Christmas in Australia...

Enjoy a window into my Christmas this year in Australia...

So, after we finished “moving” and making everything somewhat live-able for the next few days, we began preparations for a nice Christmas Eve dessert. I made my mom’s famous Heath Bar recipe for everyone. We decorated, setting up our Christmas tree, adding ambiance and “holiday glow.” Then we enjoyed fellowship together along with apple pie, amazing chocolate pie, heath bars, and Christmas sugar cookies! After dessert, we all walked down to the beach. On the way to the beach, we handed out candy canes to people on the streets and outside in the neighborhoods and wished them a Merry Christmas. At the beach, we played/ sang worship under the stars, celebrating the gift of Jesus to the world. It was an awesome way to celebrate the eve of such a blessed day in history.

setting up our Christmas tree amid the organized chaos of the move!

This is after we decorated the tree... we were proud!

The finished product!

Christmas Eve dessert! Mmmm... delicious!

Christmas morning, I woke up to the sound of LOUD Christmas music blasting from the living room- just like at home!!! Dave and Donna greeted us all, and we watched each other open gifts from family. I got to skype with my family for a little while, which was amazing. Then I helped in the kitchen to cook Christmas brunch. We enjoyed a REALLY good Christmas brunch together around a massive table (about 20 of us). We had french toast, breakfast casserole, hash browns, and fruit salad. Mmm!

The girls who cooked Christmas brunch

Brunch!

After brunch we went to Port Kembla beach on Christmas Day! The beach on Christmas?! Yes, indeed! The waves were amazing, too. After the beach, we all got ready and dressed up to go to Nanna Bell’s (basically, my surrogate grandmother) house for Christmas dinner. She had chicken, turkey, pork, dressing, potatoes, salad, rolls, and pavlova (a famous Aussie dessert). It was an awesome time of fellowship and just being together... one big family. One new thing was playing cricket in the back yard... Christmas is so different here with it being summer, but a lot of fun!

At Port Kembla beach.... absolutely beautiful!

All the staff girls dressed up and ready to go to Nana Bell's

Nana Bell's Christmas dinner

Well, I just wanted to take the time to blog about Christmas... hopefully that gives you a small window into the Aussie Christmas craziness that has been the past few days! I hope you all had a blessed day filled with celebration and joy over the birth of our Savior...

"Truly he taught us to love one another. His law is love, and His gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother. And in His Name, all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy, in grateful chorus raise we. Let all that is within praise His Holy Name!"

Moving Update!

First, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I’m writing this the day after Christmas, but it’s still Christmas in the States. Whew, this has definitely been the oddest holiday season of my life! Things have been non-stop and crazy with the big move to Port Kembla!

We started packing up the entire base over a week ago and began the process of moving EVERYTHING in to our new building on Wednesday. I knew moving an operation of this scope would be massive, but I didn’t have a clue until we actually started doing it. We moved Wednesday, Thursday, and the first half of the day Friday and finally have almost everything in our new home! The past few days I have cleaned/ bleached smoky walls, cleaned/ bleached/ disinfected numerous toilets and showers, unloaded moving trucks, hauled mattresses, and cooked with cooking supplies in boxes all over the kitchen! It’s definitely been a CRAZY experience!

I cleaned a few toilets...

owning that bathroom!

This is our new base from the outside... we call it the "pink palace" sometimes.

Side note: Our room is tons better. It’s still quite small (I think smaller than my dorm in college), but it has its own bathroom, which is amazing! Before, I lived in a cubicle with paper thin walls. This room actually has concrete walls, high ceilings, a real functioning door, and a window! What a blessing! It’s a small space, but it feels much more permanent and homey already. There is still a lot of work to do to make it into a haven and a place where I can invite people into, but I’m excited about the possibility of that.

This is definitely a "before" picture of our room, but I thought I'd put it up anyway!

All in all though, I am absolutely amazed by the joyful attitudes and willingness of the community of people that I live with. There is no way we could pull something this huge off without everyone’s help, but it’s amazing to see what God can do when everyone comes together for a purpose bigger than themselves. It’s exciting to be a part of pioneering something new and to be present for God setting up the foundation. It all feels very purposeful and exciting. There’s still boxes everywhere and a ton of work to do, but somehow even in that, it feels like home. Being here in Port Kembla just feels right.

So, thank you all so much for your prayers. I’m so excited about being in this building and having a permanent place for our ywam family to call “home.” God is birthing something new in this place... that’s for sure. I'm cutting this short and going to post again about our Christmas here with more pictures. Enjoy... part two will be up shortly!

Training and Transitions

Wow, it has been way too long since I've updated. Life has been quite busy, but good. I've been learning a lot, and I am diving into my new life here full-on. Before I start this update, here's a couple quick pictures from Thanksgiving. We had an amazing time of celebrating God's goodness and thanking Him together corporately as a base. We enjoyed an awesome meal of turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. The whole night definitely exceeded my expectations!

A Thanksgiving celebration like no other- 65 people from 7 different nations coming together celebrating God's goodness and enjoying life together.

We were LOVING the sweet potato casserole! Mmmm... ! I might add that Meg and I made this using a Southern recipe! :)

Meg (a fellow west-Tennessean) made sweet tea! Representin' the South!

Anyway, fast forwarding a little, November 28th to December 11th, I was in Sydney with 9 other people from YWAM Wollongong completing a YWAM training course called Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. It was an intense two weeks and hard to push through at times, but I learned A LOT.

I learned a good deal more about what a Discipleship Training School really is, as we were pretty immersed in the school curriculum. We talked about what we can do, as staff, to help the students get everything they can out of the school and learn in a way that leads not just to knowledge, but to applied knowledge- wisdom- and lifestyle change.

In the course, we discussed so much, including:

-various styles in which students will learn and process information and how to lead in a way that incorporates a variety

- how to teach a skill in a way that can be easily practiced and assessed

- time management and how to build things into my schedule that will lead to a healthy lifestyle and keep me from becoming burned out.

- how to mentor a student in a DTS environment and figure out where they are at in the context of the topics being covered... setting goals for them that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.

-how to create a classroom/ learning environment that builds expectancy and anticipation

-how to lead a small group and the purpose of a small group in DTS context

-how to plan Outreach activities and ministries in a way that targets areas of growth in each of your students lives.

One thing that our facilitator, Judith, said during the week that I feel like sums up the challenge of mentoring and discipleship: “My role as a leader is not to hear God for you. My role as a leader is to facilitate the obedience to the Word of God in your life." This is huge. I want to lead in such a way that does not create a dependence upon me, but a dependence upon God and His Word that will translate into the student's life back home.

So, applying and implementing all this will be a challenge, but it is a challenge that I'm excited God is taking me into. I feel totally unprepared, but have peace in the midst of it, knowing that it's ultimately God doing the work and I just have to be willing and engaged.

On that note, this week is our first week of DTS staff training for the January DTS staff. We are doing a lot of team building stuff, praying into the school and the students, logistical stuff, etc. It's already been incredible, after only 2 days, and I can't wait to see what God does in this school.

So, how is that for an update? Still tons to come... the rest of this week of training, a week of moving the base to our new location in Port Kembla, Christmas holidays, another week of staff training, and the January DTS starts January 10!

Thank you all so much for your prayers. They are so valuable to me, as are each of you. I miss and love yall tons!

love, christy

Exciting News... the roller coaster ride begins!

As I write, I feel like there is so much going on, so much to tell. I'll start with the small and move to the big. This past weekend, I got to spend some more time with the September DTS before they leave on their outreach to Southeast Asia in the next couple weeks. We went to Sussex Inlet, about an hour drive away. At Sussex, we slid down this massive sand hill all the way to the bottom where it shoots you into the water below about 30 feet or so out. We also explored, snorkeled, and saw kangaroos. :) Here are some pictures from the day:

my roommate Amy (from Seattle, WA) and I

view from the top of the sand hill

I finally saw kangaroos!!!

I'm still working in the office (which is mixed with all sorts of other things throughout my days). Office-wise, I'm serving in the Registrar department. My specific role right now is answering web inquiries. When people are interested in doing a DTS, they e-mail an inquiry and I send them the information they request and walk with them through the application process. It's actually quite the exciting job to have the opportunity to be the first contact the DTS students have with anyone on base before they come. I'm enjoying it, as God has really prepared me and helped me to see the purpose and importance of it in the big picture.

Last week, the mobilization team I am a part of had a meeting with the lady who is over Scripture classes and Bible clubs in all the schools in the region. There is such a need for young people who are passionate about God to come in and share with these kids. There is so much opportunity to connect YWAM Wollongong to the community and come along and serve the local ministries that God has already established and is using to bring Christ to the area. My heart is to see overseas missions, local missions and ministries, and the local church all connected, equipping and serving one another together. This is something I'd love for you to be in prayer about, because I see God doing something.

What's coming up in the next month...

This friday, I am leaving for Sydney, along with 9 other staff, to do a training called Phase 1 Certificate IV in Discipleship. This course will serve to make me more effective in leading students in a way that is conducive to their individual learning styles and where they are at. I will learn to lead in such a way that the students who are here to do their DTS feel equipped and excited to learn and get the most out of their school. I've heard the Phase 1 course is very technical and sometimes hard to engage, but really important and valuable when it comes to leading a DTS and making sure the students understand and really do learn what they are there to learn. Please pray for me and these 8 other staff as we will be immersed into all kinds of intense training.

Ok, so big news...

YWAM Wollongong recently exchanged contracts with the owner of a property in Port Kembla (about 20 minutes drive away) and is in the process of purchasing a new facility!! As a base, we have been looking at properties for a while. This place simply can't accommodate all the growth that God has been doing in this community, which is an awesome problem to have! The base is only 4 years old, and God has multiplied the people here like crazy! The journey to this point has been so good and filled with so many God stories. Hopefully I'll get all the crazy, God-provision stories for you at some point soon. But, for now, here's the gist of it...

Port Kembla is a port city that once was the hub of Christian activity, but with increasing industrialization and the steel industry, is now a declining community. It's a pretty dark place in need of the light of Christ. The seller of the property had multiple offers on the table WAY better than ours, but he chose to sell us the property because he believes we would bring something good to Port Kembla! Because we are renting our current property, we plan to move out of here and into the Port Kembla building on December 22nd!! It's super soon, and we will need a lot of God's grace and strength in order to move and transition smoothly. So, that is a big prayer request- for everyone! I'm excited about the move and all God is taking this community of people into. He is definitely doing some big stuff, and I'm really humbled to be here in this season of the story God is writing.

A couple of weeks ago, we prayed over the city of Port Kembla... getting God's heart for the people there. This is a view from a lookout overlooking the coast...

I am thankful for each of you. These are exciting times. You are on an exciting journey. I'm so blessed to walk it with yall!

love, Christy

News from the Gong

Good-day! (See, I'm speaking the Aussie lingo already!) So, I've been here for 2.5 weeks now. Crazy. Last week went by so quickly, it's hard to recount what happened. I'm finding myself having less and less to say. I'm definitely feeling transitioned by now, although some of the adjustments are going to be long-term. I'm still loving community life, going deeper in new relationships all the time. I'm not even sure how to sum up what I did this past week... a little bit of everything. I'll just list it, which will be fun for you to see how much my week encompasses...

- Listened to a good friend of mine teach on lifestyle of worship and intimacy with God (he just did a course where he developed his teaching and shared it with a few of us).

- Started my office job full-on. I am working on compiling a condensed file of all the information the DTS outreach team needs for their trip to Southeast Asia in December.

-Started praying with a small team of people about mobilization stuff- connecting YWAM Wollongong to the community in Shellharbour, serving/ equipping the church with where they are already invested in the area, etc. Still praying into what this looks like and getting God's heart for it.

-Each week the speaker for the week for the DTS shares with the staff who aren't staffing the DTS (i.e. me and like 20 others) every Wednesday. It is a time of encouragement and strengthening for us. We also get to hear the speaker Thursday nights when we have Community Night- a time of worship and teaching open to the entire community. This week Fiona challenged us to be hungry for the Word of God, not just the words of God- SO important. So good.

- This week we had a team from Townsville, Australia come stay at our base. They were on their outreach all around the east coast of Australia, so I spent some of my week hanging out with them and getting to know them a bit.

-I got a cell phone!!! Wooo hoo... Definitely excited about that, as I've been trying to get this for a couple weeks.

-This weekend... I went to the beach on Saturday with Amy and then helped out the DTS with the car wash they did to raise money for outreach. That night I went to this cute cottage-like house in the rolling hills (with cows and horses). One of Meg's friends was selling all these crafty, super creative (and Christmasy) stuff to raise money for missions there. Fun! Sunday (today)- I visited a new church, I went to the harbor and took pictures, and I babysat Madison and Chloe (Ken and Meg's kids).

Well, there you have it. That was me not knowing what to write about so listing vaguely my random activities for the week. :) Maybe you are getting somewhat more of a glimpse into my life here. Let's hope so! Here's some pictures to help paint that picture even more! Enjoy.

This is from the harbor, looking out at Northbeach (about 20 minutes walk from where I live).

pelican! :) i thought he was cute.

beautiful yellow wildflowers at the harbor.

This is a Fish and Chips shop in Shellharbour Village right on the harbor.

Finally, this is Northbeach- the closest beach to me and the one I'm at every chance I get! :)

One week here/ My new life.

Office... where I work

Lecture Room... Where DTS students learn & worship/ prayer happens often

Looking out at the yard between the common room and the classroom

the Common Room... where we eat and hang out

Outside... looking at the common room side

An echidna! We found this little guy in our yard outside!!!

I've been in Australia for one week now! A week ago yesterday I was arriving at the base being welcomed by old friends and new faces alike. It's hard to believe it's only been a week... so much has happened here already. There's so much to tell and explain, but I'll begin to try.

I probably got over jet-lag and settled in within about the first three/ four days I was here (although those first few days were quite overwhelming!) I had Thursday- Sunday to kind of rest and get settled and process, though, which was really good and needed. At first I was really overwhelmed by the amount of people living here. Imagine going from living with 5 people to 50 something in a day! Talk about overwhelming. Needless to say, I quickly am finding the inner introvert in me coming out. Saturday I woke up early and walked to the beach (about a 25 minute walk) and sat on the rocks with my Bible and journal as I watched the waves crash. There was a crazy canoeing competition going on and multiple groups of surfers. But even with all that going on, I was able to find the place of quiet and stillness with God and His creation. Amazing.

Sunday I went to church with Amy and a couple other people here. Please be in prayer that I would listen and seek God for what church HE is calling me to plug into and be a part of here. That's something He's really made priority in my heart, so I would love your prayer into the faith family He is calling me to.

After church, I spent some time with Meg, one of my best friends and my mentor here. She and her husband Ken are a part of the leadership of the base here, and I'm going to be spending a lot of time with them- learning from them as I do life with them. (Side note: Meg is from Tennesee and Ken is from Georgia, and they're the only other Southerners here). Anyway, they have a huge heart to mobilize people into missions and into the nations. That's a big part of my heart too. They came to me with the vision of wanting to build a mobilization team into YWAM Wollongong where we would go to local churches, youth groups, schools, wherever God calls us.... and tell stories of what God is doing all over the world making the gospel known to engage those in our community with the call of making disciples of all nations. So... that's another big thing you can pray for!

To shift gears a bit, I'll share about the week and what I'll be doing for this season on the base. So, I think we have about 43 staff here at YWAM Wollongong now. A few of those staff are staffing the DTS. But the remaining staff all have very key roles to plug into and serve to make sure the base is able to operate and do everything God has called us to do. Just recently, the base has grown and gained enough staff to make sure every job on base can be done and done well. We have teams of people operating and serving together in various capacities... Office/ registrar, hospitality, kitchen, maintenance, and IT/ technology. Each is important and necessary. It's cool because in interning for One Way Ministries and working in the office- combined with getting to go on the field in Guatemala- I saw the value of all the office stuff and the need for it to do the ministry we did on the field. It's all for the glory of God and making Him known!

So... It looks like I will be serving in the office. The interesting thing about this past week is that my office operations leader, Chris, was out all week because her son broke his arm. So, I've seen a little bit of what I'll do, but not really yet. Another cool thing about the operations teams, is that each team meets together every morning for prayer and to invite God into our work for the day. It's so cool to ask God to come show us ways to do our work really well and make sure everyone is doing okay that day and hold each other up as a team. Then once a week, all the Operations (Ops) teams come together for worship. Also, every week, the whole base comes together for worship in the morning. And once a week the whole base comes together for intercession/ prayer for an unreached people group. There is so much prayer and worship that goes on here. It's pretty incredible.

It seems like I've been here forever already. Part of that is because I feel so disconnected from life back home, which makes me really sad. So, if you think about it, PLEASE shoot me an e-mail or something and just tell me what's happening with you or your family or whatever. Communication is so hard with the time difference. Also, part of feeling here a while is because I have gotten to know people so quickly. I still have a long way to go building relationships, etc. But I'm surprised how much I've gotten to know people in just a week! But I guess that happens when you're sharing a bathroom and shower with 25 people! (Which, by the way, hasn't been nearly as rough as I thought... which is a blessing! :)

There's so much I could still say, but this post is getting lengthy so I'll cut it short. :) Pray still... for the transition to a completely different life, which is still hard. Also pray for my back as it is bothering me, that I will use that opportunity to depend on God. Finally, pray for a hunger for God's word and truth. :) Thanks yall. I'm realizing more and more every day how blessed by the people I am at home behind me. I have such a strong support system. It's really quite phenomenal. You are each a blessing from God to me.

love, Christy

Enjoy a few pictures of my new home here...

Day 2

Hey! I don’t want to let too much time get away before I update yall on what’s going on. I feel like if I start updating a lot right from the start, maybe I’ll be more likely to communicate well and frequently. Oh well, I’m still pretty jet-lagged, but here it goes!

The ride from the airport to the base was fun and filled with anticipation. I enjoyed views of costal waters and Aussie homes and conversation with an Aussie couple who were also riding in the taxi/ van with me. When I got to the base, I was overwhelmingly welcomed with huge hugs by familiar faces. It was such a joyful, crazy, exciting reunion. I was also met by my roommate here, Amy from Washington, who I had never met but had talked to quite a bit before coming. She’s awesome and has done so much to help me get settled in (including man-hauling a bed with drawers for me today so I could have more storage space! :)

It’s so crazy to be back here. In some ways it feels like I’ve never left, but in others it seems like it’s been so long at the same time. The relationships I left are picking right back up, but there is still so much catching up to do. I’m also enjoying getting to know new people here as well. It’s a bit overwhelming with all the new staff and the DTS students who are here, but I’m sure I’ll get to know them in time.

Today I went shopping for essentials and room organization stuff. I spent like 3 and a half hours or something ridiculous in the mall... talk about exhausting! But I’m making such progress on making the room organized and all that. Amy and the other staff have been awesome in making sure it’s easy for me to get settled. And leadership here gave me these past two days and the weekend to get settled before jumping into everything, so that’s nice.

It’s so cool living in community again. It will take a little getting used to, but I definitely like it. There’s always something going on and tons of people all around me that share the same passion, which is really a cool way to do life together. I’m going to have to cut this short because dinner is soon, but I’ll try to write as things start happening and I know more of what the routine will be, adapt, and all that!