July 2008

Calvin's Update from Australia

Hello,

I have been here about 2 and a half months so far, and have a little over a month left till I leave. Right now it is downpouring outside; it might just be a cyclone.

We just had school holidays here, along with NAIDOC week, which was a time of celebration for the Aboriginals, and they had dances and artwork and lots of other stuff going on. I participated in a cross country race and won a huge plate of meat for getting 3rd:) I am going to try to send a picture of the dancing.

A while ago, a team came here from YWAM (a group of 4) to do ministry here on the island for 4 weeks, plus another team of 6 for 2 weeks. It was good getting to know them and work with them. One of the teams did island dances, and had a performance night which was beautiful. During one of the weeks, with the team going around doing ministry, ect., there were 8 salvations in one week, both old and young people! It was amazing. I spoke to one 20 year old on the jetty (boat dock), and he was saying he was at the point where he wanted to give his life to God, but his friends and environment he was in wouldn't allow it - so I'm still praying for him to accept the Lord.

I started teaching Religion at the school again after holidays. I love doing it, and it has definately been a blessing. I do it volunteer (I don't get paid), and have a total of 10 different classes with around 10-15 kids in each class. Right now, some of the classes are learning a bible verse (hopefully memorizing it), and other classes are learning about God's gift of salvation and giving. We usually sing songs, and some of the classes do coloring. I am really praying for this ministry area, cause I feel like God opened up this door for me to teach for a reason.

Other than the school, I have continued to work at the community children's center each day, go to the hospital each day, and get around the community. I got to go hiking with one of the kids and her mom (the girl Tessa I wrote about last time), and it was a great time getting to talk with them, and her mom opening up about her life and where she is with God. We also got charged by a wild horse and Tessa got very very scared each time we saw a horse after that, that she waited with me while her mom went up to scare the horse away; I told her to pray, and she prayed so hard (almost crying) saying she wanted to go home and asking God to make the horse go away and to protect her mom.

I am hoping to do some more drawings of the people here before I leave (I have only done two so far), and print them off into cards, and see if they could sell them at the store or if I could give them away. I think it would be a good way to spread the Word of God (with scripture on a few of them), and to have people remember me by. And also that the beauty of the people and of the island would be spread to other places.

Thank you so much once again for all your prayers and support and for being a friend. "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; rejoice!"

Calvin Rich

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October 2007

Testimony of my Discipleship Training School

Written by: Calvin Rich

My experience in the Discipleship Training School was many things.  It was fulfilling, exciting, and challenging.  It was very difficult at times and other times, it was very rewarding.  I don't know what to say except that I thank God for sending me and for teaching me many things while I was there.

I decided to do a Discipleship Training School (DTS) sometime around April 2007 when I learned about Youth With A Mission (YWAM).  I was a senior in high school, still unsure about my immediate plans or direction for life, but desiring to devote myself to seeking and learning from God.  I did some research, talked to a few people, and decided to go to Townsville, Australia to attend the school.

I arrived in Australia with 17 other students from around the world, aged 18-26, and we began to get to know each other and take classes.  There was a different teacher each week for 12 weeks, with the first three weeks being the most intense, and most of the rest hitting specific topics in Christianity and missions.  We also had daily work duties, which I loved doing.  For the most part, I felt very close to God and very hungry for God during this time.  It was amazing being on the other side of the Pacific with one purpose in mind: to seek God and the kingdom of God, in which I spent many hours (any time I had the chance) each day reading the bible, praying, and worshiping.  It was also great being in an environment where most of the other people around me were devoted Christians.

After three months we went out on outreach.  I spent two months traveling around Australia with five other students and two leaders, helping out with and running youth camps, holding Christian school programs, and helping raise awareness for injustice issues in Thailand and around the world.  The majority of our time was spent cross-culturally in an Aboriginal community.  This was my favorite time (though I loved any time we were with youth), spending lots of time with the kids on the island and getting to know the people.  

I look back at who I was before and after my DTS, and I see a few definite changes in myself.  Over the course of the school, I had many opportunities to challenge myself and grow in the area of evangelism, and by the end of the school (and presently) I have almost no hindrances in talking to people about Christ (praise the Lord!)  One other change I made during the school was in the area of discipline, specifically in waking up early to start my day with God.

Overall, it was a good experience.  There were definitely challenges in almost every area of my life, and I had to allow myself to be challenged, as well as challenge myself.  As I said, God taught me a lot and will continue to teach me, but I now know that one thing is certain; there can actually be growth in a person's life, and I can change and become a completely new person in Christ.  Amen!