Me hamamas long lookim you

3 months? I was really 3 months late?

Here it is! The closing post to my blog. I’m going to write up a brief overview of my time in Papua New Guinea - as no one really knows what happened there! I hope you enjoy it, and are blessed by it.

I was in Papua New Guinea for a total of about 6 weeks. Flying out from Cairns International, we landed in Port Moresby - the capital city. From there, we travelled to 5 different villages. Below, i’ll write a short section on each so you can get a feel for what we got up to.

Village 1.

Hisu

‘The village of Hope’

Our first village, and talk about starting on a high! Hisu was welcoming, vibrant, exciting and youthful. As it was coastal, we enjoyed the most incredible coconuts and fruit! Here’s one story about Hisu:

On one of the first morning sessions we held with the local church, I spoke to them on the subject of identity. It was an encouraging time, with some touching responses. Many for the first time understood their image as being that of the very likeness of God. Some found hope, others had a ‘Peter experience’ - where after being given a new identity, we’re also given a calling. A close friend I made, called Tonga, decided that day he wanted to be a missionary to Papua New Guinea, starting that day! Others saw those around them in a totally new way. Things would never be the same.

So much happened in Hisu. So many people reached, and lives changed. Hisu was a light to PNG, a hope. It would send out missionaries to it’s own people for years to come. It will always have a special place in my heart.

Village 2.

Keveona

‘Power in unity’

Keveona was arguably the most fun we’d had in the whole six weeks! The local river made a great bath, exercise, diving practise, and transport! (I once heard a woman floated down it for 20 minutes carrying a huge dish of cucumber - in one hand). The people here were hospitable and family-oriented. Oh, and don’t get me started on how amazing the bananas were.

We noticed that the village had huge potential, but was limited by several factors. There was huge disunity between the three main churches, and addiction to local drugs was a serious problem for a majority of the village. On one of our final nights there, we saw a miracle take place! A decision was made for the leaders of the three main churches to bring about reconciliation - including apologies, forgiveness, and promises to stand by one another. One church leader even washed the feet of the other two as a sign of humility and commitment.

I also had my birthday here, we were spoilt rotten with great food, fun, dancing, everything! I even had my face painted by the village elders. I’ll never forget that birthday. Another fun memory was floating down this strong-current river, whilst being carried by a banana tree. Kind of like a lazy river you’d find at a theme park - but PNG style. Thank you Keveona.

Village 3.

Kivori

‘The village of reconciliation’

Our hardest, but most radical village. Spiritual activity here, whether good or bad, was very obvious. Problems with witch-doctors, aggressive youth, home made alcohol and drugs were all serious issues that we had to deal with. On the plus side, the people were strong and determined to see change. They also had a beautiful beach with coconuts that tasted like lemonade - we spent quite a bit of our time there!

So, our team arrived three weeks after a young man had been stabbed by his younger brother - in a road just outside where we were staying. God had put this on my heart all week, and on our last night he gave me a message to give to them: ‘Only God can fix your broken heart - the pain you’ve been through. And only you can fix His broken heart - by repenting of your sin.’ It was a difficult, somewhat old-school message to give. Sounding like some soap-box fire and brimstone street preacher. But. The response was inspiring. The family of the aforementioned young man was there that night. And they reacted to the message by seeking God’s love for their hurting hearts, and his forgiveness for their anger towards the situation. That was reconciliation.

Leading the village in times of intercession for the spiritual darkness, seeing young men rising up to walk in what God had for them, and encourage the people to hear God’s voice in a real way, are other examples of great progress we saw that week.

Village 4.

Debado

‘A village of intercession'

Debado took 6 hours to get to (there is a very funny story behind that - ask me some time), and was situated in the hilltops which made for breath taking scenery, and slippery, messy trips to and from the various locations in the village. It’s key landmark was a stunning waterfall - and it was also known for its poisonous animals. Thank God I never met one.

We discovered Debado was a great village for prayer. Because of their remote location - physical sending of people was difficult. So instead God speaks to them, giving them places and people and circumstances which they can cover in prayer (they taught us a thing or two). Sessions that we held on Spiritual Warfare, Lordship, and doing God’s work through prayer went down very well. We felt like we were helping to build up an already strong village to be able to seek God’s heart for the nations - and see results.

Other fond memories include scaling the huge waterfall and playing football with the locals!

Village 5.

Kwalimarubu

‘A village of light’

Kwalimarubu. Wow, what a way to end a missions trip! This village was an answer to prayer in many ways. The people had such a vibe of life around them - that it energised us! They had great food, great people, and a women’s volleyball team that were so good it’s scary.

My highlight was speaking and facilitating a session on ‘Lordship’ for three hours (yes, their attention spans are that good!). After discussing what it meant to firstly recognise Christ as Lord of all things - including all that we are, and to secondly respond to that in a way that pleases God. This included praise, fearing (but enjoying) God, and laying down the rights we are given in order to make ourselves available to God’s purposes for our lives. The responses were many, and varied. We saw Church leaders seeking forgiveness, we saw reconciliation of family members, people surrendering to God’s desire for their lives and more. My favourite was a young man - who headed up a gang that were involved with armed robbery in Port Moresby. He gave his life to Christ that day. God is good. All the time.

Kwalimarubu was a very impressive village. Spiritually as much as everything else. Including its scenery, 3 hour volleyball tournaments, humour, infectiously fun young people, bright clothes and beaming smiles everywhere you went. I’m so thankful to God for this village.

Epilogue.

Talk about finishing well. Papua New Guinea was an experience I’ll never forget. I’ll never forget the squatting toilets, the lack of protein, chasing our lunch, playing volleyball till it hurt, sleeping in ridiculous conditions, the heavenly fruit, the funny conversations, bucket showers, picking up the language, rivers, hills, overcrowding transport vehicles, thunderstorms, palm trees, spam and rice, toothless smiles, beach soccer. The list goes on.

We travelled back to Australia, spent a week at base before graduating that Friday. We said our goodbyes, me and a friend stayed in Sydney for a week, and then I came home.

My DTS left me changed. Not different. Just, more the person God wanted me to be. I’ll never go back to what I was - this is far too much fun. This life lived intimately with God is far too great to settle for normality ever again. It makes me smile to remember God’s goodness, faithfulness, love and never ending grace throughout this time.

This is the end. But in a way it’s just the beginning. I thought I was going to spend my life in Graphic Design. Now I’m heading to bible college and interning at a church! Who would’ve thought.

~

The God that walked through DTS with me, is the same God here. I hope you know Him. Because getting to know him, and relentlessly pursuing him now is the best thing I’ve ever done.

I pray that you’ll discover that joy yourself.

God is good. Amen.



For part two:
www.matt-doherty.blogspot.com

Doors

I never thought this moment would come so soon, but here it is. My final blogpost from my DTS experience in Australia!

I leave for the 'Land of the Unexpected', Papua New Guinea, on Sunday 18th, and will be there for about six weeks, returning on the 28th May. Once i arrive back here in Townsville, the DTS will have 'Debrief week', which ends with our graduation service on Friday 4th. From there, me and my friend Caleb will be saying goodbye to the team as we both fly to Sydney on the Saturday, where we will be staying with some relatives of mine for about a week. I will by flying back home, and arriving in England on Friday the 11th.

As i said, i've decided to make this my final blog post before i leave for outreach. I will then make one more post once i am back home - in what will probably be a feeble attempt to describe my six weeks in Papua New Guinea, Debrief Week, and my trip to Sydney - so look forward to that one! Anyway, here's my update of the past three weeks of lectures.

So much has happened in my three weeks between minor and major outreach. I'll write one section for each, with a few short stories. Enjoy!

Week 1: Evangelism Week

The weekend before lectures started, the DTS was taken to Billabong Sanctuary, an interactive Australian wildlife park. It was one of the most fun days so far. Keeping it nice and short, i held a Koala (thats one more life-goal achieved), a 9-foot water python (much to the displeasure of my nephew, Arthur, i learned later - sorry buddy!) and a baby crocodile. Witnessing one of the DTS'ers tumbling backwards off her seat whilst shrieking as she was confronted by some funny-looking bird was definitely a highlight for me, amongst many other great memories from the sanctuary.

As for lectures, we had Steve Ahern speaking to us on the topic of Evangelism. I got a lot out of his teaching, and was greatly encouraged by what he had to say. He dispelled myths about evangelism, correctly displayed our task as Christians in the area of sharing our faith, and gave us countless practical steps to take in order to do Evangelism in a way that pleases God, and is effective.

Another great thing that happened this week was my experience of quiet times. I made the effort to spend loads of time with God throughout the week. I didn't go to him with an agenda. I I was just 'with' him (Psalm 46.10). He spoke to me a lot, and i was really blessed by the reality and personable nature of my relationship with Him. I really encourage you to put the effort into spending time with God and just being with him, it can do you a whole lot more good than you may have first imagined.

Week 2: Relationship Week

Our speaker for this week was a staff member here at the base called Ryan Booker, a man of great wisdom, integrity, and a real leader for whom i have a lot of respect. He covered the biblical principles of relationships which we should apply to all our relationships - friends, family, and everyone in between! It was challenging, encouraging, sobering, and at points, painfully funny.

We celebrated Easter day slightly differently here at the base, compared to what I am used to. First thing is first, i didn't eat so much chocolate that i was unable to move for the next two days. I miss that feeling. It's on my to-do-list for when i arrive home. Anyway, we did quite the opposite and were incredibly healthy. So much so, that a group of us woke up at 5am to climb Castle Hill for a citywide Easter Morning Sunrise Service. Me and the group took to our own spot at the top of the hill and watched the sunrise over the ocean and city skyline. What a breath-taking picture for the resurrection of Jesus, the sun rising up over the clouds, transforming darkness into the most awesome, inspiring, hopeful, and beautiful sky.

With the turn of the month, we were also blessed by the arrival of the April DTS. They are an amazing group, and i've been really grateful for some of the friendships i've already formed with a number of them. They have the potential to be a highly effective school, individually and corporately, it's so exciting!

Ok so i had to include this in here. Something that made my week: #1, a visiting church left a whole bunch of gigantic watermelons behind for us to help ourselves too. Happy days. #2, i discovered a remnant of believers in the greatness of the 'Muppet' films, at last! #3, we combined the two and started a fantastic tradition, Muppet and Melon Night! It makes me pretty happy.

Here are some other things that happened this week: Communication breakdown. With the base computers still out of action, and spare laptops becoming more scarce, communication ha been a real difficulty as of recent, so that's been tough! Music. It was a good week for me in the musical department, with increasing opportunities to lead worship - i've grown a huge amount in my confidence (in playing, vocally, and in general technique), i've also been able to fit some more songwriting into my hectic timetable, which has been so much fun. Goodbyes. We were given some really difficult news during the week - that for reasons not really open to discussion, a member of the DTS, my good friend and outreach team member, JP, had to leave us prematurely. This hit us hard, and was upsetting for many. It also served as a harsh reality-check, forcing us to realise that the real good-byes were not far away, and would be just as difficult. In light of this, I'm really thankful to God for how he used the situation for good (Romans 8.28). I spent a lot of time praying for JP, and the DTS, and God really met me and spoke to me. He encouraged me in different ways, and gave me a real peace about the whole thing. God is good like that.

Week 3: Missions

Oh my goodness, what a week. Nothing could have prepared me for this one! Our lecturer was a local base staff member we call Buddy. He presented the topic of world missions in a way i've never known before. It was as though we were finally being told the truth. Through Buddy, we witnessed God's heart for the lost and hurting, his passionate hatred of injustice, and his love of obedient servants, following the call given to every believer: to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28.20) and to give hope to the poor, to love the broken hearted, to bring freedom to the oppressed and to be comforters to the down-hearted (Isaiah 61.1-2). For the first time in my life, i actually understand the necessity of missions in Christian-living, and more than that, i desperately want to be a part of it.

At the very beginning of the week, on Sunday 11th, me and a group from the DTS were lucky enough to go to the Great Barrier Reef for a day of snorkelling! We were up at 5am, and enjoyed a two hour boat ride to the section of the reef we were visiting. Once we got there, we were in the water for just over two hours; and it was completely out of this world. It was like experiencing Finding Nemo (and yes, i did find him), in real life. The scenery was unlike anything i've ever seen, and there were so many fish - all in different colours, shapes and sizes. My personal highlight was seeing a 7ft shark resting on the bottom of the coral, however, floating at the surface of the water was as close as i was going to get to that thing!

Papua New Guinea

Tomorrow I leave for PNG, and to be honest, that's what most of this week has been about! We've had countless team meetings, sermon preparation, practical training, intercession, worship, and anything else that could help out trip! I feel ready, but at the same time i really don't. Haha. My relationship with God is really strong at the moment, and i know that PNG will require mountains of faith (we still don't have any accommodation planned, love it) so i'm very happy that me and God are in a good place!

We've been told quite a bit about the location and culture, which is very exciting! Travel will be by foot, or driving on long dusty roads, and every now and again a boat ride! The weather will be very tropical, even more hot & humid than Australia! Sadly that brings the trouble of malaria-spreading mosquitos, so we'll be popping pills for the duration of the trip to keep us healthy and protected. We won't really have a home for the six weeks, as we will be constantly travelling. We'll be sleeping in mosquito nets, showering with a bucket, and goodness knows what the toilet arrangements will be! I'm particularly looking forward to living in three sets of clothes for six weeks, and i'll let you do the maths with that. Let's just say those items of clothing will be unlikely in joining me home.

As far as programmes go, our team will be evangelising and discipling large groups at a time - they could be church congregations, school kids, or, complete strangers passing by the local market place who happen to have the spare time to listen to the group of white people with a microphone! Stories have been told of YWAM groups regularly hosting a local village crowd of about three hundred people, sometimes for three to four hours! Unlike in some youth services where the attention span is twenty minutes, these people will give you their undivided attention for hours at a time! I was originally somewhat anxious about the challenge - but after talking to God about it, i'm feeling much more excited, i really can't wait to get out there now!

So, that's a little bit about my trip, i hope you feel slightly more informed now! To be honest, i know very little, and that's all a part of the fun. We're really walking this out in faith, and in confidence, to see our God to amazing things. Papua New Guinea here we come!

Mini Message

As i finish this blog post, i would really like to take a moment to encourage those of you reading. Throughout my entire DTS, but particularly the past several weeks, i have really experienced the faithfulness of God. I've spent so much time with Him, and he has met me every time. Whether it was to bring conviction, to make me laugh, to encourage me, to teach me, or to just talk with me, I'm learning that actually, God is everywhere, he is always speaking, always asking for our attention. It's just a matter of listening to the voice. The world often shouts, but God whispers. Now, Zechariah 8 describes God as 'burning with Jealousy' for his people. You would think that God would have enough at his fingertips to not be worried about us.

But.

Well, no.

When is it that you are jealous? When something you want or deserve is no longer yours? Maybe it is being mistreated, maybe you feel it belongs to you - that only you can treat 'it' the way it should be treated? God burns with jealousy for our hearts for those very reasons. He has done everything he can to get your attention, to win you over, he has so much for you. If you don't yet know God personally - may you respond to him and turn and give your hearts to him, that you may enjoy Him, and that God may never have to be jealous for your heart again. If you do know God, does he have your heart? Completely? Or is it somewhere else?

Maybe you will be satisfied with a life of indifference. All i know is that i want to walk through the door with the title 'faith' inscribed above it, and to walk into all that God has for me - because i know that that is where i will finally find life. I hope you can find it too.

~

It has been an amazing journey so far, and I am so excited for this next stage. I want to thank all of my supporters for the letters i ripped open and read at lightning speed, the food packages i consumed in an unhealthy amount of time, the emails i never found the time to reply to, and the prayers that must have been heard from God - because I am walking in miracle after miracle over here. You are all making the difference, God bless you.

I'll be in touch once I am back - and then I'll make a full update in June once i've returned home. Thank you so much more for all of your love and support, you remain in my prayers,

All my love, Matty.

Prayer Requests

Safe travel.

Accommodation to be provided.

Protection: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Effective evangelism and discipleship.

Fun.

And some more fun.

Skimming stones

It's taken me long enough, but finally, here is my post-minor-outreach-blog...post.

For about two and a half weeks, me and my team went on outreach in the wonderful city of Cairns. This included staying for a week in a city central backpackers (or hostel), a few days in a local Baptist Church, and then to finish it off we travelled north to stay with the parents of one of the DTS course leaders. They had a lovely home up in the hills, we packed out all of their spare rooms, and me and my friend Tim stayed in the very reasonably sized caravan just outside the bungalow.

The purpose of the outreach was mainly two-fold: To evangelise in the city, and raise awareness of the YWAM Australia and Papua New Guinea Ship Tour amongst schools and the public. Both of these were highly successful, and I have many stories from each - but for the sake of time I'll just share a couple of examples later on.

For those of you who prefer the more concise, to-the-point, approach; I'll write a brief summary here and obviously concluding updates right at the end. You can then decide whether or not you want to read my selection of short stories that follow, yay.

My outreach was a real time of growth for me. I learnt a lot about evangelism and where I fit into it - I developed a passion for speaking to the local artists in various galleries, and I also seemed to minister effectively to the homeless. In going to the schools I made many great connections with the young people, providing them with hope, calling them to missions and raising awareness of the Ship Tour. Of course, I grabbed the opportunity to practise my public speaking and really benefited from it. Finally, I really developed my relationship with God. I was able to have consistent and powerful devotional times each day. Through that, and experiencing the power, faithfulness, provision and sovereignty of God as we walked by faith each day, my relationship with Him was greatly deepened. Not to mention, me and the team had an incredible amount of fun along the way!

Short Stories

David

One sunny afternoon, God lead me to sit opposite a homeless man on a park bench. He didn't look like the influential type, but little did I know the huge impact this guy would have on me. After finding out he hadn't eaten in a couple of days, I bought him a meal from McDonalds, and from there we had a really great conversation. By the end, we'd only spoken a little bit about God, but I wasn't concerned. I just wanted to show Dave, my new friend, compassion, genuine interest and friendship; and I had a funny conviction I would see him again in not too long.

It was just the day after, when I found myself once again in a conversation with Dave after God 'coincidentally' crossed our paths. Dave had a huge smile on his face, and joy seemed to ooze out of him. After I asked what the reason for his happiness was, he told me of how after the conversation we'd had the day before, he decided to start praying, and reading his old bible again. He prayed to God the previous night for some money to help him buy a train ticket which would enable him to visit the remaining family he has left in Brisbane. The day after, Dave was notified of an advanced payment on his pension - which was more than enough for his ticket; he was also able to buy some new clothes and some food. As if the clear answer to prayer wasn't enough, he decided to then bless me by paying me back for the meal i'd bought him the previous day. We talked a little more and it became obvious that God was doing something in his heart - how exciting!

Finally, it was one of our last nights in the city, and so I really wanted to see Dave before i left. Me and a friend prayed desperately for direction as to where we could find him, and God took us on an unbelievably specific route which finally lead us to him. Me and my friend Katie were able to spend a good hour or so ministering to Dave before saying our last goodbyes. Dave even encouraged us with a verse he'd learned from John 14.2, In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. What hope and faith from a man who calls a sleeping bag home! I could see a real change in Dave, and i still continue to pray for him that God would be with him, transforming him bit by bit. I was so thankful to God, He had showed me His guidance, faithfulness, goodness and so much more through this legendary friend of mine who I hope to never forget.

Any Questions

So, we spent a lot of time in local schools running programmes which gave information about the ship tour, and calling young people to missions. One of the funniest things that happened during our visits was the 'any questions' section at one of the primary school presentations. We quickly regretted opening the floor to the youngsters, as we were greeted with 'questions' including:

"My best friend is called Jimmie"

"We're going camping next week"

and my personal favourite..

"I live in a shed"

So maybe we won't do 'any questions' for the young'ens next time around.

Reconciliation

Our team leader Ania raised an issue with the group one afternoon during a group meeting. Well it wasn't so much an issue, but a sense, with which the group agreed. We agreed that there was an unsettling vibe of division in our team, and it needed to be fixed before we moved on. A few people decided a time of worship could help put is in the right frame of mind to deal with the situation - and they were definitely right. Me and Alorah had the honour of leading the group in a time of worship, which lead to some great ministry. I was so blessed to see God working in people, one by one, before leading us into a time of reconciliation. It was a really beautiful moment where we rediscovered our group's purpose and vision, we committed to standing by eachother and putting Christ at the centre of our mission. This is just one example of how God was sufficient for us, and always sustained those He called.

Vision

I really benefited from my friendship with a great guy called Tim. We pushed eachother in our walks with God, especially in the area of quiet times. One morning we got up at some unearthly hour and headed straight for the beach. Tim went for a swim, and I was about to join him - until I noticed a section of beach which turned rocky. Remembering my passion for skimming stones, I decided to head in that direction and spend some time talking with God whilst throwing rocks, nothing like some father-son bonding.

I'd recently been praying about my future, and all of a sudden I found what I was doing becoming strangley prophetic.

The stones I was throwing were people, they were different shapes, sizes and colours - representing the different backgrounds, personalities and skills of those i would be working with. And as God called Peter his 'rock' on whom he would build his church, these stones were people who would serve as a firm foundation on which God could work, and use for amazing effect.

I was passing on technique, giving the stones the ability to fly. I was discipling, leading.

Now you can throw a rock pretty far, but it just makes a violent, uncontrolled splash.

But I wasn't throwing, I was skimming.

Each stone touched several destinations, leaving ripple effects which spread widely, their influence can be seen for quite some time after.

The stones were thrown in all directions,

Leaving a ripple effect with every impact on the water, and they continued to ripple until the stone could travel no further.

God is calling me to skim stones.

~

So you might think that sounds a bit weird, or scary, but I'm very excited.

Anyway we've returned back from outreach safe and sound, to a base which has had a minor facelift including several structural changes. It sadly means that communication is more of a struggle than before with minimum internet access for a period, but hopefully that will change.

It's been great to be back, to catch up with every one by sharing stories and encouraging one another; and of course it's just fun to be able to hang out with all of my friends again. We've been back now for just over a week, and we've enjoyed some amazing lectures and other events which I'll fill you all in on in a week or so (famous last words).

Now it's all about getting as much as possible out of the final two weeks of lectures, before we head off to PNG for six weeks. It's gonna be good.

Thank you so much for reading, and for being patient in waiting for the updates! Hopefully not as long till next time. Thanks again for your continued love, prayer and support - God bless you.

All my love, Matt.

Prayer requests

Bringing closure to what we learned, and the experiences of an amazing couple of weeks on outreach

Homesickness

Keeping my relationship with God number one priority - not being swayed by the work or social side of DTS

Discernment, wisdom and perseverance in hearing God's voice and spending time with Him.

Everest

Welcome to another blog post everyone!

This will be my last post before I head to my first, 'minor outreach'; where we will be heading to Cairns for just short of three weeks. I'm not sure what my level of contact will be whilst I am over there, but we will have internet every now and again so I'll make sure to take advantage of that!

A couple of quick stories about my week that i want to share, before we move on. It's been really fun having my good friend James around. On Saturday we took the day off and took a 45-minute walk to our favourite beach, it was a beautiful day and the company was good, so it was a great walk. Once we'd reached the beach we made the most of the basketball court before shortly taking a dive into the deep blue, warm and refreshing water. Australia really is a cool place to be this time of year.

More recently, today we went to the local traveling clinic as an outreach team to get all of our immunisations. I'm not going to spend very long on this as it's quite upsetting. So, at the beginning of the day i though i was going to get one jab, costing me $22. To cut a long story short, i'm not sure what hurts more: my two arms after a total of four injections, or my bank account after it had $175 sucked out of it. Oh dear.

Anyway, it's been a really interesting week for everyone here at the Reef To Outback base. I'll start from the beginning, because I'm a good story teller, or something like that.

Recently we've been taking part in video lectures on the topic of Spiritual warfare, by a great guy called Dean Sherman, or the Shermanator, or D. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney (for those Finding Nemo fans out there). And they've been so good! He managed to present the topic in a new and relevant way, he gave new insight and significance to the importance of Spiritual Warfare, it's reality, our call to fight, the promise of victory and the practical application of living it out. I won't lie, 2-3 hours of watching video lectures was tough, but so, so worth it. Especially with outreach coming up - it's important for us to be aware of this, and confident in it too.

Understandably, this past week was all about outreach preparation. So we've been doing all sorts of job-delegation, schedule-organisation, team-building, and everyone's personal favourite...fund raising! As I said in the previous post, watching God bring in pretty much all of the required $30,000 was such a blessing - and a miracle! Another thing to praise God for is the real sense of unity all of the teams seem to have at the moment. It's definitely a miracle within my group; we're all so different, but God has really brought us together in our purpose and mission, and we can't wait to go to Cairns and serve as a group, supporting and loving each other every step of the way.

Emotionally, it's been a roller coster ride over the past few days. On Friday, we had the October DTS Graduation. The service involved everyone dressing up, and we watched various members of the school share testimonies about their personal journeys with God, specific stories and testimonies, there were unending lists of 'thank you's, video diaries, one or two performances - and of course, the official graduation of the school. After the service we all got to pray for them and commission them, i loved being a part of that. Of course I have to mention that there was the most awesome cake at the end of it. What I wont mention is how many pieces I ate...I'll leave that to your creative imaginations.

The rest of the day took bit of a weird turn; seeing the October school graduate was a flash-forward to all of us, a picture of things to come. No one really wanted to think about finishing DTS, but at the same time no one could run away from the it! This became even more intense on the Saturday, when about one third of the Oct DTS left for the airport. There were lots of sad goodbyes, and we were all participating and watching. It was, again, something for all of us to think about. And just as we were getting over that, it was time for us to bid farewell to the first outreach team. This was really hard for me, as I had to say goodbye to my four closest friends as they all left together for outreach for three weeks. Obviously I have great friends here and I love my team so much - but not having those four friends around isn't easy.

God, being God, decided to jump at the opportunity to teach me a lesson (don't you love that?). That evening, after I'd spent the day trying to get my head around not only thinking about the end of DTS in a few months, but also saying goodbye to my best friends, God spoke to me in a really huge way.

It was halfway through YouthStreet, our weekly youth event. I was on the gate signing the young people in and out - listening to some music through one ear to pass the time - and aid me in my reflective state of being. It was there that God really clearly put it on my heart that there was something beautiful about the position I found myself in. It was almost as though He said to me, "Ok, now I've got you, and just you - I can't wait". There was a new sense of excitement about what the immediate future held for me, now that God has my full attention.

Now it's just me, and Him - and to be honest, that's the only way it should ever be.

Lord You are my salvation, I will not be shaken,

You are my Mighty Rock on whom I depend,
My Faithful Fortress, and my intimate friend,
A love so strong with no beginning or end,

You are my everest,
You are my everest,
And I will ever rest in You.

(Taken from the song 'Everest', by Aidan Jones - October DTS)

So goodbye from me for now - with all my love, and God bless,

Matt.

Prayer Requests:

Accomdation to be finalised for our team
That we could get into as many schools/youth groups/churches as possible

Effective, spirit-lead evangelism
Protection over our team
That we would be united in purpose and spirit as an outreach team

Wantok

Yu wantok bilong mi,
Mi wantok bilong yu,
Mi wantok bilong Jesus,
Jesus emi wantok tru.

Emi wantok tru,
Emi wantok tru,
Jesus givim liaf long me nau yu,
Long Calvary's Cross hem dai,
Hem givim yu mi liaf,
Pres Jesus, emi wantok tru.

This song is written in 'Pidgin', the local language spoken by those in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. We were taught it by Australia's own legend, the Country singer Steve Grace (www.stevegrace.com). He was gracious and humble enough to take a week out of his busy schedule to lead our lectures for week number 7 of the DTS, titled 'The character and nature of God'.

Before I move on, I guess I should translate! So here it is:

You are a friend of mine,
I am a friend of yours,
I am a friend of Jesus,
Jesus is the true friend.

The true friend,
The true friend,
Jesus gave His life for me and you,
On Calvary's Cross He died,
He's given you and me life,
Praise Jesus - the true friend.

What's beautiful about this song is the word 'Wantok'. When Steve went to New Guinea and quickly thought up some lyrics to an easy song for everyone to sing, he asked the locals for a word to describe a 'true, good friend'. They suggested the word Wantok. It is a deep and meaningful word with no straight forward translation. The best way to describe it is a friendship as tight as a brother's, kind of like a blood-relationship. It's ignorant of skin colour or location, it overcomes those differences and suggests the two people are on the same level, they are one person. It's a great little cheesy song, and I can't wait to sing it as a group to the people of New Guinea when we get there in a couple of months time!

It's been a great week since we arrived back from camping, and crazy at the same time - because there is so much preperation for outreach going on right now, trying to fit that in to a normal week of lectures is a funny thing! Our arrival back at base was celebrated by the whole DTS going out on the Saturday night to a restaurant on the Seafront. We all dressed up, and really enjoyed a fantastic night out in great company. After the meal we went to the local ice cream parlour and I took advantage of the situation (some thing will never change) and got an ice cream with Banana, Hazlenut, and Cookies & Cream scoops. I won't lie; it was undesputably the best ice cream i have ever eaten.

So, a great way to start the week for sure. The positive vibe definitely continued as lectures for the week began. We all knew Steve Grace would be speaking to us, but no one was able to predict the amount of fun we had in lectures! Every story Steve told us had a song to go with it, so his voice, guitar, and harmonica (yes those are cool, or, they are now) made many appearances. Steve also blessed us with many great words of wisdom, here's one of my favourites:

"Never, ever let that which you do not understand, rob you of what you do understand."

On top of some great teaching, Steve really put a passion for songwriting into all of us which was awesome. Now, you need to understand something about me to grasp how much of a miracle this is. I'd probably consider myself to have the same lyrical ability as your average stick of bamboo. So, the fact that i managed to write a great song and put music to it is nothing short of a God-send.

The song is about the book of Joshua. It's a song for the church to sing, and it's testament to the greatness and power of the God that we serve, and our commitment to fight. I also love it because i now have a really solid reminder of some of the lessons God taught me when i went camping.

This week lectures are on the topic of 'Spiritual Warfare'. We are watching videos of YWAM legend Dean Sherman speaking on the subject, and they've been great so far - I'm all of a sudden rapidly running out of paper in my note books!

Last weekend the YWAM base was blessed by the presence of the returning October DTS. They were coming back from their 6 week outreach based around various cities along the coast of Australia. It was great to have them all back, to hear some great stories, and to see so many people on the base! Of course you can tell what my favourite part of all of this was - my good friend James Sandquest from Bristol back home, who is currently on the October DTS, came back! It was so great to see him again, he's a little reminder of home - which i love. Today we were able to pray for and encourage each other; and it blew my mind to think back to when we first met years ago at a youth camp in Bristol, to see how far we'd come! And more than that, to consider the faithfulness of God throughout all those years in between left me speechless. God is good.

Some of you will be aware that on the 10th March, my outreach team (see earlier post 'Papua New Guinea') will be beginning our 5 hour van drive to the wonderful city of Cairns, where we will be for 2 and a half weeks; returning on the 27th March. The programme is pretty mixed, and we're still waiting for a lot of it to be organised! What i do know is that for the three weeks we will be staying in various locations including hostels, church halls, houses of friends of YWAM and i'm sure there will be a couple of surprises along the way! As for what we will be doing, there are two main purposes: evangelism, and raising awareness of the YWAM Ship Tour (www.ywamships.org) amongst the youth. Activities will range from running church services and youth groups, to school assemblies and classes, to street evangelism, to busking, to talking with the other backpackers staying in our hostel - and anything that God tells us!

I'm incredibly excited about this outreach; i've recently had a lot spoken over me in terms of my ability to lead and speak, and my calling to be a young leader like that of Joshua and Timothy, now is a chance for me to set an example in 'speech, life, love, faith and purity', and really step into that role. The entire team cannot wait to get going, we're currently gelling pretty well which is always good news, and i'm just so thrilled to be working alongside this team of Godly men and women.

As always with outreach, and particularly YWAM outreaches, there are always emergency funds that need raising. About a week ago we made an estimated budget that our DTS needed roughly $30,000 (AUD) to come in in order for all of us to go. Since then, God has miraculously provided approximately $27,500! We're just waiting for that little bit more to come in and then we're all set!

There were two people on my team who were really in need of funding for this outreach - our team leader and one other team member. As a group, several of us were able to put money towards them and we were able to pay the remainders of both of their fees, which totalled to about $3,500? How incredible! I was really blessed because of the overwhelming genorousity of those supporting me back home - it meant i was able to contribute to my two other team members and ultimately get them on our outreach! Praise God. This also leads me to say another huge thank you to all of those back home who have, and still are, supporting me in means of finance and in love and in prayer - it's making pretty much all the difference on this side of the world. So thank you.

As for me and how I'm doing. Like i said, it's been a pretty draining time - with lots of hard work and a lot to be thinking about, with generally minimum time to hit the pause button on it all, which would be nice. So i'm quite tired, but God is giving me strength every day. More than that, God has really been blowing my mind on a regular basis and im so thankful for all the work he has been doing in me and those around me.

I'm reminded that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", nothing is impossible for my God. And with the energy I have, i am giving it to responding to my creator who is relentlessly pursuing me,

and I am loving every second of it.

All my love and God bless, Matt.

Prayer:

Strength and determination when it comes to video lectures, and getting ready for outreach
Greater unity within our outreach team

I would continue to hear from God clearly and regularly

I would step into what God has called me to, with authority and with confidence

Paddymelon

It’s been far too long since I last wrote - I hope you survived! The good news as that I’m finally back at the YWAM base, which I’m surprisingly referring to as ‘home’ now, after an amazing and life-changing two weeks camping in the Australian bush where we experience rain and thunderstorms like never before, extreme sunshine, but most importantly we experience God.

The DTS travelled to an area known as ‘Hidden Valley’. The plot of land we were all camping on was at the foot of a huge hill, surrounded by a tall, green, picturesque forest. There was a creek just a couple of minutes away – this is probably where I spent most of my time; skimming stones, swimming, drawing, relaxing or sunbathing…or sometimes all of the above.

There was also a building we referred to as ‘the shed’, which was simply a decent-sized building with three walls, a concrete floor, and a roof. This was where pretty much everything happened, including the lectures, meals, worship, meetings and other activities. It proved a favourite spot on many occasions due to some of the unbelievable stormy weather conditions we endured during our stay.

Anyway I’ll stop talking about the place and fill you in on what I actually got up to! So (apart from spending hour upon hour at the creek), we did lots of stargazing as the clear skies in the Aussie Bush made it possible to see more stars than you could wave a didgeridoo at – it was breath-takingly beautiful each night. We took part in various walks around the area, through woods, alongside rivers and up rocky hills. We were lucky enough to have a huge bonfire every night, and with an unending supply of marshmallows and sticks…well, I’ll let you figure that out.

On Saturday the 13 ^th we all took a trip to ‘the gorge’. The route to our destination included a good twenty minutes worth of off-roading, and I’ll admit I haven’t had that much fun in a long time! When we finally got there, we had to make a quick five minute trek down the side of the gorge until we reached a clearing – revealing a gorgeous view of rocks, clear water, cliff-edges and rapids. Spending a few hours there was even more fun than the off-roading; and I feel I need to confess that I did get horribly burnt in the wonderful (but punishing) sunshine, and I’m only just finishing the peeling process a week later (yes mum I know, “I’ll never learn..”) but now it’s turning into a fantastic bronze tan so it’s not all bad news.

Obviously we came into contact with a lot of Australian wildlife, including all sorts of spiders and ants, moths and butterflies, kangaroos and emus, wild cows and bulls, dragonflies and fireflies, and last but not least: (but probably my favourite) paddymelons. I know. It sounds like some type of exotic fruit, but it’s actually a small rodent that can be best described as a cross between a rabbit (in size), a kangaroo (stands on back legs, posture and limbs of a kangaroo) and a rat (grey, furry, long tail). Or for a better idea – just Google it.

Finally, with regard to my camping trip, God has done and unbelievable amount of amazing, epic, pretty much life-changing (do I use that phrase too much?) stuff. From day one, His presence was really obvious, and it continued to be that way for the whole two weeks. As always, I’m just going to hit the tip of the iceberg, so if you’d like to know any more, just get in contact and we’ll talk some more!

Wow, where do I start? Our first week of lectures in the Bush were given to us by a great guy called Mark Parker, an eccentric, authoritative, kind, focused, spirit-lead New Zealander. He challenged us to think about the Lordship of Christ and what the meant for practical Christian living. He focused a lot on consistency – living for God and worshipping Him all the time, in every circumstance, no matter what’s going on or how we ‘feel’. We don’t make Jesus Lord, we believe He is Lord, and will always be worthy of worship.

The second week of lectures were taken by our school leaders, each one gave their testimony and spoke on a subject they felt passionate about. This was great as it helped us to get to know our leaders a whole lot more, and they’re all very wise and in-tune with the Spirit of God, which means we were able to learn a lot through them.

God did a lot outside of the lectures too. I’ll quickly tell you about a few of them. On the first Thursday we all took a trip to the top of the nearest hill, with the objective to hear God speak to us. I climbed to the top of a rock overlooking Hidden Valley, and just asked God to speak to me. I was totally blown away by what He said to me – without going into specifics, He freed me from a few things from my past and gave me a couple of new promises which filled me with hope then I felt pushed to make a symbolic commitment to what had happened, which felt amazing.

The following Friday was a day where Mark Parker lead us in a 13 hour ministry time. Yes, I did just say 13 hour. It was incredible to worship God, enjoy fellowship, minister to one another, and hear from God personally. It was during that ministry time I felt re-commissioned by God into my call to lead and speak. This was something God is still working in me, and I’m loving every moment of it.

One day, we baptised five members of the DTS in the local river (the way it should be!). It was such a testament to the power of God to transform lives, to turn people around from a life filled with rubbish and hopelessness, and give them a future and a purpose, something to live for – a destiny to potentially change the world. Man I love baptisms, if you couldn’t tell.

I could go on about all the different times God spoke to me and to the group, but I’ll leave it at that for now.

I really had an amazing time camping, I’ve never laughed as much, or heard from God as much as I did in those two weeks. As much as I would have loved to stay there for the rest of the DTS – I won’t lie, mattresses, air-conditioned rooms, a local McDonalds, internet, clean clothes, and buildings. It’s good to be back. Oh and thank God I didn’t get bitten by anything! Well, apart from my tent-mate Caleb, but that’s another story.

Prayer Requests

Recovery from a long two weeks of rough sleep and plenty of physical activity
Putting into practise what was learnt from lectures
Continuing to hear from God
Remembering the promises God gave me

Don’t forget, to view photos from my trip, visit my photo album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=176717&id=579773523&l=970dcfe5fd

Filly Mon.

Well it’s a beautiful Saturday evening; there’s a wonderful red sunset, silhouetted palm trees, a cool breeze, and good company. I think I could definitely get used to this! It’s been another fantastic week here at YWAM Reef to Outback, and this week definitely had a sense of significance in terms of the group looking forward into the future of our DTS and where it will be taking us in the near future.

We’ve all done a really good job of settling into a routine here. Everyone feels at home, we know where everything can be found, and who everyone is etc. However as soon as we were told our outreach locations and teams on Tuesday, combined with a 2-week camping trip into the Australian bush starting this weekend, that sense of security and normality was pretty much shattered, and now we are all staring the eventful and somewhat frantic future in the face. Everything’s definitely a changing. But I kind of like it. It’s exciting. And it’s a good reminder that we have lots of work to do in ‘making God known’, as we’ve already done a lot of ‘getting to know God’ over the past month.

A lot of people have been asking me what the point of this camping trip is – assuming that it’s nothing but a holiday. I’m not going to lie, I do intend on having a lot of fun whilst we’re out there, but there is actually a point to it all. I promise?

The DTS will be continuing in the ‘Lecture Phase’ in the outback, it’s pretty similar to how it works here at the base. Well, it’s just that now we have trees instead of walls, soil instead of tiled flooring, logs instead of chairs, guest-kangaroos instead of guest-speakers and unpredictable tropical weather storms instead of cool air conditioning. Why would you have it any other way!?

I don’t know much about the place we’re going, apart from we have no electricity, plenty of hills, rivers that need swimming in, all sorts of wildlife, and a large shed which is where stuff like worship happens. It would also appear that the two weeks of camping have an amazing reputation preceding it. The mixture of amazing natural scenery, incredibly close fellowship, life-changing lectures, spirit led worship, drinking hot chocolate around a bonfire whilst looking at the stars…I can’t wait!

Anyway, a quick update on the week. In lectures we’ve been reading Philemon (which our teacher decided would sound great in a Jamaican accent, rendering the book title ‘filly-mon’), and it’s been incredible. Our lecturer, Jon, walked us through all sorts of bible study techniques, basically teaching us how to: Observe, Interpret, Apply and Proclaim the scripture. My reading of the bible has been totally changed and now I’m really looking forward to get into it a lot more!

With a seamless transition of topic, I have to say goodbye now! We are being kicked out of our internet zone early, which isn’t cool! Well anyway, I wish you all a fantastic two weeks – please fill up my email and facebook inboxes whilst I’m away. I’m missing you all, but trying to pray for you just as much! So take care, and I’ll be in touch in two weeks.

Time to go see if this camping business is quite as fun as everyone is making it out to be.. I’ll let you know!

During the time it’s taken me to write this, the sky…has gone black and we’re now surrounded by a gigantic thunder storm. Man I love it here!

God bless, Matt.

Prayer Requests

Weather
Fellowship
Learning
Fun
Safety