Staff Training

Staff training has begun and since last Monday the 22nd, we have been talking about everything having to do with a Discipleship Training School.  I have been emphasizing that the job of the staff is to create an environment in which the students can experience God.  Everything we do has an effect on the DTS environment and it is important to know that we have one of the largest influences on someone's life for 5 months.  Also, we have talked about how to assess students during the course using a specific criteria made up by YWAM.  Since we are not a school in the typical sense, we do not use these to grade but rather to see where the students are at in their DTS experience.  I can say that it is really amazing to watch as the students change over the course of 5 months because they are knowing God.

We have come to Byron Bay for the weekend which is a few hours south of the Sunshine Coast.  It is known in Australia for being a hippie surf town.  I must say that is an accurate description because we went through town yesterday and spent some time eating snags (hotdogs to us Americans) at the local park.  We are spending the weekend getting to know each other better.  We have brought with us a board with all of the students pictures and names so that we can learn their names and faces before we actually meet them.  We also have a pastor and a the base director from here in Byron Bay talking to us about leadership.  It is an exciting time and we are all thrilled to be here.  If you would like to pray for the students as they start arriving later next week and for the staff that we will be well prepared.  

The countdown begins

These past few weeks have been flying by as I have been looking forward to the DTS starting here in a little over two weeks.  Currently, I am spending time at the YWAM offices trying to keep up on emails, scheduling people to come in, and organizing the first several weeks of staff training and the DTS.  It seems like a lot of work and it has been, but I definitely feel that things have fallen together so nicely for this next season.  

I have also gotten to spend some time with a few of my fellow staff members.  I get to work daily with my friend Ashlee who did a DTS with me in Jan 2007 here on the Sunshine Coast.  Her boyfriend Jeremy just left recently to go to Indonesia for six months where he wants to plant a YWAM base in the future and is living in the culture and learning the language to work towards his goal.  I have also gotten to know a guy named David who flew in to Australia from Nigeria only a few days ago.  His English is better than mine and I have learned so much about Africa from him also.  He plans on working here in the 10/20 ministry which works in the public schools with the chaplains to minister to kids between the ages of 10 and 20 on the Sunshine Coast.  One of the things I love about YWAM is that I have gotten to meet and become friends with people from all over the world.  Never would I have thought I would be getting to know such people.  

Keep me in your prayers as I am responsible for a lot that happens here at the base over the next few weeks and am working towards staff training starting on June 22nd.  Also, my girlfriend Brittany will be arriving very soon from the states and I am wanting her first few weeks to be a smooth transition into Australia.  I appreciate all of you and look forward to hearing from you.

Fare Dinkum

For those of you who don't know, "fare dinkum" is an Australian slang term meaning, "seriously" or "no joke".  I've been trying to add it to my vocabulary but it's been difficult.  I also found out some others that you might enjoy:

Bogan: Is the equivalent of a "Red neck" in the states.  Usually they wear short shorts and love their beat up cars.  They also wear a tank top and wear socks with sandals.  More often than not, they also have a mullet.

Esky: Is the name used for a beverage cooler as in "eskimo box".  Kiwis in New Zealand call it a "chilly bin".

Arvo: It is used in place of the word "afternoon", as in "we are going this arvo."

This past week has been a blur.  I have been spending a lot of time at the offices trying to come up with schedules and writing emails.  In a couple weeks on the 22nd of June, we start staff training.  It is a key part of the DTS and helps all the staff get ready for the next 5 months.  As part of our training we will be taking a retreat in Byron Bay a few hours south of here.  We have a couple of great speakers lined up to talk about leadership.  After staff training, is orientation week with the new students of the July DTS.  For the next two weeks I will spending a lot of time in the office working on all of this.  Please pray for wisdom and patience to get it all done.  

Thank you to all of you who continue to pray and support me while I am over here.  Sometimes I have to tell myself, "I am in Australia working as a volunteer and I have more than I need."  I look forward to hearing from you.