uh, yeah. that's arabic. i'm so multi-cultural.
sorry it's been so long since i've written....things have been SO busy, but SO wonderful. a couple of weeks ago, we spent an incredible and ridiculously tiring week on the gold coast of australia. our group, along with ywam and church groups from all over australia, met at the ywam base in the gold coast for "project affwan," a week-long program consisting of lectures about and evangelism to muslims. it was a really intense week, which included evangelism at an area called 'Surfer's Paradise' (really roughing it!) every night from saturday through the following friday until about 10-10:30pm, then we would begin with lectures the next morning at 9:30am. i ended up getting, in my opinion, deathly ill, and was stuck in bed for two days of the week.
we stayed at homes of the church members in the area. i stayed at the home of a couple named liz and russell, along with their 21 year old son. liz kept eight of us girls and she was definitely a character. i'll leave it at that. they had a beautiful home, though, and treated us like royalty. other than having only one bathroom for eight girls, it was pretty luxurious!
on our first sunday, a local church asked us to speak about what we were doing with project affwan, what we were doing for our outreach in jakarta, and to share a testimony. annnnnd yes, i was elected to do the speaking...probably not so much because my testimony is undeniably captivating, but more because they knew i wouldn't say no. so, i spoke at the two morning services -- which ended up going really well. after the first service, a woman came and pretty much poured her heart out to me about how proud she is of me, and went on to tell me about her son that committed suicide, her divorce, and her second son becoming estranged from her. i was overwhelmed with her story and wasn't sure how to respond, but had a really good conversation with her about her life and how far she's come. after the second service, a man and his wife came up to me and gave me a big hug because they were so excited to hear i was from chicago. it turns out, the man is barack obama's nephew. him and his wife are in australia for medical school, and they were such sweet people. we took pictures and exchanged email addresses and tried not to talk politics. well, i tried, at least.
the week went really well (minus the deathly ill part), and was good practice for our outreach in jakarta, which is almost 90% muslim. i had the chance to get into some great conversations with some muslim women. they were from all over -- i even received an invitation to visit both malaysia and dubai. they were so warm and welcoming. on the first night, i met a woman who was vacationing with her sister. we talked for about thirty minutes or so, and then said goodbye. the next night, our group was getting ready to leave at about 10pm, and she was sitting with her sister and about fifteen other muslims at an outdoor cafe. they called us over and gave us great big hugs and took photos with us. it was there that i was able to get into a really good and respectful conversation with a girl, about 16 or 17, who was a muslim. she was REALLY intimidating, but i kept asking her questions about her faith and began challenging her beliefs -- to the point where i showed her that there is no proof in the quran to back up many of the things she says/does, and that really hit her hard. i told her about our beliefs, particularly our belief in Jesus (they believe Jesus was a prophet), and by the end i could tell that she was greatly questioning her faith. i gave her some Christian materials that were written in her language, and we exchanged email addresses to keep in touch. looking back, it was terribly intimidating to be the only white, american christian in a sea of muslims, but God completely took control of the situation and spoke through me. plus, the girls and guys from my school were standing a few feet away keeping an eye on me, so i felt pretty confident.
overall, the week was really challenging, but really eye-opening. every night we began with prayer at the beach, then we moved to the center of the downtown area of Surfer's Paradise and did some worship (that drew a lot of attention, both good and bad. one night we experienced some major spiritual warfare when a drunk man came into the middle of our circle and began yelling at us and causing a ruckus. we let him go for a few minutes and then ended up laying hands on him and praying for him...that REALLY freaked him out!), and then went out to hand out our materials and talk to people. we met so many amazing people, had a few salvations, and one muslim woman even offered her son in marriage to one of our girls. so all in all, it was a big week!
once the week was over on saturday, some of the group headed home and about eight of us went on to byron bay for the weekend. byron is the eastern most point of australia (i think. something like that.) and is this amazing little town with nearly no actual residents, it's all just backpackers and tourists. it was such a relaxing weekend and it was so good to spend some time with each other without an itinerary! we stayed at the ywam base that is there, and had such a good time together. on saturday night, there were so many stars in the sky that it took our breath away. chad, one of the staff members, and i were outside on the porch of the house we were staying in and it overlooked a huge field where they held horses, and there were mountains in the background. when we looked up in the sky, we gasped so hard that we just immediately ran inside to get everybody else so they could see it. we all stood on the porch for a bit in silent amazement, and finally someone spoke up, saying that there was just no way we could stand there looking at that sight and NOT worship God. it was so amazing to have such an impromptu worship time. chad grabbed a guitar and chairs and we sat in a circle in the grass and just sang and prayed under the indescribable sea of stars. it will definitely go down as one of my favorite memories from this experience.
last week (seriously sorry i'm cramming three weeks worth of stuff into this one thing. this is a mess.) was a bible overview, which was a little less emotional than previous weeks, but just as interesting, especially as i continue to read the bible from cover to cover. we learned a lot of interesting things about each book in both the old and new testament, as well as about each prophet. it helps to have lessons on these things when you're actually reading through it, so i was grateful for the lectures.
speaking of my bible reading, i'm finishing up nehemiah right now. i've truly been enjoying everything i've read, although parts were a little repetitive through the chronicles! i'm also averaging about one book per week that i'm reading just for fun. it's nice to jump back and forth between a book i choose and the bible. i've really been seeing the outcome of living in this environment: i have absolutely no desire to listen to non-christian music or read a non-christian book. i love going through the bookshelf in our house and reading as many as i can by various christian authors (although, let's be honest, i have 'chasing harry winston' on the bookshelf in my room waiting to be read!).
last weekend was amazing. on friday, we went and hiked up to a waterfall and jumped off of it! it was much higher up than i thought (i realized that in midair...i feel like i could have painted my nails on the way down, it took so long to hit the water!) and swam under it...it was BEAUTIFUL. it was right on this cliff that looked out onto about three billion trees (yes, dad, i counted). on saturday, we went wakeboarding!!!! SO. MUCH. FUN. besides surfing and skating ministries, the ywam base here also has a wakeboarding ministry. they have this incredible wakepark that people from all over australia actually travel to. it's a cable park, so you hold onto this cable as you wakeboard or kneeboard and it takes you around the lake. i was the first person to actually get past the starting point (watching people wipeout was one of those "ohhhh, i shouldn't laugh but i HAVE to" things) - so that boosted my ego pretty well. i did, however, start with kneeboarding...but as i was going around the lake, it gave me one of those "this is seriously your life" moments. the lake and surrounding area was BEAUTIFUL. it was a perfect day, and i was riding around on this lake looking out onto fields and mountains and palm trees and i'm in AUSTRALIA....all i could think was "this is seriously your life!"
later that day, we went to coolum, a nearby town, and did some outreach at the skatepark there, which is right on the beach. it was fun to do some evangelism in a new area on the sunny coast. on sunday, we held a barbeque to raise money for our indonesian bibles (have i mentioned this? our outreach team is trying to raise about $2000 to buy bibles in the indonesian language to hand out while we're there. after we spoke at the church on the gold coast, they gave us $300 - we'd never been there and will never return, but they completely believed in our goal. on sunday we were able to raise some more money from our 'home' church here, so we're getting a lot of support to fulfill the vision we've received. )
this week, our lectures have been on relationships. hello, uncontrollable tears, every day. last week, God had put some pretty heavy things on my heart and, as always, His timing is impeccable. i am so grateful for this week, i can't even express to you how much the lectures have meant to me. i can honestly say that i don't believe i would ever have had a truly healthy relationship if this week of my life never existed. THAT is how much i learned. it was an unspeakably difficult week as i came face to face with reality and really took a long look at my actions and behavior in the past. we learned about our relationship with God, our relationship with ourself, and our relationship with others - friends, parents, family members, boyfriends, girlfriends...the works. it was seriously an incredible week - the best i've had since i've been here and hands down the most growth i've experienced in the past two months. our lecture on wednesday night was on forgiveness: forgiving others and asking for forgiveness. that was a toughie. they had pens/paper and laptops for us to write or email people that we've hurt or been hurt by in the past. that's a hard thing to face. it's opening up wounds one more time so that they can actually heal. there were many people from my past that were brought back to the surface that night, and i've had to go through the process of releasing forgiveness - for myself or for them or both. it's such a freeing process, but it is NOT easy to do. at all. it's amazing to see the people that carry you through, though. bridget, my mentor here, has absolutely been somebody i've leaned on so much that i don't think i'm even leaning anymore - she's had to pick me up and carry me. i thank God every day for her presence in my life. i also received some really emotional encouragement from john, one of the staff members here. he could see how hard this past week has been for me, and he spent some time writing a letter to me with things God had put on his heart as he watched me struggle through the week. he sat me down and read it to me on wednesday night, and we both sat there and cried for a slightly awkward amount of time as he took some of my hurts away. the letter he wrote is something i will keep close to me until the day i die -- i couldn't believe he wrote it...it is one of those things where i absolutely know that God used john as a tool to comfort me. he gave john the words i needed to hear - words that i didn't even know i needed to hear - but it was so eye-opening for me. his words made me realize so much and have completely changed the way i live my life. i will never be able to write the appropriate words to tell you how much of an impact this week has had on me, so let's just accept that and move on. this week was huge.
this week, we're also doing this angel thing...like secret pals on power company. we drew a name and have to give a gift to our person every day. it's been fun to see what every body's been doing and my word, some people are ridiculously creative. me not being one of them.
tonight (thursday night) was one of the best nights i've had since i arrived here. the staff members threw us a surprise dinner. we all had to dress up and they set up a candlelight dinner for us all, which was AMAZING!! after dessert, one staff member was paired with one student, and the staff member got down on their knees and washed our feet. then, they gave each of us a piece of paper where they had all written verses/words of encouragement to us (enter: more tears.) and then they prayed over us. after that, it turned into an impromptu night that i would compare to a junior high dance...but less awkward and more fun.
it rained all day today, so after that a few of us went to the rugby field and played mud football in the dark (which was more comparable to puddle jumping/sliding) and then we ran into the ocean to 'rinse' off (more like exchanging mud for sand). it was pitch black outside, but there were so many stars that it seemed light as day, and as we all ran and jumped over the waves in the ocean, covered in mud...it was another one of those "this is seriously your life" moments. you're with amazing people, changing into a better person, playing football and now running into the warm ocean in AUSTRALIA. THIS is your life. i love those moments.
beginning tomorrow, we're doing a group fast. this will be my second five-day fast since i've been here. however, we were given a morning to ask God what He wants us to fast: it didn't have to be food. i've chosen to fast both food and the internet for five days, beginning tomorrow. as a group, we're all fasting food and giving the money we save from meals to a local shelter. i'm a little bit more worried about the no internet thing rather than the no food thing, but that just tells you where my priorities lie, so i'm getting both out of my life for a while! it will be nice to not have the distraction.
i leave in two weeks for jakarta, which is SO CRAZY. our seven person team has begun to really come together, which is such a good thing because they really are pounding the importance of unity into our heads! we meet at 7am every wednesday to pray, and 8am every thursday to talk about the trip. we still aren't sure where we're living or what exactly we'll be doing, but, hey...two weeks is like a lifetime when it comes to setting up mission trips! i'm really looking forward to it....i absolutely love the people on my team and just know that God is going to do unbelievable things while we're there. if you could, please start praying for us and our time in jakarta. please pray for unity - a team that doesn't get along isn't going to be very successful in being a light to the people there. pray for the people we'll be meeting...we're just asking God to break our hearts for these people. we will probably be visiting a lot of slums while we're there....these people have never even had the opportunity to learn about Christianity in this muslim nation. as a team, we would really appreciate your prayers:
jay - texas, megan - washington, jessica - vancouver, jason - florida, eline - norway, tatiana - switzerland, and me - cheeeecaaaaago (apparently i have an accent? that's what they tell me, at least).
once i leave for jakarta, i only have two days in november to spend in australia, and that's it. SAD! it's already hard realizing that i have two weeks left with the girls that are going on the other outreach trip...i'll only see them for a week in november before we all go home! 4.5 months is definitely not long enough for an experience like this - but i guess there is no amount of time that would be considered 'long enough.' we're in this environment where we've gotten to know the depths of each other SO quickly....that's just the nature of the school, and it's going to be hard to spread back out across the world and get back to our normal lives after this. speaking of which, i have no idea what my normal life is - so if we could keep that in our prayers, as well, we're looking for open doors that mallory can walk through. that'd be really helpful, thank you!!
i'm sorry that was a novel. i still have so much more to say, just even about this past week...i REALLY have so much more i want to tell you about it - but i'll have to do that another time. i promise. (i know you'll all stop what you're doing until that time comes. i know.) i need to be better about writing to you guys! i think about you all the time, though, and love each of you so much. thank you so much for all of your support...this is mallory, signing off until after my fast!
cheers!
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