PERTH, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 26: A helicopter tows a large Australian flag past the Perth city skyline prior to the fireworks on the banks of the Swan River as Australia celebrates Australia Day on January 26, 2010 in Perth, Australia. Australia Day is the official national day of Australia and is celebrated annually on January 26 to commemorate the arrival of the First Fleet to Sydney in 1788. PHOTO: Getty Images/Paul Kane 2010 This is our city: Perth Australia.
I think the more work we do here, the more we invest our time into relationships in this city, the more beautiful it becomes.
This is how we celebrated Australia Day. We went down to the river to wait for the fireworks. Just like home in our little town in the US. I was sorta homesick that day for the fireworks that exploded over our heads in the Riverfront park.. for 'our' Independence Day. Don't ask what hand signs are for.. we were in the moment.. taking pictures with our best friend Elisama. (Below with Matt)
That same week we did fundraising in the city with ARMS. Australia Relief and Mercy Services.
ARMS is an amazing ministry at YWAM Perth that picks up where other organizations have left off. Whether its gutter cleaning for the elderly person that is in a wheel chair, or free babysitting for a single mom that needs to go to Chemo-therepy and has no where else to turn.
In the photo I am shaking my 'can' -haha- and collecting loose change at the train station crosswalk.
It was a hot day.. and I got burnt, but it was worth it.
Fundraiser for Kevin and Tama in Island Breeze days before Christmas. Island Breeze is part of the last teams finishing up the year-long campaign in Mexico City, under the YWAM Perth ministry.
This is just a very small side project/fun time, by comparison to their regular performance.
God can avail any nation, tribe, or tongue, and these guys are proof of that.
Their heart, and passion is absolutely beautiful.
Hope your Christmas has been amazing. We have taken a moment to post some photos of our time away from our continuous schedule. It makes me think-- I should post more about our daily structure too. Although it may not look that interesting with desks, computers, etc etc... but look forward to that..
Christmas Eve Movie in the park: Perth has a (free to the public) big screen that'd showed "White Christmas". I was blown away by the way that God used this movie to speak to me about him being with us no matter where we are.. between the plot on screen and being surrounded by friends. (PS. yes that is a bad angle of us, but ya gotta see us sometime eh?)
Christmas Eve Midnight Mass: Yes we went to mass. Yes, just to experience it. I actually liked the serenity and focus of the most of the service. Moment of memory though - Matt and I couldn't keep straight faces when they had a doo-whop band singing Christmas Carols.
Christmas Eve - day: Humid, humbled, and shiny-faced. When you realize that the most sincere
hugs are the sweaty ones in 104' weather. (17% humidity).
Sitting with the Tout Family. (some of our Favorite Aussies)
Christmas lunch (above): The auditorium was turned into the dining room. Eating great food is apart of Christmas all over the world hay? Most of it was donated locally -flowers included- and prepared by the hard working YWAMers (100% volenteer) in the Kitchen. Many just felt privileged to have napkins - a common joke here.
Christmas Stockings (below): If we put 300 people's gifts under a tree it may be a little chaotic. So here at YWAM Perth we have stockings. They are -I'm totally guessing- about 12 inches long by 6 inches wide and get filled progressively through out the month of December but are stuffed Christmas Eve. No one is left behind, and each person has one with their name on it.
What makes me love this place is that 90% of the things in your stocking are a handmade gift and/or handwritten note. It has made me adopt the phrase "Lack of Money is not an excuse to not be generous". A decided favorite by many was a hand made buttons/pins, another one was personalized potted plants.
Why do we do this? Serve and honor one another. We may do ministry with these guys 12 hours a day in the office and on the street. . . BUT we become like a family to one another, being so far from our home cultures, families, and friends. United in the understanding of what we do and why we do it.. ya know?
Homemade Gifts:So Laura (a Canadian-Korean) and I were talking about idea's to make a last-minute gift that was unique and handmade.Origami ornaments -I thought. .... Without hesitation I said to her "do you know how to make cranes?" Yes origami, stereotypically is widely understood by Asians.. but even as I laughed at myself about my impulsion to ask her, she laughed and said "Well its true most of us know origami". The guilty feeling was hammered with- immediately after, soon was washed away by her enthusiasm to make cranes ---that turned out fantastically may I add.
Christmas Eve: Heat, Humidity, and Homesickness. Though the festivities, food, and friendships that feel like family... nothing can replace our real family and subdue the fact that we are just not home for Christmas this year. This was one of those moments... right before we went to the City Christmas Eve.
SKYPING at 2:30am in the Laneway
This is Phillipe from Germany, talking to his parents over his laptop.
Skype is this wonderful -free- program that many of us use to communicate home. So on Christmas Eve and Christmas day people were up until all hours of the morning traversing the time zones and sucking up bandwidth. YWAM memory.. sitting in the lounge where 10-20 people can all be talking out loud into their computer microphones to their families. (Get Skype and we will call you or you can call us.. its great!)
Below: Mike and Matt. One of Matts friends here at the base. Late night video games, and basketball games. Good times..
When in Australia - do as the Aussies do... snags on the beach. (nope no 'shrimp on the barbie' - just sausages, the Aussie cousin to the American hotdog.) Remember to wear sunscreen.
Featured Christian Artist: Digital Artist, and great photographer Justin Matchu. I stumbled onto his site through a YWAMer here. After reading his concept below I was like 'hmmmm..'
"This year our Christmas Series is going to be called “Salvaged”. The Salvaged story is that of a tiny Jewish baby with which God used to crawl into the dumpster of humanity to salvage us all. This was a challenging concept. Relating something as “perfect” as Christmas with something as “messy” as a junkyard. I thought the contrast though lent itself to this idea pretty well. This is the card for the series."
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Ever think of what it looks like to have a Christmas with 300 family members from over 40 nations?. I have seen it... its a bit of work but the heaps of fun makes up for it. Below are just a few pictures of our pre-Christmas season... so far. Hopefully by the next post you can see more festivities and more people.. In the meantime - Merry Christmas!
Annual Carols by Candlelight, hosted in beautiful Hyde Park, by Youth With A Mission, Perth. All those cool kats (our friends and fellow missionaries) in the choir put forth alot of late hours to bring our community together in songs that honored the Christ of Christmas. The locals (including some government officials) really enjoyed it. There was coffee, coke, and snacks for those that watched, clowns for the kids that played, and candles passed out for the singing time after the sun set.
Nations represented in the photo above: Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Peru, Pacific Islands....
Each person representing a different ministry or training school.
Cookies made one night by "Hospitality Ministry" here at the base. They are the ministry that make YWAM feel like home in the practical sence. Holidays, Birthdays, and other events they always pull through to make it special for everyone here. I really really appreciate them.. (and so does my tummy).
These guys are regularly working on the building that YWAM will be moving into...
The AES.... uh, I think that has something to do with art.. haha
These guys are amazingly talented and its awesome to walk in their classroom to see what they are learning.. and how they are redeeming the arts for the nations.
Sitting at dinner with them in the dining room at the YWAM base.
Clean'n up the streets of Perth.
Pile up on Isle 5 (with an Islander on top.)
This was a couple of months ago but I just wanted to show you all the dorky things we do here for times when newbies show up--- now we are spending Christmas with those guys... Discipleship-- its about relationship as well as 'fun investment' time.
Last but not least,...Americanos.
Thank you for your prayers during these holidays.. as it can be a struggle for us so far away from our families, trusting that God will make himself known to them and us in this season.
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Featured Christian Artist: Uh - Johnny Cash. One because this season (acknowledging Christs 1st and second coming in the future) was a good excuse to post this song, and two... because although he was an amazing musician he was not a perfect man. His creativity and relentless vulnerability to his audience reminds me of pieces of Gods Character. Have a laugh with Dad, but when he comes in after being away for a long time... "yay-- Dads home" honor and respect stand guard through a listening ear.
PS. If you know anyone that has looked these lyrics up in the Bible let me know... One of these days I would like to go through and look them up line by line and find the quotes (many are word for word)
