Almost there.

Hey Everybody!

Christmas is in a week! How incredible is that?!  I have to keep reminding myself it's the Christmas season because I'm not used to sweating and seeking out air conditioning with Christmas right around the corner.   It's rather ironic how all the Christmas carols about snow are still sung down here in Australia, where if it would snow this time of year, it would be a good indicator the world is coming to an end.  But, when it comes down to it, the season is just as exciting, important, and heart-warming just because we get to celebrate Jesus, despite the difference in temperature and precipitation outside. 

The past two weeks have been the most stressful weeks here on DTS so far.  We realized that our trip to Papua New Guinea is coming much faster than we thought - and still so much to do!  We had barely started preparing any dramas, still needed immunizations, still needed all our individual supplies, and on top of it found out that our outreach location contacts had fallen through.  Let me explain that last bit...

Our outreach team leaders reached our contacts for the planned Kikori outreach - only to be told that they'd love to have us come, but we're coming in the wrong season.  Because it's the holidays, our contacts will be on vacation and the kids won't be in school.  We basically had to start from scratch to find a place to go in PNG for outreach.  Upon receiving this news, I was a little disappointed.  I had spent lots of time praying for Kikori specifically, and had definitely developed a heart for the people there. We spent a couple days praying that God would set some contacts in place somewhere else in PNG.  After a couple days, our leaders came back with the new plan.  We were so excited!  The place we're going to start is a village called Baimuru.  We have some contacts there and they are very welcoming.  When we arrive, we'll work with that village, and then just pray for where to go next.  There are lots of riverside villages, so we may just take the dingy and go up some of the rivers and tributaries.  A dingy looks something like this...

This will be our main form of transport.  It should be interesting, that's for sure!  Some more details - we're leaving on December 28th really early in the morning, and then coming home the 28^th of January.  We’ll be flying out of Cairns airport, arrive in Port Moresby, the capital of PNG, and stay a night there.  Then, we’ll be taking a dingy to Baimuru. 

Just for fun, we went to Billabong this past Saturday.  It was so much fun! It’s a sort of wildlife reserve/zoo type of package.  The kangaroos are like squirrels on a college campus, coming right up to you and eating right out of you hand.  We also had to opportunity to hold a koala, a snake, a lizard, and a wombat.  They also did a display with the crocodiles, and they were huge!  It was quite a lot of fun!  Unfortunately, my camera battery died shortly after arriving, so some of these pictures are borrowed…

So that's all for now.  Have a very Merry Christmas!

Nikki

Renewed.

Hey everyone!

The past two weeks have been packed!  I have so much to share with you about God has moved in our Discipleship Training School.

First of all, here some pictures of the campsite and surrounding area.  It was simply beautiful Australian bush...

 Platypus bridge!

 Kikori Team time :)

what 15 minutes of rain can do...

While we were camping, the weather was a roller-coaster! Though the rain was a hazard to our tents, it was a blessing in keeping it nice and cool - as cool as Australia summer can get, that is.  We saw quite a bit of wildlife - kookaburras, kangaroos, platypuses, paddymelons, free roaming cows, and lots of cicadas.  Kookaburras sound like a mixture between a laughing hyena and a rain forest monkey and really liked to call early in the morning.  The cicadas were at least 3 inches long.  Paddymelons are like mini rodent kangaroos about 2-3 feet tall.  We certainly had some good adventures watching the wildlife around us.  

The first week of camping, the topic of study was "Spiritual Warfare".  The material was so practical, and really equips us for some of the things we're going to face in Papua New Guinea.  During this first week, we spent a lot of time around the camp-fire, worshipping, exploring, and fellowshipping together.  It was a very relaxed time, but God was definitely starting to speak a few things.  One of the leaders of one of the schools described the first week as a sprinkling to prepare the ground right before the big rain.  And it certainly poured the second week, in more ways than one.

In the second week, the topic was “Lordship”.  The focus was on making Jesus the Lord of our lives.  We walked through the Old Testament tabernacle, and saw how all those physical elements are still here, only in the spiritual instead because of what Jesus did.  The whole week, we could feel God on the move, and we knew that the week wouldn’t end without lives being transformed.  In every quiet-time I had with God, His voice became clearer, and I finally learned what friendship with God is and how life-changing an interactive, persistent, committed walk with God can be.  After all the teaching we were given on making Jesus the Lord of our lives, Friday gave us an opportunity to put action behind words.  We spent 8:30 Friday morning all the way to 1:30 Saturday morning giving it all back to God.  The morning was spent in worship and praise, all found in just a real honesty with God, no masks or shows.  The afternoon was spent with each of us one by one giving our lives to God – bringing our offerings to him, and finding the grace He provides for sin.  During this time, I saw such freedom come into people’s lives.  People were carrying around chains of shame, unforgiveness, insecurity, pain and so many more, and many finally decided to leave them behind and claim Jesus as the only source of identity and life.  After this, a number of people were baptized, and the newness I saw in people’s faces in the rededication to God was a true pleasure and something I won’t soon forget.  We continued the night with more praise, communion, and sharing a meal together.  It was a marathon of sorts, but one that left each person filled, not emptied, in the end.  What is even better is that that whole process was in no way just an experience, just another mountain top, just another high that wears off.  The fruit will last.  People are walking around with a different life shining through their eyes, one that was stolen by the past or covered up with a mask of shame.  We’ve each left slavery and entered daughtership and sonship in God.  There is a real sense of commitment to continue to choose God even when we don’t feel like it, every moment of every day.  I cannot wait to see how God’s will is going to be accomplished through each and every individual now that so many of those chains that held us back have been stripped away.  We’re becoming disciples.

Renewed,

Nikki