Gettin Ready for the Road

Well, as you can see, the sun in the "sunburned country" is working its magic on me. Even with sunscreen, you can see I am a bit brownish-red. Sorry for the timme between updates. We began retreats and the past two weeks have been full on. This Tuesday we will finally leave Brissie and start our journey West. We celebrated our 10th retreat a couple of days ago. It was a bit crazy as it seems like we have done so many more. It's hard to believe we have only done 10! Of course, that is about 1,000 kids, 50 contacts and teachers, and LOTS of time traveling in the van, so perhaps that is why it seems like its been a lot more.

When we leave Brissie we will head along the coast line. Our first stop is Coff's Harbour, where we have another local team. We will be staying with them, so that is very exciting. We will have a couple of retreats and a good bit of travel this coming week. I was approved to drive the van a couple of days ago, and took my first drive through the city that day. It went really well and I am feeling very comfortable. You'd think it might be tough to remember to drive on the left side of the road, but in traffic it's fairly easy. You just follow the flow. It's a bit more concentration at 5 am when there's no one on the road, but all in all, it's good. They have most roads marked really well... I guess they figure they get a lot of tourists.

I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful the people here are. Just so generous and kind. Our host homes for the past 4 weeks have been amazing. My most recent "host brother" has been teaching me cricket. And I gave handball and rugby a go the other day at retreat. My goal is to be a pro by the time I get home!

We are headed to Adelaide, where we will be for several weeks, including Easter. We will be driving through Sydney and Melbourne but not staying there. Those will be in our second half of the year and World Youth Day. Keep WYD in your prayers. For the safety of all the pilgrims coming here and for all the youth here. They are anticipating twice as many people as the Sydney Olympics. They have rented every port-a-loo in Australia for the week. And they have said that the busses for Australian travelers alone, if lined up on the highway, would stretch from Sydney to Melbourne. So, please pray for safety in travel and that everyone would be joyful, because it will be a bit chaotic!

The retreats are going well. They are full on, but it's awesome to see God working. I feel so humbled and blessed to get to have this time to see him in all his power and glory. And the kids are so amazing. There is a portion of the day where we pray with the youth, and nearly everyday I am humbled almost to the point of tears as it is happening. You can feel the Spirit moving. It's incredible.

I feel like God has really been showing me lately how much of a spiritual battle the world is in. That while we are standing here in our flesh, there are angels and demons battling it out all around us. It's a battle for souls. He has really been showing me the importance of prayer and how I can do nothing on my own. If all I do isn't centered in him, it's worthless. It's such a struggle because we live in the flesh. And I find myself wondering, when things bug me, why it is SO hard to die to the flesh. To die to my pride or my desires. In my heart and mind I know what I want, but it's still such a challenge. There is even a scripture from Paul that says that. I know I want to do good, yet still I do what I hate. It's just interesting.

The team is having a blast. We are getting along so well and the laughter in the van is beautiful. We have started to have a lot of goofy jokes and I really look forward to our drives to and from retreat. I uploaded some pictures onto facebook to share, so have a look. I tried to use flickr, but I forgot my account information. Oops!

Check it out! http://fsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2385803&l=ebdd1&id=5214104