Newsletter #3 "Things are starting to get rolling!"

Hey everyone!!!

 

So, we have had a lot of opportunity's come up this week, its been really busy and really long.  We feel like we have been here forever, not just two weeks! We are getting out into the community to see what we can do and have already had a lot of events and activities......

 

 We started off the week working on the beginings of a garden at a near-by school.  The school wants to give and sell the produce to needy families, this is a great opportunity and its going to impact people around us. It was raining a bit so it felt just like home...kinda. It was still real warm but working there was great!

 

Then we went to the local university to hang out with people from our international church, had lunch with them.  We got to invite a bunch of new people to church, the women at church cooked food for them which is what gets them to come!

 

So after that all four of us went off to have a devotional time and really put some questions into my head.... what does hope mean to you? What is your hope in the Lord?

Later that night we went got to serve some homeless and hungry people. It was a great time to build relationships with people that are hurting and I got the chance to sit and talk with people and hear some amazing story's abouth their life. 

 

Our next adventure we went to go help serve some more people but praise the Lord but they have to many hands but they said to check in every once in a while to see if they need help if we are in the area. On our way out we met this guy and he invited us to church the next day he was a wonderful guy he told us his story and how the Lord changed his life. So while we were down in town we had lunch at the park and then we hit the beach and had some good individual quality time. So then Sam came to pick us up and he told us we had an opportunity to go on a road trip so when we got back we met with this lady and only two of us went and two of us stayed back to do testimonies and help with youth street.....so Ricky and Shaina went on the road trip, while Michael and I stayed back... (Ricky will share share about the road trip) So for Michael and I we woke up Friday to head to the school to help share the word with the kids. Something that really stands out to me is in Australia schools they have set time aside(1 hour per week) for people to come and do "religious studies" with the kids. Christians luckily are the ones taking advantage of it and use it to build relationships, its a great opportunity. While we were there we did some games,and we talked about the body and how important it is how God created it to work and how each person is beautiful and wonderfully made! It was amazing to be able to speak into over 150 kids lives!! Then comes the big day, Youth street!!! So this week we went to the skate park to hang with a bunch of kids and tell them about youth street and invite them, i got to talk with 2 girls and they plan to come this week so I'm stoked for that!! Then we came back to the base and we had youth street live, it was on purity and relationships! It was amazing to see teens choose God's plan for purity in there life... Then Ricky and Shaina came back !!!---Amanda

Surprise Adventure #1

   

     As if the randomness of our last few weeks hasn’t been enough, we were proposed a trip of excitement that was meant to promote a festival that starts in less than a month. It involved an 800 Km one way road trip, with lots of stops and people meetings along the way. Since we had already made plans to run a seminar for a public school, we decided it best that only 2 of us go on this journey with Coriander the driver, yes like the herb! So Shaina and myself Ricky were the ones to take off! She picked us up around 730pm on Thursday arvo, about an hour and a half late, and decided to tell us that she’s flat broke and we would be busking-playing music on the streets- for gas money. Let the adventure begin. We drove straight through the night, and when I say we, I literally mean Cory, myself and Shaina all driving! I know I could go on for days about the joys and excitement it was to watch Shaina drive, for one a manual shift car, and two on the wrong side of the road, but for times’ sake ill just say, I haven’t laughed so hard on the inside for a while!! We made it up to Brisbane, known commonly as Brizz-vegas around 630 in the morning, 11 hours of driving! We found a nice little patch of grass and slept for a good hour or so. Then were off again, this time to the beach, to get cleaned up! After we were all refreshed, we jetted over to the downtown area of Brizzy, which reminded me a lot of Seattle, except a lot cleaner and more shopping areas. We tried our best at busking, but fell short, made less than 10 dollars, was a very humbling experience. I was on guitar, Shaina on harmonica, and Cory on a box drum. After packing the car back up we were off yet again to a town called Toowoomba where we would go to a benefit concert for flood victims in the Queensland area. Another 100km drive and arrived in Toowoomba. Picked up some sandwich stuff from a local grocery store and had a bite to eat. The concert went well, a few local bands then a mainstream aussie band wrapped it up. Cory had the chance to talk to a lot of people about the upcoming festival and made a lot of contacts. After the show we cruised back south to a place world renown for great surf called Byron Bay, where we spent the night in a parking lot right by the beach, falling asleep right when we arrived, at 430am. We arose to blue skies and sun and went for a morning swim! The next few hours consisted of swimming, combing beaches for shells and rocks, eating true aussie food like meat pies and fried chip sandwiches, and driving another 9 hours back to Mayfield, where we live. All in all it was a 50 hour journey, consisting of 26 hours of driving, less than 5 hours of sleep, a rock concert, barely eating anything, seeing and swimming some of Australia’s nicest beaches, and sharing the gospel with this chic Cory the whole time! I know God has a rhyme and reason for every one of our little adventures, I’m just stoked to see what’s next! ----Ricky

Newsletter #2 "It's getting hot in here!"

     So, we began our travels a week ago now. It seems like is has been much longer, but it hasn't and somehow we seem to be fitting right in. The Hostel we are staying at is super welcoming and a great place to be. We are just getting settled in and checking out Newcastle, or Newie as it is called(apparently everything is shortened in Australia.) It is defiantly a blessing to be here, it is a gorgeous city with a lot of need for God's love. The culture is varied and diverse with many different foreign nationality's. After the first week we have been praying about opportunity's to serve the community and what ministries we undertake.

     This Saturday we volunteered at a christian community outreach event in Karuah, a small town north of Newcastle by about 30 k/m. There were tons of people, and tons of kids. We helped out by setting up a mini-skate area for the kids. It was a blast to see so many Christians loving on the community!We also went to an international church service this Sunday that we will be helping out with, many foreign students that go to a university nearby, many are not Christian but are just seeking community as they are so far from home, we look forward to helping with this service as even just in Newcastle, Australia we have the chance to reach China, Japan, Indonesia, India and the Middle-east from this university's students.

      Another ministry we are excited about is helping a public school with a community garden, where they can grow and sustain a large garden to help provide cheap and healthy produce for the family of their students. Thus, not only improving the kids life by education but by meeting real physical needs like food as well. The school is a public, low income school but the Principal has a huge heart to help these kids in everyway he can.

       We will keep checking out Newie and various other ministry opportunities, there is so much of this city to see and we have barely scratched the surface of the possibilities God has provided for us with this trip. We are so excited to be here and can't wait to see more of what God has planned for our trip. Thank you all once again for the support that got us here. Please continue to pray for us while we seek God's will for our trip.

P.S. Yes, it is quite warm here, even today with a bit of cloud cover and rain it is in the 70's.

Newsletter #1 "Ready for liftoff?"

     Hey there, it’s February and the four of us are gearing up to leave Yelm on Friday for a leadership retreat with Young Life, then were out of the country Sunday, for Newcastle, AU.  We've been preparing testimonies and talks for the youth down under as well as keeping footed pajamas and MC Hammer in mind as we pack and get ready to share God's love and plan of restoration with South Wales. 

     In the midst of packing and saying goodbye' to everyone, God opened the doors to share here more about who He is and remind a few that had forgotten just how much He cares for them, how His unconditional love and desire for them is bigger then their biggest darkest sin. Guys in they're mid twenties break into tears when they found out that they weren't too sinful to be cared about by our Holy God, ones that had walked away after their teens have been encountering a REAL God who really has thoughts, emotions, and  God feelings for his people.

     We are in awe of how He has brought this team together, the mission itself, the finances, and support from so many people.  It has been a blessing to walk in faith and trust Him with what is needed.  We are so thankful to God for each person who has prayed for us, encouraged us, financially partnered with us, and just loved on us as we move out of our normal lives and into the unfamiliar. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s we are up to check out our blog: 

     As of now we have our flights paid for, our visas, and our first month of food, beds, and showers!! We are excited!! We still need around $1800 to have the final two months covered.  If you would like to partner with us even the smallest amount adds up.  To break it down a bit $10 is one persons travel expenses of a week, $40 is our teams travel expenses for a week.  $15 is breakfast, lunch, dinner, a bed, and a shower for one person for a day, $60 is our team eating, sleeping, and showering one day, $420 is supporting our team for a week.  If you would like to partner with us you can send checks made out to any of us to 1201 E Yelm Ave #400, PMB 140 Yelm, WA 98597.

     Thank you for everything you have done to bless us and partner with what God is up to around the world!--- Shaina O'leary