G’day Y’all!
After the 3 month Lecture phase in my Discipleship Training School we moved into Outreach Phase. Outreach changed my life. I was able to see God in action. I experienced God’s heart for His people; the broken heart He has at the terrible injustices in the world, but also His incredible joy when someone responds to His love. On Outreach I watched as God held back storm clouds so that we could tell more people about Him, as He filled people with His joy, and as He changed lives and brought freedom. I saw lives being changed, while at the same time, my life was being changed. Our first stop on Outreach was the Kimberley Region of Western Australia.
We went to two different Aboriginal communities: Noonkanbah and Pandanus Park and worked a lot with the children there. But we were able to see God working in the lives of people of all ages. We had so many great opportunities to encourage the people there, young and old. I had a great conversation with an older couple in the community about forgiveness. We sat outside underneath the incredible Australian sky and talked about the importance of forgiveness and the freedom that comes with it. It was an amazing time of connecting with them and discussing God’s truth together. With the kids, we would do programs almost daily where we would sing, dance, play games, and talk about Jesus and how He has changed our lives. In Noonkanbah, a girl who was probably about 5 years old came to me and complained that her foot hurt, so I offered to pray for it to be better. After the prayer she said that her foot “felt right”. Other kids had been watching and they wanted to be part of it too so they came up with their own bumps and bruises wanting prayer. I was able to tell them about how God wants to take away our pain because He loves us. I showed them how to pray for one another and watched in amazement as the little kids prayed for one another in Jesus name. It was so touching to see the kids really start to take hold of God’s truths, to see the importance of them, and to truly experience Him. In the Kimberley I learned about the reality of the spiritual realm, I began to see how desperately God pursues every single individual, and I began to realize that I have fallen in love with the Aboriginal people and culture. I can’t wait to go back and visit again!
-Nicci