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.
