Hello everyone!   (i wrote this very fast, sorry if it is bad)

I am so sorry that i have not been able to be in contact for a while. Everything in Vanuatu is at a slower pace that´s For sure! I am unable to get to email at scheduled times so i appoligize about that again!! Anyway, life in Vanuatu is incredible. It is definitly a challenge. ITS HOT! The community is incredibly welcoming. Our first day there we ventured to the beach to discover tons of children swimming. We played with them in the water, played duck duck grey duck, and what time is it Mr. Fox. They do not get a lot of attention or affection of any sort from the adults in the communitt, so it is needless to say that they really love it when we are there and can show them some love.

The second day there we notice how polluted the area was. There were shards of glass right on the beach, rubbish everywhere where kids play and people walk. The people of Vanuatu are very apathetic in there way of life. Many of them literally do nothing all day long. They are very poor. Later we grabbed some rubbish bags and walked to the beach where we accumulated way more than we thought we would. The best part of it was that I met some children, Tuey, Leo, Morina, playing on the beach. I introduced myself and within seconds they were doing the same as me! They helped us the whole time and then we all played in the water afterwards! We hope to change the way they look at there land. We pray for intentional lifestyles and to take better care for there land.
A few hours later a friend and myself verntured off to socialize with the villagers. We came acoss many children and then a Grandmother and her Grand son. Their names were Riel and Rex and Rex´s mother Monica. They welcomed us into there home where we talked for a while and then asked if there was anyone that needed prayer. I think she got a little teary eyed, for what reason im not quite sure. But we all prayed and had an amazing time. I am very thankful for having met Riel, Monica and Rex.

The third day we visited an area of mass poverty. ´Black Sands`is considered an outcast village. The people (kids) are getting sick from baithing in a heavily polluted river. We visited them a couple days ago. We introduced ourselves, they sang songs for us and with us, played duck duck grey duck, and what time is it Mr. Fox, and for the finalie we did face painting, they loved it!!!! The elders honored us with shirts and scarves they made. Showering us with baby powder which is considered another high honor. Apparently that never happens the first visit there Sharing the love of Jesus was enough for us. The whole day was a true blessing for all.

Today we visited a local church, wow!! It was amazing, the children have amazing voices. We met tons of new people. The pastor during the service told us that one or two of us would be giving our testimony. They are pretty big on testimonies i guess. I AM THE DESIGNATED TESTIMONY MAN IF SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS. HAHA. I scrolled through scripture and He brought me to Psalm 28, the first few verses and the last few. I was all excited to give my testimony after the service because the atmosphere was so welcoming and very powerful. Turned out there was not enough time though so…next time!!!
Many Thanks to you all you support and for reading. My appoligies for the late notification. Many blessings, and much love !!!!! Have a great week!!

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Relationships, Spiritual Warfare, and Evangelism were the last three weeks!!! Relationships week was interesting. Rather funny how everyone in my school had there own opinions more so than previous weeks. It was good, everyone had there two cents to put in. I would have had a lot of problems with this week if I hadn't learned what i did under the mentor ship of Josh Keller. He made everything so straight forward and; even though certain things were not what i wanted to hear, he lead me down the right path. I by no means am saying i know everything about relationships, NOT EVEN CLOSE, but i have a refreshing take now that i have been blessed with. Its all up to Him.

Spiritual Warfare. I gained a lot of knowledge and solidity from the Bible. Reinforcing what the Holy Spirit does, can do, and will do if one acknowledges its presence. Very difficult to explain this week to ALL OF YOU cause i am still processing and studying all that was presented. I did memorize a piece of Scripture that i love though and was unfamiliar to until a few days ago. "The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and...(had to look it up LOL!!) Self-Control." Aaaaamen!

Evangelism week sounded really scary at first. But I learned that we would be helping out an organization called the Red Frogs. Every year the schools of the graduating class (high school) migrate to the coast for a week straight of partying etc... It is called "Schoolies," or prom on steroids. The school pays for them to have schoolies every night where they are allowed to be drunk on the street, worry free, can drink as much as they want. I was blow away by this. Anyway I talked to a lot of kids and even adults, told them what i was all about and a lot of them were surprisingly open to our being there and just hanging out. Some where not of course, one person saying after we walked up..."i don't believe in God" I thought it was really funny. We didn't push it on them at all, we were just lovin on em. So good. Actually the very first night and the very first person I talked to was Adam. He was a schoolie who traveled 8 hours to be there. We were just joking around and then all of the sudden, just like that were chatting about Jesus, religion, his views, his family, keep in mind he was not a believer. True athiest.  I told him my testimony and he was blown away that God had transformed my life the way He did. The best part of all of this was the next evening i had looked forward to seeing him but didn't. And the next evening i didn't see him. I was really bumbed at this point but soon i learned that he had been talking to other people in my DTS. Asking more questions about God, where he could get a bible, and how amazed he was at how God had rocked my own life. I was overcome with emotion with what God was doing, causing him to ask questions to others. I believe God is going to find Adam, and i thank God for giving me courage in sharing my relationship with Jesus and the impact He has had on my life with others.

Evey day here is a(n) adventure, mystery, joyous, exciting, sometimes hard, curious etc... interaction with the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus Christ, and my Father God. Amen and thank you for reading. I love you guys. :)

Weeks 3, 4, and 5 are in the books! I am so grateful for them. God has done so much with us as a base and a family. Week 3 was called "Father Heart of God." Week 4 had to do with "Frearing the Lord." WWWOOOOWWWW. 'Dave' was our speaker and all i can say is I have been moved by this man in so many ways. He was instrumental at getting everyone of us out of our comfort zones and coming together as a family! The way we worship, how we pray, why we pray, our respect for the nations, the respect we show to our brothers and sisters of God, all of these topics were addressed then strengthened during week 4 for the glory of the Lord. Gods love has poured out of my fellow students, something that had not been present until this week. It was nothing less than a gift from the God. Very emotional but oh so good. HMmmm...Changed my life. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Dave. I am extremely appreciative of my fellow DTS students as well. They are amazing.

Week five just came to an end. It was "Prayer" week. OOFTA! It consisted of our base teaming up into groups of four or so, then having serval two hour prayer sessions thoughout the entire week. This was challenging in two ways. The first challenge for myself was that I have consistantly struggled with my prayer life. I have been praying for my heart to connect to my conversation with God in prayer. (if that makes any sense!!??) The second challenge was obviously the really early time slots like : 12 to 2am, 2-4am etc... and then having worship from 7pm to 9pm. I don't want to sound like i am complaining because I am so grateful for it all but it was challenging with the lack of sleep, busy schedule, work duties and assignments, and most importantly the intimate work God does ( and did!!)in my heart throught that time. God did his thing and as a result some amazing and intense prayer sessions came to be.

I just wanted to add one more peace of juicy information before I end this entry. Today (Monday) we had worship right away in the morning as usual. Apparently it was a giving day for people on the base. People shouted out financial needs for outreach and a few (but not many) other things. So after listing who needed what and how much, the total was close to 35,000 dollars!!! I was blown away by that. Next, we waited on God, prayed about it, and no longer than twenty minutes maybe a half hour later God had provided 31,000 dollars from a bunch of broke YWAMers in the room. Makes you realize how great God is, full of grace, and how much we actually do have but are not willing to part with. One student was in shock telling me, "there are people ten times more wealthy than the people back home and this happened from nothing..." That put into perspective how much I(we) have, how selfish I(we) can be, how much more others are in need than myself(us). Children in this world are starving and im crying about a meal not tasting right, not being on time, not how i want it, i want a nice car, spend hundreds a week on alcohol (why, for what?? so we can block out what is really happening is the world?)i want THIS... THAT, I SHOULD BE ENTITLED TO SECURITY >>>>AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! GOD...we need your help.

I'm not trying to scare you all, I just have a huge heart for the hungry and lost children in the world. I love you all so much and want to thank you again for your support. You have madethis experience  possible for me and for others in which i will be affecting.  It has been an incredible blessing!!!

"Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy."

Psalm 61:1-3

I am going to Vanuatu in the South Pacific Islands.  There is a youtube trailer called "Vanuatu trailer" I welcome everyone to check it out if you are curious as to what my outreach will be like.!

Hello Everyone!!

God is moving... Wow.  Second week of lectures is in the books!  These past few weeks have been challenging but so so good.  God is teaching me a lot about myself, how I interact with my neighbor, how selfish I actually am, how to "Die to Self" (DTS) and what that means, stepping out of my comfort zone and getting out there with my evangelism,  so many amazing works God is doing inside of me.  I am so thankful for everything He has given me.

This last week in lecture our weekly topic is about 'Hearing God's Voice', and learning exactly what that means and how He speaks to us.  Rhema (Greek) -- for example is defined by 'what is said' or 'event' or 'happening'... just a very direct speaking from God.  Also, Logos -- which means "bible" or God's spoken word.  Between the two, Logos and Rhema are important ways that God can speak to us.   SOOOOOO GOOOOOD!!!!!!  Another exercise we do is called "waiting on God."  This is where we take a specific amount of time from lecture to quiet the room and just hear what He has to say.  Its not as easy as it might sound.  A lot of people have trouble just being quiet and taking time for their relationship with Him. Usually we have music, or TV on for our quiet time.  That is the wrong approach.  For some reason it comes pretty easy for me and I get good quality time for whatever is on my heart.  Very good learning experience for me. 

At the end of the week (friday) we visited Mount Coolum.  The hike up the mountain only took a half hour but is was pretty steep.  At the top we gathered for a few songs of worship, took pictures, and broke off into groups of about 4 and had intercession for the Sunshine Coast community.  We prayed for the materialism that the coast is caught up in, and for the lost children of the community who are wrapped up in drugs and alcohol looking for a way out.  It was very powerful.  

Lastly we found out our outreach locations!!!  Darwin, Australia (Aborigines) - Vanuatu in the South Pacific Islands (Youth camps and prison ministry) - Cambodia / Thailand in Southeast Asia (Buddhism- work in Orphanage, teach english, construction)  Indonesia -- ( 17,000 Islands, half of population in poverty, 85% Hinduism)      I signed up for Vanuatu and Thailand/Cambodia.  I will most likely be going to Vanuatu for the children!

Thanks for reading and I will have another post for everyone in another week or so! I love you all so much and God bless every single one of you!!

Hey friends and family!!!!

I just learned how to blog!!! kinda weak I know but its never too late i guess. 

We are on our orientation week this week.  I am getting so excited when they are going over everything we will be involved in, wow!!

We have gone over ice breaker activities, DTS basic information, surf safety cause they are absolutely nuts about surfing over here, its awesome. 

We will have small groups where we dive into the Word and will be able to really relate to people and how influential He is and has been in our lives.  I am also really excited about doing book reports, Bible reading plans, and journals too, BELIEVE IT OR NOT! hahaha.  I have to give my testimony tommorrow, (basically my letter that i sent out) which will be really hard to do in front of my classmates but i am proud of who I am for God and the things i have been through to get here, I am truely blessed beyond blessed.

We also have been given work duties.  Go figure i signed up for maintenance which involves lawn care (hmm) light bulb replacements, fixing up the house and the other houses of YWAM (there are about four of them) but i really enjoy it.  We spend about two hours a day on these duties.

We are praying about the locations of our outreach locations.  We will not find out for another week or two.  

Well that is all there is to tell you for now. I love you all so very much and have you on my heart, in my prayers, and in my thoughts constantly.

I will have another blog up in a week or so!!!!

His,

LEE NELSON