◦ one moment in eternity ◦

coming attractions

2009-04-01T18:12:00.001+11:00

I have a new blog in the works..

stay tuned.

new horizons

2008-11-26T19:06:00.003+11:00

so it's been ages
and loads has happened since..

one major thing is,
I'm no longer staff at YWAM Island Breeze Sydney.

hmm, I hear you say!

well, it was a very hard decision for me,
one that took months and months to make...
but it's time for a break and to catch my breath, as it were.
Also to gain some nursing experience and also
to pray into some long term things.

I am so sad to have left, but
I'm excited for what is to come.
YWAM IB Syd are still my family of the closest kind
and I already miss them dearly,
4o minutes away! haha

Onward and Upward ay?
I may yet return to YWAM IB one of these days!

Final exams in progress.. ending this week.
Final hospital placement in January.. sigh.

Beachy God times ahead!!

~ Blessings & Aloha

The End Is Within Sight

2008-09-28T11:21:00.003+10:00

whoa! my last blog entry feels like it was posted in the last millenium!
so what's been happening?

Well.. this semester of uni has turned out to be the busiest of all
for me anyhow, what with clinical placements and everything else.
I've spent hardly any time on base this semester, much to my dismay.
However, I finish classes and exams at the end of November, so
the end is within my reach!! haha
I will be registered as a nurse in January,
though my graduation ceremony is a few months after that.
So Close.

Please pray for me concerning my final exams and
also that I pass my final 4 week clinical block in Oct/Nov.

that's all for now.. more to come!

Blessings & Aloha! x

Re-Blog

2008-08-15T20:43:00.002+10:00

Here is something I wrote last year on my other blog
and thought.. maybe I'd blog it again
_________________________________

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

• the sound of the underground •

i was on the bus, on my way to uni and
i was reminded of how much hatred and misunderstanding there is in the world.
and i guess sometimes there seems comes a point where there
looks to be no room left for love.

as i listened to this family
talk about being discriminated against
and then reading similar remarks [racially]
written on a bus stop as we passed.
so much bitterness. so much pain and hatred and injustice.

and then i thought.

about my friend from Bosnia speak of the genocide in her country,
hearning about the coup in fiji,
being at uni and hearing the thinly veiled intolerant speeches
of the socialist sympathisers stirring up passions in the
predominantly middle eastern and hippy population on campus,
i thought about refugees seeking asylum for religious freedom,
i thought about the greenies on the other side fronting as "pro-choice",
and about my grandfather, while he didn't live in dublin but further north,
he still grew up with that culture of hate and violence nearby
in his country's history and present.

and then i thought about my friends.
about how most of them hate their lives,
though some of them came from these horrific backgrounds,
many of them simply see it around them,
the continued hatred passed down to their friends from bitter parents.
because while some of them have escaped death or prison
it seems that they all have become prisoners of a different kind.
or those who grew up with wide-eyed ideals to change the world,
started out right, but then saw no way.

who end up at those protest rallies and ballots
casting their vote in a desperate attempt to see
something good come out of so much evil.

long ago, many of them were offered God,
but took a look at His Body and saw that He looks weak.
Useless. Outdated. Strict and rigid. A waste of time. Weak.
So they opt for something seemingly more tangible
but more deadly than they'd anticipated.

but within them beats the heart of revolution.
the sound of the underground screaming desperately for justice.

and then i thought about that book i saw last week in the co-op at uni:
"God is not good: How religion poisons everything"
and i thought about the countless wars
incited, instigated and perpetuated in the name of God.
In the name of Religion.

and i thought about my days of believing in the cause of justice.
of reading about the struggle and how it seemed that
Karl Marx really had something worth fighting for
that his theories might just save the world.
and not even thinking of God's solution.

and then i though about how Jesus might fit into this picture.
could He? i was a christian, so He had to. part of me believed Him.
but another part of me...
and then looking around at the children working in sweatshops
and the women being mutilated and beaten down in body and spirit
and the christians being jailed for praying
and the corporations controlling the money and resources
and the people fighting each other over land and religion
and the inter-racial fights on the beach and on the playground
for hundreds of years.
and not seeing how God could fix it
and besides, why hadn't He?

and i thought about how much i loved Jesus at that time
but i didn't see Him.
He was great, but the evil seemed greater.
He was a "Good Man", but all that love-your-neighbour stuff
that didn't seem so great or useful or mighty.
and even though He cast out demons, calmed storms,
multiplied food and rose from the dead, it seemed too
far removed from this modern world to be relevant.
Vintage Jesus with His blonde-tipped hair, sad blue eyes and mild manner.

but i chose to believe that i'd made the right choice the first time round
when i chose Him. and so His way had to be right, had to be better
because He was Love. He is Love.

then He showed me, opened my eyes.
He is not to be fitted into a theory or a solution.
especially one made by beings who live and then die.
He is The Solution and not just a theory.
He transcends the establishment.
We see millions of dying adn dead and wounded,
but He knows each one by name.
and i thought about how when things are good, God gets no credit
but as soon as things go bad, even atheists are quick to blame Him.
We told Him to get out of our lives, out of our governments,
out of our society, but He's still the most convenient place to lay our blame.
in a strange paradox, He's not big enough to fix everything,
but He is big enough to take the blame for it all going bad.

and i thought about how many atrocities are attributed to the supposed will of God.
and no wonder people hold views like this one from the aformentioned book:
"Yet again it is demonstrated that monotheistic religion is a plagiarism of a plagiarism of hearsay of a hearsay, of an illusion of an illusion, extending all the way back to a fabrication of a few nonevents."

how much bitterness is in that sentence.

Francis Frangipane said it this way:
"There are two conditions of the heart no one can hide: one is when the heart is filled with love and the other when we are infected with bitterness."

and yet, of the God and religion being poison book, one reviewer put it like this:
"...Hitchens has outfoxed the Hitchens watchers by writing a serious and deeply felt book, totally consistent with his beliefs of a lifetime. And God should be flattered: unlike most of those clamoring for his attention, Hitchens treats him like an adult..."

"...treats Him like an adult..."
that denotes superiority.
we're enlightened now. God has no place in man's enlightenment.
it's funny how God is seen to be the beliefs of primitive man.
and as we gain enlightenment, we don't need Him anymore.
He has no place.
There's no room anyhow, our intelligence and intellect is all we need.
but another commentary put it in a different light here

i was listening to one of my favourite bands tonight, Flogging Molly (Irish Punk)
and i came across this song, entitled Screaming At The Wailing Wall.

So God how come every wrong's been done?
With deals no Christ should allow
Once the communist now the terrorist
With blood as thick as yours
Now a caravan of clouds
Warns us all of winter showers
Then rattle comes the rain
With each bullet screams your name

So how come this gatherin' storm
Pours little on the truth?
Where the smokin' gun's a familiar
song let loose
With the bombed out cars
Come the falling stars
From a heaven we'll never know
And the nameless names
On the misspelled graves grow tall
We're still screamin' at the Wailing Wall

I'll liberate your peoples' fate
Spoke the Burnin' Bush
But the song of beasts
Grow with oil soaked teeth
Their dollor is mighty and true
Now the eagle soars the sky
Over refugee and child
And to all there is no end
Another day in perfect Hell

So how come this gatherin' storm
Pours little on the truth?
Where the smokin' gun's a familiar
song let loose

All Hail

Now a caravan of clouds
Warns us of deadly showers
Then a rattle comes the rain
With each bullet screams your name

So how come this gatherin' storm
Pours little on the truth?
Where the smokin' gun's a familiar
song let loose
With the bombed out cars
Come the falling stars
From a heaven we'll never know
And the nameless names
On the misspelled graves grow tall
We're still screamin' at the Wailing Wall

Oh I'll liberate your peoples' fate
As we scream at the wailing wall

in the eyes of the world,
God hasn't come through.
He hasn't done what He "is meant to", in His capacity as Deity
according to the world's interpretation of Him.
And His followers, for the most part,
are weak-willed happy clappys or stoic hard-faced bores, clinging onto
dusty old hymnals and archaic traditions
and at worst, they are hard right, conservative, close-minded war-mongers
but either way, still pretty stupid and primitive and not enlightened.

From God's golden plate begrudgers they eat
'Til their belly's burst ignorance bliss
Never they roam a wanderless home
Is as far as their sorry eye sees
Give me a rusty ol' goat wekk trampled and soaked
Until these ashes and blood mingle deep
But don't let me die still wondering
What it was I left behind
[flogging molly, 'Don't Let Me Die' ]

and where is Jesus in all this struggle?
how can people See Him if they've never Seen Him?
when all they see is someone being murdered for carrying rosary beads?
or being beaten for being born on the other side of the border?
if all they've seen is evil done in His name for His cause?
where are those with the revelation of Him?
where are His hands and feet put here to show His love?
to show His strength in it?

they're being awakened once more.
the generation that prays.
the generation that moves.
to follow in the great revolutionaries' footsteps.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.
This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day its soldiers
choose to lose
that they might one day win
the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.
Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.
They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and
hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"
And this is the sound of the underground
The whisper of history in the making
Foundations shaking
Revolutionaries dreaming once again
Mystery is scheming in whispers
Conspiracy is breathing…This is the sound of the underground

Jesus came as He was - Love.
to show the world what they needed the most,
but it's also the one thing they deny that they need.
real love is scary.
scary because the world is unaccustomed to it.
unaccustomed to love being sacrifice.
to God being powerful and mighty and more than they think He is.
that's scary - to realise you are not always right and not the centre of the universe.

i don't really have much else to write at the moment.
i'm kinda all over the place, but i wanted to write this out.
just thinking out loud at the moment.
thinking about things injustices that, even i admit
to having pushed out of my head in recent times.
but i think... the time to hesitate is through.
time to stop hiding in church.
the world doesn't need to get darker in order for Jesus to come back,
the world needs to know God.

Don't overlook the obvious here, friends.
With God, one day is as good as a thousand years,
a thousand years as a day. God isn't late with his promise
as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself
on account of you, holding back the End
because he doesn't want anyone lost.
He's giving everyone space and time to change.
[ 2 peter 3:9 ]

Warriors & Mission Focus

2008-08-04T22:42:00.003+10:00

So here I am,
back at uni for my FINAL semester of my nursing degree.
I am glad that it's almost over...
..however, the other day I found myself thinking,
..I'm not sure how much I have to give anymore...
I feel so.. tired of it all.
Next week I start another 2 week round of clinical placement
in the palliative care ward (people with terminal illnesses).

But this is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
This is where God's able to be glorified and shine
and this is where I get to really depend on Him
for every last bit of strength to get through this.
In my weakness (all kinds!) He is made stronger!

Life on base is good.
So much happened during the conference
on our base, within our ministry (Island Breeze International)
and also in many of us individually.

The main part of the vision of Island Breeze is this:
Island Breeze focuses on issues of restoration and redemption of peoples and their culture – ‘To know God and make him known through His inherent gifts and expressions within the nations’

And our base has a special call and focus on worship.
I am currently praying about doing the
Principles of Redeeming Cultures School in Hawaii
(YWAM Kona) in July 2009.
A few of us on the worship team are going to do it
and we have a view to bring it back and run it on our base,
but as a worship school with a redeeming cultures focus.
So powerful!!!!

I feel like this is an area that God is calling me into
and has been for many many years
and is now restoring my heart and opening my eyes to it

and calling out my warrior heart and spirit
and showing me that part of my spiritual and cultural heritage.

So, please keep me in prayer regarding my visa
(I am applying for Australian citizenship now)
and also my finances for the school and my plane ticket.
If you would like to support me in this,
email me at cassandra@islandbreezesydney.org

Due to the busyness of the base over the last 3 weeks,
we have been granted this entire week off, to recuperate!
What a great blessing!
I still had to go to uni, but the days I'm going to have off,
they are absolutely invaluable!
And I look forward to relaxing a bit before clinical starts.

Blessings & Alohas!! x

IB Conference & Semester 2

2008-07-27T22:02:00.002+10:00

So, World Youth Day in Sydney has passed
and it was an amazing time, I hear,
from those who attended from base and from my church.
I was on clinical placement for uni,
however I could feel the God-change in the atmosphere
around town.

This week on base, we have been hosting the
International Island Breeze Conference.
It has been off the hook!

We had the elders from Island Breeze come and
I wasn't able to attend any of the meetings,
but even in worship and just generally
being around them on base has been impacting.

I feel like God has done so much in me this week
and has cemented me in the vision He has for me
and reminding me of who I am and
what my heritage is, spiritual and cultural.

God has been restoring, redeeming and renewing my heart
especially for my culture and for the islands
and I feel like He has done deep deep work in me
this week, so deep that I don't have any words
but I feel it all the way through my being.

On another note, the week before last, I finished 2 weeks
of placement at the mental health ward of a hospital
for university. It was good, though the first week
was very very challenging, being in that spiritual
atmosphere.

Tomorrow I go back to uni for my final semester of university
and I can't wait to graduate.
When I do, I will, beyond a shadow of a doubt,
be able to say that I got through only on the
grace and strength and call of the LORD.
Amen! All glory to Him alone!!

blessings & aloha ~!

Good God

2008-07-06T13:50:00.006+10:00

**EDIT**

So what's new?

Well, tomorrow I start a 2 week placement in the
mental health unit of a local hospital/emergency room for uni.
I am not really looking forward to it... however,
I'm sure it will be interesting and I'll learn a lot.

During my 2 weeks away, the base is running the
Impact Sydney Boot Camp in the community.
When I go back to the base, I'll be in time for the
International Island Breeze Conference.

Things have been intense in my own life lately.
I had some health issues lately, combined with the
ever increasing stress of uni, it's been getting to me.
But God is so good and God is still God.
I'm so thankful for my family and my YWAM family
and especially, my closest friends for being there with me
through these things and holding me up in prayer.

God has been speaking to me a lot about the Fear of the LORD
lately and His glory and presence.
God is God and God is Good.
Bottom line.

Prayer Request

Please keep my friend Joelle in prayer, she is in her 3rd pregnancy
and she has a chorionic haematoma, which are clots under the
placenta and she is on bed-rest, also it increases the risk
of miscarriage. Please keep her and her husband Ben in prayer.

Exams, Ministries, Graduations & A new house

2008-06-11T21:38:00.008+10:00

Tomorrow, I have my first exam of the semester
on Critical Care (ICU, Emergency, etc).
I learnt a lot on clinical
(Praise the LORD, I was sent to a really good ICU)
[ICU= Intensive Care unit]

On Monday, I have my mental health exam and then one
next Thursday on diseases and medications,
then the next week on Wednesday is my final
exam, which is a practical skills exam
on administering an S8 drug (eg. morphine).
Please keep me in prayer!

Our base calendar is full in July,
we are hosting the International Island Breeze Conference,
where YWAMmers from other IB bases
will visit - Hawai'i, NZ, Africa, Puerto Rico, Brasil, Brisbane
and I think a team from Vanuatu will be there as well.
We are also running a boot camp, which will coincide
with the World Youth Day here in Sydney
and the Hillsong Conference.

I also have 2 weeks of make-up clinical to do that month,
so I will miss some of the festivities at the base.
I got back to uni in August sometime for,
prayerfully, my FINAL semester!!!!

The Performing Arts DTS arrived back
from outreach last Friday
and it is so so SO good to see them!
They graduate this Sunday night,
so Otto will finally be done with DTS!

The single female staff (of which I am one) have now
moved into a house nearby the base
and the single guys (including students)
have moved into our old dorm.
The female students live in the dorm at our house.

I have three roommates
(one of which is still waiting on a visa to come over)
and we gained a new staff member over the weekend,
a First Nations girl from Canada, which is cool.
We have a few staff and students waiting for visas...
so please if you could, keep them in prayer.

There have been some difficulties at the base,
just with things coming against us as a ministry
and also personally for some of us,
but God is so so good
and He is Mighty To Save!
More and more we get to see His faithfulness
and His Grace.

We give out free tea and coffee (and prayer!)
at Mt Druitt Station each Thursday night
which is going well.
At first we had basically no one come by
but the last few weeks have had loads of people
and been able to pray with and speak to
many lonely and hurting people
as well as connect with
some of the local youth population.

We are starting a new ministry in August,
called Youth Street.
It's a ministry birthed out of YWAM Newcastle
and we felt it was right for us to implement it on our base this year.
You can check out the history of it here and
how other YWAM bases have taken it on here.
So, I am on the core team for that and it will also
incorporate our other ministry, The Gate.

My parents came back from their holiday in Fiji recently
and my mum was blown away by the transformation
taking place there.. but more than that
God really touched her life
and I can see so much change in her.
Praise the LORD, it really is His kindness
that draws us in.
I know God is doing so much in my family.

I am currently reading a book called
"Drawing Near: A Life of Intimacy With God"
by John Bevere
and it's really awesome.
Here is a verse from it, that God had been speaking
to me prior to me starting this book,
which is fairly central to it and to my life:

If Your presence does not go with us,

do not bring us up from this place

Exodus 33:15

I just want more of God.
I want to really know His heart.
It's not about seeking what He can do,
it's about seeking His heart.
Read Song of Songs sometime..
it's all about our love affair with the LORD
and His uncompromising and unending
pursuit of each of us.

I am my Beloved's and His passion is for me.

Song of Songs 7:10

So.. now I need to do a little more study before bed.

Blessings & Aloha!! x

Exams Creeping Up

2008-06-02T19:03:00.003+10:00

so.. uni exams start next week
and I still need to study a whole lot more.

A new DTS started today on base, with 5 students.
The opening is tonight, however I missed it,
due to having a study group at uni today and
needing to study tomorrow.

The Performing Arts DTS arrives back in Sydney this week.
It will be so so good to see them!!

July is going to be full on!
Some of my cousins are coming over from NZ that month also,
for the hillsong conference.
Will be a mini-reunion!
I can't wait!!!!!!

Church is still awesome
and God is moving so so much.
I'm really praising God for leading me to this church.
(It is now my home church)
It's been such a blessing.

I am singing at my friend's church this sunday
and then hopefully taking the new DTS to Dee Why Baps
in the evening.

Well.. that's all for now..
more to come as things unfold
And I am working on my next (rather overdue) newsletter

alohas!

A Brief Update

2008-05-23T19:16:00.004+10:00

hi all!
it's been a while since I've written..
sorry about that, but things are, as always, very busy!!

So here's the lowdown on my life and it's various parts...

Base
things are good, the base staff are all down in wollongong today
for a missions conference and up to Newcastle tomorrow to
do some training for a youth program we are starting in our area in August
called Youth Street. Newcastle YWAM run one up there.. it's going to be good.

The Performing Arts DTS are still in France, due to arrive
back on the 5th June, and then graduate on the 15th June.
The next DTS is starting on sunday 1st June and the staff have been
in training and praying hard for the students.

Our base owns 2 houses in the area, and within the next week,
we ought to get one back (renters moving out)
so I will soon be living in a HOUSE!! haha!
The first one will be the house for the single female staff.
Praise the LORD!!

In July, we are hosting the International Island Breeze Conference
and also a 2 week Boot Camp which will coincide with the
World Youth Day, to which we will be sending people who come to Boot Camp
and working with other ministries.
It's going to be a busy and intense time all round!!

We also have a new staff member, my friend Darren,
who was on staff at the base where I did my DTS all those years ago.
Rumour has it that he is off to the kitchen!

Uni
Yes, uni is still going. One more week of classes, and then it's
officially the exam period...
So I am not at the missions conference or Youth Street training
this weekend, as I need all the study days I can get!!

My computer is still on the fritz and I'm praying for a laptop
which will be invaluable to me, for both uni and graphic design stuff
for the base.
Please hold that in your prayers!!

Personal
I've been going to a church in Dee Why, which is awesome!!
And wow, is God pouring out or what!!!
This outpouring in Florida is full on!
We got a taste of it at church a few weeks ago
and just in my day to day life,
god has been moving incredibly.
I'm so hungry to know Him
for more of Him....

Love you all!!

TheGate & Life

2008-05-02T16:23:00.004+10:00

so... what's been happening of late?

well, the Performing Arts DTS has left for outreach in France.
It's been a battle to get visas for the remainder of the
team who had to stay behind due to that issue,
but today it all got sorted and all the glory is God's!
So they will be leaving on Sunday.
Amen!

Things at the base are plodding along...
we run The Gate every 2nd Friday night,
which is a youth programme we run,
with music and teaching, to help young people
in the community discover, develop & release their full potential in God.

On Friday 9th May, the guys from krosswerdz hip hop church
are coming to lead the night
with their flavour of worship and teaching.
These guys are totally anointed and it's going to be a great night!
email here if you would like more info.

other than that,
God has been drawing me deeper deeper into His heart.
I can't get out of Song of Songs,
it resonates in my heart and soul and I can't stop reading it.
I am seeing more of God's heart for me and for people.

more to come!

Logistics, Updates & Tight Schedules

2008-04-07T12:21:00.004+10:00

So I finished my uni placement for my critical care subject.
I ended up doing my 2nd week
in the Emergency Department, which was awesome!

I am tired, but things are good.
It was nice to come back to the base for the weekend.
I have another 2 weeks of placement for mental health coming up
in another few weeks.

The YWAM Samoa team has gone to Brisbane for a few weeks,
then they will be back down to Sydney.
At the moment, we have a DTS team from
Island Breeze Carbrook (Brisbane) staying on base.
They are heading out near Dubbo for some outreach today
and then back to Sydney in a few days.
So.. we are busy!

This Saturday night, our base's Performing Arts DTS
is hosting a fundraising dinner at our base in Rooty Hill.
A few of us are singing and performing (including me!), which will be cool.
They leave for outreach in just over a week!
Please keep them in prayer.

And that settles it

2008-03-31T17:51:00.002+11:00

the Luau was awesome!
praise God, it was a clear night and
everyone was pumped.
the samoan team did traditional island dances
including fire twirling.
it was a a great night!
Thanks to those of you who came out to support!

The DTS leaves in about 3 weeks,
for their outreach phase in France.
Please keep them in your prayers.

I am in my final week of my critical care placement for uni
in the Intensive Care Unit at a local hospital.
It's great and I am learning loads,
however, I am ready for it to be over!
I am no good so early in the morning!
I have another 2 weeks for a
mental health placement later in the semester.

God is so good..
things are busy and there are so many things on my mind,
but He never gives up
and never loses hope in me.

"I'm in love with God and
God's in love with me
this is who I am and
this is who I'll be
and that settles it
Completely."

march newsletter

2008-03-25T17:39:00.004+11:00

I've finally finished my first newsletter!
I've sent it out via email, but if you missed the mailout,
then you can still catch it here
(click the picture below, for a larger version)
(let me know if you would like it mailed to you).
This is the first issue: March 2008

enjoy!

I'm staying at my parents' house currently,
for a 2 week block of hospital placement for uni.
I'm working in the Intensive Care Ward this week,
which is intense!
Next week, I may be in the Emergency Dept,
the dialysis unit or another critical care area.
Please keep me in your prayers!

This weekend, we are hosting a fundraising Luau
(a Pacific Islander feast with food and entertainment)
for the Samoan YWAM team currently staying at our base.
if you'd like more info or want to come along,
tickets are $25 and are available on (sydney) 02 9625 6227.
It's going to be awesome!

The current DTS are leaving for their outreach phase
in a few weeks.
There are 3 students and 3 staff members on this school.
One of the students is one of my best friends, Otto
and one of the staff is my girl, Leetoia.
It's been awesome to see what God is doing in his life
and how his eyes are being opened and he's falling
so much in love with God.
Amen!
So, please keep them in your prayers also.

Wreck Bay Outreach

2008-03-03T16:27:00.004+11:00

over the weekend, we went, as a base, down to Wreck Bay
(near Jervis Bay on the NSW south coast)
to a memorial service in the Indigenous community there,
to serve them.
It was a really good time and I think that
a lot happened in the spirit over the time we were there,
in the transformation sense.
I feel so blessed to have been a part of what God is doing there
reviving that community.
Can't wait to go back!!

Uni is going well, so far.
It's the 2nd week and I already have so much work to do.
Praise God this is the final year.
I am studying mental health and intensive care nursing this semester.

Barukh

2008-02-24T21:03:00.006+11:00

Here are some photos which were taken during
the 24-7 worship week we held at the beginning of February on our base.
It was an awesome week of worship and learning to
live in God's presence and worship even when we don't feel like it.

Most of these were taken the night the Krosswerdz guys came to minister
and lead us in corporate worship.
To see more click here.
Mistery also did a graff piece for us during worship.
The YWAM 318 guys came and led worship one night also
and did the Korean fan dance for us, which was awesome!

Mistery and Wizdm, two guys from Krosswerdz, Sydney

korean fan dance

Base Photos

2008-02-24T20:53:00.004+11:00

Here are some photos of the base property
to see more, go here

outside the hall (behind the office)

outside His Dwelling Place (prayer room), facing the side of the office

His Dwelling Place

view of the Dwelling Place and office

the back of His Dwelling Place

Getting His Dwelling Place ready for the 24-7 Worship Week

the life and times

2008-02-23T17:08:00.004+11:00

uni starts on monday, as does
the 6 week Transformational Leadership Seminar
that all the staff on base are doing.
so.. my life will get a little busier!

so far, i am working in the kitchen with 2 other staff members
(and old friends) things are busy, but it's good and so far i'm enjoying it, hehe
the Sept '07 Performing Arts Discipleship Training School graduated last week,
so the students are moving on to the next stage in life,
which is exciting.

the Jan '08 Performing Arts Discipleship Training School
is going into its 4th week of lecture phase,
having just finished a week on spiritual warfare.
it's exciting to see what God is doing in their lives
and I can already see the changes taking place.

in my own life,
God is showing me more of His heart and taking me deeper
into relationship with Him.
sometimes life is hard,
but God is still God and God is still good.
and I continue to hold onto Him.

things have been busy, so i haven't been able to blog comprehensively
or to write my newsletter,
however, with uni starting, i will have time between classes
where i can catch up on all this stuff.

hasta luego!

quick update

2008-02-12T16:03:00.000+11:00

this is a quick update,
as i don't have time right now to write a comprehensive one
with all the lovely little details I adore so much!!

so last week we had worship 24hrs a day from
Sunday 3rd til Saturday 9th midnight.
it was such a powerful time and everyone got stretched
and grown and moved
from spending that much time in God's presence.
We all got a deeper revelation of worship and the majesty of God
and even of who we are and our hearts.
we worshipped with our different cultures and expressions
and it was so beautiful.

some of us are still a little tired
(we all pitched in and shared the one hour slots throughout
the days and nights)
but it's all good!

right now, we are having our weekly family time (ohana time)
where we hang out and fellowship as a base.
so I'll write more soon...

more to come!

getting into base life

2008-01-31T11:49:00.000+11:00

so i'm here and slowly getting into base life.
i'm still finding my feet and my place here on base.

there's loads to do and sometimes,
it seems there isn't enough time to do it all.

today i am filling out an application to join the worship team
and next week, we are having a week of 24-7 worship.

The vision began with Revelation 4 v 8-11 and just envisioning the angels worshipping God day and night and all they could say is Holy Holy is the Lord God almighty... through singing, playing an instrument, reading poems, reading scripture, dancing, drawing, painting... we want to leave space to the Holy Spirit to lead this time as well as we just focus on worshipping the King of kings.

so today, stacey and i are decorating His Dwelling Place (prayer room)
and will start on the hall soon.
it all needs to be done by the time the worship week starts at midnight, sunday.

base life is good so far...
i don't mind living in the same room with so many girls,
but sometimes there just isn't enough space, haha!
we have base worship on monday mornings,
wednesday is Fasting and Intercession (3 lots of intercession times)
thursday is Bible Reading (out loud in groups) and Family Time
where we just love each other and hang out without any work to do.
so far that's all i know, seeing as it's only thursdsay now
and this afternoon will be my first Family Time.

i love having people around me who share my heart and vision
and passion for Jesus and the Kingdom.
I really want to see heaven invading earth.
and specifially,
heaven invading Rooty Hill.

since before i came to the base (few weeks)
i've been feeling really burdened down
with things coming against my coming to YWAM and
things from the past trying to suck me back in..
but yesterday, we had intercession and
after the first morning session, i felt so freed.
a friend of mine saw me afterwards and said,
'wow, you look good!'
(the day before, he'd said i looked so sad)
being in God's presence will do that.
the next 2 sessions were awesome aswell..
will write more about things soon.

last night i had a really good talk to a friend who
sleeps in the bunk directly across from mine.
it was really a God-incident that we got to chat and pray with each other
and God lifted so much of my heaviness and fear about being in staff here.

praise God, He's so awesome
and i see it more and more everyday!

my blog comment feature

2008-01-29T16:49:00.000+11:00

i've fixed the comment feature on my blog
*NOW* you can leave comments
haha
thanks Danielle!

first day...

2008-01-28T17:14:00.000+11:00

so here i am at the base.
my first day on staff.
feels a bit weird, but at the same time,
i'm not sure it's entirely sunk in yet.
there's this part of me that expects me to go home soon.
"home" ...hahaha!

i currently share a dorm with 9 other girls and one bathroom.
(staff and students.. though, it is a fairly big room!)
tonight we are hosting an outreach team from adelaide YWAM
coming through.. so there'll be a few more girls in the dorm tonight.
we will be getting the female staff house soon,
so that will be nice!

we had the DTS opening last night for
the 2008 Performing Arts DTS (Discipleship Training School)
which was nice..
we prayed over the new students and welcomed them to the base.
there are currently on this DTS, with 2 more awaiting visas.
one of my very best friends, Otto, is on this DTS
and i'm so excited for what God is doing
and is going to do in him over this 6mths.
there are also some staff awating visas to come over.

i am believing God for amazing things this year.
and it's not the kind of believing where i kinda hope that He comes through...
i know that He will.

2 things I really want this year are:

to believe God like i never have before. When has He ever let me down? Why shouldn't i believe past the things i can see or am used to? i want to go deeper and further than ever and i want to adventure with God. More!!!
to fall so deeply passionately madly in love with God, that my heart knows what it is to be completely satisfied in Him, beyond anything i can imagine.

'delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.'
that verse has been rolling around in my head lately..
there is so much behind it and in it...
ah but that's for another post...
it's dinnertime now!

hasta mañana

2008-01-26T21:34:00.000+11:00

so tomorrow is the big day!
tonight I'm packing the last of my things and getting things sorted.
packing light for the moment.

excited!!

the big move

2008-01-21T18:22:00.000+11:00

So i'm officially staff at YWAM Island Breeze Sydney,
as part of the performing arts ministry.
I am moving into the base this week.
I was the worship co-ordinator for a prayer movement
up until this point, but I am stepping down from that role.

I am excited to be stepping into this new season of life
and stoked 'cause I know that things are only going to get bigger!

Ever since I felt released by God and
made this decision to go back to YWAM,
the attacks have been coming.
It just strengthens my resolve that God is doing more than
I can see and He's totally in control..
and it's going to be exciting!!!!