G'day g'day! Is it already my third newsletter?! Crazy! š«£ Ken MulliganThis week we had the honour of being taught by Ken Mulligan who is the campus director and the one who started the YWAM Townsville base 50 years ago. His teaching style is incredibly unique. He asks you a ton of questions that really make you think about the roots of your beliefs. Questions like: Why do you believe that? Who taught you that? Is that true? He never really went too deep on what he believed but really challenged us to find our own belief. Which is actually much like how Jesus taught. He only answered three questions directly, opting instead to use parables and return with a question to make you think. Hearing his testimony and how much God has done in and through him was incredible. This entire week kind of felt focused on the topic of relational trauma, both family and friends. Many tears shed, but when isn't there around here? So much growth. I had a really hard time focusing this week because I had a migraine the entire time.. I've never had a migraine last more than a day and it was really distracting. But having everyone pray over me, drinking more tea in a week than I've drank in the last 6 months, and trusting God with my pain, made it so much better.
Locked in on these teachings Castle HillLots of hikes this week! There's this "mountain" right next to our base. A 250m elevation that takes around 30 minutes to summit. It's a really good workout to do early in the morning or in the evening to enjoy the sunset. I've done it 3 times this week alone, but some people do it almost every day haha. The best part for me though is getting to see the city from above and the island in the distance. There's not much elevation at home so having that mountain is so nice.
Morning Hike photo, this is from the top of Castle Hill. A lovley view of Townsville. Little tangeant but, the culture here around outdoors is lovely. We play volleyball at night after the sun has gone down because it's too hot to do it in the sun. Same with the hike, we do it in the morning before it's heated up. It's 30C with 80% humidity so it get's pretty hot especially when there's no breeze. Plus you get sun burnt in like 10 minutes if you're not used to the sun. Billabong Animal Sanctuary!!Today we went to Billabong Animal Sanctuary! It was amazing getting to see all the local wild life. Learning so much about the history as well through the tour guides. And even holding a crocodile!!
A baby salt water crocodile!! (I know right!? So cool!!) There were also Kangaroos, Koalas, Snakes, Dingos, Turtles, a bunch of birds I forget the name of? Overall a really cool experience. When I was there I really thought about how God gave us dominion over the animals of the earth. I thought about how many conservation efforts and just effort in general needs to be made to take care of our eco systems. It's beautiful to see how that's being done. It kind of inspired me to take more extra care to be aware of the animals and how their ecosystems are affected around me. With the lens that we have the power to protect and guide them. Prayer Points
If God has placed on your heart to give at all, it would be a huge blessing! Thank you so much! The End!You've made it to the end! Thank you so much for reading this far. If you have any questions, send an email to jakeloewen@proton.me |