so the room is packed, and we leave in less than 24 hours. :)

We have had a wind down time these past couple days. Grades are in, final evaluations have been done and yes, the bags have been packed. I am busting proud of all the girls and the weight of our bags. I will let you guys guess how much they weigh.

This afternoon Becca planned some team times for us. After our Indonesian lesson, we were to meet in the laneway at 1:30. The sunshine was high in the sky, summer is coming (and we are leaving)! Becca asked us to go into the front lawn and partner up. Then she proceded to blind-fold one of us and give the visionary free reign to dress the blind mouse in any outfit of Salvo clothes (salvo bin is a place for people to put their clothes in when they don't want them anymore, in other words, a treasure box). It was then our goal to lead the person down the bike path to the river, just by the leading of our voice. I dressed Connie in a yellow towel fabric dress. I think it is something that you would slip into after you had showered. Not so attractive. I then fashioned a stretchy cloth into a mini tube top. Since her sunglasses hid her blindfold, she looked pretty goofy meandering down the bike path like a lost child. After the swap, Connie saw what she was wearing and let out a shriek. We were inside a tunnel. Afterwards we swapped and Connie made sure to run me into a couple bushes, off the bike path and into the opposite traffic. Bikes much?

Tonight we are headed over to Becca's house for tea.

Our last hours at the base are slipping away...I am really excited to go!

it has happened.

Our room is a MESS. It is packing time. Bags sprawled amidst the dusty floor, mattresses stripped of their belongings and clothes being tossed from hand to hand. As we face this time, I can't help but feel the joy bubbling up inside me. I am leaving without the difficult good-byes, going to a place I have never seen, anticipating God's miracles.

In the meantime, as the Salvo clothes find their new owners, as old "your leaving" cards are read, Sarah is reading. Together we are listening to "A Severe Mercy". Chapter Two is beginning.

6 days.

In less than six days I will be in Indonesia. I feel ready to take off. I picked out all the clothes I am taking last night. I originally thought that everything I brought here with me had to go on outreach, but thanks to a little shed behind someone's house, I get to leave things like my winter jacket. As a team we have several suitcases that we will haul along in compensation for our 13 kg backpacks. Personally, I was assigned the job of bringing a ceramic, expensive water filter in my carry-on. No pressure. Anyway, we will be taking off at 4:30 pm on Tuesday and then staying overnight at the Bangkok airport. Yay Thailand!

Today we had a commitment time as a school. We spent time waiting on God about what we were fully commited to for outreach. I saw Him surface some stuff that I hadn't even thought of. It was a powerful time of unity as we prayed over the person on our left after they shared. Those moments of vulnerability are never easy for me. Today I was thinking about it as I was about to share and then came to, and realized, "hey, this probably isn't easy for anyone". Haaha... Self absorption. Lame.

These next days will be spent busily cleaning the base, our classroom, bedroom, etc. We had our final speaker on Tuesday, and we will have one more inspirational speaker on Friday.

It seems to be the next step to be leaving Perth. I really like Australia. It won't be the same when I return.

Recap. Rewind. Past couple weeks.

They saved the placenta for us to observe on our visit to the hospital. It was so exciting to finally get our gloved hands on one that wasn't made out of yarn and a mozzie net.

We learned newborn resusscitation. The baby was so slippery, I suppose that is what happens with plastic.

We definitely took ahold of the hospital experience...so many tubes and gadgets.

There are different ways to hold the bub during resuss, Sarah is excitedly demostrating thumb-over-thumb.

Let me introduce you to a dilly-sucker. Used to suck out the fluids from a newborn's mouth, or the spit that resides in Rachel's mouth. Dilly bars anyone?

This is at Market Night. I am displaying the ring that was gifted to me and how to properly execute a kitty stab. Please notice our awesome sign in the back, probably part of the reason we won the market.

Becca and Bekah. Staff and student. Friend and Friend.

As we were praying for finances we prophetically came up with "power signs" that represented us seeing breakthrough in finances. We all did our power moves when we were introduced on commissioning night. Mine had to be altered since I was wearing a dress. However, it still held the meaning, breaking through selfishness and on guard on the enemy's lies of doubt. It was the perfect match for "Eye of the Tiger". Can you feel the fierceness? Imagine, this is only a picture...

Here are all the lovely BASers, fully commissioned!

This is my one-on-one/school leader, Darcy. I love her heaps. Stevie jumped in the photo, uninvited I may add. I like candid shots.

Here are the fearless staff!

My scandinavian friends.

If you can't get all the way in the photo, atleast get a body part in. "I'm in the picture!"

shimblie bimbles

I am feeling deeply unispired. We'll see how this goes.

Yesterday, we had planned a night together with all the roommates. Some of us were feeling pretty disunified. Even when we live, sleep, school, eat, teach, shower within inches of eachother, we still have to be intentional about the time spent together. A lot of ugly confessions came out, as well as new revelations from God about what He has been speaking and of course fun times giggling together. It was nice to get caught up with everyone. It's not easy to always be in such close quarters with everyone, but this is definitely how we learn. I think we all caught on that we have to choose to love one another, even in everyone's "annoying habits", we have to choose love. To finish off the deeper-than-planned-evening, we all took communion with soda water and the snack of choice. I chose a strawberry. About a month ago, when we finished 24 hour worship, we came together as a base, and then divided into 20 groups with 20 different fathers leading us in communion. Pete shared that communion is a cornerstone event where we all recognize Jesus' sacrifice and that we are striving to be in right relationship with him. Along with that comes the committment to be in right relationship with one another. So similar to the time that we had as a base, we come back together, confessed and brought light to any other issues that darkness needed to flee from, and then prayed together. It turned out to be quite the evening. Afterwards, I ended up sharing about high school dances, I don't know how we diverged that way. Anyway, all the girls were quite impressed with Charlie's creativity. They all thought that stuff "only happened in movies".

Hehehe!

Okay, it is time for me to one-on-one...Love you family!

I hope I haven't left anyone hanging too long.

Today is Friday. We are all pretty exhausted. I have wanted to update since Wednesday but the Aussie internet wouldn't allow me too. Anyway, the page is loaded, homework is done, Friday night meeting is over and it is so late that I get the whole couch to myself. Oh wait, Callie just got on skype, this might have to wait...

MMkay...So Tuesday night ended with me writing a final update and blog. It really feels like forever ago...Anyway, I tossed and turned the whole night, just being in anticipation of what the next day held. I woke up too early, but being on the top bunk, my computer conveniently rests on top of a huge closet. Without waking anyone up, I was fully able to get in contact with the world. I opened my painfully slow Yahoomail Classic (I have been spoiled with lightning email and the all-new Yahoo mail at the Dinneen house)...and low and behold, my total of 3800 had decreased to 3000. Praise God. It was hard to contain my bouncing, even with my mummy bag zipped fully. Without too much time passing, my roommates all had woken up and I was able to contact my mom and share the incredible news. As soon as I contacted her, we rejoiced over the money that had come in on Tuesday and Wednesday, my number of 5800 had basically been cut in half. It was perfect timing really, my mom was actually on the way to the bank, and was depositing some final checks for me. As we added it all together, little by little, my total was falling. Before we knew it, I was totalling zero. ZERO. No more money. I needed zero more dollars. Oh God, you are good! I let out a cry of rejoicing and yelled it to my roommates. How incredible. God's timing is more than perfect.

This was just the start of the day...Melisa also recieved her money before we went to class. Praise God!

So we went into our classroom that morning, praising God for His work and then headed to Hollie's house for small group. Darcy encouraged us to be sensitive. If there was anyone God was laying on our hearts, anything He was telling us to give away, random people we were to wait for on the street, to just be sensitive, to put actions behind our faith. And so we did, probably 20 phonecalls were made, clothing was redistributed, zillions of emails sent and recieved, several SMS's sent via Skype and with each dollar we received news of we praised God. We were all in faith that by midnight, we would have a total of zero. The day was a quick one, stories were scattered from school to school. All the schools had their finances due and each one had their epic tales of anonymous-unheard of-donations.

After dinner time, we all filed into the classroom. We looked at the decreased number, now 15,000 from the morning's 20,000ish. We had already seen God's generous heart that day. It was set, we wouldn't leave the classroom until all of the money came in. We started out by doing some prayer marching. You know the usual, singing "Father Abraham", "I may never march...", "He's got the whole world...", marching seven times around the outside, acting out the story of Jericho. It was a fun time in our groups and prophetic. Again Darcy brought us back together to encourage any final people to contact that God was laying on our hearts. We continued to pray, some people called, others emailed. The hours passed, people came in and out of the classroom. At one time we entered in with the DTS for a time of worship, what a testimony to see them all worshiping, on their faces, praying for eachother, fully relying on God, so much change in such a short time! Around 9pm, we all gathered for one final time. We praised God together for all the people who had donated to our pool, and finally were told how much there was. We had 7000 in the pool and 9000 remaining. BAsically, we need 2000 more dollars. We entered into a time of hearing from God, singing, and then before anyone could do anything, the number became zero. ZERO! ZERO! Who is our God? The creator of the universe, author, perfector, creator. My dad. I am his daughter, and he has provided 120,000 for my whole team to go on outreach. No mountain is too big, no heart is too hard and no amount in any timespan is too big for my God.

We saw God breakthrough. Absolutely.

Thank you for your prayer, your support, your love. Rejoice with us. God is good!

the past couple days...

We just finished yet another prayer time, and yet again, God met us. The latent phase has finished and we are transistioning into hard work in these last hours before our finances are due. We have been focusing a lot of 2 Chronicles 20 since yesterday, it feels like so much longer than that... Jehoshaphat and his army were up against unlikely odds, but rested in God's words that were spoken through people. Tuesday mornings are usually base intercession time, but today Darcy and Becca felt that we were supposed to prophetically walk through the passage. When Jehoshaphat heard that there was a strong army waiting up against him, he went to the Lord and proclaimed a fast for all of Judah. Then together the people seeked God. Jehoshaphat stands in front of the people and declares God's character "you rule over all the nations and kingdoms", "power and might are in your hands and no one can withstand you"...it continues on. In his closing phrases he shares "O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." I really took heart in this bit, all day it has been the cry of my heart. God, I have absolutely nowhere to turn but you. Then the underdog, they quote like 5 generations before him to accredit him, says "Hey, this is God's battle, don't be afraid! You aren't going to fight, but you need to prepare and stand firm. The Lord is going to deliver you. Face it. God is with you." With that all of the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell flat on their faces in worship. Finally, moments before they went out, Jehoshaphat tells his people to have faith and worship as they go out. It was in their time of worship that God sent out ambushes, the enemy was annihilated. The reward was great, and the fear of the Lord succumbed surrounding nations. They rejoiced for their God had delivered them.

I am looking forward to Thursday, the celebration, the deliverance, the worship. It will be beautiful. Until then, we continue to labor, the first 4 cm have come, we are joyful, the waters are broken, but the transitional phase is just beginning, the last hours are going to be difficult, but the one who will deliver us rules over nations and kingdoms, power and might is in his hands.

24,560 dollars to go.

for callie

Hi callie-

I love you friend. I need 5,881 more dollars.

Bek

5 days remain.

Today Hollie recieved all her money. Breakthrough!

We are at 32,132 dollars. Zero, here we commmmmmeeeee!

I talked to my mom today.

She asked me if I had received 5,000 dollars already and if I hadn't been updating them. Although it was her misconception and my undescriptive phrases that teamed up for confusion, it was comforting to hear that my mom is teamed up right along side me. In the end, I clarified, "I am counting down, I still need 5,800, it was just a change from the six thousands." and she responded with "Oh, I bet everyone else got that, they probably aren't as dense as me." Hahaha. All of that to say, there is power in team work. I usually say thank you in my blogs or emails, and I mean it! So once again, thank you, for teaming up in finances and prayer. I am not alone in this. It is unifying as we have prayer times together as a school and just as powerful when I get an email from someone at home telling me what is going on in their life and that they are partnering in prayer with me and the school.

Six days until finances are due. Woooooot (that's for you Charlie).

Tonight instead of Thursday night evangelism, we are having base worship. I think we are going to be interceding and worshiping for the city of Perth, possibly praying for people we have met previously and doing some spiritual warfare for them. I can hear them across the laneway getting set up....I'm excited.

The weather is taking a change these past days. Slowly the scarves are being pealed off and the three-quarter length sweater is a usual part of my outfit.

Anyway. Dinner and singing telegrams are calling...

and now...market night...

Tonight was a beautiful night of community. We have the market night to raise money for outreach, which may seem counter productive since six schools are headed on outreach, so where is the money going to come from? The heart of our evening was to bless the other schools with our creativity, and money seemed to just be a biproduct. As Becca put it "we are going to win the market night!". We went into the evening joyfully and with the right heart to bless the other schools.

The BAS set up quite the spread including: base-famous peanut butter fudge, chocolate and peanut butter balls, crocheted headbands and cell phone covers, cards, and an old fashioned "fishing" game where you could win any of our homemade goods. Some of the crowd drawers were "watch-Dave-make-sushi" bar and the absolutely-irresistable-hot-off-the-griddle-Norwegian-waffles. Most unique, profitable and hilarious was the Singing Telegrams. You could decide who you were selling it to, what song you wanted, how many people and what those people are wearing. Just to give everyone a taste, we began a slow clap in the middle of the market bustle, one by one we formed into a line and then it began, "Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend...", then came the silence, the staring and the all time favorite, beat-boxing. What a crowd stopper and knee slapper. We have four more acts sometime this week. I am anticipating the shock when 12 girls dressed in salvation army clothes knock on the door of an unsuspecting recipient. Hehehe!

Anyway, God is so good. We saw nearly three hundred dollars come in tonight, where it came from, who knows? I believe that in the changing of hands, God is multiplying the money. Amen.

So, since Saturday, when we were at nearly 49,000 dollars, we have seen 12,000 dollars come in. Praise God! Personally, I broke into 5,000s today! I saw almost a thousand dollars come in. God is pushing me and I am learning. This is the time for faith to grow. I believe as a school and as a base, trusting God for finances is a pillar in community-building. As we were in a huge lunchtime prayer today, I got the song from High School Musical stuck in my head, "We're all in this together...". Zach and Gabriella, I like them. Anyway, I really feel like our coming together is bringing power, breaking strongholds, keeping the enemy at bay.

Thank you for all your prayers, I believe the flow of generosity from the carwash and the market is due to prayer beforehand and during the fundraising hours.

Please email me any prayer requests that you have or just drop a comment to say "hi", I really like those.

God is good.

thank you for praying...

World's most successful carwash, $830. Who even makes that much money at a carwash? We did. We also had $850 of donations towards the school's account as a whole and were sponsored at 27.50 per car and washed 52 cars. When you add all the numbers together it is approximately 3,000 dollars. Wow, God, thank you! We all saw our numbers come down. Personally, I had about $600 dollars come in this weekend. I am now sitting at 6,137 dollars before I am sitting on a plane to Indonesia. Thank you for all your prayers and emails and contact.

Today Robyn shared about Jesus and Suffering for our Jesus Devo. The world clearly states, keep yourself safe, hide from the bad. I mean, I change the channel when the "feed the children" commercials come on, it is uncomfortable to see others in pain. Robyn shared that Jesus was greatly moved and then embraced the pain. There were times in his suffering when he would draw away in the suffering, we are allowed to feel the pain. I think this is something I haven't embraced. It is not natural to want to feel pain.

On Wednesday we are headed to a private hospital! All week we are learning newborn care. So far we have only gotten up to pulling the placenta out, and now we actually get to think about caring for the baby and watching the mum and bub (the aussies shorten anything they can) connect. We will have the chance to palpate a placenta and learn recessatation. We are on the edge of our seats.

Cool.

Tomorrow Sarah and I present the need of Swaziland to the class. 47% of the country is infected with HIV/AIDS. It is estimated the country will die out by 2050. 70% of the people live on less than a dollar a day. I had no idea until about three weeks ago. God be the solution.

Well fam and friends, I hope to hear from you. It really makes my day.