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