

In February, our whole school will be traveling to 6 different locations in smaller teams to evangelize in a two-month-long missions trip. Those locations are: Malaysia, Central Europe (Berlin & Prague), Japan, The Philippines, Detroit, and Australia (country towns).

After a day and a half of prayer and seeking God's voice about which location He had in store for us, all of us told the leaders which location we were feeling lead to, and the teams were selected from there.

You've probably already seen my excessive Instagram posts and stories about my location, but if you haven't, I am so excited to tell you that I will be joining the team traveling to The Philippines!! I am expectant to see what God will do through us there and I know that even my wildest imaginations will be blown out of the water.

Team Philippines!! Where my ladies at!!

Part of our preparations for this outreach include shorter, local outreaches in Australia. We'll actually be leaving for a week-long outreach to the Gold Coast (a beach hub about an hour from our base in Brisbane) to minister to the "Schoolies," or teenagers who have just graduated high school here and head to these beach towns to celebrate.

These celebrations usually involve a lot of alcohol and sometimes drugs, and many dangerous and life-altering decisions have been made in past Schoolies weeks. Our school is partnering with an organization called Red Frogs Australia to help make sure that all of the schoolies stay safe. This might include anything from making them pancakes to walking them home safely to their hotel rooms to just simply listening to them.

We don't know quite what to expect, but we do know that God wants to encounter these young adults and grow a personal relationship with them, and He is able to use Red Frogs as a vessel to do just that.

I would really appreciate prayers for Schoolies - for the teenagers celebrating, the hotel managers and security guards ensuring our safety, and for all of the Red Frog volunteers who we'll be with. Please pray with me that this would be a safe and transformative week for us all, and that the Spirit of the Lord would just bring peace into these places of unrest.

I can't stop saying thank you. Thank you again so so so much for partnering with me in this mission!! Your prayers and financial support are what allowed this to be possible for me and I feel utterly blessed to be here!! THANK YOU!!

"And He called the people to Him and said to them, 'Hear and understand.'"

- Matthew 15:10

-bw