New experiences

Hello everyone!! This weekend has been awesome and emotional in several different ways. Friday night, they have what they call "Friday Night Meeting" which is basically like a church service. I was tired that night but I decided to go anyways. I have been to several different church services but that was an experience. It was so loud in there from EVERY single person that was singing. No one held back or were embarrassed. It was quite a sight to see. People falling to their knees in the middle of worshiping our Lord. It just made me think about some people are so concerned with how they appear to others that they don't stop to think about how God views their worship. But anyways, it was a great experience and something I will definitely have to get used to. Then on Saturday I got to go into the city a little bit. Some friends took me to this shopping area called "Harbortown" and let me tell you, they know how to do sales. If any of you know me, you know I usually won't buy anything unless its on sale. Well, EVERYTHING was on sale. It was great. I got a couple of things that I needed for my stay here.

 But getting there and coming back was an experience. I'm not from a big city where you have to use buses and trains to get where you need to, so when we got on the bus to get to the city I was overwhelmed by how many people could fit on one bus. There were lot's of people invading my personal space and then some. It was crazy!!

 But altogether it was a fun day with friends, and good to be outside in the sun. Its been warmer the past couple of days so I have been in a better mood. Then on Sunday, I slept in and used the day as a Sabbath day. Just a day of rest. I did a lot of reading my bible, and other books, and writing in my journal, and napping. It was such a relaxing day sitting out in the sun and soaking up some vitamin D.

 I think it was just what I needed. Then today was my first day of full work, and I believe it went very well. I went to the base, and everyone does morning chores to clean the facility since they don't hire people to do it. Then, at 8:30 they had an hour long worship session. This is literately an hour long of singing praises to God. Again, I was blown away by how these people worship. Everyone expresses themselves in different ways, but still it is still amazing to see people worshiping God in reckless emotion. It lifted my spirit to see all these amazing people worshiping God as one. And I was also amazed at how everyone in the entire room seemed to be amazing singers. They all sounded so good. After the worship session, I started work with my group. Right now I'm working on designing business cards, and movie posters for various things they are doing within the organization. I'm having fun using my skills to help them out. But in all this, I have had to grow and really stretch myself. I'm not the most outgoing person there is, but it is kind of hard not to be in this environment. People are always talking to you, and you always have to go find someone, or meet people and start working with them. I can almost see God smiling looking down on my saying "I knew you could do, even if I had to push you into the situation". But I know this is good for me, and I'm excited to see in what other ways God grows me.

Day one and two

First off I want to say thank you for all the prayers that were sent on for me for my trip over. I did run into a little bit of a bump when I got to Sydney. I missed my flight over to Perth and had to wait for the next one. It wasn't a big deal but it was more time than I wanted to spend traveling. I got to Perth and got picked up by Jenny, one of my leaders, dropped off my luggage at the house I will be staying in, and went straight to the YWAM base. It was amazing that even though I was exhausted from traveling I was still able to stay awake through the tour and all the introductions that were made. I got announced and welcome at supper(they call it dinner) with over 300 students and staff there. That was a scary one for me. Not to mention that everyone thinks that my name is pronounced Ree-gen in stead of Ray-gan.  But that's okay. I got introduced to Ben the person that I will be working with all summer. And all the students that he has with his DTS school right now, that I will also be working with. I met so many people it was kind of an overload for me. Then after supper my new housemates and I walked home which is about a mile away and I showered and went to bed around 8 p.m. their time (would be around 7 a.m. your time). I tried to sleep as long as possible but for some reason my body and mind woke up this morning pretty early and I ended up waking up with the other girls.

For my second day, I walked back to base and went to the Create office where I will be working. I talked with all of them for a while and then one of the girls took me into town to buy some things I needed. This was definitely a new experience for me. To get to "town" or basically their shopping area, we rode a bus into town. Never really done that before so that was an experience. And they took me into the some of the stores there to look for pillows and blankets and shower stuff. The first store we went into was Target. By the way, it is nothing like the Targets we have back home and they are much more expensive here. But I ended up getting a pillow and comforter that were on sale. Then we went to this store called the discard shop. It has a lot of odds and ends at really low prices. So I got some shampoo, conditioner, and body wash there. They took me into one of their food markets and everything was different. The girl I was with wanted to buy a few things, and then we headed back. But this time coming back we took the train. Oh my goodness, I don't know how they do it. They have to wait on trains, and buses to make it back and forth for where they need to go. I think that is one thing I will miss is having my own car and getting to drive when and where I want to. But then we came back to the office, and Ben came back and I had kinda two orientation sessions about YWAM. The first was before lunch, and then we ate, and I went on a walk with one of the girls in his DTS school, and then had the second session. I got to learn a lot about YWAM, and how they run and operate, and what I will be doing while I am here. Then I brought all of my stuff home, and and I am going to take a little nap and wake up for dinner, and stay up for a little bit, and then go back to bed.

I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such nice and welcoming people. I feel they will take care of me while I am here and that I will get to know a lot of new people. I am very excited to see how God will use me and my abilities this summer for this organization. The devil still tries to plague me with doubts but I think that these people will be appreciative of my work and will accept me for who I am and what I can do. Thank you all for your prayer and support. I'm sure I will have more stories to come. I haven't had a lot of time to take pictures yet but hopefully I will get some up the next time. As the Aussies say their farewell:

Cheers!

On my way...

Today I will get on a plane and I will not be coming back until August 6. This weekend has been an emotional one. I got to see my sister graduate from Ozark Christian College. I got to see my best friend, and I had to say goodbye to: my sister Tasha and her family, my best friend Kristi, my best friend/roommate Jocelyn(for good), and my dad. Then I came up to KC with my brother and mom to stay with my sister Bethany before I leave. I am so nervous that I'm making my stomach act up. Today I will say goodbye to my other sister and her kids, my brother, and my mom. If any of you know my mother she has already been crying this morning. She is going to be the hardest one to say bye too because she will be crying the whole time. I love her to death, but she will probably make me start crying. Good thing I'm not putting makeup on.

Today I would like to ask for prayer. There has been storms up in KC all last night and there are suppose to be more today. Pray that I don't get delayed, and that I will have safe travels as I go. I would also like prayer to calm my nerves. I don't know if I've ever been this nervous in my life. I know I shouldn't be but my stomach is just in an uproar over what I'm doing. I just need to be strong, confident, and calm most of all, so I can have my wits about me when I'm traveling. But I also wanted to take this time to thank every single one of you for the part you have played in this trip. I know that I could not have done this without you, and it gives me comfort to know that I have so many people who love and care for me. But most of all I know that God has called me to go, and it will be the biggest challenge in my life so far that I will have to face and overcome to grow in my faith. Faith to put myself in Gods hands and not rely on anyone but him. It has been a struggle to do this, but I know I need to do this. God please give me strength to face the day, and let your spirit dwell within me and give me peace and rest. I love you all, and I will update you soon when I get to Australia and get settled in. Good bye for now!!