trust Me.

"If you want to walk on water, get out of the boat."

Trust Him. He wants you to walk on the water.

Playing Catch Up!

G’day Family & Friends!
Greetings from the Land Down Under! It has now been four weeks since I’ve made my home in sunny Newcastle Australia, therefore I thought it would be appropriate update you all! I’m going to let you know on what I am doing, how you can get involved and what the future holds.

Getting There.
After a teary farewell, I said bye to everyone, everything, and everywhere I know. I remember sitting at the gate waiting to board my connector flight literally thinking, “is this really happening? Am I seriously going to a different country by myself right now?” It was a very surreal experience to say the least. I remember getting a tingle in my nose as I saw Detroit fade below as the plane ascended. First flight I had a row to myself, second flight I slept, third flight I met up with a girl that I’m now in class with. God proved Himself faithful over and over again, through out my travel time.

My flight from Los Angeles to Sydney only had two empty seats on the entire flight. Somehow my new friend Kathryn and I managed to get seats right next to each other. It was a major blessing being able to have a companion on an eighteen-hour flight. We got to know each other quickly. We exchanged testimonies and life stories until we got our first of FIVE meals. As we ate our bland airplane food, we became friends with the passenger next to us. He was on his way to Hillsong College in Sydney, to study Worship Art, I love when God orchestrates situations like that! When we finally made it to Sydney, the airport was filled with friendly Aussie accents and bare feet!

After a two-hour drive North, we made it to the Newcaslte YWAM base! The base is located in an economically suffering suburb. The building itself was once a hostel that was built around a 1800’s style house, forming a massive compound of YWAMer’s. The YWAM base averages about eighty staff and students regularly. After getting “the tour” and settling in a bit, it literally felt like home. Everyone feels like long lost friends and family! The community makes you feel very welcome and comfortable.

Daily Grind.
After a week of orientations and get-to-know-you games, we were able to get into our daily schedule of the three-month lecture phase of DTS [Discipleship Training School]. We get up early in the morning head down to the warehouse [a giant warehouse a few blocks from our house of classrooms, meeting rooms and offices] for lectures, after a morning of lectures, we head back up to the house for lunch, after lunch everyone has a work duty to keep the house in order, after getting our jobs we eat family style dinner and go to more lectures.

Depending on the day of the week, we go out at night to practice what we’re learning in lecture. We either go into shopping malls to evangelize or serve homeless people sausage and talk to them about how much Jesus loves them. On Sunday’s a group of us lead an international church service at a local Baptist church, for local university students. After the service we eat lunch with the students and spend the afternoon getting to know them better. God has been teaching me to tear down the wall of timidity when it comes to talking to strangers and opening my eyes to the fact that no one should live with out not-knowing the Truth.

Lectures.
The lectures have been super challenging and compelling! I feel like I’ve been able to see and experience God in a whole new way. He has opened my eyes to the importance and urgency of reaching people for Him, what it really means to fulfill the great commission, and what quality quiet time with Him looks like. As a follow up to the lectures, we have questions that make us really examine God’s Word and our heart. We’re then assessed my one of the leaders on what we have learned or gained from the lectures.

Youth Street.
On the weekends the entire base works together to run Youth Street. Youth Street is a program that YWAM runs for local teenagers. The kids come to the warehouse every Saturday to rego [Aussie slang for registration], after rego, the youth is split into teams for various activities such as; surfing, music, dance, sports, and skating. The teams are designed to let the kids develop hobbies in a positive Christ centered atmosphere. After a few hours with their team, everyone comes back to the house for a picnic styled dinner, and Youth Street Live. Youth Street Live is a time of worship and preaching based towards the youth. A lot of the kids come from hurt backgrounds and tough family situation. Youth Street is an awesome way to reach out to the youth of Newcaslte for Christ!

How YOU Can Help.
As many of you know, after three months of Lecture and working with Youth Street, our team is going on Outreach for three months. For our Outreach, half of our group will be going to minister along the Australian coast for three week, before traveling to Brazil. The other team will be going to the Thailand and Burma boarder to minister to refugees. Our team will have the chance to reach people that may have never heard the powerful life-changing message of Jesus Christ.

Before I came on my DTS, I felt a strong calling towards Thailand; therefore I’ve told my staff that is where I feel God is calling me. We will not know our official teams until early next week, but be praying as the teams begin to prepare for each Outreach.

Coming here and not knowing where our Outreach would be has been a HUGE lesson in patience and trusting that God goes before me and knows where I’ll be going. As of right now, I still need $4,000 for the actual Outreach phase. God has certainly been faithful in providing the money I needed to get to Australia and I know that He will continue to provide what I need to leave Australia and ‘go into all nations’.

It is hard to express how THANKFUL I am for each of you and all of your support, whether prayerfully or financially. God has been so faithful during this season of my life, I know He is the Provider and will bless me with what I need.

If you’re interested in helping me financially, you can donate two ways:
1. Via www.ywamnow.com, check "Student Donation/Support" as payment type.
2. My PayPal account, donate to cfillmore@comcast.net

THANK YOU!