Still in the U.S. of A.

Well I must say things have been busy, and lazy all at the same time, if that is even possible. I am here in Houston Texas, working full time in the old Enron towers. Chevron owns one of them, and is leasing the other. Both are being overhauled, and I am pulling cable for some speakers. The tall building is 50 stories, and the small on is 40. It is really kinda of fun working in a high rise. but besides the height, the work is a bit tedious. It is the same things over and over. Pull cable install speakers, repeat as necessary. Bt the job is good, it pays well, and I have been able to pay of debt, that I have racked up over the last year . The people are easy to work with, so that is a defenant plus.
I also have some new news! as I was praying one day, I felt hte Lord tell me to go to Los Angles to work with Pastor Rons church that supports me financially. I called and talked to Pastor Ron and he was al for it. So in 2 weeks I will leave Houston to go to LA for a month. I am very excited for this new thing. I am not sure what to expect, but I am expecting for the Lord to teach me new things, and challenge me with new tasks.
I would like to ask for your prayers on 2 points.
1. that my time in LA would be well used, I would learn and be challenged
2. That I would recieve guidence fromt he Lord, and His divine provision over my fiances, they have been a hard things for me over the years, and I hoipe to overcome this, and see a breakthrough over my fiances.
Thank you friend! Drop me a line and let me know how you are doing!!!

Still In Texas?

Well..Friends...it has been a while hasn't it? I am sorry, I am not as disciplined as I would like to be at keeping this updated, but I continue to try. So what has happened since the last post?
Man a lot has happened. We had the NLM, National Leaders Meeting, of which I played a part in working at. I was in charge of venue management, which entailed making sure there was enough chairs in all the meeting rooms, tables, the auditorium was set up, and all of that detail stuff. It went very well I must say, everyone who helped did an amazing job!
Right after that, and I mean right after, I left the morning after, to come to the US. I stayed in LA for a few days and spoke at Christian Community Center, and spend some good time with Pastors Ron and Stephanie and the family that I love so much there. Then I was wisked away to Houston Texas to visit my family! I was home for about 3 weeks. It was very nice to see the new home that was just built, and I will tell you it is beautiful! 2 story with a game room upstairs and a nice pool table. I also got to see my neice, Haley Rose, and boy is she cute! So gorgeous I started going to this church called Lone Star Cowboy church and met a few new people. Check out the website and you will see why I like this church. I met the youth pastor, Pastor Nick, and I ended up speaking at the youth group. Soon after I flew to San Francisco to visit my friends that live in the bay area.
It was here that things changed, my planes changed in a way I was not expecting in the least! I went to San Francisco with the expectation that I would get some money from a church. I had asked in faith for the money for a plane ticket and monthly support, but I heard nothing back. So I was in San Francisco with no money, couldn't get back to Houston, couldn't go anywhere. I began to pray and ask the Lord what was going on, and I saw the fact that I needed to go back to Houston and get a job and save money. Work with Lone Star Cowboy church, and take care of business. So that is what I am doing. I have applied to a job in Houston, and am looking at volunteering at lone star to work with the youth group. So things are going all right, but the pace needs to get picked-up to make things happen. So that is a basic up-date of things. I love all you guys all you supporters.

God Bless
Jeff

This new season

This new season has many things in store for me. Many things which I have never done. One of the biggest is that I feel the Lord has out in front of me the goal of in 2009 moving out to Mackay, 4 hours south of where I currently live, to start Youthstreet there. This isn't set in stone, but I am moving forward with this. There is a lot of things than need to happen to see this come to pass; such as more support, a vehicle, a place to live, local support from within the city itself, etc. As well as working out with are the longer term goals and short term goals. A lot of things I have never thought about before. That is the more long term goal as of now.
This new season also has me learning about really obeying the voice of God. I have learned that I have a tendency to treat Gods word as optional, not as the word of the Lord. I believe that that has hurt me many times in the past, as well as hurt the heart of God. So, silly as it may seem, I am still learning the lesson of hearing and obeying God.
I would also like to take time to announce that I am planning to take a trip home in May for 4 weeks. So that will mean coming to Los Angles, the Bay Area, and Houston Texas to speak in churches, and meet new people and say hi to friendly faces that I haven't seen for a while.
You can pray that things work out well as it is a bit hard to find a god time to take off as there are so many things going on here at the base.

God Bless friends.
Jeff

just another week? I think not...

Well unfortunately I don;'t have loads of new information to give you. But I can say that I am praying though new things concerning working in Mackay, I will update as soon as new things come about. God Bless!!

Good times!

G'day friends. I come to you from Sunny Australia, very sunny, and very hot. Did I mention humid? Boy is it ever. But I love it all, enough of me going on about nothing.

This have been going well for me thus far in this new year. I am still in maintenance, and I love it. I am learning how to do things I have never done before. Installing air conditioners in windows, replacing doors, building rooms and offices, painting of all sorts,etc, all very exciting. As far as everything else, God has been laying some things on my heart as of late. I am planning to move forward, whatever it might look like, with getting to Mackay to keep working there. With that is loads of news things, such as support, I just don't have enough support for me to live on my own, and a car, I will need a car to get there and while I am living there. Mackay is a big city, space wise, but only about 60,000 people, so I will have to have a car. Those things seem rather big to me right now, as they look far off, but I know the Lord knows my needs, and He will guide me to them.
Things are going great, but I do need your prayers.
God's Guidence
More support
Wisdom with how to gain and maintain support

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. God Bless

New season brings new challenges

Hello there friends and family, I do apologize for taking so long to update the blog. Things have been going really good for me. I am currently working in the maintenance department in charge of taking care of all the landscaping for the homes and the base itself. It is a big job as the grass grow quite fast this time of year, with all the rain, and they all have to be mowed once a week. With 11 properties that is a big job.
But there are also other things hat have been going on. I have been challenged by the Lord and by Ken, our base director to be very active in the things we believe that God is saying. For example: I believe the Lord is speaking to me about doing more work In Mackay, it is great that I feel the burden, but what will I do about it? What will happen with it? So I as I spend time with God and seek His will for my life right now, I will be letting all of you know what is going on.
I feel a bit scattered writing this, but the bottom line is things are going good! Lots of hard work, lots of sweating, I think it is in the 100 degrees F everyday. Look forward to more updates as I can focus things more clearly. I love you all.

p.s. If you have prayer need, please let me know, as I don't know a lot of what is going on in all your lives, so feel free to drop me an e-mail! Drummer_stud@hotmail.com

God Bless!!!

God is proving himself faithful yet again

I must say it doesn't matter how many times you see God provide for your needs it never really gets old. About 2 weeks after I got back from outreach, I found out that I owed the base almost a thousand dollars. Now that amount is just a bit over $400!!! In 2 weeks I believe. I have also seen the provision of the Lord in many other ways, the bottom line is just like it says in Matthew 6:25-34, to just trust in His character. He knows what we need and He will provide it! The more we as His children come to the realization and begin to walk in that trust, the more we can walk in freedom. Imagine not being bound to the worry of where the next mortgage payment will come from, or where the money for food will come from, or for medicine, or clothes, or anything? That freedom isn't found in a really good job. Jobs come and go, good ones and bad ones. But that assurance comes from the word of God, that will never pass away. So trust with me friends and family as I desire to see this amount of $409, come to $0 before Christmas gets here! So if you would like to help put in anyway, either prayer or helping me financially, just shoot me an e-mail and ask. Drummer_stud@hotmail.com I love you guys and thank you for taking time to read this update. God bless yo all this Christmas season and see you before the new year!!!!!

Seeing a bit more int the future

I write to you from our auditorium watching the movie Home Alone 2 just after we had our roving Christmas party. It was really amazing, each office decorated their office in different fashions, and we even had a competition for the most thrifty, most festive, most team oriented, and a few others. It is just what I needed to get into the Christmas spirit.
So to give you further information as to what I may be doing in the next 3 months. I talked about possibly doing the School of Music and Missions, but as I have been praying about it and talking to some of the leaders on base, I decided that it wouldn't really fit with the things that I want to pursue in Australia. So what are those things I DO want to pursue here in Australia???
I will be tracking with two different ministries. I will continue to staff DTS's and will continue to work with Youthstreet, the same Youthstreet that we pioneered in Mackay, Palm Island, and Mount Isa. I have discovered that since staffing DTS's, working with people who have given 6 months to devote to the Lord. I have found God can do so much when someone fully devotes some time to growing, and being challenged in the Lord. I love to see people get new revelation on the character of God. Also since pioneering Youthstreet in Mackay, I have gained a whole new perspective on the great opportunities to share the gospel and speak the truth of God into lives that need to hear what God really thinks about them.
All in all, since I have been able to reflect on the school, it was an amazing success. I am very excited for Youthstreet, I see many awesome things happening, I can't wait to see what is in the future for this program.
Than you all for reading my update, I hope you might find a bit of inspiration in these updates. God Bless!!!!

Winding down or gearing up?

That is the question in my mind right now...
In one sense I am winding down, because I have just finished the July DTS, outreach is over the students have their certificates, and it is done, just finishing up a few last minute details.
In the other sense I am gearing up because I believe that God has a lot for me, and I want to be ready for it. One things most every DTS students and staff will ask is whats next? For me I seem to have a few options open to me. But I can only pick one, or at best maybe 2. So I have to be spending time with the Lord over what should I be focusing on for the next 6 months or so. That is where I would like some help. I would like to ask you, to consider praying for me. Praying that I receive guidance from the Lord as to what His will is for me in this next season.
Some of the options are: doing a School of Music in Missions, another would be working in maintenance to help out with the workload, in case I haven't told you we are doing a lot of construction around here. We are converting half our internet cafe/hang out spot into offices because we will be dropping our lease of the main offices, and we will have to house communications, reception, accounts, and all of our archives in the warehouse, which is tight as is. So there is a lot of construction going on, and more for the future. Of course I am talking to the leadership about what I can a may not be able to do. Things like visa restrictions, and my job description require me to focus on some jobs and not others. So things are moving but not as fast as I, the microwave generation, would like them to move. That is okay! God has his timing and his will, and I just want to do what He wants me to do.
I would also like to let you guys know that I still need outreach fees. About $380 to be exact. So I would love your prayers to help me see this money raised.
There is also a little bird that might be talking about flying home for Christmas, but due to other jobs, I may not be able to leave until December 24th. So a few quick prayers would be much appreciated
Friends I thank you very much for taking time out to read this and I hope to see some of you soon! God Bless

Your friend down under

Jeffrey

Coming to a close:(

Well, I am in McDonald's right now paying a fair bit of money for wireless internet, but such is the life of a 21st century missionary! I love it!!!! Well this is the last week of outreach, and needless to say I am getting a bit reflective. as I look back I see time where I could have done more, or done less, but I feel so happy with how things have gone! People lives have been changed, weather it was us telling them about who Jesus is and making him realty o them, or encouraging them in the current walk, or challenging them to more of God. We have seen an amazing response, there should be a few more people coming to impact summer this year, Impact summer is a summer program we run that is basically a mini dts for people who are not yet old enough to do a full DTS. I hope to get involved with it this year!

This outreach has shown me a lot about Gods character, and I have seen a lot more of my self than I planned to, or at time more then I want to see. But I thank the Lord for this outreach, things have been birthed, and I can't wait to see what will be born, in however long it takes to develop. I love you all, and hopefully I will be seeing you soon, if you live in LA, San Francisco, or the Woodlands!

Things are moving along splendidly

I sit here in week 6 of outreach, and I am amazed at how fast outreach flies by. We have run 3 Youthstreet's and at the last one we had 47 for Youthstreet teams, the afternoon program, and around 55 for Youthstreet Live, the late afternoon program. By fay the best turn out, yet. Those numbers are very surprising to me, but I thank the Lord that Youthstreet has turned out so well!
We have also been running a Mini DTS to help give some training to the local people of Mackay, and each night has had a few more people and God have been challenging people into walking out their Christianity. This last Thursday night we spoke of Evangelism, and some people really got challenged, and stirred up to walk out what they know to be true. It was awesome!
We also ran 5 Auslife's, the high school programs, and the response was amazing as well.

I must say, I believe that God's finger prints are all over this outreach. The favor I have seen with Youthstreet, and the Mini DTS is just unreal. People donating time to teach, or even just to hang out with the youth. This city is ripe for the harvest, and I want to see what else in is hidden in this city.

I love you guys, friends family and hope to see some of you soon Lord willing

1st week down!

Well my friends who are reading this, as I write this I am in an internet cafe/ice cream parlor. I love this place! Well We are finishing up our first week of outreach, we have been in Mackay, south of Townsville. We started on a bit of a rocky note as before we even left Townsville somethings fell out of our trailer and smashed into the windscreen of another ute, (pick-up for the north American's), and we sat on the side of the road and worked out insurance and all that lovely stuff, then we finally got on the road 3 hours later! But this week has been good, meeting with the people we will be working with for Youthstreet, and seeing the favor there all ready is for this program. We have bus drivers (of which I am now a part of, The manager of the PCYC pulled a few strings and got me a test at a police station!), wind surfers, hip-hop dancers, and people who are helping us with equipment, it is just amazing! God is really moving this things forward, I can see it every day! Other than that, things are going well. @ of the team spent most of the day on Friday hanging out with some of the guys from the PCYC, (It is like the YMCA), they went to a swimming hole, and to some skate parks, they had just an awesome time! I got my bus license at the same time!! I would love to keep going about what has happened, but I am running out of time for the internet cafe, and we have to hurry up and get to Brisbane. God Bless you all!

The Lord continues to provide!

Well friends I have good news!! What once was a debt of over $2500, is now down to $475. That is all that is owed to leave for outreach free of debt. I would like you guys to continue to pray for us as a team, as a whole team we still need to see around $4000. Thank you guys for all of your prayers, I an sure that it was your prayers that had a big help to see this money come in.
Enough of money, I am a little tired of talking about money! On to the business of outreach. We have been meeting with the organizers of the 5DE camp that we will be going on, which is only next week! We have been ironing out the wrinkles of Youthstreet, and getting the mini-DTS all figured out! Things are coming together well. At the same time it has been a battle. We have had and are continuing to fight to see thing happen that need to happen, such as finances, a place to stay in Mackay, just not burning out as a team. Basically, I am VERY excited to see what is going to happen during these next 2 months. The next time I write an update will be from the field from down south in Mackay!! God Bless friends

Good Financial News!

There is great news friends and family! What once was a debt of over $2000, is now only $1159, proving His faithfulness once again. So as far as my little project, 20/100, (20 people giving $100 each to raise the $2000) I haven't received any donations yet, so if you are reading this and feel prompted to give you can donate online with a credit card by clicking here, just fill in your personal details, and under payment one, select staff donation/support. So guys I love you all and I look forward to letting you know what is going on, not from my office in Townsville, but from the internet cafe's in Mackay and Gladstone!So God Bless and see ya soon!

This amazing outreach schedule!

So I figured that I would let you know where it is I will be going. This is a map of north east Queensland. Brisbane is north of Sydney which is north of Melbourne. We will start off in Mackay, then head down to The Gold Coast, where we will also spend time in Brisbane, Surfer's Paradise, and the Gold Coast of course. We will be going to Dreamworld, Wet 'n' Wild, Queen's Street Mall, and taking surfing lessons. This is going to be a full on 5 days. Lots of work and lots of fun! After this amazing time we will head back up to Mackay to begin Youthstreet the day we arrive back! Another full on day to finish that week off. Then it will be 4 weeks in beautiful Mackay to get Youthstreet going as well as facilitate a Mini-DTS, and do some Auslifes.
Auslife is an all day youth program the runs in the local High Schools to present Christian way to deal with current issues facing young people. Issues such as, Relationships, Goals and Values, and Self-Esteem. This also give us a platform to present aspect of the Gospel, which is perfectly okay to do in Australia schools. Praise the Lord!!
After 4 week in Mackay we head back down south to Gladstone for a full week of Auslifes. After that we have a relatively open schedule which I am sure we will fill once we get down there.
It will be at this point in time when we head back north to come home, to beautiful sunny Townsville for our graduation.
This is going to be a 2 month to remember. My plan to to get many pictures, video's and stories to share with you my friends and family.

The Lord Provides!!

Well, I have to post this and tell of the provision of the Lord. Yesterday we had a giving time with the whole school., students, staff and even the guest speaker. As a whole school we owe around $23,000, which from past school that is a small amount, (In the past it has been as much as $50,000) and after the giving time the school itself raised, and gave over $7,000. Of that I received $1,015! That was such a big blessing. So as of right now I only owe $1,135. I would like to use this as a chance to show the provision of the Lord. He is Faithful no matter what. I have been in this situation before, as have almost all of my friends, and we have seen the lord provide over and over for money, and many other things. Thank you for your prayers, I ask that you would continue as I still owe money. I have FULL confidence that the Lord will provide the rest of the amount. Thank you for standing with me, as I would not be able to do this with out your support. God Bless friends and family!

Can You Help Me?

Well I must say this blog is really quite nice, I can let you guys know what is going on, with out sending out a million e-mail's! This is great!! Well I would like to let you guys know of a need I have right now. As you know I am heading off to Mackay on outreach, but in order to go on outreach, I need outreach finances. I currently need around $2000 Australian dollars. If you feel prompted to support, maybe giving some money, or support me in prayer, which is so very important, please e-mail me @ jeffreya@reeftooutback.com and let me know what you are thinking. Please don't feel pressured, that is not what I want anyone to feel. thank yo guys again for taking time to read this. God Bless you all!

Outreach in Mackay

Well in only a few short weeks I and a team of 6 DTS students will be going down south, about 4 hours drive, to a city called Mackay. We will be starting a youth program called Youthstreet, this program is aimed at 12-17 year olds and provides them a safe, fun, rich environment to just be them selves. This is such a big deal I can't even express it. This is a prototype of what we want to take To YWAM Internationally. There are loads of logistical things that go along with all this, but I won't bore you with them:) This outreach really gets me excited. The Lord really wants to use this time to show us as a team how to minister to an entire city, how to really change lives, and not just for the time we are there, but for the time when we may go back to see things have remained, the the fruit would last long after our presence in gone! Please pray for the team and me, as there are big things to overcome, and many challenges to be dealt with. Both fro external sources, as well as overcoming our own fears, and insecurities. Both will be be hard, but not impossible. God Bless you friends!

First blog!

Well friends, in an attempt to increase my communication to my friends and family, I have decided to start a blog. because I can then update it and keep everyone up-to date on what is going on in my life! Well I have just come back for Hidden Valley, from a 2 week camping trip. It was truly amazing. God spoke in some big ways to some of the students (I am staffing the July 2007 Discipleship Training School), it has been awesome! I think the Lord spoke to me more about spiritual disciplines, more than anything. What am I willing to give up for Him? Now that I am back I feel the Lord asking me to put those things he spoke to me about into practice. So this is where the rubber hits the road, talking about it will not change my life or get me any closer to the Lord.
There is also another bit of nice information that I would like to announce, I am an uncle! My sister, Janelle, had a baby on the 27th of August! Haley Rose, and being that I live in Australia, I can't hold her or see her until December, Lord willing! So I think that will be some of the bigger news.....for now! I will write some blogs that describe what I will be doing from the end of September through to November on the outreach phase of the DTS. God Bless my friends!