I know it’s been a bit long since my last newsletter – I’ll try to fit everything in, without going too long =)
As I write this, I am sitting on a plane on my way to New Zealand – more about that later.
NIKO #1
At the start of September, we went down to Tasmania, where we ran a kids camp and a NIKO (outdoor leadership camp). I was part of the NIKO team. I have helped run 7 NIKOs before, but for the first time, I was actually responsible to lead the camp. There were 7 teenage boys, and 2 teenage girls on the NIKO. It was a stretching experience for me – and I definitely learnt a lot more about teenage boys. But it was a lot of fun too.
PCYM – Lecture Phase
After we got back from Tasmania, we finished up the lecture phase of PCYM with 2 final weeks of teaching. First we had Kevin & Chris Stitt from New Zealand talk to us about Kings Kids International values, and outreach team structures. Then we had Nigel & Jennifer Eades from Sydney. Nigel spoke about evangelism, and Jen about kids at risk.
NIKO #2
The major outreach for PCYM started with another NIKO, this one in South Australia. Most of the participants were students on the DTS which had started the previous week, as well as some local teenagers. Once again, I got to lead the NIKO, and again I was stretched in my leadership, but loved getting to spend some time with the new students and getting to know them better.
JJ & Amy’s Wedding
After finishing NIKO at 10pm on the Thursday night, I was on my way to the airport at 5:30am Friday morning. But it was more than worth the sleep deprivation, because I was on my way to see two of my best friends get married. JJ & Amy were both at YWAM Adelaide when I first joined, but have since moved to New South Wales. I have had the joy of seeing them grow closer to each other, and now get married. It was a beautiful day, and I also got to stay with my family for 2 nights, and catch up with heaps of people at the wedding that I hadn’t seen for a while.
PCYM Outreach
While I was busy socialising, half of the PCYM was at a camp called SAYCO (South Australian Youth Camp Out), a state-wide Uniting Church camp. I have been to SAYCO the last 2 years, and it’s a great opportunity to work with teenagers from across the state, and is a lot of fun. I rejoined the team at SAYCO on Sunday afternoon.
We returned from SAYCO on Monday night in time to farewell Michael, Jordan, Ray & Guanah as they left for their outreach in Papua New Guinea. Michael, Jordan & Ray will be there for 3 weeks. Guanah is going to stay in PNG (her home), and is preparing to get married in March next year. It’s sad to see Guanah go, but at the same time it is exciting to see the new season God is preparing her for.
After having a day off, the rest of the PCYM helped out at the Upside-down Circus, a kids and family outreach event in Northern Adelaide. It was held in Elizabeth, which is known as one of the more disadvantaged areas of Adelaide. The point of the outreach was just to bring awareness to people in the area of the gospel, and to tell them that Jesus came to turn our upside-down world the right way up. Most of the team dressed up as clowns, and helped to provide atmosphere to the event. I had the opportunity to help out with an activity where the kids were asked a few questions, and then told a Bible character that they were like. It was great to see kids getting excited to read the Bible to find out more about the people we were telling them about. What was really exciting for me was when one kid came back the second day to let us know that he had read the story of Gideon overnight, and had decided that he was brave like Gideon.
As I said before, at the moment I am on my way to New Zealand. I am leading a team of 5 (Bec, Taliah, Patrick, Marieta, and myself) in New Zealand for 3 weeks. We will be working with the Kings Kids (YWAM for under 18s) base in Auckland. I’m not sure yet exactly what we’ll be doing – I find all that out tomorrow – but I do know that we’ll be involved with a couple of kids clubs, and probably running a kids program at a YWAM NZ national gathering.
After New Zealand Bec & I are heading home for a few days to celebrate our Grandad’s 80th, Dad’s 50th, and uncle’s 40th birthdays. Then the team meets up with the PNG team and heads out to western SA to work with some churches out there.
Base Stuff
A new DTS (Discipleship Training School) started on September 21st, with 8 students from Australia, South Africa, and the US. This school has a focus on creative arts, and how to apply use arts in missions. They will be heading to Byron Bay then Thailand early next year for their outreach. They are a really great bunch of students, and I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing about their journey through DTS
Things have been a bit up and down on base lately. From a new school starting, to Guanah leaving to go back to PNG, to a couple from Brazil getting visas to come join us at the end of the month, to Harry having to leave the country soon because he was unable to get a visa to stay. But through it all, we are praying that ultimately things will work out to bring God glory. We are still having major issues with getting visas for any overseas staff who are wanting to join us, but we are looking into options that from early next year will make the process a lot simpler.
Personal Stuff
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I have been struggling to find a balance between work and rest in my life while being involved with PCYM. Things haven’t really changed much with this, and leading an outreach team adds new dynamics to the balance, but the team is pretty awesome, and I’m looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in and through us, and also having a lot of fun in the process.
We’ve also had some bad health-related news in the family, so I’ve been processing that a bit. I would appreciate your prayers for me and my family as we work through the news and what it means for us.
I’m looking forward to taking holidays at the end of the year and having a rest before heading into next year. I’m going to be taking on some more responsibility on base next year, and getting involved with our staff training – but more about that next month, because this newsletter is already rather long =)
