Character Before Calling

Time flies when you're having fun & boy am I having fun!!  It feels like I've been here for months even though the days are already blending together.  This past week was orientation & it was odd trying to comprehend that we weren't heading home after a week of "church camp".  However, this is nothing close to any of my past experiences & luckily it lasts for over 4 more months!

Every morning my buddy Dayne & I have hit up the surf around 5:30am to watch the incredible sunrise over God's creation out on the ocean.  Thanks to jet leg, this time was somewhat reasonable.  We'd then have morning worship & a short lecture at our base, which is held at a local church.  After lunch we'd enjoy free time either back at the beach as a group or cruise around town looking at different shops or getting ice-cream at McDonald's for 50 cents. Everything is horribly expensive & the ice-cream cones are the only real "deal" compared to the states.  Your typical snickers bar here is $3 at the gas station so you can imagine how much it is to eat out.  We'd then have dinner & clean up duties, leaving plenty of time for evening activities around town.  Australia is known for its large skateboarding community, so sometimes we'll go to the local skate park & watch the locals do there thing.

On Friday night we went to a neighboring city called Maloolooba (yes it's that fun to say) & hung out at the beach for a barbecue & volleyball.  On Saturday we went to Noosa & enjoyed a day of community & surfing essentially all day.  I was able to ride a wave in for the first time so that was encouraging & now I can't seem to get enough of the surf!

It's been in the mid 90s all week & I have quickly acquired a mighty sunburn.  There are ants & geckos all over the place & it is fairly common to see wild turkeys when walking down the street.  Transportation is so tricky/freaky with steering wheels on the right, cars driving on the left & passing people on the left when walking.  There are 33 kids on DTS from 18-24yrs & over half are from Europe & Canada.  Often I find myself combining everyone's accents & mannerisms into one which keeps things lively!

This Friday I find out where I will be stationed for my 2 months of outreach. It's crazy to think about buy I'm getting excited to see who will be in my group.  If you could please pray for where God will lead me & that I will continue to seek humility & patients in God.

Cheers mates & I will let you know more about what I'm learning in lectures in my next posts, along with pictures.

1 John 2:6 "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."