Month One & Two

Hey Everybody!
I've had an incredible first month here on the Sunny Coast! I have learned more about myself, who God is, and who I am in him than I have in the past few years. We have had so many amazing speakers that have really encouraged and challenged us to go deeper into our relationships with God and create an intimacy that cannot be rivaled by anything the world has to offer.

Below are some pictures I've collected as I've been here and a couple short descriptions of what they are of!

The top picture is the backyard I sit almost every morning to read my bible and watch the sunrise.

This picture is from a quick weekend trip I took with one of my roommates where I got to spend some amazing time on the beach hearing from God. 

My Birthday was one to remember! My roommates started the day off by surprising me with decorating the dining room, making me breakfast, and singing me happy birthday when I walked in then later in the day everyone surprised me with a cake a then everyone sang me happy birthday! They then had a time of encouragement and prayer for the coming year and we ended up singing amazing grace as a group. I was a beautiful day surrounded by amazing people! 

These photos are from a sunrise hike we did one of the first weeks. When we got to the top someone had brought a guitar up with them and as a group we lifted our voices in worship.  

These are just a couple of the amazing sunsets I get to see every morning :) 

This is the whole group of us on one of the first days

This is me with one of my amazing roommates and good friends Meike, she is from Germany! 

This is Sara, one of my really good friends here, and outreach team member (with me in the background haha) When I leave my phone lying around Sara likes to take selfies with it and so I have a beautiful collection of her selfies haha! 

We love to have fun and take weird selfies here so this is from the room we have class in while we were waiting to begin one day 

Here on the sunshine coast we have an amazing coffee culture and since I am one, a lover of coffee, and two, always am in need of WiFi I have become a regular in many of the local shops. 

Two of the leaders here (Karis, seen above, and Sam - they are married!) are also from Wisconsin, down in the Milwaukee area, but it has been really fun to go out and get to know them! This was one time where we went to a small coffee shop out of town and found ourselves looking at a beautiful nature area! 

What daily life looks like in YWAM DTS:
I personally love starting my day with God, so every morning I choose to get up around 5 am, get in my bible and just hang out with God. Sometimes I use that time to journal, pray, or sit and listen to God but other times I do that later in the day. This time is really just whatever I need to connect to God and be filled by him.
Then Breakfast is between 6:30 and 7am
We leave for base (the church were we have classes at) most mornings at 7:30am
We start class at 8am with worship Monday and Friday, Intersession Tuesday and Wednesday, and regular class on Thursdays
We have class lectures until 10:30am when we break for morning tea (AKA tea, coffee, and snacks)
Then start class againat 11am
We then end lectures each day at 12:30-1pm
We then have lunch before going home.
Afternoons are spent many different ways but generally
           Monday: Cleaning duties and Outreach preperation
           Tuesday: Free afternoon often used to work on homework, be in the bible, run to town quick, have one on ones (mentoring), read, hangout together, or take a quick nap every now and then ;) Tuesday Nights we have the SBS Students (School of Biblical Studies: a 9 month program in YWAM where students study the complete bible in five different ways) come and teach on a book of the New Testament that we read the previous Wednesday afternoon
          Wednesday: Cleaning duties and bible reading with SBS. Then on Wednesday night we have night lecture from 7pm-9pm 
          Thursday: BBQ on the beach! As a DTS we go to the local beach and spend some time together bonding, processing the week, surfing, or playing volleyball
         Friday: Cleaning duties and at night we have ministry in the community

For an easier visual of what my days look like here is an example of what my schedule generally looks like!

In three weeks we leave for outreach! It is crazy how fast the time has flown!

Please be praying for the final funds to come in for some of my outreach team, that the hearts of the people we go to on outreach are soft and the the harvest is great (Luke 10:2), for protection of our team from sickness and from man, and that we are overflowing with the Holy Spirit while we are there and have the opportunity to share the gospel that means so much to us with others! 

With Love, Allison 

Meet My Outreach Team!

Hey Everyone! Below is a short video introduction to my outreach team members!

If you couldn't tell in the video my team members are pretty amazing! I am so blessed to have such an amazing team filled completely with people after God's own heart. I know that the two months we are spending together will be filled with laughter, miracles, and bringing God's Kingdom wherever we go!

As a team we have outreach prep every week where we practice skits, bond as a group, go over highs and lows of the week, pray for our outreach's success, pray for our contacts and the places we will be going, and learning a little bit of the language!

Here are some images from when we went bowling as a team! 

We also have weekly ministry (AKA Community outreach/evangelism). Our ministry is working alongside christian skaters at a local skate park. We make either hot dogs (called snags in Australia) or pancakes that we hand out for free to the people there. We then use that to start conversations, evangelize, and have the opportunity to pray for people as well as just serving the people in the amazing community we live in.

My Last Week in America

My last week in America was blessed with being able to spend it at my favorite place on Earth. Many people would probably not say that 5am wakeups, hard work, and manure to be their favorite place but to me it's the closest thing to heaven you can get. Here are just a few pictures from my time where my heart is happy. 

The "boys" (Rebel and Rowdy) are ready to go out for evening  chores. 

This is my super gorgeous work outfit haha - its all about comfort, warmth, and usability on the farm

I am very much a big dog person, after spending a week with the boys I was pretty sad to leave them They are the sweetest labs!

This is the calf feeding system they use at the farm. Its is bottles with a holding tank for pasteurized milk that is fed to the cows. It is a very cool process, any milk that is unable to be sold into the market but is still ok once pasteurized is sent over to the calf barn. It is then put through a pasteurizer and put fed to the calves. By doing this they reduce the waste of milk they are unable to sell, do not have to pay for milk replacer, and have healthier calves since it has all the nutrients in the correct amounts for them. 

This is George. George is the trusty farm pickup that may have a little rust, and leak a little power steering fluid, but he runs well, and starts when asked without too much protest! Fun Fact: I learned how to drive on George! Whew that was a while ago haha 

Here is an outside view of the calf barn (which is where I worked throughout most of the week) and the exterior calf hutches 

This calf was not feeling so hot when the week started but with a fresh warm jacket, some warm milk in its belly, and a little penicillin in her bum she turned around pretty quick.

Rowdy (L) and Rebel (R) like to help with chores, and play around a bit, but when called they are the best good boys and will sit nicely for a picture! 

They may be a little chunky but they also have quite a few "treats" all over the farm just waiting to be cleaned up, so they may or may not have put on a few extra pounds... haha 

This is the bulk tank where the milk is stored and the pasteurization system! I definitely geek out over this system every time I use it and they have had it for years now haha 

Rebel makes sure the bench and my coat stay warm until we are ready to take the 4X4 out and deliver the milk to the calves 

These are part of the girls inside.

Here is the other side for the bigger calves that will soon be weaned. 

I was pretty sad to leave the farm, my heart is so full of joy there, but looking back and I have even more joy here on the sunshine coast, which I didn't think was possible, and I am so amazed at all the  things God is doing here, and has already done in my heart. 

I do have to say I feel pretty sorry for the farm this past week in the -50 degree weather. The cold makes it so much worse. (I am enjoying the sunny and 80 degree weather here though!) 

My Psalm

I wrote this the night that I found out I had gotten accepted into the DTS Program with YWAM. I couldn't sleep because I was so excited and so, deeply, in love with the doors God could open in my life. For awhile now I have been praying to have a passionate love for God like David did, you can see in all his Psalms how honest, and truly in love with God he was - it's beautiful and when I noticed it I thought "I want that kind of passion for Christ" so I started praying for it, and the day came when I understood how David must have felt.

It came pouring out of me with so much intensity I couldn't stop the inexplicable joy that came from getting a tiny glimpse of just how big my God is. You see there is no way that I should have been accepted. The class was full, I had been put on a wait list, and yet even though no one cancelled out of the class I was accepted in through prayer. I knew that this was the journey God wanted me on and I glimpsed the opening of closed doors that God is capable of.

Then unsure of what to do with all the emotions pouring out of me I wrote them down. In counselling I learned the power and love of journaling and so that's just what I did. Here are the results.

I really debated on whether or not to share this since it was such and intimate moment with God but if David can be bold enough to share his innermost love of God, than so can I. I pray that this psalm speaks to someone, as these words are not mine, but are from God. I pray that the love I have for the Lord will burst out through this psalm, and I pray that you are able to see that love for God and God's love of us is not an old testament notion, but a living, breathing, daily relationship with Him.

So this is my Psalm to God:


Oh wonderful God, how great it is to serve you
how amazing you are, oh God.
My Abba, my Father.
You are my rock and my foundation on which I stand
I stand before you in awe of your power and might.
Overwhelmed with your joy and your faithfulness
I fall to my knees in praise,
hands lifted high I sing of your holiness

So loved am I by you my dear God
you call me your precious child
and make a straight path for my feet.

How faithful, oh God, you are.
How glorious and wonderful is your name.
You open doors that should be shut
and lead me down the path few follow
You lead me where I am supposed to be
and pure inexplicable joy comes from being in your will,
From following your path

I am honored to praise your name.
I am unworthy to be called your servant
and yet you reach out to me, my dearest Abba
and you call me your beloved child

How hard it is to fathom your love, my God
Such a sinner am I
and you have plans for each of my days, hours, and seconds.
You make no mistakes, oh God
and I am humbled by your mighty love
and your inexplicable forgiveness.

The joy of the Lord is mine
when you lead my path, precious Father.
All glory and honor to you, oh God
my heart and my path is forever yours.
I boast only in the love of you my Father, oh God
Amen.

The Call "To Go and To Serve"

I have been struggling with what to say because it is so important to me. I want what I say to be impactful and powerful. I just don't know how to, I don't seem to have the right words in my eyes. So.... I think I will just be utterly honest and pray and trust that God in me is more powerful than anything I could do on my own could ever be, that these words are what God wants to say through me, and that they are not from my own understanding, but from God. That what I have to say it so God based, and my words are so Spirit filled that anyone who reads this cannot walk away unchanged. So, fun fact: I am going on a 5 month long-term Discipleship Training/Mission trip that I leave for at the end of January. 

How'd that Happen? 
As many of you know I am graduating Dec. 15th 2018 from NDSU with a Bachelors of Science in Agricultural Systems Management with a minor in Animal Science. I have completed my schooling in 3.5 years and I have been working pretty close to full time during my final semester as a Precision Farming Specialist for Titan Machinery (the company I have worked for since summer of 2017) I love what I do there, I love the people I work with, the work itself, and the customers I help, and I can genuinely say I enjoy going to work everyday. I had planned on staying with Titan Machinery after I finished school because of how much I love it but God had some other plans.... (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT ""For I know the plans for you" says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope""

A Little Bit of Background: 
I have struggled with PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety throughout my childhood and young adult life due to some traumatic events I am not ready to share details about. This past April I was finally ready to deal with what happened to me so I went to a Christian counselor and found incredible peace, healing, and restoration. I have never been so changed in such little time. This time was some of the hardest of my entire life. Counselling isn't easy; working through deep pain isn't fun; it is hard work, it is the work where you find your grit, your strength, and most importantly, you find God because there is no way to possibly do it on your own. During this time I did EMDR therapy, spoke to my abuser about what happened, through God forgave him, and was able to see where God was during the hardest times of my life; right there beside me, with his heart breaking right along with mine. I wrapped up my time with my amazing councilor at the end of the summer a changed person. Coming out of therapy my PTSD almost never bothers me, my depression and anxiety are under control and haven't been a problem for me for months. Like I said I found my peace, my peace in God. (John 16:33 NLT "I have told you all of this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, for I have overcome the world.")

I love agriculture, it has been my escape for my entire life, it is also where I have found joy, passion, excitement, and community. And although I truly believe that God gave me that passion and is going to give me the chance to use it throughout my life, two weeks ago my career plans were changed by God.

OK, Back to the Story: 
I don't know if many of you have heard God speak to you clearly, loudly, and directly but I will tell you, it is an experience.... Two weekends ago I got this overwhelming anxiety and uneasiness, it was different than any other anxiety I have ever had. I didn't understand what was happening, why I had this anxiety, and where it was coming from. It took about a day and a half but I eventually threw my hands up and yelled at God and said "What?!? Why is this anxiety on me? Where is it coming from? What do you want me to do?!" As clearly as if God had been standing in the room next to me I heard the words "you need To Go and To Serve" I felt a lot like I'm sure Samuel did in 1 Samuel 3:1-11. My life was rocked and I was in awe of the God I get to serve.

I won't lie, I heard that message from God and I cried, I cried for the life I was hoping to live, the life I had planned, the easy life I had wanted. You see I knew I couldn't ignore God (look how that turned out for Jonah - haha). Actually though, with the things I have gone through in my life I have learned that it is better to be in God's will than running away from it. When I have peace in my life because I am living in God's will it seems like I can survive the world and not blink an eye, but when I am running from God, and I loose that peace, everything seems to be 10X harder than it should be.

I am not willing to run from God and loose the peace I have, so I cried, and then I prayed, A LOT, but I didn't know where God was calling me, I just knew he was calling me to something. So I looked into every opportunity I could think of. The one that I felt a peace about was with YWAM (Youth With a Mission). They have this 5 month DTS (Discipleship Training School) where you spend the first three months deepening your relationship with God, getting to know God, and learning to walk in intimacy with him daily. Then the next two months are spent making God known to the world on a mission trip.

So I applied, scared out of my mind that I would get accepted, but also dreading getting rejected. The email I got back told me I was on a wait list. Unsure of what to do next, but confident I was being called to go, I asked if there were any other openings. We communicated for a bit and we both felt like I was really being called there, so they prayed and I was accepted into the program. I applied for my visa a day or two later, and told my boss that I was going to be leaving to go on mission after I graduate. That conversation was a difficult one, telling a place that you love, people that you love, that you will be leaving and it has nothing to do with them; that I genuinely love working there and yet... Well, its a hard conversation, one that they took with grace and a beautiful excitement for my future.

January 25th is the date to look forward to! That is the day I leave for Australia's Sunshine Coast for Discipleship Training. That is the date I leave to go find more of God, when I leave behind safety and security to serve God and make Him known. I cannot wait to learn even more about God and how much he loves me.

So for anyone who has made it this far into the post, I ask that you pray for safely (Psalm 91), I pray that you have seen God in my words, and hope that you will join with me to support this journey that God has called me on.

Please let me know if you have any questions, if I can pray for you in some way, or if you would just like to talk. I look forward to going through this journey with each of you and I hope are looking forward to it too :)

With Love,

Allie