Sitting at McDonalds doesn't make you a Big Mac...

... just as sitting at a church doesn't make you a Christian.

      This is a fact, something that is seen in the bible so many times in so many different ways that it doesn't need to be explained.  Its something I've come to realize more and more, something that just about everyone that, especially those who have grown up in a Christian house, have to come to a point in their lives and decide, I Will Proclaim the Name of Jesus Christ in Everything I do.  Even when Its awkward or Hard.


      Its crazy that its been 3 weeks since my last blog, time is seriously flying by.  I've been out here about 3 months, and it still feels like the first week.  Every time I get down to my journal I'm finding I don't have enough time to write down all the things that are happening.  Its amazing actually.  But then when it comes time to write one of these, I have no idea where to start.  I'm going to keep it short and sweet... Hopefully.

      So, Starting where I left off.  We got back from EasterFest and had a week at base here in Brisbane with lectures from R.  He's a Canadian who has been doing YWAM for a while.  Him and his wife and 3 young kids are moving to Africa for missions life.  And that's what he came to speak about. Missions.  He was amazing.  I remember when I was about 18 I talked to several people (including my grandma) about how I never wanted to go into missions, R helped to change my view completely. One of the biggest things I came to realize is that Everything God does is to Glorify his name.  Read through the Old Testiment, and the new, its so obvious that everything is about glory to his name.  To sum up what he said "Don't just add Jesus into your life; Let Jesus write the story."  He threw out facts and figures that would amaze the most intelligent person.  One being, 86% of the worlds Muslims  Buddhists, and Hindus have never met a Christian.   I could go on for Pages about the things I learned that week,  it was hard, but so very good.

      After that week, which was non stop, we left for the Pass It On Tour.  Its something that the base has been doing for a year now.  We run (physically run) to these small towns, setup a tent, run youth programs during the day and church service every night.  I got to do some really cool things.  Its a hard and long week because there is always something to be doing and we are sleeping on the ground in churches.  But its a really cool thing to get to do. You never know who you're going to meet or what you'll end up doing for sure.

       The first week we were in a town called Goodiwindi.  My teams main job was After school youth program.  Playing games and generally hanging out.  It was a really good time, but hard.  Lots of kids have no runs around these small towns, so they would be out and around us until midnight or later.  The second town, which was smaller, is called St. George.  I really connected here.  We arrived Saturday night, went to church Sunday.  At one of the churches, one of the guys met a guy (Ross) who ended up taking us Wake boarding.  I had to take a second during the afternoon and praise God.  "Am I really in the middle of a Australian river, wake boarding, with a bunch of friends, on this beautiful day? #MissionsLife"  Ended up playing drums for one of the churches the following Sunday. I played Djembe every night in the tent to the local community.  God was moving, I don't even know how to explain it in the little blog, but God moved in such amazing ways.  We saw lives changing, little kids coming and begging for bibles, healings happening daily (especially with the kids), people just coming to talk for hours.  One of the pastors (Danny, who I played drums with) said that YWAM set a spark in the town.  That's what we needed to hear.  Its hard to know if things like this actually bears fruit, but once you get a positive report, motivation is found again.

      I really missed home today a bit.  We had a 8 hour bus drive, and its easy to let your mind wonder when everyone is napping and you're just sitting with your iPod.  Make me miss the idea of home and friends and family.  But soon as the day dreaming got to a point where I was getting sad, a friend handed me a TimTam... Can life get better? (I asked myself)  I'm sitting in a bus, exploring Australia, with a group of young adults that are now my family, who love Jesus Christ with everything they have, experiencing the adventure of a life time.  Amen.

On to the good stuff.

Jeremy


P.S. I'm sorry this was so confusing! Its late here and I am tired, but I wanted to get the news of what I'm doing!


e-mail: Jcrob33@gmail.com

My bro Ronnie and I.  Inda flag!

Running tech in the Tent.

We had these guys come out Friday night.

Team Inda, went to a cotton farm one day to "volunteer"

Road Trip!

Ronnie and I found Old Boy scout caps. 

Wake board.  Aussie.

Left to right: Iris (leader), me, Caitlin, Julia, Ronnie, Marley, Michael.

Work Hard, Play Hard

     I've come to realize that to the Blog readers Eye, it probably looks like I'm just having a whole lot of fun out here in Australia, and while that is defiantly true, I should make it clear, its hard work.  Two weeks ago we helped at a Festival, EasterFest, which to you Coloradians, its a lot like HeavenFest but its for 3 days.  We were part of the setup team, which meant that we were working 12+ hour days and only sleeping around 5 hours every night for the week leading up to the event.  It was really hard but really fun.  You see, doing things in the name of Christ, will always be enjoyable.  Even when it comes to cleaning the small bathroom that the 300 workers use (Ya, I did that 3 times).  But having the attitude that "we are doing this for the Glory of God" makes it awesome.  Life if what you make it.  And when you make life about Christ, it sure makes life much better.  God wants us to live happy and amazing lives, even when cleaning toilets for hours as a volunteer.
    With that out of the way, I'll tell you more about what I did.  2 weeks living in tents and backpacks sure makes you appreciate the little things, like running water! The first week I already explained a bit of setting up for a festival.  But, then the festival came and we worked for it.  Most jobs were basic security of gates and family tenting area's.  I got a Gift from God, I was (along with 1 other leader) assigned to a group (Sadie Hawkins Tents) that was basically a bunch of youth groups that came together for the festival.  They didn't have enough leaders and asked me to be one.  Praise the Lord! Youth Ministry at its finest hour!  Again, really hard, but really fun.  I didn't know anyone but just stuck around there area and hung with the students.  I think I slept 3 hours each night, staying up late with the kids, and up early to help setup.   It was awesome!  But don't worry, I played hard.  All Access pass to the weekend has its advantages!
    It rained Hard the last night, so hard in fact that everyone just walked around barefoot because you walked in 6 inches of mud everywhere you go... yum. Then I took on the task of pushing out cars and water proofing tents.  Crazy!
     The next week was outreach week where we do outreach and street evangelism in Bryron Bay.  You might have heard of it, its a very popular spot in Australia to visit.  In fact, most the people I met were Not from Aussie.  Canada, Europe, and America.  We spent the week doing different kinds of outreach.  Free BBQ's, live music, Pancakes and Chi, Volleyball tournaments, and the like.  We went to a small town called Nimbin.  Its a little wild in the fact that its where all the hippies landed.  I spent most of the day just praying for the town and talking to some random people.  They are so nice, but they just don't know the love of Jesus Christ.  They tend to offer cookies and brownies... that we can't eat as they're baked in a 'special' way.
      These past few weeks, God has really been saying "Be a Light among the Lights".  It sounds so prideful while I write it, but I'll try to explain this idea better.  I'm one of the oldest students on base, (the other is a girl Jessica who is 24) and I've come to realize I took a natural role as a leader among the students.  I didn't actually want that, I wanted to sit in the background and just soak up all that I could, which I still do at times.  But I found that I have to be the best I can be so that everyone around me will do that same.  Thank you God.

Tents that I stayed in.  This goes on an on an on an on....

Concert.  There were 4 stages.  This is main stage.  This is Sanctus Real. My favorite was Relient K and Lecrae.

Panorama view of Byron Bay Light house.