After 15000 Kms, I'm Home!

Well Hey There Gang!

I’m currently sitting in the LAX airport. I won’t be able to send this out until I’m home in BC but I thought I’d get a headstart on writing this up!
My last week was literally a whirlwind. Everyday I had a heap of things to do and somehow, by the grace of God, I got it all done!
It was hard to say goodbye to the outreach teams, since I was here a full day after all the teams went out I had to say goodbye at least four times. Sigh! One night 3 teams went out, that was the night of a friend’s wedding so I was pretty distracted, trying to say my goodbyes and get my butt moving to make it over to the reception. So no tears there. My heart was filled to overflowing as the girls that I’ve been living with for the last 3 months tried to fill a 30 second time frame with how much they loved and appreciated me. Those girls! One began to cry quite hard, when I could finally figure out what she was saying between sobs, I heard that she’s going to miss me so much. I’m like her Mom. Grrr. Well, I took that as a compliment since she’s like 5 years younger. Made me feel old though!

Sunday and Monday were filled with packing, cleaning and trying to downsize my ‘stuff’ to take back with me. United Airlines charges $331 for ONE piece of extra luggage to check in. So, needless to say, I didn’t go that route! I managed to cram all my stuff into 2 bags and when I checked in, I only had to take a few books out and stuff them into my pillowcase of the pillow I was lugging back home. 2 flights later, I wished I had left it at the base in Australia ! I’m maxed out with my carry-on capacity. I’m praying that they won’t notice that I have 3 to carry on instead of the required 2 … It’ll work out. I’m sure.

Its hard to believe that I’m in the States already. My 13.5 hour flight from Sydney to LA wasn’t too bad. United isn’t my favorite airline to fly overseas with so I’m not too surprised that they didn’t have fun little extras like tv screens or games to kill the time. I slept A LOT. But I also had two older ladies sitting next to me, as I was in the aisle seat. 4 or 5 times they asked me to get up so they could pee… Grace abounds!

Even though I don’t like it too much I’ve found myself sipping on a Dr. Pepper, only because you can’t get them in Australia ! Smile.

I have another 2 flights until I’m FINALLY in my bed in BC. One from LA to San Francisco , then the last from San Fran to Vancouver . Whew! Its 32.5 hours total of travelling and waiting in airports to get aboard another flight. What a day so far!

I will email again when I’m settled in a bit more at home. In Jesus’ Name all my luggage will be with me!!!

Thank you for your prayers and support!!

Prayer Requests:

- Settling in at home for a bit

- Wisdom as I go through my stuff at home to get rid of more gear that I simply don’t use.

- Seeing Dad and spending time with him

- That I would get the rest my poor mind and body needs

- My family. That they would be ready for me!!

Thank you again and do let me know if you would like to meet up while I’m at home! I will be there from March 31st until the end of April!!!

Love,

Reba
I'm home guys! I just wanted to pop this on over to you before I did anything else to distract me. Call me or email if you'd like to meet up!!
1-604-856-5609
Love you all HEAPS!
Reba

Week 11: Sigh!

Hello Everybody!
Well, after a lot of tears, frustration, laughter and memories I'm finally at week 11! This is my final week before heading home for a bit. We had Neville as our speaker on Missions. He's from Byron Bay, New South Wales here in Australia. And he's quite easily the smartest man I have ever met in my life. He has really committed himself to studying the Word and keeping it fresh and applicable. He has studied the background of the Bible and a whole heap of Greek and Hebrew meanings of the words used in key scriptures. My hands usually cramp up while taking notes because I want to take down everything! I should have asked for a copy of his power point (Slideshow) for sure! One key thing that I can recall at this exact moment that he covered today was Peter. I've learnt SO much about him! I found myself tearing up and crying over Peter's situation. After he denied Christ three times and wept bitterly he went back to what he knew: Fishing. And when he referred to himself, he didn't include himself with the disciples, he said Peter and the disciples. Like he was so ashamed of what he'd done that he thought he wasn't disciple-material anymore. But then another guy who had messed up and thought he wasn't fit for God's service met up with Peter and he was able to use the situation that was the source of so much regret and sorrow to minister to Mark! God doesn't use the perfect Christians to do His Will, He uses the willing. Those who are willing to deny themselves and take up their own cross to follow Him. Those who seek Him with everything in their hearts. That's the biggest thing I got out of lectures today: And that was only ONE of his many points he spoke on! I love Neville!
So the rest of my time here is simply jam-packed. Between meetings with students, packing, sorting, cleaning, errands, saying goodbyes ... the list goes on and on! One of my good friends, Leon, is getting married this Saturday too, I'm looking forward to seeing that wedding!!! All of the outreach teams leave this weekend too so it seems like everyone here is in an upheaval! The houses are starting to look like chaos but hopefully it'll calm down soon enough! I can't believe I'm 5 days away from a flight home! I'll miss the gorgeous location and the friends I've made but I am looking forward to seeing all of you guys that are living in BC! Woot! Make sure you email me so we can schedule a time to meet up!
I love you all so very much and may see some of you in a few days' time!
Prayer Requests:
-Travel mercies
-Time organization so I can get my To Do list done!
-Finances to settle Staff Fees and flight taxes going back to Canada
-The outreach teams going overseas this weekend
-Prioritizing my time here so I can see the people that are meaningful to me
-Peace about leaving most of my stuff here and giving it away ... Sigh!

Email me soon and know how much I appreciate your love, prayers and support!!!
LOVE,
Reba

Week 10: What just happened?!

Hello All!
So, its Sunday and I don't even know how it got to be this late in the week: WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! Last week literally was gone before I knew it was Wednesday. The beginning of the week was filled with caring for the sick girls here at my house (They had the same bug that I had gotten a few days earlier) and it smelled like a bathroom in the house for about a week! Yeesh! Then I had to do all my mentor meetings, small groups, cleaning, laundry ... and that was just one week! The this past week was "Kingdom" by our base director, Rob Hensser. Summarized, it was about engaging ourselves so that the church isn't confined to a building but actually getting out into the world and making a difference. A great quote from this teaching was "Jesus didn't stay in the church and wait for the world to come to Him, He went out into the world and brought church to them! Quite convicting, huh?! So this upcoming week is the last week of Lecture for this DTS! Yikes! I hope I can get my To Do list out of the way so I can have time to hang out with the students before they jet out of here. It feels weird to be packing up my stuff, not leaving any of it. I seem to have accumulated quite a bit of it over the years. Sigh! Good thing its just stuff ... Question: Why is it so hard to give away SHOES?! It physically hurts. Smile! I'm up early on a Sunday trying to hack off the most pressing stuff on my list. I started laundry early so that I can get a head start before the students wake up and realize that they need to be doing the same thing. Smile! They make me laugh...

Prayer Request:
-Time management so that I can get what I need to get done and help out the students as they clean and pack too!
-Finances to pay off Staff Fees
-Discernment: to do what I need to be doing not what I'd rather be doing
-Encourage the students as they prep to go overseas
-That I would be able to end things well here on the Coast with people and my gear

Thank you all so much for sticking with me over the last few months. Your encouragements and prayers are FELT!
Love you all heaps upon heaps!
Reba

Week 9: Hmm.

Hey Guys!
2 weeks on Tuesday, I'm on a flight home! Its surreal to think about that! Last week was "Relationships" and it was so good! The Kirks (A couple on staff here on the Sunshine Coast) tackled it and did such a good job! The students and staff all got something to walk away with. How God views relationships and the moral boundaries that we all ought to have as Christians. It was great! We've had almost nothing but rain for the last few weeks, I'm praying for SUNSHINE in a major way! We had a love feast for the students on Tuesday. A love feast is pretty much the staff getting together and blessing the students with a nice night. So we set up a rented room with nice decorations, decked out tables and asked them all to dress nice for the evening. As staff, we prepared and served their meals then washed their feet. It was such a good night, I'm positive the students walked away encouraged and blessed for sure. It seemed like the days started too soon and ended too late for this old one. Over a period of a few days I only had about 9 hours of sleep. Sigh! Early morning breakfasts and late-night chats certainly put a strain on my physical capabilities. By Thursday I was walking into aisles in the grocery store and couches in the basement. So I suppose it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise when I was physically ill on Saturday and all day on Sunday. After throwing up everything I had in my body, I laid on my bed wondering what God would be teaching me through this sickness. So I was philosophizing with God at about 3 am. I had finally settled on the symbolism of my aching body. Even though it was my stomach that was ill, my whole body reacted. From the raging fever, aching back, shaking legs and arms and pounding headache my whole body was affected by the one part. Kind of like my relationship with God. If I neglect one part, the rest suffers. More specifically my prayer life. If I'm not seeking God DAILY, then its like I'm letting a vital part of my life get ill. From there other parts of my relationship will suffer. That was my 3am epiphany. So I rested up all day on Sunday and now am feeling MUCH better. Lunch has successfully stayed down!
Prayer Requests:
-To finish up well here on the Coast
-To COMPLETE MY TO DO LIST that keeps on growing and growing
-Finances to pay off my Staff Bill before leaving
-Wisdom with how to disciple my 3 students
Thank you again for your encouragements. I hope my epiphany gives you something to mull over without going through the same situation!
Blessings on you all!
Love,
Reba

Week 8: Sigh!

**Enter a very tired sigh here!**
Week 8: Character and Nature of God by Jason Solari
I was blessed this past week to have my friend and previous School of Digital Film leader, Jason Solari here to speak on this DTS! The original speaker that was booked had to fly back to Canada with a family emergency so we were trying every resource to find a speaker to share in only 5 days time! I called up Jason who is stationed in Brisbane to see if he'd be available.

God knows what He's doing and that's for sure! Jason had never spoken on Character and Nature but God had laid it on his heart to start working on a teaching a few weeks ago, so he was well on his way to being prepared! What a blessing!
The students loved the teaching, going in-depth with a few of the Characteristics of God and how we can actively seek out more. It was so good! I found myself making the trip to Brisbane 3 times last week. Not so much fun when its almost 2 hours one way! But God was teaching me all sorts of patience in that area and I made it without a scratch or temper tantrum! Smile. My weekend was gone before I had time to realize that it had come!! It seems to be the trend each weekend. I spend a majority of my time taking students to and fro, errands like laundry and journal-marking, church ... the list goes on and on. Sometimes I wish I had more time for just 'me' but if I'm not the one doing all these things then no one does. Its quite sad indeed! God is continually teaching me that I need to STOP doing things out of my own resources and power. That is not how it was meant to be and is why I'm getting so weary and tired now. As easy as it is to write its quite another thing to walk out. I'm challenged to give up my day before its even begun... Sigh!
Praise Reports:
-Not getting lost once in the backstreets of Brisbane City!
-Getting to spend a bit of time with Jason in the afternoons talking about what SDF is doing now and future plans
-I drove the only van that went into the City for our Saturday trip. It rained the entire time but we still had a blast
Prayer Requests:
-With only a few more weeks left, that I would be able to focus completely on what I'm doing here rather than what I'll be doing later
-That I'd stop trying to do 'life' on my own, but rely on God who is the source of rest, peace and sanity!
-Finances to pay off my last staff bill due at the end of this month
-That I would be a blessing to the students as they prepare to go on Outreach soon
-SUN! We've had a few weeks of rain everyday and the sun hasn't made but one appearance! Sigh!
Thank you. I can't say how much you all mean to me enough. Thank you.
Love,
Reba

Bye For Now Week 7!

I have no idea where last week went. That can't be a good thing!
We had the topic of "The Living Word" which is pretty much an indepth Bible Study. I always seem to forget that the Bible has so much more History than what is simply written on the pages.
The week started pretty crummy though, Sunday afternoon I realized that I literally broke my molar. Sigh! No fun. Apparently I have a problem grinding my teeth while I sleep, the dentist said it was from anger, stress or anxiety. I didn't think I had any of those! Sigh! So I had to pay money that I really don't have to fix a tooth that shouldn't have broken in the first place! During my nightly grinding sessions, I ended up loosening up a filling and cracking the molar itself. Sigh!!! But now that its done I'm waiting for a call from the Dentist to tell me that my silicone sleeping retainer is in, to stop further damage. Oh the drama.
So I'd been struggling with trying to figure out where the money is going to come from to pay for the dentist as well as my Staff Fees and God is teaching me huge levels of TRUST. That He's still God no matter if I see it right then and there or not. Oh trust...
This week my friend came up from Brisbane to speak on The Character and Nature of God. He's such a blessing to me! Since he was my School of Digital Film school leader, he knows how I act and react in stressful situations! Smile. And he is always quick to encourage and edify. I'm so happy I get to spend some time with him this week! Woot!
I only have 3 more weeks until I fly home! I can't believe time has zipped by so quickly. For those of you who don't know, I will be flying into Vancouver March 30th to spend about a month at home preparing to go on a 2 month documentary trip into Indonesia, highlighting the sex trade and child trafficking that is such a booming industry there. More details on that adventure to come!
Please be praying for the documentary planning and details, finances to miraculously come in to settle all my affairs with the dentist and staff fees, that I would be able to be fully here mentally as well as physically for the next few last weeks, that I would be able to encourage and push the students to finish their lecture phase well!
Thank you for your prayers, love, encouragement and laughter you send with every note and update of your own!
I love you all very much!
Love,
Reba

Week 6: Where did you go?!

Hello Everybody!
So ... Whew! Last week was Prayer Week with the DTS which means we have prayer going on for 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Each staff and student were put into groups of 4 to pray for 2 hour slots daily, that being above the 4 hours of class (corporate prayer) and the nightly sessions. It was so intense! But SO SO SO worth it! I'm still bit weary and more than a bit tired but I'm so happy that I was able to be a part of last week's adventures! A lot of inner healing took place, every corporate session ended up being times of being open with where we're at and what we're struggling with as well as confession and repentance. Whew. Leon Russell, a good friend of mine from when I staffed here from 07-08, was leading that week and he made a remark which made me reflect on what I was learning "Reba, I love watching you on Prayer Week, you wrestle the ENTIRE TIME!" This is my fourth prayer week that I've been involved with and he's so right! I end up reflecting and wrestling with whatever God is teaching me at that point in time. Last week God was asking me to be OPEN with everyone on the DTS, not just the people I've grown to know and trust. It was so hard! Fear of man made me feel like I was immobilized for the better part of the week and when I finally broke through it, man was it AMAZING! It drew me closer to some of the students I hadn't gotten to know as well and opened the door for a lot of healing in my own heart. I was open about where my Dad is at and what's going on at home, that opened up a door for me to pray with a student whose Dad has Parkinson's Disease. My heart broke for him! We prayed and prayed, I definitely cried and cried. It was such an intimate time with God and the students around me.
This week we're heading into Inductive Bible Study here with Bryan Hunsberger, another friend of mine! He's so passionate about the Word and how we learn & apply it to our lives that it lights a fire under me to get into it more!
Prayer Requests:
1. I broke a tooth yesterday morning eating a banana chip. Sigh! Serves me right for eating healthy! Anyways, it broke one of my top back molars and I called around to find a dentist to take care of it since its quite painful and so sensitive! I'm looking at $300-ish for a consultation, x-ray and to fix the stinkin' thing. Please join me in prayer for God to give the Dentist WISDOM, to provide the $ to cover the costs and for grace to not cry while getting it done!
2. Dad is doing alright, as good as can be expected. Please pray for my Mom, her servant heart and her compassion for him.
3. Its week 7 in DTS! Yikes! That means only 4 more weeks here in Australia before coming home for a bit! I need to figure out how to get my gear home and how to settle my affairs here!
4. To be functioning completely out of God's strength and never out of my own. I'm trying to be so careful that I don't work out of 'me', I don't want to burn out!!
5. CWAM (Cowboys With A Mission) is trying to recruit at least 5 more students for their DTS coming up this Spring. I'm going to hopefully pop a few emails out to some cowboy churches here in Australia but please pray for that huge blessing on them!

Praise Requests:
1. A very fruitful and amazing week of prayer!
2. God working in my heart and changing me bit by bit.
3. The last batch of my newsletters going out this week (please let me know if you haven't received one and you'd like one!)
4. Great staff here with me making this journey easier to bear!
5. Encouragements and love sent to me by all of YOU!

Thank you for suffering through this very long and drawn out email!
I love you all very much and am so blessed by each one of you!
Love,
Reba