YWAM Townsville… 2009: the year in review
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Monthly Archives: November 2009
Thoughts on Thanksgiving
I’M THANKFUL FOR…godly grandparents who paved the way for my parents–the best I could ask for. I’M THANKFUL FOR…an amazing brother who’s also a great friend. I’M THANKFUL FOR…the most incredible husband imaginable and my very best friend. I’M THANKFUL FOR…a healthy little boy that I grow more in love with daily. I’M THANKFUL FOR…a wonderful family—both the one I was born into and the one I married into.
I’M THANKFUL FOR…friends from all over the world. Some are much older than me, some are much younger… some I’ve known for over 20 years, some I’ve known for a few months. Each relationship is different, and each is so special. They widen my view of humanity, teach me about myself, help me see life from different perspectives, give me glimpses of heaven, and enrich my life.
I’M THANKFUL FOR…my good health and relative ease of life. I’M THANKFUL FOR…a nice place to call home, comfortable furniture, good clothes, and a well-stocked pantry. I’M THANKFUL FOR…a job that I actually like, which gives meaning and purpose to my days. I’M THANKFUL FOR…my American passport and all that US citizenship and all that it entitles me, and my Australian residency and the blessings that come with it.
I’M THANKFUL FOR…being given an education and opportunities that so many of the world’s girls/women only dream about. I’M THANKFUL FOR…the freedom to write, speak, think, vote, act, and worship the way my conscience and conviction leads. I’M THANKFUL FOR…Australia’s health care system and America’s inventiveness, determined pioneering spirit, and diverse variety of arts and entertainment.
I’M THANKFUL FOR…my Christian faith and the hope, joy and peace that it provides. I’M THANKFUL FOR…a God who loves and cares about me personally while also loving and caring about the entire of humanity. I’M THANKFUL FOR…the world-wide church and the fellowship of believers that I can connect and relate to for encouragement, challenge, support, and discipleship.
I’M THANKFUL FOR…my tribe called YWAM, blue skies, and Starbucks grande caramel macchiatos. I’M THANKFUL FOR…music and movies and outings to the beach. I’M THANKFUL FOR…cars and planes and internet banking. I’M THANKFUL FOR…skype and facebook and the world wide web. I’M THANKFUL FOR…Christmas and BBQs and sleep-in Sundays. I’M THANKFUL FOR…chai lattes and hot showers and contact lenses.
(Adriel – Thanksgiving 2009)
On a personal note
Flash forward: Moving house at 8 months pregnant?!
In a month’s time we’ll be moving house! But first, some history… Late last year God began speaking to us about getting a house. We were hazy on the details but we began to pray and seek the Lord about what this meant for us. Though we felt that buying a home in Australia is in His plans for us, we wondered if renting a house would be a good next step for us to aim for, as even that would be a big step of faith for us.
Last month we felt prompted to start seriously looking at houses in our area. Although a couple of them stood out to us as nice places, we still felt like we hadn’t found “it” yet. Right in the midst of our search we found out that the Anglican church that’s a few blocks away from our base was interested in renting their parish house to YWAM. When we went to have a look at it, we immediately knew this was the house we were waiting for.
Although the house is honestly quite ugly from the outside—gasp—it’s perfect for us inside (smile). The lounge room is twice the size as what we’re used to, which will be a huge blessing for us and for others as we continue the ministry of hospitality. The kitchen is also twice the size as our current kitchen, and this one has built-in cupboards and lots of counter space – it’s amazing! Not only that, but we’ll now have a study for Adriel to do some work from home once bubs comes, and a guest room. (And those are addition to our room and the nursery!) There is also a big walk-in storage area off the hallway, a fenced-in back yard that we can gradually fix up and get ready for kids, and a garage with space enough for Ryan to set up a workshop area. And all of this for not much more rent than we’re currently paying for our matchbox apartment. It almost seems too good to be true… and yet we just know we’re blessed!
We plan on moving the first week of December and hope to get settled before Christmas and Baby Booker’s arrival in late January. The church folks are currently recarpeting the bedrooms, repainting the whole inside, and putting in a new gas hot water system and a few other things. We’re more than happy to wait for moving until they finish with those improvements. Again, what a blessing for us and just in time for our growing family.
Falling in love with Baby Booker.
Baby Booker is doing great (as is his momma). He is an active little guy and has checked out in good health at all the various doctors appointments. We’ve nearly settled on a name, and every day it sinks in more and more that this little miracle is going to be calling us “mommy” and “daddy” before we know it! We love him more each day, and pray for his safe and smooth delivery… and that his life will be filled with love, destiny and purpose. His due date is January 29, 2010 and no doubt he’s so excited to see us as well as first-time Grandma and Grandpa McIntosh that will come over to visit from Oregon… and Nan and Pop Booker that will come up from Sydney soon after. Hooray!
[above photos: our precious boy at 30 weeks]
A thousand thanks.
It’s with your love and support and partnership that we persevere in our call in missions. Thank you for joining with us on the journey—our victories are yours.
-Love from the Booker Three
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends and family! x
Please remember us in your prayers… pray for:
1. Lasting fruit from outreach teams in NZ, Australia, and PNG.
2. Strong finish to the DTS (graduation is December 4th).
3. Safety and provision as we move to our new house.
4. Health and development of baby during final stages of pregnancy, and a birth free of complications.
5. Well-being for Adriel as she endures the third trimester of pregnancy in the hot, humid summer months of Townsville!
6. Flourishing and growth in our roles as disciples of Jesus, husband/wife, parents, friends, missionaries, and leaders.
7. Healing for mum (Sylvia) as she continues with chemotherapy.
8. On-going preparations for the 2010 Australia-PNG Ship Tour.
9. Wisdom as we take on the leadership of our staff and leadership development ministry here on base.
Skate boards, ships, and sleeping on floors… it’s outreach time!
Reporting from the field. Our three outreach teams are currently on assignment in New Zealand, outback Australia, and Papua New Guinea. Three very different outreaches and countless wonderful stories of God working through committed and available young people! They are working in villages and cities, with children and the elderly, in high schools and churches, evangelizing on city streets, and encouraging local believers in small country towns. Ryan is leading the NZ outreach team and they are having a great time mobilizing young Kiwis for the mission field. (Adriel has now joined the team as well.) Thanks for your continued prayers for our teams as they’re out serving in the nations.
[photo: Ryan and the NZ outreach team]
Inspiring young people in missions.
Adriel’s just finished teaching Missions on the July DTS a couple of weeks ago here in Townsville, and then again on the October DTS. It’s a huge privilege to be entrusted with teaching on a DTS for a week… and also a huge joy. There’s nothing like having the opportunity to pass on what God’s given us to other young people. Pray that following on from the teaching, many will continue to get revelation of God’s heart for the nations and will hear from Him about what missions and/or missional living will look like outworked in their lives.
Training up leaders for ministry and for life.
We’ve recently been given the privilege of heading up the area of staff and leadership development on base. This means leading our internship for new staff, training up ministry area leaders, helping leaders to grow in pastoral care for staff in their areas, and working to improve our overall staff leadership and development in preparation for this next season of ministry ahead. Please pray for us as we take on the leadership of this area including developing curriculum, teaching, and mentoring and caring for our leaders.
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING ON BASE?
Our first medical ship is on her way.
We’re getting ready to launch the Australia-Papua New Guinea Ship Tour in February of this coming year with YWAM Australia’s new ship: the MV Pacific Link. Advance teams are busy coordinating all over Australia’s eastern seaboard and donations have begun piling in with spectacles, toothbrushes, and other medical supplies for our outreach into PNG. We’re trusting God to see 100,000 Aussie young people reached in 2010 with the message of mission and the vision that they can make a difference in the world as teams tour with the ship all over the east coast of Australia. PNG’s government is welcoming us with open arms to administer health care throughout the nation following on from the Australia portion of the tour. We’re seeing many doctors, nurses, dentists and other professionals come on board to lend a hand. It’s a huge year ahead for us.
YWAM bands return from touring in America.
Our bands “Five Star Streets” and “Saving Sparrow” just returned from touring throughout the US and Canada. They were everywhere from New York to California and countless cities in between. It was a great tour promoting their new CDs: Let Justice Sing and the Saving Sparrow EP. Thousands of dollars were raised for the upcoming Ship Tour and hundreds of young people were reached with the challenge to use their lives to make a difference among the poor and needy. (Find their music on myspace, facebook, itunes, etc. It’s excellent!)
Local skate comp brings the youth of Townsville together.
Our youth ministry—Youth Street—and the local city council recently put on a weekend skate comp and music festival called Against the Grind to commemorate the opening of Townsville’s newest skate park. This was a council-funded event… but YWAM-organized and run. We were able to bring in an all-Christian band line-up to play over the 2-day festival, as well as bring in a couple of well-known Christian pro-skaters. The event also featured the “To Write Love On Her Arms” campaign and a strong positive message for the young people of our city. Hundreds of youth turned up to enjoy the weekend, and many were touched by seeing so many young YWAMers living with purpose under God. We are believing for fruit that remains from this amazing weekend.
