Week 12 !!!

Last week before we leave Perth, It is very busy completing our last week of lectures and getting ready to go. We have had missions conference here on base the last week and the teams that went out last quarter are here as well so it has been really cool to hear stories of what they have been up to as some of them have been in the same places in India where we will be going. 

We are learning a few skits/dramas to communicate human trafficking to grow awareness and effective methods in countering to show in different areas and villages that we will be going. We have also organised different presentations around sexual abuse, pornography, human trafficking and prostitution. About how they are all related so we can hold seminars and teach on these topics though the different places that we go.

Thank you so much to all of those who have supported the team in going we have got all the finances that we need a few people have borrowed from parents but we have booked our tickets and are leaving in about a week!  We have a busy week of lectures coming up with a few other training days and getting our gear ready for going out. 

I still haven't worked out what I will be doing after I Finnish DTS but I will be coming home for a bit over Christmas and maybe try and find a bit of work for a few months. I feel like my journey with YWAM isn't quite over yet but not sure what form it will look like. 

It will be quite busy and I'm not sure how accessible the Internet will be while I'm out of Australia so this might be my last update for a while but will try and keep you updated if I can the best place will be the priceless facebook page :  https://www.facebook.com/pricelessdts2014

Prayer Points

Pray for us as we got out, for unity and for effectiveness in what we do.

For direction for me as I look to see what I will do after DTS

For Dave one of my leaders as both of his parents have been quite sick.

Week 9 update

Well it's the beginning of week 9 now less than a month and then we will be leaving for Nepal (28th of sept), the last three weeks lectures have been on Advocacy, Fear of the lord, Relationships. I'm really looking forward to getting more involved in hands on out of the class room type of way. We have had a lot of opportunities in our spare time to get out around here. On Friday I went to the train station with a friend and ended up talking to a girl (15years old )there that was homeless and begging. As we talked she shared her story about how she had a mum who was a drug addict and her dad wasn't on the sence. It saddened me and seamed unbelievable that in such a affluent place this could still be going on. That hundreds of people would walk by but not really take interest in her and her plight. This stirs me up to want to take action to provide a place for vulnerable girls and woman to have a safe place to come and stay a place where they are protected and allowed a chance to live as children but also get skilled up on how to do life. I'm not sure where this will lead me but I believe my next season's will properly be something around this area.

This is the team of us going to Nepal, India and Thailand

This weekend we had a class on how to test eyes for the some most common conditions with eyes. So when we go we can test and give advice and hand out glasses to those whom need some. This was interesting to me having recently acquired classes myself and will be great to pass on this to others less fortunate than me. It will also be a great tool to make people less vulnerable to trafficking as if they can see they are more likely to be able to make a living and support themselves.




I have also been helping out with some
maintenance fixing bits and pieces and

After work duties moving things sand and bricks and digging holes
and trenches for the construction for the new accommodation block

helping with construction of one of the
accommodation block previously just open
warehouse that will be going to house new
students. It is cool to be part of a bigger vision and be able to help out in practical ways.


Prayer points

Thanks for good health

Direction for what to do next year:

(thinking at this stage returning to NZ for 4 months then coming back to Perth to help out in a few areas here setting up a girls home helping with property and with the Priceless ministry (working around the area's of prostitution and trafficking)).

Finance for other students and staff: Here are some fundraisers that I'm involved with if you could pray about supporting

For those of you not able to make it to this one
suggest Idea is that you could sponsor a worker over
here and they can get pampered and we can get some 
finances to our trip. I will be helping by providing
tea and coffee and moral support

I will be running this one I think it will be about 12
km, or if you want to challenge me... make a bet that
 I can/can't do it under a certain time MSG me on
 facebook !!!

For this one I Plan on doing a massive bible study
 looking at mapping out Kings 1 & 2 and all the
 prophets and other details of events and kingdoms
 during this time using inductive bible study To make
 staying up slightly more fulfilling

My Account NO is

M R Jackson
01 0723 0061237 01
(I won't be able to offer tax receipts eligible for tax rebates sorry )


I would Love it if you could Join in with me helping the rest of our team out.

Thanks for the awesome time that I'm having and friends I've been able to make.

That God will Continue to grow me and I would grow in intimacy with him.

Week 5

Week Five update,

I’m going to split this into two, things that I’ve been up to and things that I’ve been learning/processing

 What I’ve been up to:

Week 3 Lectures on Repentance and Forgiveness, We had a good time of confession as a Group on Friday and as people turned and confessed it was a great time of healing and bringing to light some areas of guilt and shame and turning from them. It was quite an emotional time but God really moved and brought about freedom in people’s lives as they fully committed all to him. I have also been able to use a lot of my skill helping out in different areas around base fixing their industrial Fire alarms on two different occasions and plastering and electrical work.

Week 4 Intersession and Worship looking at the importance of prayer and how important how it is to pray and that it is not boring but a two way conversation and sometimes interactive. How Worship is a lifestyle of obedience and sometimes sacrifice not about the individual but giving to God who is worthy. This week I also found out that I’m going to Nepal, India and Thailand for the second half of the 6 months. So I’m really looking forward to this.

Week 5 I am in Busselton about 2 hours south staying at a campsite on the beach. It has been lovely having lectures and getting up for beautiful sunrises and learning about the Person of the Father in the trinity, often most neglected in our church teaching. Looking at identity and how value is found in him alone and what he thinks of us. It was a week that made me extremely thankful of the parents that I have and even extended family and how they have endeavoured to portray God character throughout their lives and have done a good job showing me unconditional love I sure needed it J. I am so thankful for this.

Aunty Roslyn has also been here for the last week lecturing at another school (community development) and it has been awesome to have her around to hang out with. We on Sunday last week went to a wildlife park and had a real Australian experience even kangaroo steaks, eaten before feeding them at the wildlife centre. On Thursday night we went out and Saw Nana (Jacksons) Cousin, Aunty Anne. This was nice; one to get out and drive and two to make connection with relatives.  On Saturday we went into the city and did a bit of shopping and had lunch on the water front. We went up the bell tower it was so nice having a familiar face around.

 Things that I’ve been learning/processing

Week 3 we had lectures on repentance and forgiveness. One of the main points from the teaching that has impacted me is that true repentance consists two parts. First Faith in God and second confession. Making an active choice not to continue in practicing the same sin (wrong behaviour) and turn to God instead and practice his way of thinking. That Pride has two expressions, Superior and inferior. Superior looking at our own ability and self-righteousness and lack of need for God and inferior believing lies about ourselves or value based on things, relationships, performance, and success as our culture portrays it to us. This leads to all sorts of insecurities and causes us to compensate with superior pride and try to elevate ourselves to have a scene of significance and worth. But this will always fall short as we will never be fully at peace within ourselves unless we agree with God on how he views us and we believe that ourselves. For me Superior pride has been a major battle especially with my theological training; judging others, valuing others based on cultural values rather than how God values them. It has been humbling removing some of the masks I have had up and not even been aware of allowing other people to have an opinion that is different than mine and not have to prove to them why they are wrong. But to take what they are saying and ask myself ‘is there any truth in what they are saying that I can challenge some of the lies that I might believe’. Being slow to speak and quick to listen and learning how to serve with pure motives instead of trying to gain influence and or power of some description.   

I have also been meditating on how much Pride has influence the church in the west. How we value being of right doctrine so much that we will cause so much division. That our opinions are so much more important than the people we communicate with. Now I still understand the importance of sound doctrine and not falling on hearsay but how often do we stake a position of assumption that we are right and not let character trump our unity and both parties humbly approach disagreement with the presupposition that perhaps I might be more wrong than the other party and seek out our own faults before letting other know of theirs.  For me this extents into the rest of my life as well. Realising that my world view is far from the biblical ideal and continually seeking revelation and understanding.

Prayer Points:

Finances for other people on my Course that have still not raised enough to go on the second half of the trip.

That God will contiune to teach me and grow me: In particular for my attitude of Pride (that God will continue to produce humility in my life)

Applications as we apply for visas for the second half of our course and good cheap tickets

For My family back home as Mum and Dad and Emily and Joel are moving towns

The View from the bridge that I cross on my Daily Morning Run the Swan River

The Sun Rise in Busselton at the Camp we were staying at

The View from the end of the Busselton wharf 1.8 Km long

 

Aunty Roslyn up the bell Tower looking out towards the swan river 

 

  Panorama of Perth city from the bell tower including the new redevelopments that are taking place

Arrival and first few Weeks

Well I was sitting in the wellington airport sitting waiting for the international check out to open, I thought why not check to see if I have been payed out from work yet. Looked at my account, looked again. I had exactly what I estimated that I needed for my time away for the next few months. Turns out I got paid out from work about 3.500.00 more than I was expecting. It was a good confirmation that God has me where he wants me for the next season.

So after a flight to Melbourne and what was supposed to be a 5 hour stop over turned into about a 9 hour stop over with my flight being delayed 3 times with two different issues, I eventually stepped in Perth for the first time. The first few days were getting to know people that were going to be on my course and getting a few essentials from town (pillow and sheets) orientating myself around my new surroundings. So we have 21 on our course including 5 staff. I am some what out numbered being 1 of only 4 boys. We are a relatively diverse bunch of people, one other from NZ, AUS, Netherlands, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada and Korea and the rest scattered around the States. It will be fun to do life with these people for the next few months.

We have just about completed 2 weeks of lectures, The first week was hearing the voice of God. This was something that I was familiar with before but properly not to the extent in which YWAM practises it. It quite an experience to sit and wait for God to speak to you and then have a conversation. Although it is more me mostly around impressions and responding to this it creates a new level of intimacy with God in a lot more personal way.

The second week of lectures is on the Character and Nature of God. This has been a good reminder also, God has been hammering me in the area of humility and Pride and also revelations of what his Jealously look like have been learning points for me. But the real Challenge for me if converting head knowledge and letting it change my character and the way that I behave.

We will hopefully find out where we are going for the 2nd part of our course on Friday or Monday So I'm looking forward to that. It will be either Nepal, Thailand and Calcutta or South Africa and Calcutta.

We also have had a few lectures on human trafficking, we had the team from the Perth Base here that go into the local Brothels and work with some of the sex workers come in and talked to us about stats and what they are doing to combat trafficking on a local and international level. We also have had a Visitor come in from the USA that has been involved in a few different initiatives there. It is a huge problem and even in NZ in various forms mostly as an end destination for victims that have been trafficked. On my next update ill try and give some statistics and some examples of human trafficking in NZ.

The timetable is fairly full, although I feel like I'm on a little bit of a holiday not having to worry about cooking or work responsibilities. But God has been Challenging me and this is quite draining. I have also been getting up at 6ish most mornings and going for runs up and around the swan river which is keeping me sain being stuck in this concrete jungle. Lectures meals and various meeting and chores fill most of the rest of the time with spare moments here and there to try and connect with the 400 other people around the base here as well.

I managed to have a good catch up with Peter Taylor (AKA Murray) a friend from Melbourne last night. He shouted me dinner and I went to his small group. Was nice get away from the 40 other people that I share a house with for the evening.

Prayer points

Pray that God will continue to challenge me and grow me during this time

Pray that I will work out what to do after I have finished DTS

Pray for our times coming up when we will go into the Brothels and Detention Centre (youth Prison)

If you have any questions the Best way to contact me is through Facebook Messenger.
Be cool to here what you are all up to

Mark

Calling and Preperation

As I sit here reflecting on the eve of my flight to leave for Perth I cannot help but look back and reflect on how I got here. I have Resigning from my Job, moving out of my house and leaving the town that I have lived in for the past five years.  To live out of a suitcase for 6 months and not have any sense of direction of what will happen after the Priceless course finishes. I have the greatest sense of peace though, I feel like I'm doing the right thing. That somehow this aligns with God’s will for my life.

While I'm not %100 sure of what this adventure will bring I am looking forward to being more intentional of growing in my relationship with God and  giving him a dedicated chunk to mould and shape me has he desires. Initially this was my only reason for joining YWAM and was a bit hesitant because I'm not a huge fan of short term missions. I think they have their place if they are done well but often they would do more for the people going than to the people that they go to serve. But through many random events conversations and coincidences, of YWAM in the last 6 months I believe that God has called me to peruse this path. So once I had decided this I had the next decision of where in the world to do a DTS (discipleship training school) (the entry level course to all things YWAM). My thoughts to begin with were somewhere I could get out in nature and just have a bit of a holiday. So I visited a couple of the bases around New Zealand and they seemed nice but nothing really stuck out and made me excited.

While I was on my way home from visiting one of the bases I got human trafficking stuck in my head. I couldn't shake it. I’d try and think of something else but it kept coming back so after 4 hours of this I thought well I better check it out to see if this YWAM and human trafficking could go together.  I then started to research this new concept of human trafficking that I was aware of before but perhaps not to the extent that it was a problem. I watched a few movies and documentaries. Each time getting more and more fired up even angry. I have always had niche in my heart for vulnerable girls or woman but never really had a place or method to express this. Especially those that are exploited by those expected to love care and look after them. After a bit of research on the net I came across only one that was remotely close to home that was around the same time that I wanted to go. From there a bit of correspondence and before I knew it I had booked my flights.

It then turned to juggling work, packing up the house, training people at work, finding tenants, open homes, House Cars and Keys getting stolen (not as Bad as it sounds) and me with the desire to finish well. So the last two months have been quite busy for me but I have had so much help from family and friends, Mum and Dad, Flat Mates, Aaron and Nicole, Michelle, Ken and a few others that have made it so much easier. Thanks !!!  So after 2 cities and a town of farewells so I'm excited, little sad to be leaving so many friends behind, An awesome Job that I loved and a flatmates that allowed and helped me to have an open home. I look forward to see what lies ahead in this next chapter.

I have raised the majority of my funds for the next 6 months through work and tax refunds and paid out holiday pay about 7000NZD of approx 10000NZD (depending on locations in 2^nd half) but it would be nice to not have to put it on the mortgage, So if you would like to support me and join with me on my journey I would love your Pray most of all, and if you would like to give a little to either me or to or to people/organizations that I connect with during my travels then you can make a donation into this account 01-0723-0061237-00. If you do FB MSG me if so that I can decipher if for me or for people I meet.

Prayer requests

• Safe Flights 
• Unity for our group 
• That God would grow me and teach me 
• That I can take a posture of learning 
• Good Health
•  Wisdom and Guidance for leaders on the Course 
•  That I can find direction as to next step after the course
• Anything else that comes to mind