Heaps of Growth

Hi!
So we have this unbelievable speaker this week discussing "Hearing God's Voice." His name is Boris Schabr. He's in his late 20's with a wife and 2 kids and he is not only hilarious, but he runs the skate ministry for YWAM Sunshine Coast and is one of the founders of this base. I could go on and on about why everyone loves him so much, but its what he's teaching us that is so incredibly challenging-so challenging that we find ourselves talking about it hours later! Merely by telling the story of how he trusted Jesus in the process of choosing his wife, I was flabbergasted just because we don't hear those kinds of stories everyday... at least not from Camarillo. Something I've realized is that when I pray, I don't allow God the time to speak to me. It has basically always been about me venting to God about whatever it is I want to vent about and then ending the conversation without alotting Him the time of day to respond to me. Also when I pray I usually am only willing to hear what I want to hear from Him, but He will either respond with "yes, no, or wait." I could write 20 pages about what I've learned in the past 2 days alone, but the underlying lesson is that we need to wrestle with God more rather than just letting life pass by. I have a few major decisions ahead of me so the ability to really truly decipher God's voice is something that I need to seek after. How to hear His voice and His will for me rather than my own or anyone else's.

I have been having some great quiet times with the Lord each day and right now I am reading the whole New Testament which is always an educating experience in itself. I feel like I can never read enough. For small groups which meet every Thursday night we're going through the book "Captivating" by Stasi Eldredge, but we've yet to actually discuss the book. We just end up sharing our hearts the entire time with eachother. My group leaders are Tiffany (a newlywed who is also my outreach leader) and Fleur (who is my one-on-one counselor).These girls are amazing and I know they will always be in my life. Also on the agenda for reading is the book, "Is that Really You, God?" by Loren Cunningham- the founder of Youth With a Mission. We have this book report due on Monday!

No weekend trip this weekend because we're taking a week-long trip to Byron Bay starting Sunday to learn about evangelism. The word evangelism has so many negative connotations that just freak me out. But I will get over that stigma and open my mind up to it because we don't reap the benefits of having a personal relationship with God just to keep it to ourselves. I believe that it is so important to strive for others to have that same relationship with Him. Anywho, it is bedtime over here in Maroochydore and I have a food coma due to this scrumptious chocolate cake Tiffany made from scratch so I'm going to bed. Oh yea, I forgot, every Thursday morning we have Outreach prep with our outreach teams and this morning Tiffany and Bryan (the newlyweds who are my outreach leaders) picked each of us up from our houses, piled us into one of our vans, and drove us to their cute little house for crepes and coffee. She's a domestic goddess!! Each team member had to research something different about Thailand and Cambodia; my topic was sex trade in Thailand, for example. I'm so heart broken for what is going on over there, but it is going to be so much fun. We prayed today about where to go in Southern Thailand and each unanimously got Phuket (Poo-ket lol) so that is where we'll be before we head to Cambodia. The pieces are all starting to fit together but we're still praying about which ministries to be involved with. On my team there is this English 20 yr old named Josh who LOVES soccer and he is really good. So Bryan and Tiff wanted to maybe get involved in a soccer ministry :) I'd love it. Lots to pray about and lots to be excited about.

In His Grip Alone,
Caitlyn

Hi and good morning

I had a great weekend. Saturday we took a trip to the Australia Zoo where I saw koala bears, a tiger show, a crocodile show led by Steve Irwin's wife and daughter, tazmanian devils, elephants, and many more. But my favorite part of the zoo was definitely spending time in "Roo Heaven" which was basically a giant playground for kangaroos and wallabies. I got to lay down and spoon with them! It was a great time but I quickly realized that I don't have the energy I once had as a kid- I was exhausted by 3 and fell asleep on the way home like a baby.

This week the subject we have been studying is "the father heart of God" and our speaker is Ray McConnell who has been a missionary with his wife in Thailand for the past 10 years. The first couple days were really insightful and base worship on monday is always an intimate time with God, but it wasn't until yesterday that I really began to glimpse God's father heart and just how much He loves each one of us! We read 1 John 4 and focused on verses 13-19. I've been a Christian for awhile now so I have a decent amount of head knowledge when it comes to my faith. Everything changes when you can begin to know the heart of God let me tell you! It doesnt matter how much I've heard about him-all He wants is a deep, intimate, personal relationship with me so that I can truly know him.

Anyway, Ray is awesome and yesterday he gave us a project which is due in an hour. We all pulled names from a bag and our job is to bless that person with some sort of gift. I wish I was more creative!! O well- a letter it shall be. Miss you all. got to run. I posted a couple pictures on the right side of the blog- I'm learning!

1 John 4:19

Theme song for this week: Kim Walker- "How He Loves Us"

I know where I'm going!

I'm off to Thailand and Cambodia!! woo woo. Exactly where I wanted to go... yes! Please keep our tiny team in your prayers :)

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands :)

The whole house is here! My house is filled with 11 beautiful girls who all have one reason for being here. We all want Jesus! These are my housemates of "77" who I feel like I've already known for years: Liz (Norway), Mallory (San Francisco), Josie (Canada), Jenna (Chicago), Joselyn (New Mexico), Roosa (Finland), Amy (Canada), Maria (Norway), Fleur (France), and Reba (Canada). It is so amazing to see people from across the world worshiping the one true God together! So much has happened in the past four days that I will not be able to fit in here, but today was just too incredible to omit from my blog.

It began with a quick jog to the beach at 6 this morning ( I know you all are in shock about that). I usually jog through the housing track, cross the street, and I am blessed to have one of the most beautiful views anyone can see with their own two eyes in a matter of 7 minutes. After my jog I had to hurry home, shower, get dressed, and hop in the van with the rest of the girls. We joined the rest of the school in worship and then Mallory Larsen, our school leader who is only 25, opened up a time of testimony. I have been going to church all my life but I've never experienced a testimony time like this. It was SO much more authentic and real and Christ-centered. The way that every guy and girl, student and staff was so honest and vulnerable was incredibly refreshing!! We're all just people who have real, true, daily struggles. But we KNOW that there is hope, joy, and freedom through Jesus Christ himself. Ok now I feel like I'm getting a little preach-y but oh my gosh I wish everyone could feel the presence of our faithful God that overflows from this body of people. I'm hardly even scraping the surface of what I experienced today! Tears were just pouring down my face as each person bravely approached the stage, took off the masks that they had been hiding under for far too long, and laid it all out on the table for all of us to see. They realized that it's okay to be broken. It's okay to have faults and deep struggles. Christians are not perfect. Jesus is.

After that they told us the 5 outreach locations!!! I was so excited! Drum roll please: India/Bangladesh, China, Thailand/Cambodia, India/Nepal, and Bali/Phillipines. They gave each of us a sheet of paper and we got to choose the top 3 places we'd like to go. The staff chooses who goes to each location and we find out tomorrow! We're going to break up into teams of about 5-7 with 2 staff members (one guy one girl) on each team. India/Bangladesh is a Muslim nation, India/Nepal is a Buddhist nation, China is communist/atheist, Thailand is a Buddhist nation, and Bali is a Hindu nation. We will pray about which types of ministries we'll be doing in each of these places, but we will most-likely be working in orphanages, the slums, ministering to prostitutes and sex slave victims, and just getting to know people from the cities who don't know what true love is. Cant wait to find out tomorrow!

After the outreach location uncovering I had lunch with a few girls who really could relate to my story so we talked for hours. Then I had lunch duty clean up and went to the beach with a few friends but I am deathly afraid of jellyfish so I hardly went in the water (Mallory got stung yesterday). I love the warm water and I just rented a surfboard with a couple other girls so I need to overcome my fear asap. The beach was then followed by dinner back at the base with everyone else and the day finally came to an emotional end with a "girls night" at the house. More tears. More brokenness. haha I love it but I hate it. God is "makin moves" in this place thats for sure.

Anyway, thats a taste of my time here so far and I will try to post pictures soon! We are pretty busy and the computers are always limited at the house so I rarely find the time to post, but I will do my best ok dad! I love you all and miss you all like crazzyyyy but just know that this is where I am supposed to be right now. Talk to you soon! Later on mates.

MAIDEN VOYAGE

Alright so I am gonna be pretty horrible at this whole blogging thing at first so work with me :) Last night was a very emotional one as my family dropped me off at LAX and Christian & I said our goodbyes from my house. With a heavy heart and heavy eyes, I finally arrived at the airport (plenty early thanks to mom & dad). My flight was delayed a few hours so God granted me a little more time to relax & chat over coffee with my incredible family. On the downside, I am in New Zealand right now obviously killing time because I missed my connecting flight to Brisbane. No worries though, sooner or later I will be settled into my quaint little home with strangers who probably think like me. 

The night before last, I dont think I have ever felt so loved. My closest friends and closest family friends showed up at the house to send requests/praises to God for my  trip. Thank you all so much- I dont deserve the unbelievable support you have continued to give me throughout my life. Thanks Heather & Bri for teaching my technologically-illiterate butt how to use a blog... such an easy way to keep you guys informed & equipped be prayer warriors :)