Well I'm Dan and I'm off to Australia for a year. ill be working as a missionary in Australia with an organisation called YWAM (youth with a mission) and ill be staffing two discipleship training school and will be using surfing to spread the good news of Jesus Christ
Ok sweet I’m back where I love too be! Really I am as a lot of you would know! Me enjoying writing?? Really? Yeah really! This whole blog thing has really helped me to express my self I enjoy it. I hope you guys are!
So Today was another day of learning. We started your day leaning abut assessments… seriously I wanted to shoot myself… really I was sitting there like “God I’m ready I really am!” We were thrown all this information and all these abbreviations of these stupidly long words. I really found it hard to take all the information in. It was going in through one ear out through the other it was hard… but I really did try! I was constantly fighting my natural instinct to shut down. And I didn’t! for me that’s like Winning The Billabong Pipeline Masters! ( its epic the waves are so big right now! If you get a chance to watch it the link is below! C.J Hoobgood He’s got this! Too easy! http://www.triplecrownofsurfing.com/pipelinemasters/index.html) so yeah it was a big step for me today. Then after morning tea it wasn’t so intense… Praise God. We were learning and discussing Small Groups and how to be a small group leader. I t was cool to learn this because my small groups on my last school kinda failed… so hearing all this stuff really pointed out all the things where I went wrong. For starters I should have actually planed something for my small groups… Now I realise how important it is to plan! That’s a huge thing I keep coming up is PLAN. Because I never have really for anything I just roll with it… so that was a big thing also to know that I do have spiritual Authority and I am appointed by God to LEAD not to just be there…and well yeah.. Read a few pages in the bible… so yeah a lot to learn for sure!
God has been doing a lot off personal stuff in my life right now its pretty intense… it really is when I get it all sorted out ill share what God has done! But a good book to recommend reading is “Wild at Heart” it sick its for guys but women read it too it basically talks about how God made Men and What our rolls are in this world and what it really means to be a MAN its sick I really recommend it whether you married or not its really help you understand some stuff!
Thanks guys for reading its only a short one but its been along day… haha but I’m sure you want a break form all the reading too!
Ok time to write got distracted typical… anyway had a sweet day if I do say so myself. Today we did your teaching assessments and I was teaching people to change the wheel on a car! Was fun really fun. I think things like this is where I really enjoy myself I love doing practical stuff I really I excel at it. I personally thin I did a really good job at teaching today and so did my assessors. And I now what your thinking… here we go now I got to read him go on about how amazing he is… but no I’m saying this because over the past few days I have been really struggling being here and trying to absorb all the information that is being thrown at me. Like I have said on the past few posts I’m really starting to understand the way I learn. And today was just a huge encouragement to me because all the information I have been taken in over the past few days came out today! I was able to teach a small group of people effectively and that is something I wouldn’t have been able to do before. Also God was in everything because I was no where near as nervous as I should have been! Me Speaking in front of people… no chance… well not now!! Ha-ha God is good right!!!
Also today I learnt how to clean paint brushes. Taught by Mr. Zach he did a sweet job Then I learnt how to do stretches which is sick cos there really helpful with surfing! Taught by Miss Faith she did a Stella Job And then learnt how to make welcome cards by good friend Callie Kidwell who has got this teaching thing DOWN!
So yeah was a good day not much to report about it was very practical and I loved that.
One thing, as most of you know iv been pretty down the past few days and a little bit home sick… but I dunno was talking to one of my good friends on skype and yeah I’m feeling so much better we had a bit of a whine together, its just good to know that people are there for you and do actually care about you! Also Was talking to my buddy Rhys LAD! And yeah dude thank you bro your words really encourage me thanks man it meant a lot it really did. So guys really I just want you to take that extra step when you see a friend in need even just giving them a call can lift there sprits. don’t ever think that you calling them that your just being nosey or being annoying because your not people need friends so be that friend to the people who need you!
Christmas soon guys! I have a day off tomorrow so shall give you an update Monday
Please keep praying God is teaching me so much stuff I’m so excited to use my skills for the up and coming school! Its going to be SICK!!!!
Just Want to say think you to all the staff at Ywam Tribe to Tribe you guys have been such a blessing to my thanks for all the help and support you have given me and the encouragements have really given me such confidents in myself so i just wan to say think you the next week is going to be tough but iv got this!
Hey everyone! Just another day of learning. today has been really sweet when I walked to class this morning I just had my ipod on and was praying, one thing I asked God was that maybe he could some how make this day not so Intense! Because my head was still hurting from the day before… So he did!
So yea the things we did today weren’t new to me so I didn’t have to take in as much because most of it was already there. We were basically doing all of the paper work for our teaching session tomorrow. So the things we went through were risk assessments, doing a lesson plan and structuring our time. It’s cool because when I was studying engineering we did so many risk assessments! They are always a pain in the neck (if you have done them before you know what I mean..) but there pretty straight forward when you have done a few before. Planning a teaching program was really fun because I’m teaching people how to change a tyre ( tire for Americans )on a car so that’s something that’s practical and I love doing stuff like that! Surprising really as my Dad drilled it into me so much! Love you dad! No but seriously Dad thank you for teaching me all tho’s things and it shows even though you thought I wasn’t listening I really was! So yeah teaching something that you love doing is really fun. I’m actually really excited to do this tomorrow.
Organisation is a huge thing for this task, Its something I’m not very good at but as one person said to me… “you have to be organised to lead a team on outreach…” so that gave me a kick up the backside to get my self sorted! So this has been really cool I’m learning it! Putting things in order, organising my time I’m getting there!
If I was to say the main things that I have learnt today… Planning! I don’t think I realised how important it is to plan. I mean I have always just rolled with things… and I don’t see that as a bad thing depends on the situation. But there has been times where I have had time to plan but have chose not to… which I see now is foolish because what ever it was I could have planned for would have been so much better and I would have covered so much more. Also people would have found it easier to learn because I wouldn’t be jumping all over the place… that’s what happens when you wing it you jump around.
I got a big day tomorrow! So I’m gonging to go practice taking a tyre on and off a car… and time my self its like being in a pit crew… so yeah please pray that everything goes well and that God helps me out.
Hear we go again another blog entry! So yeah today well… just a little overwhelming but that’s good right? Out of my comfort zone again (right where God wants me.)
Today we focused on Individual learning or 1 on 1 training. It was sweet we learnt really how to plan, do and review a 1 on 1. This is actually a hard one for me to write about. Because I have already done a school. I could see all the places where I went wrong or things i have missed out on doing. so hearing this stuff has hit me pretty hard. But I see that as good because now I can learn from the my past decisions so it give’s me more determination to actually Change because I can see how my actions and how I act in these 1 on 1 situations can really effect the student I am mentioning. I didn’t realise how important it was to plan a 1 on 1’s! I mean so many times I would be like so….. And the student would look at me with a blank face… (for all who have done these you know what I’m talking about!) it not like I wasn’t taught this stuff I think I kinda just took it for granted that yeah don’t worry things will be fine… so it was cool to have that plan thing refreshed in my mind!
I Guess the one thing I struggled with was keeping the conversation on track and talking about the actual topic that they have been learning about. not talking about how they hate there room mate… so we actually did some “practice” 1 on 1’s that was very interesting! I had this guy who just gave me such a hard time… he was the student and I was trying to find the learning gap and then do an action plan on how I could help him fill that Gap and help him turn to God for the answers and not to seek me for them. It was really cool to hear that our student's aren’t meant to rely on ME for all there problems. I say that because I wont always be there in there life but God will and that’s who we want them to rely on!
That’s huge for me because the past 3 days if I didn’t have God man I would have crashed and burned. I’m still struggling being here… I feel like I’m in a huge spiritual battle right now. The enemy wants me to RUN because he Knows that if I'm hear learning this stuff I’m going to be a huge threat to his kingdom! I MEAN I'M BEING EQUIPPED TO EQUIP PEOPLE TO FIGHT AGAINST HIM OF COURSE HE'S GOING TO HATE ME!! So I’m stoked that me being here and actually learning this stuff is getting up Satan’s nose!!! Sweet huh? So yeah I know how important it is to have God as your Rock, your firm foundation because I would have crumbled if I didn’t have God to turn to when things get heavy. The past 3 days when ever I’m on my own, I’m with God just chatting and telling him my problems and iv never had so much joy.
So back on topic… yeah Learning how to do 1 on 1’s is sweet because I want to be able to serve my students as much as possible! So were going to be doing that every day I think? Well alot anyway way.
So yeah that’s it I have learnt a lot today it been a bit overwhelming alot of information to take in. but I know that why I’m hear because I don’t know most of this stuff… And God want’s me to know it so I can serve him as a leader in YWAM!
so thank you guys for all the prayers and support you really are such an encouragement to me! I love you all
shout out to P MAC Thanks for reading Bro!
Prayer points
protection against the enemy
that God will give me a heart for Learning and also this place
That God reviles him self to me on such a new level!
Also the students are going on outreach Saturday and they have learnt so much so just pray that God will blow there minds!
Hey guys, Just keeping you posted on what I’m really learning on this course. Today we were learning about Learning Styles. it was really sweet Learning different ways that people learn. auditory, visual and Kinaesthetic this was sweet because i got to find out how learnt stuff. i found out that I’m very very Kinaesthetic. this really opened my eyes allot to the way i react to "school" The first day I got to Newcastle I was very shall we say scared? I say that because I didn’t know what to expect all I knew was that there's going to be allot of work... so I freaked out. when we turned up for lectures I instantly set my self up to fail. I was worried about the amount of homework, Learning so much in a small space of time (I thought I wouldn't take anything in) and also just not passing the course... all these things stacked up on me over the day. I really isolated myself, shut down and really wanted to go home... But that night I spent allot of time with God just talking telling him how I feel. After Sharing with the Big Man upstairs he really gave me allot of peace that I am here because he knows I need to learn this stuff because I don’t know it... Also because God put me here he knows that I can handle it!!!! But I was still worried a little bit you know what I mean? Also Skyped my Dad he gave me so much Wisdom on so much stuff Related to this and not related to this so just want to say thanks Dad. love you!
So today was soooooooo good! The main thing that hit me today was when we were talking about pushing students out of comfort zones and that being out of your comfort zone is where you learn the most! that was sick but also we talked about the natural Human reaction is when we get out of our comfort zones. for example there's the people who get aggressive, disruptive and are very outward in the way they express them self in uncomfortable situations and then there's the people who express it inwardly (ME) Shut down, isolate them self’s, Go quiet and Want/do Run away... But that was sick because 1. I knew I wasn’t the only one. 2 The teachers of this course know exactly what I’m going through and are able to help me get through this! sweet huh? Then after going through that I had a sweet revelation of how I can actually use this to help the students that ill be teaching in the future. Because I can relate to them if they are going through what iv already been/dealing with. I also learnt that all of this ISNT A BAD THING Because its just the way we are! its the way we learn, its the way God made us. Now going back the fact I'm very Kinaesthetic means that i learn by doing stuff! And that’s not my fault so when i was put into the class room again I freaked out because I instantly thought oh no here we go again... I’m gona be sitting and writing for hours on end... which I don’t do well doing. but Because were lenring basically how to teach... and how to cater for all types of learning, actually Learning this stuff my type of leering is being catered for so it FUN! Now I can take all of this and when I go back to the sunny coast getting ready to staff the January school I can now relate to my students and cater for there way for learning. Also know how to find out how they learning and how I can help them! its so sweet! I’m super excited about the stuff I’m gona learn! while I was going through a rough time last night talking to God I was praying that he would actually give me a heart for this place and what I’m lenring... Can't you tell... He has already answered my PRAYER!
For the next 8 days I will be bloging everyday wont always be along one but I really want you guys to know what I’m leering its exciting stuff :)
Its this time of the year again!! HAPPY THANKS GIVING!! Well for tho’s who are American for the others happy 27th of November. Anyway to the serious stuff. Last week was PRAYER WEEK! Exciting stuff. As always prayer week is always a much anticipated week. God does a lot of healing this week physically and spiritually! So I’m just gona share some story’s because that’s all I can really do for this. so hope they inspire you to have faith and trust in God that he does listen to us and he does respond to our prayers and he knows our hearts.
So I had a prayers slot between 1am - 3am but all tighter I must have had around 16hrs of sleep all week just little naps here and there you know… but its was awesome because God completely gave me strength! I was very rarely tired. I mean my Body was exhausted aching and weak but mentally and spiritually I was completely fine! It was something I prayed for every day that God would give me strength to pray through the night and he did! So saying that the first night we prayed for a lot Healing and we had some! We prayed for Corey that day he fell over and twisted his ankle. So we prayed for him and god answered he was walking around jumping up and down was so sick so that really got us pumped to keep praying for more! So we kept praying all night for different people, I ended up praying for Dylan and we prayed all night…. For 2 till 7 in the morning… we were praying for his back and we just wrestled with God al night. But you know he didn’t get healed and I don’t know why I guess its just one of tho’s things where God is painting on such a bigger canvas. That’s were we just gota trust in God because he knows what he’s doing. The way I see it is that God could have healed him there and then and 4 of us would have been really encouraged and stoked. Or Gods gona heal him in the future where hundreds of people will see his story and be saved from seeing God do a miracle. So I think one thing I had to get my head around was that God is so much bigger that what we could ever comprehend… he really is looking at things from a different perspective. Which really comforts me knowing that God has such a bigger plan for my life something bigger that I could ever plan. So rest easy folks your in for one sick ride if your walking in true faith with the creator of this universe! But we did pray for another Girl and her back did get healed so Gods good right! But I’m gona post a link to Claude’s Blog because some exciting stuff happened to her over prayer week so it would be cool to actually ready her Blog to see the students perspective of things so be sure to comment on her Blog will be super encouraging for her! So read her Story it will really show you what were doing out here its sweet.
So on a new topic! This week was EVANGELISM WEEK!! Its been a tiring 2 weeks as you can tell. This week Ryan the base director spoke on evangelism, he’s such a good speaker and gets you pumps to share the good news to people. So basically the the whole week is just go out and evangelise. The week was sweet we did a lot of stuff pushing the students to think outside the box and to serve the community so it was an eventful week.
So that has been my week is been super intense but so fun! Just a little update on what I’m doing next. This school goes on outreach in 3 weeks!! And I wont be going with them… sad times. Its because I’m staying back to staff the January school! So in 2 weeks I have to so a Leadership training school for 2 weeks which is a accredited course so I get my cert 4 leadership thing it legit! But its gona cost me a bit of money so I don’t know how you guys are doing financially with Christmas coming up and stuff but I’m struggling a little bit to get some money together to fly down to Newcastle (near Sydney) to go do this course. So if you can and you feel God calling you to some money or this would be awesome would really help me out to get more skills and to be more effective in discipleship so ill leave you to pray about it. If you do feel led and you can get hold of my parents they will sort things out ( love you mum and dad ) so thank you guys for everything you doing to help me out here. You guys are just as much apart of this whole thing as I am. Because I couldn’t do it with out your prayers and money! So God bless you, have a good Thanks giving please keep praying for me and the students! Pray for Matt and Claire as there in New Zealand right now sorting things out and getting ready for some awesome travelling, yeah so Thank you guys once again and ill keep you posted on what happens next week!
Would love to hear from you guys who are reading so drop me an email because I would love to chat to you guys!!!
So yet another blog post! Hope everyone is doing well just gona give you an update on what’s happened this week its pretty exciting not gona lie well its been all right ill let you guys judge. This week we had a couple come in and teach on relationships, Jono and Naomi there part of Christian surfers Coolum witch is just up the road, they challenged us quite abit and the students definitely made them think about how they act towards one another and how there gona build up there character and stuff. It was cool to see the guys really come together this week as brothers. Jono had a chat to just the guys about guy stuff…. It was sick as a house were all staying accountable and looking after each other its sweet! Been chatting to Joel this week its been so sweet to be apart of what God is doing in his life. God is doing a lot on his heart right now and challenging him in ways he has never been challenged before. This guy has such a good heart! He’s so caring and wants to help people in any way he can I’m stoked. Im just saying this because I dunno its cool to just reflect on what I’m doing here because for so long I just felt like I wasn’t really doing much and I wasn’t really making much of an impact on these guys. But the last 2 days iv taken time to take a step back and take a look at my one on one’s and look at what they were like before the school and seeing them now is well awesome. I take a look at Corey and yeah that guy God has really given him a lot of leadership potential and its been sweet to see him struggle with that responsibility and now starting to really step out in that role and yeah its cool! Also A.J man that kid is such and inspiration! The DTS hasn’t been the smoothest for him but man God is really taking advantage of that! Because when things haven’t gone to well or the house gets a little tough to be in. He just turns to God and just bounces back from everything its soo cool you can just tell God is really pushing him to trust in him and not to put all his trust in the world and people!. Also Nick man that guy has been trough some stuff and yeah when he first came here he didn’t really want to be here and now he’s a bible reading machine! He really wants to just study God and to know what God has in store for him its cool because as well as just reading the bible he’s really trying to get that relationship with God down. So yeah I’m stoked about my student’s I’m finally seeing how God is using me to impact there lives so please keep praying for them there being pushed so much and I cant wait to see what God does with them on outreach!
We went to Fraiser Island this weekend and yeah wow it’s a tough week! Its sweet because we get to do off roading and camp and visit some kick ass lakes. But yeah because we have so many people and so much camping stuff the trucks are really heavy.
So heavy truck + Sand = Stuck we got stuck a lot!
But how ever hard Fraser gets sometimes beging stuck in a truck with the same people for 2 days you really get some Bondage! Its sweet how close you get with people in tho’s situations! Also to top it off on the way back we had to drive back to the sunny coast which is 2 hours away in our vans and yeah our van broke down 10mins out of Fraser and we were in the middle of no where……. There was 5 of us and we had to wait for the pick p truck and wiat for the outher bus to go home and then pick us back up so we were there for a long time….. Like 5hours…. But it was the best 5 hours of the whole weekend!! Me, Amanda, Claudy, Kim and Jonathan were just chilling we got so tight! then we ordered a pizza and then put all the sleeping bags on the floor and just looked at the stars for so long was EPIC! You cant make moments like tho’s! So that was my epic week this week I feel is gona be even better! Its prayer week so were doing more or less 24/5 prayer we have teams and take shifts of going to the church and praying and have ministry times its sweet God does a lot of heart changing on this week so EXPECT BIG STUFF! Ill let you guys know how it goes and what cool stuff is gona happen! Iv got the 1am - 3am prayer slot so sweet!!!Prayer stuff just keep pryaing for the same stuff but pray for prayer week that God does a lot this week!Also I need some pray for guidance about some stuff so if you could pray for that that would be sweet!I just want to say thank you to all of you guys who are supporting me finically and in prayer because with out you guys I wouldn’t be here helping these students turn there life’s to God and help them fins there foundations in Christ all of you guys are just as much apart of this as me you guys are such a blessing to me and to the student. God is truly going to bless you!! Please keep praying and keep pushing into God he knows exatly where all of you are at and he want you guys just to keep asking him to help you guys out and ask him to show you something you have never seen before!! Cos he will supprise you! Hey Claudy
