Checking in!

So I first have to apologize, although I love the idea at blogging, turns out I’m not as good at keeping up. Matt on the other hand is a rockstar! But today was my first day off in a few weeks so I decided to head down to the city, and I’m currently sitting in a nice air conditioned Starbucks over looking Darling Harbor. Pretty sweet!

One cool story was I went up to a few teenagers at the beach and started telling them about the ship, after an hour I had like 18 teenagers surrounding me. We hit if off I guess. I had a great time just hanging out with them, before I left I spent time telling them they are all significant and challenged them to go change the world!It turns out that I’m not a city boy, now I already knew this about myself, but being here in the city has made me realize all over again, that huge buildings, busy traffic, and people everywhere isn’t necessarily what makes Jason come alive! Haha It makes me realize how much I love my home, Colorado, and the mountains, and single track trails where your not overwhelmed by people but pretty wildflowers and aspen trees. The other thing about cities is they are expensive, everything cost money! The toll road in, the parking, the trains, the shops, movie tickets ($28). It’s just crazy! I say all that to encourage go outside take a walk, breath in fresh air, stop and soak up the mountains! There really is no place like home!

Ok enough with that. I’ll be home soon enough. What have I been up to? A bit of everything, as you know our team is out to promo the ship tour. We orinanally thought that meant going into schools, however the kids have been on holiday, and were having a hard time getting a hold of administration to see if we can come in and talk. We have a few booked but in the mean time we have spent some of our time, going to major malls, beaches, shopping centers, handing out flyers and telling people about the ship. It’s been fun.

We got to check out Hillsong last Sunday, which was really cool. The church is huge, and quite trendy. I was impressed thoguh with how welcome they made our team feel. I got to see the newly married Mason and Katie Shrack, which was awesome. They are helping run the junior high ministry.

I’m doing really well, more than ever I’m so excited about life and what’s in store for me. I’m sure it will all look way different then I think, but over and over our base director Ken and people like Loren Cunningham have challenged us to dream big! I’ve been trying to do that a lot lately and it’s kinda fun! Another thing that I was challenged with from a guy who is the YWAM director here in Australia for Rescue Net, an ministry that goes in 24-48 hours after a disaster, and sets up immediate medical relief. The guy is a hero, he has been all over the world and in the brokenness of the worlds worst disasters, from Iraq, Indonesia, Thailand, Katrina, and just recently Haiti. Our team had the amazing opportunity to hear from Mark, as he arrived back home to Ausie after his time in Haiti. He explained how broken and devastating Haiti really is. But with tears in his eyes he looked at a group of 11 young people and said these words, “Do what you are called to do and do it well, Do it bloody well cause the world needs you.”

His words have echoed in my head for the last few days as a reminder that life is short, and we don’t know what is in store, but that we all, yes even you reading this blog have the opportunity to make a difference. So to do well what your called to do. Whether that is a teacher, a Mother/Father, business man, bus driver, custodian. We all can impact this world. There is so much more to tell but that gives you a bit to chew on. I appreciate all of you! I miss each of you and hope your doing well!

Jason

Great Aussie Day!

Our team was really fortunate to be in Australia's capitol city, Canberra, for Australia Day!  It reminded me of my favorite memories from Monument's 4th of July parades followed up with fireworks at Jason's house in Palmer Lake.  Classic!  


Anyways, Australian's really have some strong nationalism.  I love the way everyone takes the day off, and celebrates their country.  I'm realizing that this is a very rare thing in the world, as not many countries take a whole day off to celebrate their independence, or even their culture.  Go Australia! Go America!

I heard Jason's team went down to Sydney Harbor for fireworks and festivities, which I'm sure was epic.  Our team went downtown to a park where about five thousand people gathered for the infamous & free Great Aussie Day Breakfast--sausage, coffee and fruit! There's my buddies, Timmy and Alfredo on the right...

Later in the evening, we returned to the downtown where about ten thousand gathered for live bands (singing American classics), food and fireworks!  I live for these events!  It felt like home.  Our team has spent each day out on the streets (and grass) evangelizing.  I have some really great stories so far, but it's also been very challenging!  Please pray for our team.  This weekend, we will be going to churches promoting the Ship Tour. 

Loren and Darlene Cunningham

Jason and I had the incredible privilege of hearing from both Loren and Darlene Cunningham this week.  It's hard to describe in words the impact their lectures had on us!  If you're not familiar with them, Loren started YWAM exactly 50 years ago, and is considered a father of the faith.  He is good friends with Oral Roberts and Billy Graham and shared several stories of their time together in the past. 

Their stories of ministry over the past 50 years are simply amazing. Loren is a great story teller.  I felt like I was listening to a grandfather telling radical stories of God's work in and through their lives.  Darlene has a smile that will melt your heart.  I held back tears when she began to share stories of God's faithfulness in their family's lives over the years.  One time the Lord provided $5 for their daughter to have school supplies, and another time the Lord provided $5,200,000 for certain YWAM need.  Jason even confessed to shedding tears.  Their is such a richness to Loren and Darlene.  They have life to the full!

The Infamous Parkes Dish

Our team stumbled upon a special site of American history the other day.  Who would have thought anything significant could come out of middle-of-nowhere Parkes, Australia? 

Parkes is a farming town in southern hemisphere of the continent.  Its climate is much cooler than Townsville, and the dry air reminds me of home!  This place is also the hometown of Ken Mulligan, our base director (picture below).  For the last day and a half, our team of 43 has stayed with his family and friends in the community.  It’s the first time in over 20 years the Ken has been able to bring any DTS students or staff to his home, so we celebrated on Sunday night with a great big family style barbeque.  It was really special!

On Sunday afternoon, we drove past the farms in the area until we arrived at an enormous satellite dish.  It turns out this dish is famous for broadcasting the moment when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon on July 21^st, 1969.  Apparently there were three satellite dishes that were initially picking up pictures of the moon’s broadcast, but after 8 minutes in, Houston control station switched to the Parkes dish which had the clearest shot of the moon for the two and a half hour broadcast.  Remember the famous words, “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind?” You can thank the Parkes dish in Australia for capturing that moment.  Cool eh? And random…

Thoughts on road trips...

Our team of 43 students and staff is currently driving down the Australian coast in four team vans pulling trailers. The vans were freshly detailed last week, and I even got to help with the classy, new sign job. We’re rollin’ in style

The destination for our road trip is Ywam’s 50^th Anniversary Jubilee in Canberra. This distance from Townsville to Canberra is comparable to driving from the middle of North Dakota to the middle of Texas, and Jason and I are driving a significant portion of the four-day trip. Without a doubt, this is the longest road trip of my 24 years of existence. It reminds me of a few other great ones in my life! Here is a list of my top 10 all time favorite road trips: 

Delivering the PING Robot (2008). From Boulder, CO to Phoenix, AZ. After spending the entire school year construction the infamous PING golf putter pendulum, my team of five guys rented a van and trekked down to Ping’s facility in Arizona to set it up for testing. I consider that project one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. 

Black Hills Journey (2009). From Monument, CO to Deadwood, SD. Using Stefan’s Black Lightning, Stefan and I headed to South Dakota to spend a week with Jenna’s family. The whole trip could not have gone better; and we were treated like kings at the Jones’s home. Seeing Mt. Rushmore was nice. 

Moving Jimmy to California…and then back home (2008/09). From: Boulder, CO to San Jose, CA and then Monument, CO. I’m glad Jimmy and his family came to their senses and moved back home to Colorado after spending a year in California. I feel honored to have accompanied him on both trips! 

Ascent Conference with the Annex (2006). From: Boulder, CO to Seattle, WA. Major wars and epic pranks happened when we piled 66 Annex students into several 12-seater vans and traveled to Seattle. I particularly enjoyed having Bryon alongside to wreak havoc on opposing vans. 

California Spring Break Trip (2006). From: Boulder, CO to Los Angeles, CA. Stefan, Justin and I took the Black Lightning (Stefan’s Honda Civic-although it was green at the time) to California to spend a week with Jared Lincoln and friends at Azusa Pacific. 

Family Caravans to Table Rock Lake (2005/06/07). From: Monument, CO to Branson, MO. Jason joined my family three times in making this 2-day trek. We mastered making the backseat of my dad’s F-250 into a movie theater. One of my highlights is when the caravan of families stop for dinner at KC Masterpiece right outside Kansas City. It’s tradition! 

New Orleans Missions Trips (2008/09). From Monument, CO to New Orleans, LA. I have done this trip two times and now consider Zach Weingartner a modern day hero for pulling off such long days of driving with virtually no sleep. Plus, I have a new appreciation of sunflower seeds from these trips. 

Buffs Bowl Game (2008). From Denver, CO to Shreveport, LA. This has to go down as one of the most epic adventures in my life! Jason, Tom, Jon, Jeremy, Brooks, Kaylee, Tori and I drove 17 hours to Shreveport, stayed in a motel, woke up 6 hours later, spent the day in the town, watched the Buffs lose to Alabama, and then immediately got back in the cars and drove 18 hours back home. We left on a Saturday morning and returned by Monday night, spending a total of 35 hours on the road, and 23 hours on the ground. Did I mention I’m a diehard Buffs fan? 

Medieval Times Trip (2008). From Monument, CO to Dallas, TX. Bryon, Stefan, Matt Stark and I got comfy in Stefan’s Black Lightning and cruised to Dallas for the sole purpose of going to Medieval Times, a sweet renaissance dinner show! My favorite part was buying awesomely lame cowboys shirt at Wal-Mart in Pueblo, wearing them all weekend, and then returning them for a full refund on our way home. Oh, and accidentally sneaking into a catered party at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth was pretty fun too! 

The Amazing Australian Coast Tour (2010). From Townsville, AUS to Canberra, AUS. Just by the shear distance of this trip, it ranks top of my list at the moment. I’ll never forget this one. Ever.

 

Bringing in the New Year. Hooray 2010!

I made it to 2010! My entrance into the new decade was wild... I spent several hours in a prayer room on base with some friends talking about theology, and other crazy ideas that we have learned as a team throughout our lectures. We were so engaged in conversation that we didn't even notice the clock hit midnight! Wild huh? Well to celebrate, I decided to go back to my flat, and wake Jason up (notice I had to "wake" Jason up? He's getting old...) Anyways, I walked into his dark room, found his bed, and in perfect unison... I yelled "Happy New Yeeeaaarrr" while raising my arm to slap him in the chest! Well, I did indeed slap him, but since it was dark, I may have missed. Let's just say that he curled into the fetal position and let out a moan. I'm sorry Jason. But that's what you get for not making it to midnight.

One year ago, I spent New Year's eve with Jimmy in San Jose. We sipped a fine beverage, and smoked a fine cigar. I knew I had a lot to look forward to in the year 2009. But I really never imaged that I would spend the next New Year's eve in a Ywam room in Australia! During 2009, I experienced some great things. I graduated from the University of Colorado with a Mechanical Engineering degree, which was a huge personal accomplishment. Also, I got to work at a fantastic summer camp in Estes Park, serving as a sports coordinator. I met incredible people had made great memories. Then, Jason and I embarked on the greatest adventure of our lives to date. We packed our bags in faith, and traveled here to Australia. Our time has been everything we could have ever hoped for; full of adventure, learning and experiences that will never be taken away! I'm so thankful to be here.

Now I look forward to 2010. I feel confident more great things are on the horizon! I'm really looking forward to the outreach phase of my DTS. Our team will travel down the coast of Australia to Canberra to listen to Loren Cunningham speak. Then, we will travel to Sydney, New Castle, and other larger cities to promote the Ship Tour (http://www.ywamships.org/), hang out with youth groups, speak at churches, and evangelize to the city. Should be epic! I'm also looking forward to returning to Colorado in March; this time with more passion and purpose than ever before. I'm especially looking forward to getting a rock climbing membership, playing indoor soccer, and possibly getting a few snowboarding trips in! Oh, and getting a job too.

I'm excited for the new year. I think Jason is too... despite the rude awakening that I gave him last night. Much Love

Song Recommendations from Matt

Here are a couple of amazing worship songs that I suggest you purchase on iTunes, or watch on YouTube:

1. Your Love Never Changes by Jesus Culture
2. Let Heaven Shout by Kristene Mueller.

Both are so good, and if you knew what was good for you, you would download both of these immediately. Also, I just uploaded 90 pictures from my PNG trip onto Facebook. Check 'em out! Much Love.