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dunked :) 

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BAPTISM & WEEK 8/9

On week 8 our topic was authority and submission, which is a challenging concept. It’s an attitude of respect towards other especially those in authority. The Bible says that everyone in position’s of authority have been placed there by God. Now I know what everyone is thinking because that’s exactly what my whole class was. “What about the ungodly or bad people in authority?” or “What about the people in authority who abuse it?” This is where a KEY lesson of this week came in. Submission is not always agreeing or always obeying, its a HEART ATTITUDE. So to submit in your heart is to respect people enough to not talk badly about them or ridicule them. It doesn't mean you don’t or can’t have an opinion, you can and you can choose to agree or disagree but it’s a matter of respecting the authority they have been given. Also God doesn't put bad people in authority to do bad things. He loves us so he gives us choices, at times those in authority make bad choices but God can still make good from every situation. A bit of a brain twisting week but one I felt I needed to hear and learn about! By the end of the week I felt stretched in new ways to respect not only leaders but everyone in my life. :) 

WEEK 9 

EVANGELISM AND SPIRTUAL WARFARE

For week 9 we learnt about evangelism and spiritual warfare! it was a cool topic to get into. Sharing beliefs can at times be a touchy subject but the main point is that I am not responsible for how people respond to me and I know what I’ve experienced or learnt in my faith! Through out the week we also learnt about baptism a bit. My brain started stirring. I was baptized when I was a baby but I didn’t have a clue what it meant. Even when I was confirmed I think it never sunk in the commitment I was making. Baptism is a huge commitment like marriage. It is a symbol that from now on I will always choose Jesus. That in the way I live I will represent him. I felt that God was saying I should get re-baptized to show others but most importantly myself that I trust God with everything. So I talked to my parents and my school leader and on March 17th 2017 I was baptized in the ocean. :) It was an amazing experience and a decision I am soo happy to have made! 

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WEEK 6/7

Hey Everyone!!

WEEK 6:

Things have been so great down under! This past week was Week 6 of Lectures. Absolutely CRAZY to think were already half way through lectures. Time has been flying to say the least. The theme for this past week was Missions. Going into the week I’m not too sure what I was expecting. Nothing insane though really, it was probably going to be a chill week hearing about how Jesus did missions on earth and how were called to do the same. Stuff like that. MAN was I wrong. This past week has been one of the biggest transformational weeks of my life and with my walk with God.

Our Speaker was David Hamilton. David plays a fairly big role in YWAM. He has been to over 300 bases around the world, along with co-writing books with the founder of YWAM and many more things. The main message David portrayed to us week was that God tells us too look at what we have in our hand and use it. This statement was rooted in the story of Moses. Moses was a man who God called to lead a nation out of slavery. Moses was afraid and didn’t know how to do such a ting. God simply told him to look at what was in his hand that God gave him and that since God gave it to him he would help him use it. (summerized version). We spent time over the week then looking at what god had placed in our own hands, i.e talents, passions ect. For myself I the number one thing that came to mind was my love for kids. If you know me you know the passion for children. I always knew that I wanted to eventually work with kids but never in what context. God is so direct though let me tell you. When he has a plan for you he will make sure to tell you when the timing is right, apparently this week was right. During one of the lectures David began to speak about the preschools YWAM runs. The basis of the schools is to introduce foundational things of God to kids at a young age to help shape who they are as they Grow up. I knew it at that moment where I was meant to be. Im soooooooo excited to say that I’m planning on being a preschool teacher one day! I felt called to this through my passion for kids along side my passion for God to be known. With finally hearing the calling on my life I found myself in a place of some fear. Though having an idea of what the future may look like is awesome and exciting, i found myself slightly overwhelmed. in this I learnt a key lesson. I need to put all trust in God. This is his plan for my life not mine. His intentions for me are good and good only. Even though I now have an idea of the future I need to trust him with today and tomorrow, one step at a time. :) Gods cool.

WEEK 7:

FATHER HEART OF GOD.

Wow. Talk about a heavy week. This week was all about identity and security, and where we find those things. Our speaker was an energetic man named Cliff Werner, who’m is an active staff member on base in Perth. He brought excitement to the topic. Through out the week we focused on many foundational characteristics of God that shape how he is a father to us. Some of these main things are his loving approach, his welcoming arms, his endless forgivnesss and the list goes on. Though God is obviously not our physical fathers or parents specifically he shapes that of a spiritual father. As we grow up due to different areas of pain that we may experience our view of God in a relational, authority or parental position can control how we interact with and view him. This can include things like lacking in trusting him, or keeping a distance from getting to know more about him, feeling the need to preform, fear that he is easily angered, rejection, failure etc… So the main application of this week was to bring healing to areas of pain in order to feel closer to God. Since he is a father he says in the bible that he wants to heal us in painful areas of our lives or that others have failed to represent him to us. He brings healing in order to be able to draw us closer to him, so we can keep growing in relationship with him. By the end of the week I feel like a brand new person in many ways. I feel more and more confident in my relationship with God and how I interact with him. I can’t help smiling thinking about the amazing work he’s done in my heart. :) yaaaayy Jesus.

Week 8 is just wrapping up so another update will on the way soon :) 

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LECTURES  GROWTH OUTREACH

HEEEEEEY PEOPLE

Long time not talk ... sorry about that, I’m working on this whole update blog thing. The past 2-3ish weeks have been UNREAL! Week 3 was Repentance and Forgivness. It was a really cool week where we learnt about how our call to repentance of our sins is connected to how God wants to walk in a closer intimacy with us. Week 4 was Intercession and Worship. We had an incredible speaker from New Zealand fly in to talk to us about this topic. Throughout the week we learnt about how much God speaks to us through prayer and how we can also intercede for others through prayer. Another major focus of week 4 was laying everything we had down at the cross. We did this because God laid everything he had at the cross which was his son, therefore we are called to do the same. This past week (Week #5) was on The Fear of The Lord, our speaker was Shirley Brownhill the woman who pioneered YWAM Perth. Each day during lectures we dove into what the bible had to say about fearing the Lord. Before this past week if you asked me what fearing the Lord meant or how people do that I wouldn't have the slightest clue... coming out of this week I still wouldn't say I have a solid definition but for sure a better understanding. :) 

Over the past few weeks I have been challenged new and amazing ways, particularly on how I view myself. From struggles in the past as I arrived in Perth I would describe my self as someone who believed a lot of lies and had a pretty broken idea of what true beauty is. Over the past month my view of myself and my confidence has been completely reshaped. I found myself in a position where I realized how uncomfortable I was in my own skin. I felt called to give up makeup for two weeks. By taking a little extra time out of my morning to spend with God and learn how to be comfortable in myself. Over this time I feel brand new. I have never felt so comfortable with who I am and also confidant in who I was created to be. 

NOW LAST BUT NOT LEAST...OUTREACH!! So as some of you may know that I am going to Manila in the Philippines. I found this out a few months ago. As a whole base YWAM Perth does this thing called Mega Cities. Through Mega Cities the base takes a full year to send missionaries to a specific city they feel God wants to transform. For 2017 their focus is on Manila, so the majority of teams head there for out reach. To be clear Out reach is a time of evangelism and sharing who God is to people who may have never heard of him before. For the YPDTS this year we had the opportunity to go to Nepal if we felt called there. After much prayer the teams were announced to us on friday! Im super super excited to say that i will be going to the Philippines AND Nepal for my outreach! I am on a team with 6 other students and two leaders! Im super excited to see what God has in store for us! 

Well I guess thats all for now :) Thanks for all the love, prayers and support! hopefully I’ll be back with an update a lot more often 

Alison :)

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MONTH 1 VIDEOOOOOOOOOOO

A little peak into what life has been looking like here over the past month! I have amazing new friends who I’ve already had some sick adventures with. Can’t wait for whats to come. ( more vids coming soon ) :)

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WEEK #2

Heeeellloooo!! Week two is officially over and to say the least my time in Perth has already been INCREDIBLE. It's been full of tim tams, lectures, beach days, target runs, sunscreen, Jesus, new friendships, and LOTS of learning. Our first week of lectures was on 'Hearing Gods Voice'. Our school leader spoke on it and it was really sweet learning about how we can hear Gods voice more clearly and about how much he wants to talk to us. Week two's lecture was on 'The Nature And Character Of God'. We had a speaker fly in to teach us about this broad topic. We started by diving into what the bible says about who God is, what God says about who he is, and how we can learn about who God is through Jesus. It was amazing to learn about how big God truly is and how small we are. When everything was laid out in front of us my head throbbed to say the least. One of my favourite quotes was "If the universe was created to be a home for humans, it's a little oversized, but if it was created to reflect the glory of God, it's about the right size." - Louie Giglio As the week progressed we started to look also into the importance of the trinity. Another brain throbber in my opinion. By the end of the week I think I can speak for my whole class that we were all in awe of how forgiving, patient, huge, faithful and LOVING our God is. God had been challenging in new ways to love who he created me to be along with finding extra opportunities to have a quiet time with Him. PRAYERS: > I have been working on believing the truth of how beautifully God created me to be so prayer for me as I continue to walk through that and learn to love who I am in a new way. > For myself and my whole class as we process what we are taking in.

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Hey everyone!! Alison here coming from Perth, Australia! I safely arrived in Perth early Friday morning. So far I am loving every bit of it!! Though the plane rides were long there was no bumps in the road on the way down here. The past few days have been full of new friends, exploring the city and a lot of sunshine!! It's Wednesday today and that means our first official day of classes and I am stoked for what's in store!! We got all of our books and such yesterday and am now eager to jump into them. I am living in a house with 24+ other woman ( not as terrifying as it may sound ) and have made my space my own. I am appreciating everyone's love and prayers, they have been a big help adjusting to this new environment. Looking ahead I am asking for prayer for the things my fellow students and I will be learning over lecture phase. Also, there are a few of our classmates who are still waiting on visas to arrive so if you could pray that, that process may go smoothly and quickly!! Again thank you for all the wishes and love. Alison ❤