Now, that title probably made you a little nervous, but don't be! This is just the same, crazy old person who can't write poetry to save herself!
I just wanted to tell you guys all a bit about what I did over the summer holidays.
I went to Burma.
The End.
Joking. I went on a Teen Mission International Trip to Myanmar, (Near Thailand) and worked at an orphanage for a few weeks. We had a construction project and built the walls of what will be either a Chapel or a Dormitory, and then we worked on some fencing.
Longer explanation...
Day 1
I arrived in the revolting heat of Queensland with a dufflebag that had all that I would be possessing for the next 6 weeks of my life. It weighed 15 kg, including a sleeping mat and a bucket.
I had made it to the Lord's Boot Camp.
I got to meet my team and team leaders, the team leaders were YOUNGER than some of our TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! I met my tent buddy and we got to share out little one-man tent. I am claustrophobic.
Day 2-9
Our team grew closer together as we faced trials of many kinds. These included;
3 min bucket showers
Learning 40 memory verses in KJV
Brick laying.
Mixing mortar
Puppets.
Singing in interesting keys
Running an obstacle course at 5:30 am every morning
Cleaning bathrooms
Concreting
Coming up with team cheers
Painting
Carpentry
And trying to sing worship songs in Evening rally with the person next to you singing the complete wrong lyrics.
It was great.
Day 10
Commissioning day.
All of the teams got together and we were given candles to light as a symbol of shining the Gospel of Christ into the nations. Our families came to pray for us and then left as we spent our last night at Boot Camp.
Day 11-12
Travel. Our Team slept almost the entire way to Burma, an attempt to catch up on the sleep we missed out on during Boot Camp. Upon arrival we were greeted with shouts of "Mingalaba!"and orphans all racing up to carry our bags. We were shown where we'd stay and then played volleyball with the orphans. We were then given a feast that included some of the last meat we'd ever see again.
Day 13- 33
We began our work project and re-learnt bricklaying. All the while our team would be chanting, "Nehemiah 4:6 So built we the wall and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof; for the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah 4:6!" We were not working overly efficiently and when we should have been half way, well, we weren't. There was NO chance that we could finish the walls.
While we had been doing bricklaying, some of our team ran English Classes where we taught the kids how to speak English. They were some of the most intelligent kids in the world. And we all fell in love with them.
In our last week of work, we decided, for some strange reason, to pray for trials.
God granted our request.
The main trial was that we had a bit of a Gideon's Army episode. (Judges 7) From our team of 14, we became a team of 5... for our last day. Everyone else had gotten sick. But God showed His power to us.
We had more than a day's worth of work with a full team to go, but God accomplished it with less than half of our members. We could take no credit for what happened. It was all God.
Another thing we did in this time was Evangelism. We handed out tracks and the people were all eager to receive the good news of Jesus Christ. I could go on for a LOOOOONG time about this, but I'll just say that we saw some pretty awesome things during this time.
WE also got to build a fence around the new area in Burma that they are making into a Boot Camp and Teen Mission's base! I was in Sick Tent during this, so, I don't know all of the details.
Days that Remain
Debrief. We were sent back to Australia, weren't allowed to smuggle back an orphan and learnt how to re-enter the "real world". We mingled with the other teams and all shared what God had done in us. The entire trip was a highlight. We then went home.
I want to encourage ALL of you that you can GO MAD, Make A Difference.
God can use all of us, even us teens. Don't wait.
"1 Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12!"
BootCamp
Namarie!
~Jess~
