I have officially made it through my first country transition as a logistics manager. All teams made it to Australia & no one died- so I deem that a personal success. (And also a success for Mike, my logistics partner, of course). We arrived in Brisbane 2 days ago & our team, along with 5 others (41 people in total) were graciously taken in by a local couple, Jamie & Fran. Their hospitality has been utterly & completely overwhelming. They have been a huge testament to the body of Christ (a blog to come on this later). I have spent the last 2 days catching up on lost sleep & exploring the city of Brisbane- which is awesome by the way!!
Today we fly on to Darwin, which is located in the Northern Territory. We will stay there for an evening before heading to Jabiru& then make our final descent into the tiny Aboriginal community of Oenpeli which will be our home for the next month. Before I disclose the details of our ministry, allow me to first set the scene of Oenpeli in your mind. Due to the wet season, Oenpeli is only accessible via small charter plane. Additionally, the food availability is extremely low & the price is extremely high. For this reason, my team has been instructed to purchase all food needed for the month prior to our arrival. We have been told that our accommodations will be quite primitive & luxuries such a refrigeration & stove top cooking are scarce. We will be living at a church ( at least we think that is the plan) & our mission is to start a sustainable youth ministry in the city. The population of Oenpeli is around 1,200 with over 50% of the people being between the ages of 12 & 30. The indigenous people of the town struggle greatly with alcoholism which causing shorter life spans.
With all of that in mind, my next disclosure should come as no surprise. I hesitate to say the following words because I know the general response will not be one of excitement. It is most probable that I will be out of contact for the next 30 days. I will not have internet access & it is doubtful I will have use of international phone service. Ok, so before you all freak out, breath & just be comforted in the fact that I, myself, was not initially excited for this either. I am still coming around to the idea, but I have begun to see the light. I expect this next month to be challenging. I expect to be dirty, hungry, & annoyed by my inability to communicate to the outside world. However, in return, I expect to grow closer to my team, to God, & to practice a more simplistic lifestyle. For those opportunities alone, I am thankful & excited.
Do not worry on the blog side of things. I will continue to write blogs frequently & will post them all in one giant upload at the end of the month when we have finally reentered civilization. You will still hear all the stories & get insight into all my thoughts- you’ll just have to wait a month. J
Be patient. Be assured. Have faith. & Pray.
I will miss you all.
