Ashley, Me, and Rachel
This is what I see every night.
Getting ready to try skateboarding on the ramp.

Wenesday

1) Today we are actually running on a normal schedule. I woke up at 5:50 this morning to exercise, ate our normal breakfast, which includes: cereal, toasted PB&J, and for some people “vegemite” or “marmite.” I have yet to try either of the latter two. Andy (who is from England) really wants to try marmite, which he claims is far better than vegemite. There is a lot of debate over this topic.

2) We had our first class today, which was taught by one of the leaders here on base. Her name is Joanne and I really like her. She gets straight to the point of the issue. She taught on “Hearing God’s Voice.” I was convicted that sometimes when I ask God to speak to me, I’m unwilling to actually listen and act on what He has to say. In the end He doesn’t say anything and I get frustrated. Yeah…I have been totally wrong in that area of my life. I shouldn’t get frustrated with God for not speaking to me when I don’t even want to know the hard truth of what He has to say. Also – “Don’t treat God like a vending machine…going to Him only when you need something.” That stuck out to me too.

3) Everyone has chores to do throughout the day. Some people help with meals. Some people clean. And others do yard work. I’m working at the reception desk answering phones and doing some minor office work. I really enjoy it so far. My shift is longer than other’s but I will be able to get some writing done during this time if the phones are really slow. (My mom has already mentioned that I haven’t updated enough…Sorry guys! I’m really busy here.)

4) Tonight we have “Family Barbeque.” This is a dinner where everyone on base eats together and we are allowed to invite people from the community to come and eat with us. When some of the girls and I went to the movies, we met a really nice lady who worked there. I might go back sometime and invite her to come.

They are all about relational evangelism here which is stellar. (they use that word a lot here ; )

5) This Saturday we have our first Youth Street! Youth St. is a youth program we run for 12-17 year olds. We invite them to come and from 2-5:30 there are different tracks they can be a part of: skateboard, sports, dance, and music. It’s like a Crosswave in the sense that we are discipling them and encouraging them to be all that God created them to be. I was assigned to help lead the dance team. Hopefully I will be able to use some of what I learned in CW to help me.

Anyways, my shift is almost done here at the reception desk.
I would love it if you guys could continue praying for me. Pray that my body will get used to the very little sleep we get here along with the amount of activity we do throughout the day. Its like one big Crosswave weekend night after night after night. Very intense ; )


Love you guys,
Kaitlyn


p.s. I learned how to play rugby yesterday. We played for about 3 hours. My calves are killing me. I Love it!

Sunday

Today is my third full day here. On Friday (Thursday for ya’ll) me and the two guys who were here went to “the strand” (AKA the beach). The ocean is very pretty but its not like the Caribbean blue everyone thinks of. We rode our bikes around which was very scary because we had to ride them in the street along side the cars. My bike was too big for me so every time we came to a stop light, I would fall off. Most of the attraction are free here in Townsville. There’s a kiddy water park, ocean water pool, fresh chlorine water lap pool, and amazing rope jungle gym thing. We were at the beach for about 6 hours and surprisingly I didn’t get burned at all.

Most of the girls came later that evening so I got to meet all my roommates. I’m in a room with Ashley (Canada), Rachel (California), and Helen (English Channels). They are all really nice and really sweet. I feel like I’ve known them for a really long time.

On Saturday the whole group went to the beach again which was really cool getting to know everyone and their personalities. Later in the evening some of the girls and I went to PS I Love You. We all cried.

I think I’m going to get in very good shape because I either have to walk, ride a bike, or run to a destination in Townsville. Sometimes when we’re lazy we get a taxi but they are quite expensive.

-The bugs are terrible. I even wear bug spray to bed.
-The humidity is killer. Walk outside for 5 minutes and you’re sweating like a pig. - The food is pretty decent. Rachel, Caitlin, and I went grocery shopping today to get essentials: peanut butter and jelly sandwich supplies, ice cream, cereal, milk, and orange juice.
- We have a pool in our backyard!
- Ashley, Rachel, and I are planning on going skydiving.
- Orientation is today.

I’ll write more later.

Much love,
Kaitlyn

I wrote this while I was in Brisbane

I’m here, safe and sound! Not in Townsville yet. I’m actually in Brisbane which is about a 2 hour flight from Townsville. I missed one of my planes due to luggage complications so I had to take a different route. (The Australian airline workers are so nice compared to the ones in America. They really give you the time of day to help you with your problems and questions.) This is the first time I’ve been able to chill in an airport without literally running to make my flight.

So, after the first two flights, (from RDU – Chicago – SanFran) I was already very tired. I tried to stay awake for those flights so that I would be ridiculously exhausted for the long 15 hour trip to Sydney. My plan worked because I slept about 10 or 11 hours. I had the window seat for all my flights so it was easy to curl up into the fetal position and rest my head on the window.

I met a really nice man on the flight from Sydney to Brisbane. He works in the construction business and so we talked about that for a while. (It’s good that my dad does that kind of stuff so that I could actually sound somewhat intelligent about what I was talking about.) He gave me lots of advice about living in Australia. He echoed what Miss Casey has been telling about not accepting any drinks from guys I don’t know because of the whole date rape problem. He told me some of the different words they say and when to swim and stay out of the ocean. He also gave me his email address so that I could email him if I ever needed advice. Very nice old guy.

Everyone really likes the way I talk: soft, feminine, slightly-southern, (Three people who I sat next to said that.) The Australian accent very rough and choppy. Not sing-songy like American’s.

I’ll update a littler later when I get to the base. I’m going to hunt for some food now.

Love to everyone,
Kaitlyn