One more week

Countdown until I head back to the Midwest for the holidays! I have one more week here before I leave. I will certainly miss the people here and already am sad that December holds one wedding, two fundraisers and a Christmas party that I'll be gone for.
Last night was another 'youth' night with the local high school students at the beach. God opens some opportunities for more in depth conversations with a few of the girls and it makes me excited about returning and being able to more fully poor into them. Lack of support system seems to be a theme with many of these girls coming from broken families. How tainted their worldview must be to have lost trust and innocence at such young ages. Praise God for opportunities to touch lives, encourage and give hope.
Tonight is a culture diversity night at one of our local churches and is intended to reach out to their community as well as unit with three other churches. It will be a good 'feast' as they say but also a good time of reaching out and letting Christ be known.
Many blessings on this Thanksgiving season! No thankgiving here but hopefully the two other americans on campus and I will be able to put together a dinner on Monday. Lots to be thankful for this year!

Shots from Brissy

Aussie Days ... FULL OF:

Rugby. Lots and lots of rugby

Girl time and road trips

Dinner, lunch preps in the kitchen

Sometimes 'interesting' dinner and lunch preps in the kitchen

Beautiful scenery and sunsets

God has blessed Island Breeze with natural beauty and wildlife (i could do without the snakes though)

Shots from Downtown Brisbane.... busy place to be

"Hungry Jacks" is popular fast food place- otherwise known to us American's as "Burger King". Why the change in name? I have NO IDEA... everything else is the same!

Big Time Changes

1 Timothy 1:12 "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me
strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his
service."

I have been at the YWAM Brisbane base for one month and am looking
forward to my last three weeks here. Currently our DTS (discipleship
training school) has joined with three others (Sydney and Melbourne)
in Sydney and I had the opportunity to jump on a plane and head to
Sydney. It has been good traveling the train system, and meeting other
inspired and passionate christians. Tomorrow I should be meeting up
with mentors of mine from my Leadership training in St Croix, the
West. I do however miss the team at Island Breeze Brisbane which is a
confirmation to me of some of the things God has been speaking to me
about recently.
Last week I made the difficult decision to not return as staff to YWAM
St Croix. This came after some prayer and fasting, seeking God's
vision and also being in contact with the base director. The base
continues to go through transitions and will not be running the
programs I was previously involved in. In His grace, God has allowed
me to see many opportunities to serve here in Brisbane and I feel
called here for my next season in life, remaining with Youth with a
Mission. I would be working primarily in the community outreach team
which is where my heart lies- interaction with the people- and also
some support for the DTS team. I will be still returning to the
midwest for the Christmas holidays and for some fundraising. God is so
faithful, that can be the only theme of my current season, He remains
faithful even in the toughest and most confusing of times. Not because
He has to, but because He WANTS to as He delights in His children.
Please let me know of any other questions you may have. I continuously
thank God for your prayers for me along the way..... Alissa

island food

We had the lovo yesterday, underground oven (thats the fijian term - the samoans call it the Umu). We of course had pork as well as casava and had pulisami -taro leaves with coconut,onion and cornbeef. It's actually one of my favorites from samoa, although I prefer the sweeter type with just the coconut and onion. It was 'interesting' for the non-islanders because they started to feel their throats itch and one American thought she was having an allergic reaction .Others started getting up for water, or clearing their throats. It seemed normal to me, just shows the taro leaf was either picked to early or not boiled enough so it was so funny for us 'natives' to see one after the other start coughing or complaining, or getting concerned. Joshua, an aussie, was rebuking the spirit of sickness thinking he was getting a sore throat. Oh i laugh just thinking about it...The cultural differences can be frustrating at times but overall it shows God's sense of humor. For example, yesterday the guy from Papua New Guinea went up to Liti's room and instead of taking his fist and actually knocking on her door, he simply yelled out the words 'Knock Knock' numerous times. You can't help but laugh... I'm sure it brings joy to God's heart too...
I made an "american" dinner tonite- spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread and a great salad (great because I was in charge of it so added as many tomatoes, carrots and cucumber as I could!). Most of the boys had gone with the director to help Pastor Tonga prepare the Aboriginal church the Gospel Country Music Festival happening this weekend. Left over food won't last long though, especially since this morning was fasting time. Half way through the week! My time here is flying by and I pray God continues to move amazingly in my last month here....