One must have an understanding of history in order to properly interpret the present.

Okay, so when I last left off I was leaving for Australia to begin the tour of raising the church to awareness and activity in human trafficking.

I have just completed the first leg of that tour through Australia. So once again I will recap for you a bit of that journey.

I left home, after the Christmas and New Years celebrations, on Jan 4th. And then, after 27 hours of flying and 16 hours of layovers, I arrived in Perth, Australia Jan 6th very travel weary but ready to begin a new journey.

Perth was unbelievably busy, our contact in Perth (the "lost in traffik" crew) were amazing. They arranged for us to display pictures in two local cafes and hosted our photo exhibition in the YWAM base. We could never have pulled off our first exhibition without them, and they definitely helped us be prepared for more to come. We also got to speak to two dts classes and the frontier media school there. And I got to teach a photography seminar for almost 2 hours. I didn't know I knew so much about photography.

Perth was a huge success thanks to the lost in traffic guys, and a great kickoff to our tour.

^
our books table


our exhibition!



sharing the message

The lost in traffic crew

After saying goodbyes to our new friends we headed off across the Australian continent to the city of Townsville.

This wasn't my first trip to Townsville, I had actually been here for a week during my dts outreach, and it was amazing to see just how far God has brought me from that point until returning again this year.

Sometimes we merely need to reflect in order to see God at work in our lives.

Townsville was, like Perth, very busy.
In Townsville we stayed with a Tongan family in one of the base houses. It was super convenient for us all to be living in the same house.
(In Perth we were several blocks apart, which meant lots of time spent walking just to meet.)
ALSO, we were enormously blessed by a new friend from the base with a vehicle to drive the entire two weeks we were there. I felt so British driving on the left side of the road... even though I was driving in Australia... go figure. But, I enjoyed driving immensely.

For ministry we were able to set up a booth in the local mall, displaying some of our photos and trying to discuss with people about the issue of trafficking. We actually had our picture in the local paper and a write up about what we've done and are doing.

While in Townsville we also spoke at a youth detention center, telling the boys our testimonies and where we've all come from and sharing with them our dvd and the mission that God has brought us on, encouraging them to make a change in their own lives.

We also were able to lead the entire Youth Street program the base runs every Saturday for kids 12 - 17. The kids were really into the program and we got a great response from them. Also during the week we were able to teach photography at an after-school mental health center. This was a place that encourages young teens to express themselves an tries to equip them with different arts and mediums to give an outlet for their emotional stress.

And back at the YWAM base we were able to speak to the music for missions school who is also focused on human trafficking. It was good to encourage them and set before them the focus about what they're doing and why. It was also encouraging to us to see new soldiers with passion for justice and using their gifts coming into the field.

While we were in Townsville, the amazing holiday of AUSTRALIA DAY! had its annual festivities. It was a truly Australian experience, with meat pies for dinner and Pavlova for dessert. The guys all played "footy" (Australian rules rugby) in the afternoon while I took a much needed nap.

And that brings us to Sydney.