In exactly 3 weeks, I will be departing these here Grand Rapids for the magical Land Down Under. It took many grand schemes and a lot of planning to settle on this adventure, and now there is nothing left to do but wait in eager anticipation. I really don't know much about where I'm going or what I'll be doing, and those of you who know me well know that this is a real struggle for me. But that's all part of the adventure. I went back and forth between many of the endless options I came up with for this summer for quite awhile. After spending all of last summer in Allendale, I knew that I needed to get away...as far away as possible. And I have always had a random fascination with Australia...it's my place. You know, that one place that you're just dying to visit, someway somehow.
I looked into studying abroad through Grand Valley, and it turns out there was a 5-week Public Administration (that's my major) trip to Australia (that's my place) last summer. Duh! But God oh-so-abruptly reminded me, once again, that He is, in fact, in control, and my plan is useless. Luckily for me, God's plan is always better. The Australia trip was changed to a London trip for summer 2011. As much as I would love to go to Europe or on any of the other study abroad trips, nothing stood out to me, and through a really random series of events that only God could orchestrate, I landed on this idea - Mission Building for YWAM in the one and only - Australia!
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the awesomeness that is YWAM, let me let Wikipedia explain:
Youth With A Mission (YWAM, generally pronounced as "y-wam") is an international, inter-denominational, non-profit Christian missionary organization. Founded by Loren Cunningham in 1960, YWAM's stated purpose is to "know God and to make Him known." In the nearly 50 years since its inception, YWAM's activities have expanded from youth-focused short term evangelistic missionary journeys to include educational training, church planting, business as mission, and relief and development services. Today, YWAM involves people of every age group. YWAM now includes people from over 150 countries and a large number of Christian denominations, with over half of the organization's staff coming from "non-western" countries. YWAM currently has over 16,049 full-time volunteer workers in nearly 1,100 operating locations in 171 nations and trains 25,000 short-term missions volunteers annually.
Like I said...awesomeness.
There are quite a few YWAM bases in Australia, but I kept coming back to the Newcastle base for a few obvious reasons. They have a huge youth group for Newcastle kids on Saturdays, which includes a music team. They are about 10 minutes from the beach. All of my food and housing is provided in exchange for my volunteer work.
Kids, music, beach, and about a third of the cost of study abroad for almost twice the length of time. Yes, please.
I didn't want to jump into any commitments, like I so often do, so I waited and prayed about it. Little things kept falling into place, and I felt more and more sure that this is how I wanted to spend my summer. But the moment that I absolutely knew that this was what I was supposed to do was the moment I realized that I am completely terrified to actually do it. That's when I knew that this was more than a vacation or another selfish way to blow my money. Don't get me wrong, this isn't exactly a noble, selfless sacrifice...I'm spending my summer in this place:
But I am flying across the world by myself to a foreign place, and I don't really know where I'm going or what I'll be doing. I have no other choice than to put all of my faith and trust in God and just watch His plan unfold. I want to go on this trip because I want to be completely removed from my comfortable, familiar environment. I want to grow closer to God and mature in my faith. I want to develop my relationship with God in a new place, a new community. I want to be taken outside of my comfort zone and walk hand in hand with God in everything that I do because His hand is the only one that I know I can trust. I want to be scared. I want to be stretched. I want to grow. I want to experience the beauty of God's creation in a different culture and a different environment. And I want to have fun and build irreplaceable, Christ-centered relationships. I want to have an experience that will change me as a person, and I don't doubt that will happen regardless of how this trip turns out.
Most of all, I want what God wants. And as much as I have tried to figure out exactly what that is, I will never know until I just let it happen. So this is me...letting it happen. I have given up on planning and predicting and hoping and wishing. Here's to giving it all up to God...watch out Australia, here I come!
P.S. A few words of wisdom from the music that warms my soul:
"I'll never second guess the little voice I heard. It's just a whisper that sounded like a scream. I ain't never felt so free!" - Valley of Tomorrow, Needtobreathe
-Ray (of Sunshine)
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