Katrina, January DTS
Sunday, June 25, 2006

“DTS has been most amazing, transforming thing in my life. I came not knowing God and I'm leaving knowing who I am in God. I have learned that Jesus died for all of this...for me...and life is not a head thing. It can be a heart thing, too.” Katrina...going home to attend a secondary YWAM school and study french as a second language in Canada

Kelsey, January DTS
Sunday, June 25, 2006

"This time has been so challenging, growing and life changing. I have been filled with amazing freindships and love. I will take a new life home with me as well as my new relationship with God. I will always have these memories, experiences and relationships.” Kelsey...gave her life to God on her DTS and is going home to find a church to committ to. She wants to encourage her friends, love on her family and be the new person God created her to be.

Shanika
Sunday, June 25, 2006

“I feel like moses and the burning bush! God has brought me here to solidify and deepen who he is, who i am, my purpose and destiny. Because of him and my gifts, I can be a life-changer and a servant leader. I will take everything home with me. Now is the time for us to shine!” Shanika...going home to speak truth to her family, friends and city. Thinking about starting a 24/7 prayer room and volunteering with the salvation army.

Tom, January DTS
Sunday, June 25, 2006

"DTS was incredible time, full of every imaginable emotion, experience and challenge. I have made life long friends, have been touched greatly by God and then, been able to go out and do what i've learned. I would not change it for the world. I've learned that to be a christian is to follow Jesus and to become more like him.” Tom...applying to guitar academy and get involved with the churches in Birmingham, england.

Jaclyn Hammer
Tuesday, December 06, 2005

We were headed to East Timor .  That's cool. Our flight was delayed a few hours.  That stunk. They gave us each $10 credit for the inconvenience.   That's cool.  It was the second scariest flight I've been on (small plane in bad turbulence). That stunk. God gave us clearer skies and a beautiful sunset as we landed in East Timor , reminding me of His amazing peace and comfort.  That's cool.  I'm happy, and it's great here. Yes, it's a 3rd world country, meaning it's dirty and sometimes smelly, but the people are gorgeous and so is the landscape. "Ita Kapas!" (it's beautiful!) The smiles of the people make me melt. God is also doing some amazing things here and I can see a lot of restoration within the people. We've been busy since being here. We've done as much as we can with speaking a different language. We've been able to attend a lot of services here. This week the guys are concreting a woman's house while the girls are working at a preschool and helping out in a clinic at a nearby village. It's great. It's so awesome to experience what God is doing with the people here and also with each person on the team. The kids are extremely cute and it's hard to not want to take them home with us! And even with all of the tragedy these people have faced, they have a joy in them that can only be from God.  God is good.  

Tommy Bond
Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Outreach has been truly amazing in the sense that I believe I've grown more in this time than all of DTS together. It's hardcore, but to see God moving in and through people is absolutely inspiring. I've had the privilege of leading a few people to Christ, and it's amazingly humbling because you know it is God, not you. And not to mention having a total blast swimming in waterfalls, rope swings in rivers and the crazy animals too! :) We saw TWO emus the other day too! God is good!  

Team Australia - by Kate Telegus
Sunday, December 04, 2005

Well, after a long, hot journey through the rugged outback of Queensland we made it to Mount Isa !!! However, for the last two or so weeks we were in Townsville, and Magnetic Island doing heaps of stuff for God. Our first experience in Townsville started at a church called Calvary , and our team was put in charge of watching around 40-50 kids from ages 1-14 while the church was hosting a deliverance conference. We planned a nice schedule with a bible story, worship songs, and even a bit of a sermon which was nice and short for the young kids. However, they were not the easiest kids to keep entertained for 3 hours, it was definitely challenging. After the first day we were really realizing how much we were going to have to rely on God, and to be continually praying for the kids while we were looking after them. We then took a whole afternoon to pray and rethink our evening activities and came up with a strategy. It was to split the kids into three groups, by age, and hold three different engaging activities, including: basketball, crafts and dramas/games. This idea completely changed the night and we praised God for how good he had been to us; we learnt a lot more from the kids program than we had ever imagined.   So, the next thing on our agenda for Townsville was religious education (RE) programs! And the most exciting thing about it was they were Christmas RE programs. I think I speak for all of us when I say that these were probably our most enjoyable RE programs, as the kids were very receptive and attentive. They had just as much of a blast as we did hearing the Christmas story, singing Christmas carols and cutting out snowflakes. We also did a Christmas assembly which was pretty much the same things, except we had a re-enactment of the Christmas story with the kids acting, and we had some awesome puppets, which Jeff and Kate were using, to MC the assembly!   We also helped out a bit around the base with cafe and other events such as cleaning up after Robyn Mulligan’s 40th birthday. One day, we went to a church that was holding a service to promote Stable on the Strand . Some of us helped with serving coffee and tea and the others dressed up like wise men and went around telling people about Stable on the Strand . So, that concludes our eventful eight days in Townsville.   Our stay on Magnetic Island (Maggie Is.) for a week was to help out with schoolies. We were working with the Hotel Chaplaincy and our job was to hand out red frogs (a much enjoyed Aussie lolly), hang out with the kids, and make sure they we're ok. Schoolies is: the Aussie after graduation party which lasts for a week in which high school graduates party in different locations around including the Gold Coast, Adelaide and locally at Airlie Beach . The kids register and then they all go off to parties, get drunk, and all that jazz. So, we had the opportunity to step in, help out with organized activities and be Jesus to the kids; if they had lost and friends or had a few to many to drinks and need someone to hold their hair back as they threw up. The coolest thing that happened, is that they realized that we are Christians who had volunteered our time to come and hang out with drunk kids. They start asking questions about God and why we would want to hang out with them. It is an awesome way to share Jesus with them, practically and also through conversation. Yes, it was definitely tiring, and spiritually strenuous, but rewarding! However, we were blessed by the time off during the day to chill on the beach, read our bibles, and relax (seeing as we were up all night!) So, that concludes our time on Maggie, and leads us to where we are now, Mt Isa. We are anticipating a fruitful time in which God will blow us completely away.... we believe God has saved the best for last! ,

Update from the NZ/Fiji team on outreach...

Thursday, November 17, 2005

We have just received an update from the New Zealand/Fiji team. Here’s what has been going on:     The team had some trouble leaving Auckland as their plane had some technical problems that had to be fixed; so they arrived quite late in Nadi on Monday the 14th November. A couple of the guys from the YWAM base came over and met them and they hung out for a bit and had a place to sleep, so that was a blessing. They bussed to Suva on the 15th.  They found out that they aren’t able to participate in the Operation Christmas Child like they thought…but they will still be doing children’s ministry and a lot of door to door evangelism.  They’ll be going to the Mountains, which is a village, and helping one of the men with his church there. They are staying above their host’s Taubale & Ofa Toki’s place, which I think is also the IWT office. They will be working alongside them there as well. The team grows deeper each day in their unity and friendship with one another and in their love for God.  

July Outreach so far.......

Monday, November 07, 2005

The July Outreach teams have all been extremely active in their respective countries and mission fields. The Darwin/East Timor team, lead by Kim Close and Kyle Henderson-Begg, have been working at Mararra Christian School, continuing to forge friendships in the same way the April outreach team did previously to them. The team has been encouraged to see how widespread of an impact the April team had on the students involved with the Larapinta Camp, earlier this year. The team has also been involved with the ministry at Bagot Indigenous Community and some manual labour around the YWAM base. They have been helping renovate a flat for Dave and Mia, base leaders of Darwin Reef to Outback, as they prepare to move back into YWAM housing.     The North Queensland team, lead by Jenn Hinger and Alissa Bauer, have been involved with a number of Auslife seminars as they journey throughout the local region. They have seen positive responses within the students, many of them signifying they would like to know God more, with two students coming to know God. The team will soon be in Cairns working with backpackers and doing some street evangelism. This coming Wednesday they will continue on into the Tablelands, where they will be working in Primary Schools and with local Indigenous communities.       The New Zealand/Fiji team, lead by Adrian Zwanzig and Dave Smith, are in Christchurch and staying at a local church. The team have been busying themselves with evangelism within the city centre and some manual labour for a local church, tearing down its roof. The team is looking forward to an upcoming ministry opportunity with some YWAM’ers from Oxford, . They will be involved in the local prostitute ministry, forming relationships with the women and imparting Christ’s love onto them.    The teams still have several weeks of outreach left to go and we anticipate hearing of many more people coming to know God and being affected by his love, through the teams. This time will also be one of rapid growth for the students, as they practically apply the principles that they absorbed during the lectures and are challenged to daily share their faith with others.

Katie Gibbs
Tuesday, October 25, 2005

"My beginning at Reef to Outback has been one full of rich blessing: new friends, meeting God in new ways and having the anticipation that God is going to work mightily in us."

Kimber Powell
Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Our current DTS have spent the last 3 weeks on local outreach. Kimber Powell, one of the students on the school, said the following about her the DTS and her outreach experiences in Cairns . “My experience on the DTS thus far has been nothing short of amazing.  I feel so privileged to be a part of the outreaches and it is just so awesome to see how God has been moving in and through our teams. He is teaching us so much of what it means to trust in Him and to have the faith that He will bring us into the things He has planned for us.  He is continuing to reveal to us the importance of walking in unity as a team. As we love one another and work together towards a common goal, we are setting an example of how Christ has called us to be a body. We are discovering how God has specifically knit us together as a team, how each member plays a unique role and obtains a specific gifting that God has placed in their life and becomes a crucial part of our effectiveness as a team.  It is so awesome to see how God can use anything, so long as we are willing.  For one team, it meant throwing a barbecue for the backpackers of Tully, or sharing a testimony while at work in a local banana field.  To another team, it meant walking about the city openly worshipping on the streets of Cairns , or playing sports on the Esplanade, or simply helping out with the Religious Education programs in the  local schools.  To another team, it was running Auslife programs in the high schools or helping out with the homeless in Mackay…these are all simple examples of the extravagant work God is doing in us. As three different teams headed three different directions, God was so faithful to bring everything together for one common goal of sharing His love everywhere we went.”