The Time Has Come!

The time has come, we are officially heading off to Papua New Guinea!!!

As I previously wrote, there were definitely some prayer requests that we had as a team. Our staff have been working very hard to see that our visas are cleared and that we can get good deals on flights.  Well last night, we got news that our visas FINALLY cleared. We have been waiting for about 7 weeks for this to happen.

So here it is, our team leaves this Friday (this is Thursday for everyone in CA). We will be taking a grey hound bus up north to catch a flight into Port Moresby, PNG. Friday night, 17 of us (two teams) will be staying with a host in Port Moresby. The following day, or possibly a few days later, we will head out to Balimo and remain there until April 17th. We will catch a flight back to Port Moresby that weekend and welcome the ship in. Once the ship comes in, we will be staying there!

As I reflect on this past week, I realize that it was definitely trying. Daily we were hoping that today would be the day and when it wasn't, it was disappointing. One thing that our staff shared that really touched me was that as they prayed over our school, they got the verse Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" I realized at this time that all of this was something that God saw coming. I find that a lot of times I try to take situations into my own hands and at this point, things get frustrating.

I am definitely glad that I am called to rejoice in every circumstance because rejoicing is much more fun than being down. I am grateful that we had extra time here in Australia to prepare. We learned skits and went over testimonies so that we can give the people in PNG our best. While praying, it was really put on my heart that it is such a beautiful privilege that God is entrusting the lives of the people in PNG into our hands. With all of this said, I am so excited to go out and build relationships with these people. I do not know what to expect but I know that it is going to be a life changing experience.

No matter what obstacle comes my way, I want to always make it an opportunity. I want to rejoice because I have a reason to! I am blessed to be a blessing. This does not change because things aren't going how I want them to go. His plans are much greater.

As we prepare to leave, please keep us in your prayers. We would love prayer for safety, health, relationships that are to be built there, and that we are in-tune with what God wants to do. Thank you for all of your support! A special thank you to those of you who donated this past week, we are coming close to reaching our funds as a team.

I am grateful for all of you! I do not think that I will have internet for the next month but I will write as soon as I can :)

EXCITING!

Hello!! It has been some time since I have blogged. The last two weeks I have been camping in the good ol’ Australian Bush as well as going to a campus retreat. 

When I got to the site where we were camping, I was a bit overwhelmed. It was incredibly hot so I was dripping sweat and it was in the wild meaning bugs galore. We set our tent up and I sat inside thinking, “what in the world am I doing right now.” I was dripping sweat, dirty, surrounded by bugs. I am not going to lie, I did not want to be there. As the night went on, I felt lifeless as I was just going with the flow. On of my tent mates, Bithja, and I began to pray. We prayed that God would change our mind sets so that we could take in all that camping had in store for us. 

The next day we woke up to the lion king blaring at 6:45 am. Every morning we had two wake up songs. I woke up feeling a lot better seeing that I made a commitment to embrace the beautiful nature and what was in store during these two weeks. The next two nights were a little tough as there were massive rain storms. I was drenched in rain from head to toe as I was determined to not have my tent flood. Unfortunately, a few people’s tents flooded or broke during the storm. Thankfully, nothing was damaged other than the tents that are replaceable. The weather the rest of the trip was absolutely beautiful. During the day it was pretty hot but when you are walking distance to a creek, it’s not too bad. At night, we had camp fires where we would have worship. 

The first week, our teaching was on Relationships. We had a couple who led the week, Matt and Nomes. It was a great week! We went over the power of relationships and how God loves relationships. Not just boyfriend-girlfriend relationships but relationships with friends, family, and a relationship within a marriage. All of the teaching on relationships came back to the importance of an intimate relationship with God. How God desires to know us personally and that this relationship is the most important! We committed to God things in our lives, good or bad, in which we give Him full authority in.

The second week was on Lordship. We learned a lot about how to live in the middle of God’s blessings rather than around the outside. We have to actively resist what the enemy wants to do in our life. What do we lose by resisting? Nothing. What do we gain? Everything. God wants to work miraculously in our lives and sometimes there can be things that are holding us back whether it is prioritizing a job, a relationship, a marriage, etc. So at the end of the week, we had baptisms and we also wrote done everything we could think of to give to God in which we nailed them to the cross, proclaiming that God is in ultimate control! 

During the weeks we had a lot of free time where we were able to enjoy the nature around us as well as get to know each other more. Some pictures:

Some of my sweet room mates 

Playing games at night

Beautiful hike that most of us did up to the cross

We had dinner prep the second week of camping! Yay for cooking, now I know what to make besides scrambled eggs

We would sit in our camping chairs for lecture every day

My view for my quiet time with Jesus every morning!

When we got home we went on a retreat for staff and students (another school just got back from PNG and are leaving home in two weeks so they are currently here with us). We went to our brand new ship, the YWAM PNG, to stay the night. Connected to our ship was our old ship the Pacific Link. We had some guests speakers from YWAM Kona, Hawaii, Brett and Karen. Some of you may or may not know but at YWAM Kona, there is also a medical ship dts where they reach out to the Pacific Islands. At the beginning of this year, there was a massive storm in Hawaii where they ended up losing their ship, as well as the life of a guy named Aaron who many people at my base knew. As Brett told the story, it was heart wrenching. But, there were two purposes for this weekend. One was to commission our ship as it heads up north this Monday to go to dry dock and prepare for PNG in a month. The other was that the our old boat, the Pacific Link, was being gifted to YWAM Kona. We skyped in their staff as well as with all of us and told them! Majority of the staff had no idea and you could see it was a very emotional time for them since it has been a rough start to the year. At night, I got to sleep on the Pacific Link and pray for it as I know it is going to do some mighty things for the Pacific Islands. 

Another very exciting thing that I found out was where I will be going for outreach!! My school will be leaving the weekend of the 20th, next weekend, and flying over to PNG. There we are breaking up into three teams, going to different provinces. I am in a team of 8 people, 2 leaders and 6 students including myself. We will be headed off to Balimo which is in the Western Province. To get there we will fly into Port Moseby ( in PNG), fly to Daru (the capital of the Western Province), then flying into Kawito, and take a dingy up the river to Balimo. There we will be traveling through villages. While there we will be helping them develop their villages, as well as educating them on proper hygiene and oral hygiene. We will also be speaking to them about the love of Jesus and the hope that is found in Him. After a month, we will all meet back up in Port Moseby and welcome the brand new ship, the YWAM PNG, for the first time! There we will load into the ship and be on the ship serving along the coast of PNG until early June. This is a picture of the Balimo team!! 

Again, I want to thank all of you for your loving support during this time! This has been a journey of a lifetime and it is still in the beginning stages. If you could be praying for all of us! There are many prayer requests:

-cheaper charter flights to these remote areas 

-finances that need to be raised in order for people to go

-strong contacts that need to be made in PNG for accommodations and such

-softening the hearts of those in the villages

-fast processing of our visas

-rejecting passivity

-that we will  be filled with the spirit

-the processing of applications for the nurses here to be able to work in PNG

-weather, there is supposed to be a cyclone coming

-our leaders

-unity within teams

-health

I appreciate all of you! I know that God desires for all of us to leave next weekend and there is a lot that needs to take place for this to happen so PLEASE be praying. If it is on your heart to make a donation, please email me at glemos39@gmail.com. There are still many people in need of finances in which you could bless :)

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL! 

Mind Blown

This week has been by far my favorite even though I feel like this every week. The theme of this week was, The Nature and Character of God. We had a speaker come in from Perth and let me tell you, he was full of knowledge.

I thought I knew a lot about who God is. Well let me tell you, I am definitely like the Israelites who saw God do miraculous things over and over again yet still doubted Him. I mean come on he sent plagues, parted the Red Sea, made water come out of a rock and so much more. Yet, when things got tough they doubted the existence and character of God. Instead, wanted to turn back to their idols.

I realized that this has been a lot like my life. Time and time again I have seen His glorious ways yet I fall back into living for myself and what I think is best in the season. I have known God with my mind but struggled to know God with my heart. Why?

Well, because I have not always understood or taken the time to understand. Yes I go to church and attend life groups which I now realize have helped me grow tremendously but I haven't spent enough time on my own. There is so much I could go into about this week but it all comes down to who God says He is in Exodus 5:6-7, "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionateand gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin."


We tend to complicate who God is and what our purpose in life is. God is good, the end. Yes we face overwhelming circumstances but this does not mean that God changes. One of the things that stood out to me this week was this picture...

We tend to wear glasses in life. The glasses represent our circumstances and depending on those at the time, determines how we view God. So if things are great then God is a good God. When things are bad, then God isn't good because why would He let this happen. Now how about we look at this another way. Let's make our glasses represent God and now look at our circumstances. Wow, I got a raise at my job, thank you God. On the other hand, something awful occurs and we seek God for guidance and lean on Him because we know that even though circumstances have changed, He hasn't and never will!

This is just the surface of what I went over this week. I am more motivated than ever to dig into the word and see who God is. It's easy for us to be fed the word but how about we actually take the time to see for ourself. I am in awe of God's goodness time and time again.

I hope that this encourages you to build a stronger relationship with God. This world is ugly and after this week, I have a much more understanding of why. I am not going to go into it but I encourage you to look into God's patience and mercy, this will answer a lot of questions.

For the next two weeks I will be camping with my school in the mountains, about two hours away. So, I will have no wifi or access to electronics. Take care and I can't wait to share all that I have learned when I get back.

Miss you all <3

Week by Week

I feel like time is flying by, yet crawling. I have taken in a lot much information these past 3 weeks with last week's topic of clear conscious. I can say that I am really missing home. The longest that I have ever been gone for is about 2 weeks and now I am headed into week 4. I miss spending time with my family and friends, hugging Christopher, being involved in life groups, seeing youth every Wednesday, cleaning teeth, going to the gym (kind of miss this lol), my cats, and so much more. Sometimes I would like to go home but then I smack myself back into reality.

As every week passes by, I am reminded why I am here. I am taking a step out of my comfort zone and into the unfamiliar. Last week we went over clear conscience and we were called to step out and be vulnerable. So many things tend to bottle up inside of us and if never brought into the light, will stay trapped, hindering us from experiencing freedom. I was able to share some very intimate parts of my life with over 50 people who care about me and want to be apart of my family. It was such a beautiful week!

I am being stretched beyond what I could have ever imagined but I know that what I am learning is going to be foundational to the rest of my life. I look forward to heading off to PNG and reaching people not only in their healthcare needs but also spiritual. I have seen the hurt that has resonated within us as a team and I could only imagine the pain that others experience when not knowing the freedom of Jesus. 

Please continue to pray for my team and I as we are physically, emotional, mentally, and spiritually stretched. 

Here are some fun things that took place last week...

A possum decided to join some of my classmates for homework. Fun fact: our "possums" in the states are actually called opossums and are no where near this cute. 

Some of my closest friends at our Valentine's Brunch. The guys in our group surprised all of us with a lovely breakfast where they served us, it was a treat!

Hiked up Castle Hill where I had some quiet time with Jesus. Even though the hike was intense, it was well worth it. 

During the week we are assigned a work duty and mine is working with youth (writing grants and being a leader at youth group) and cleaning bathrooms :) Why not have fun while doing it?

I hope all is well back home!

<3

Settling In

Hello!

Sorry it has been a while since I have blogged. It has definitely been busy over here. We have completed two weeks of lectures, one on Hearing God's voice and on Identity. The weather here is extremely hot and humid. I am pretty sure that I have lost some water weight!

In the first week, it was really great putting aside any distractions from life and listening to what God is saying. It is difficult to explain but I really valued this teaching. I know that I want to live every aspect of my life directed by God and since there are so many possibilities, it can be hard to know which direction to go.

Last week, we went through Identity week. This week was very powerful. We learned who our Identity is in Christ and how we are all beautifully, and uniquely handcrafted. A powerful time this week was that we made two lists, one with lies that we've been told throughout our life and one with truths that corresponds with these. With out truth list, we proclaimed them in a group of about 10 people. And when I say proclaim, I mean it. If you didn't sound like you meant it, you would not be able to move onto the next!

Through these last two weeks, our schools have become very close, we are like a family here. There are people from all over the world and it's awesome to be able to compare how we say particular words and such. I hope I come back with some type of accent lol. I never knew that Canadians get offended when mistaken for an American same with Australians and New Zealanders (they call them Kiwis). I love the environment here, definitely called out of my comfort zone in a safe place.

Here is a short story that I to wrote for an assignment about one of my experiences here:

Can you hear me God?

As I stand in worship, it hits me, “Am I really here? Did I leave everything that I know to be comfortable for the unknown?” “I sure am!” I am in Australia to be radically transformed. As I pray, it sounds something like this, “God, show me what you want of me. I want to be bold and courageous. I am tired of living a mundane life. Please God, speak to me.” As I wait, I get an image of someone in a sunflower shirt. I open my eyes, and right past me walks the exact image. “Okay God, what does this mean?” I get this sense to pray for her, with her! I was thinking, “I do not know her. That would be weird. What do I even say.” I got this peace that it was going to be okay. I wrestled with God at this time. I came to the conclusion, “maybe next time God.”

Well, God has a sense of humor. As I am worshipping, I get a tap on my shoulder. I open my eyes to a sunflower. What do you know? She has come to pray for me. At this time, I have a grin and while she is praying, I am thinking, “Oh God. I see what you did here.” God knows my heart, my capability and is partnering along side of me. When I am weak, He is made strong. I finished the night praying with her and taking one step forward in having my life transformed. 

Miss you all very much!!

Here are a few pics of things I have been doing:

Hiked up Castle Hill. Awesome view up top. It's pretty intense of a work out.

I am working with the youth here. During the week, I have been learning how to write grants. On the weekend, I volunteer with Youth Street where the kids come to have a good time and hear about Jesus. We did some dart art that was awesome, and much harder than it looks!

I got to hang out with some Kangaroos. Some even had joeys! 

Watched the Super Bowl much later than everyone else and without the commercials since they do not air them in Australia. BOO!

One of my closest friends here! Here name is Bithja (Bit-e-ya). She is from Germany and she is awesome. This night we went to a local church called Calvary Christian Church.

At the beach. You have to swim in an enclosed area because it is jelly fish season. The jelly fish are deadly. So there are nets. 

The people that I will be doing life with until June! They are an amazing group!!

G'day Mates!

I have arrived in beautiful Australia! The flight here was definitely a journey that I will never forget but I made it safely.

On Sunday morning (I skipped Saturday because we are 18 hours ahead), I arrived in beautiful Sydney, Australia. I thought that it would be smooth sailing as I had about an hour and a half to catch my plan to Townsville. Well, that was definitely not the case. Unlike the usual get off the plane and walk to the next gate you need to board, I had to check out at a passport stand, go through the ebola check, wait for my luggage, and go through quarantine where the dogs sniff your bag. At this point I was looking at my watch, freaking out. Number one, I have never traveled alone. Number two, I was pretty sure I was going to miss my flight. Number three, I had no cell phone reception so how do I go about making accommodations. At this moment, I took a deep breath and prayed. I asked God to give me peace and to guide me. I kept telling myself that he has opened all of the doors to this opportunity and so he is not going to stop now.

I walked about 10 minutes to where I needed to check my bag in and waited for a bus to take me to where I departed. As soon as I walked outside for the bus, I immediately began to drip sweat. The heat and humidity here is on another level. When I sat in the bus, I began talking to the girl sitting next to me. Just so happens she is doing the exact same Medical and Marine DTS that I will be doing. This was truly an answer to my prayers because at this point, we figured at least we would have each other if we missed the plane. Well, we arrived to our boarding gate with 6 minutes to spare. It was truly an experience.

We were picked up by staff from the school and taken to our living headquarters. The following picture is the outside of the school as I take a picture from the car. A lot of things are walking distance from the campus. There is even a Macca's which is the Australian name for McDonalds.

The first night was getting settled in. Did some fun bush dancing which reminded me of folk dancing. There was also some orientation about living such as curfew, laundry, housekeeping, etc. They had also mentioned that the next day there would be a 5K fun run that the city host for National Australian Day. I thought, okay maybe I can do this.

5:35am yesterday morning (Monday), my alarm goes off. I debate in my head whether or not I should attend the 5K. I was thinking that it probably wasn't a good idea since I would probably pass out due to the extreme weather and I do not run. Well, God didn't let me go back to sleep so I got up and went.

I do go to the gym on a regular basis but NEVER do I run. So coming into this 5K I was very timid. I did not know any of the people doing the race but was able to build some friendships.

One of the girls, Alex, and myself decided to jog. About 1/4 through the mile I thought okay I may need to walk some. The next thing  you know we were 1/2 way done and hadn't stopped. I was pretty shocked but we kept going. As we started getting closer, I was like okay I'm exhausted. At this moment, I had some one-on-one time with God. He really put it on my heart to not stop, no matter how difficult it was. He wanted me to keep going, and He was going to equip me. As I came close to finishing, Alex says, "let's sprint and finish strong!" I was thinking, you are crazy!! But, I did it. We finished the 5K jogging strong the entire time without stoping one time. I was definitely in awe.

I though that this was a pretty awesome experience, especially on my first full day  here. God spoke to me through this race that I almost did not attend. He showed me that life is going to continue to give me obstacles. It is full of unknowns. But, God made it so clear that He was with me and I was not to give up. He was going to give me strength and guide me. As I sprinted, it reminded me of the reason I am here. I have been living a pretty steady life. But, I am now sprinting into unknown territories and through these God is going to shape me. He is ultimately in control and I want to say, "YES," to whatever he calls me too.

As the day went on, we celebrated National Australian Day! It was very laid back and I even tried some kangaroo, I almost barfed.

We got back and had some free time as well as dinner. Then we were off to see the NEW SHIP that we will be sailing on to Papua New Guinea. The first picture was the old ship and the second is the new ship.

God had put it on the staff's heart to raise money for a new ship that would be able to reach remote areas up streams. The old ship had to have 3.1 clearance (they didn't say if that was feet) and the new one only needs 2.1 clearance even though it is much larger. They had 5 months to raise 6.5 million dollars and they were able to do it. The name of the campaign was Overcoming the Impossible because it truly was.

We had a tour of the ship and prayed/worshipped on the top! It was absolutely beautiful. We started worship with the song Oceans, which has been my theme song for this journey in my life. I had one of the staff pray for me and it was beautiful.  We were then asked to pray with a partner. I turned to the girl next to me and we chatted about what we wanted to get out of our trip. As we began to pray she asked if she could pray for me in german because english was a little difficult for her. I was stoked because I've never had anyone pray for me in german!!

After that moment, I realized that God has uniquely crafted each and every one of us on this adventure. We all come from different cultures but yet he is going mightily use us as a team. No matter what language we pray in, we are all praying to the same God and he hears us and will answer us! This is going to be a time of learning from one another and reaching towards our life purpose, to know Him and to make Him known!

We finished the night with a tim tam slam! It's an Australian thing, lol. You bite the corners of a tim tam which is an amazing chocolate type bar, then you use it as a straw to suck up the hot chocolate. The hot chocolate melt the bar and you eat the bar fast and it's an awesome goodness in your mouth.

We are onto day 2 of the week as we will go through orientation and tours!! I hope all is well back home :)

Send me.

The time has come that I embark on this amazing journey. As I sit here waiting for my plane to leave, I'm wondering if this is real. Is this really happening? Am I putting my normal, comfortable life on hold for a moment? Well yes, yes I am. I really do not know what exactly to expect. I know it is extremely hot there and that I do not do well in heat. But I also know that no matter what circumstances I am in, I am not going to be comfortable. I plan to embrace that!

I want to say a HUGE thank you to each and every one of you who have supported me through every moment up to this point. To those of you who pushed me through all of the  hurdles, prayed for me, financially and emotionally supported me; thank you! I am going. I am going to save the lost, and to be a light for Jesus. 

As many of you know, preparing for this trip has been a total God-thing. Now what does that exactly mean? Well, in October I was accepted to take part in YWAM as a medical missionary. But, the catch was that it started in January. I needed to raise 12K and I needed to do it fast. I was hesitant, I made efforts with fundraising but I was still unsure. God began to pour in the donations through so many people. December hit and I I had enough money raised to buy my airfare, so I did. At this point I knew that it was real. I informed my awesome job that I was leaving, unsure if I would be able to return to my position. I was unsure if I would be able to raise the remaining 6K (at the time in December). But, I decided to let God steer the wheel. His will, His bill!!

Let me tell you what I have learned in the months leading up to this...
God has a unique purpose for each and every one of our lives. He is waiting for us to put aside our comfortable lives and say yes! YES to whatever He desires for us. Once led in the direction,  NEVER put God in a box. I sat there and went into telling my job I'm leaving with a mindset that I would lose my job. Come to find out, they are 100% supportive and I will have my job when I come back. I went into the yard sale hoping to raise $300, and ending that day with 1K. I wanted to raise 2K for my benefit dinner but did over 4K. These are some mighty examples of God moving!! 

He has not just financially moved but spiritually and emotionally. God has been shaping me and I want to be a servant. I am going to miss all of you so very much. To my wonderful parents and family, my amazing boyfriend, my diehard friends; this is going to be tough! But, I will see you all again. I will be able to share what God is doing over here where there is a need, need for God's love. I want God to lead me where my trust is without borders!!!

I will try and blog as much as possible! Please keep me in your prayers. Here is my mailing address if you would like to keep in touch with me, I would love letters and pictures:

Gabrielle Lemos - Ship DTS

YWAM Townsaville

PO BOX 6221
Townsville, QLD 4810

AUSTRALIA

#gabbygoesaussie :)