Outreach & Home

Hello everyone! I apologize for never posting my blog about PNG! I was so busy and sick the last week in Australia and totally forgot to post. I have been home now for two weeks and it is weird. I am happy to be home and see my family and friends, but I miss my DTS family. It has been easy being home, but also interesting at times having to adjust back at home to my old life. I am so happy and blessed that I had this opportunity to finally do a DTS. This DTS was amazing, challenging, and life-changing! We graduated on June 20 (my birthday) and we all got our certificate in Discipleship.

My team left for our major outreach to Papua New Guinea on May 3^rd. We flew into Port Moresby, which is the capitol city and located in the central province. When we arrived, you could tell that others around knew we were from a different country and some knew we were missionaries due to our YWAM polo’s that we wore. It was crazy to see the immediate difference when we got off the plane compared to Australia, yet alone America.

The first few days of outreach I dealt with adjusting to another third-world country (other then Mexico) and just trusting God and knowing that I was here for a reason. PNG and Mexico are both third-world countries, but so different. I had to adjust to the “island culture” and Australia did help me, but PNG was very different and on their own “island time”, etc. We rode in the back of trucks, PMV (personal motor vehicles); we saw many animals roaming around, and tons of rubbish (trash). The traffic there reminded me somewhat of Mexico; lots of traffic and crazy drivers! The weather there was sooo hot, worse than Australia! I was sweating all the time and we had to drink heaps of water to stay hydrated!

I was so excited to see what God had in store for all of us during our time here. The first three weeks we stayed at one of our leader’ old church in the city. Us girls stayed in an old shipping container (yes this is true) and the boys stayed in a house. This shipping container was part of their office and storage. At first I was shocked and not excited about sleeping in there, but for the five of us girls it worked out perfect. Bonus, we didn’t need to use our mosquito nets and we got Air Con (air conditioning). At the church there were 12 boys who helped us. The boys would help with some programs and just be there to make sure we were safe. They were so sweet. During our time here in the city, we did tons of school programs, sport programs and worked in the churches school as teacher assistants. We had a cool opportunity to work with a group called Scripture Union, which is like Christian clubs/groups in the schools today. We went to a scripture union camp and we had the opportunity to be their leaders, lead small groups, devotions, etc. Katie and I stayed in a schoolroom with some girls, as did the others. At the camp we did a day of sports, it was great! It was amazing to know that the leaders in charge trusted us who they recently met to help alongside and lead the camp. It was an honor to be able to pray over a few middle-high schoolgirls and encourage them. We had the option to lead Sunday church services along with some youth services. At those services we had to program what we wanted to do. Many times it was similar with worship songs, dances, testimonies, and a skit. God moved during those times and many others.

The first three weeks of outreach was pretty packed on a day-to-day basis (which was amazing). I loved being able to do all the programs and different opportunities we had in order to help the city as best we could. It went by fast and then we were on to the next province of Milne Bay! Milne Bay is located on the east side of PNG. We stayed in a city called Alotau. It was gorgeous and we were closer to the ocean there. Port Moresby and Alotau are both on the ocean but the locations where we stayed made it easier for us to reach the ocean in Alotau. This province was very different then central. It is funny how you go to one province to the next and it can be very different; it is similar to the states. Alotau was beautiful with amazing flowers and agriculture. It was very much “island time” here and laid back. It reminded me of Mexico with the time and just doing your own thing and go on your time. The first few days we stayed with an American Christian organization at their house. Then we went to the Pastor’s house and stayed there for almost two weeks with his family. During our time there we did more school and sport programs, just like in Port Moresby. We had the chance to get out of their city life and go into a village called Sagari. We were there for five days. This village wasn’t as remote compared to where other teams went, but for us living in the city it was. We helped at school programs again and did sport programs as well. We got to help run a big soccer tournament, which was cool. At the soccer tournament we handed out many soccer cleats. It was so sad to see the guys play with no cleats on and since we had many donated to us we got to hand them out and spread God’s love. In the village we did a lot of walking to get to the programs and other places. The village was a palm oil land that went on for many, many miles. The first school program was about 30 minutes away we heard and come to know we walked about 70 minutes each way through heavy rain! It was fun and an adventure through mud-piles and a river. When we got to the school we were all muddy and drenched in water. We also got to do some health teachings, which consisted of basic health like washing hands, bathing, laundry, etc. We got to go to East Cape, which is the more eastern tip of PNG. It was beautiful there! When we were there we played volleyball with the locals and they had one team come before us, so that was cool to be the second team there. After that we got to go to two schools and do health teachings. It was cool to see the schools in the villages and the differences between them and the city schools. We did so many programs that it was hard to remember where we went, whom we met, and what we did. One last thing we did was go to a hospital and we made them encouragement and get well cards. This was one of my favorite memories. Katie and I got to pray for five patients and just talk life into them. We are so lucky to have the health-care we do and need to remember that.

Outreach was amazing! Yes, it had its challenges but God moved through us as individuals, a team and the people there. Outreach really taught me a lot. I had many times that I was out of my comfort-zone and had to lean on God to guide me. As a team we had quite a few intercessions and prayer time. During this, God spoke things to me then and for my future and it was great. I always loved serving others like I have done in Mexico and at home, but now after this I want to continue to serve others for the glory of God! This experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I have no regrets and loved it.  I encourage anyone who wants to do a DTS to go do it and not wait. I wanted to do one for two years on and off but was too scared to leave for 5-6 months. If God is calling you to one, go do it!

Home is great. I missed my family and friends heaps! I do really miss my DTS family though and the country of Australia and Papua New Guinea! I am still praying for what God has called me to do next, so if you have time I would really appreciate your prayers. I have a few ideas on what is next, but need to hear more from God what is the best. Thank you for all your prayers, love and support when I was gone during my DTS.

I will post a blog with a few pictures of outreach and graduation! 

Small Outreach was a Success

Hi everyone! For the past three weeks we have been on our first small (local) outreach. It was great. The three weeks went by pretty fast. Here is a blog to fill you all in on what we did during these weeks. I hope you enjoy it!

The first two weeks we stayed here in Townsville when the other teams went to other cities in Australia. At first it was somewhat hard because I wanted to explore more of Australia but I ended up enjoying myself. When we were on outreach here in Town we packed bags for the North Queensland Games athletes. The games are basically similar to the Olympics but just for this area. We were apart of the setting up for the games too. We also set up for the opening ceremony and closing one. We got medals at the end for being great volunteers haha. We were the first YWAM team to help with this so this was a great start for the community to hear who we are and our vision of what we do. We met some amazing people during these games. A women in charge gave us free Cowboy tickets to the game and works with the professional Fire basketball team. From there she is donating basketballs for us to bring up to Paupa New Guinea!

When we were on outreach here in Town we packed bags for the North Queensland Games athletes. The games are basically similar to the Olympics but just for this area. We were apart of the setting up for the games too. We also set up for the opening ceremony and closing one. We got medals at the end for being great volunteers haha. We were the first YWAM team to help with this so this was a great start for the community to hear who we are and our vision of what we do. We met some amazing people during these games. A women in charge gave us free Cowboy tickets to the game and works with the professional Fire basketball team. From there she is donating basketballs for us to bring up to Paupa New Guinea!

We had the opportunity to go to Mount Louisa’s House of Prayer. It is a place that serves people with disabilities. We did an Easter service for them on the second Friday. We got to join them in an Easter egg hunt that the staff set up. We did the dance that a girl from our team taught us and they loved it. They made us do it twice and then the third time they joined in with us. It was so fun to dance and teach them as well. I gave a testimony about what Easter means to me and what the real reason is about; Jesus. At the end we had a time to chat with them and get to know them. At times it was hard to understand them, but just loving on them was great.

Week two we helped out at the campus. Since they just recently bought out a new college, we have a lot of construction to do. We ended up helping with a thing called Building Blitz. We took out ALL the ceiling tiles on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors. It took us Monday through Friday at 8am-4pm to do all of this. It was a full-time and physical job that we did. It was nice to know that we could help serve at the base for all that they do. The insulation from the ceiling tiles was so itchy and we got so sweaty, but it was all worth it.

We got to do some school sessions. We went with some of the Cowboy players to an Aboriginal Charter School. We got to speak on substance abuse and bullying. It was nice to see that the three Cowboy players were giving back to the community and wanting to help them. We also went to two high schools the second week. At one we did a sausage sizzle and played handball and basketball with them. I got to learn how to play handball and it is fun! It was fun to see how they liked my “accent” and the comment they would make. We did promotion there for the youth event of ‘I Want To Live’! That week was National Youth week in Australia. That is where you honor the youth and all they do and to support them.

The last event on week two was the big ‘I Want To Live’ event! That was so much fun. We helped prep for it the week before and made bunting, posters, balloons, etc. We had to set up and take it all down as well. It was a great night with many activities. We had a mechanical bull, blow up joisting, sumo suits, wii games, board games, dances, skate parks, parkour, music, photobooth, graffiti area, and a storybook area. All the activities were sooo fun. I was security for the first two hours. I got to wear a neon vest and had a clipboard incase something happened. It was pretty fun to walk around and see everything going on. The last two hours I was a welcomer at the front gate. We had over 500 people come in the four hours! About 15 minutes before we left, us students went to have some fun. Unfortunately Katie crushed me in sumo suit wrestling (I say it was because my foot strength is weak which is true but I also know she is stronger, haha). I did beat Katie though on the joisting match. The mechanical bull was super hard but so much fun. I fell off within like 25 seconds, but hey I beat a guy staff on it! It was so fun to have an open event and have parents also join the youth. It was also a nice way to represent and promote who YWAM is!

Lordship Week and Update!

Hey all! Sorry I haven't blogged yet on Lordship! I got totally distracted preparing for our first and local outreach. This blog will update you from the last lectures that were end of March to first of April on the topic of Lordship. My next blog this week will be about the past three weeks and outreach. 

Our speaker was named Mark and he was from New Zealand. He was a great speaker and very wise. At first I was nervous and intimitated, but in the end it was great. His son has a cd out, so we got to listen to that and learn some new christian songs, which was awesome. 

First off; we need to know that He is God and we are not. We cannot act like we are better than God. Therefore, we need to be in Christ, not in ourselves. These days our generation is all about ourself and what we want, not what others want or need. We are a generation that is totally different. Our generation needs the law and we need to learn. We have Jesus in our heart and Jesus has me and all of you! We need to remember that Jesus loves us no matter what! We need to overflow with God. We are here to make visible the invisible of a triune God! Mark spoke many great words of widsom and advise as you can see. I took almost four pages of notes on this topic alone!

So why are we here? We are first off here to be Image bearers of God. We show the image and we don't want it to be a bad image in this world. Also, we are born to Rule. We need to be fruitful and increase in Christ. Exodus 33:7-11 sums this up! When we have more of Jesus, we function more on how he created us. We need to know that our body is a temple of God. We need respect our bodies and what he gave us. We need to give all of us for the Glory of God! Here are some great bible verses from this section: Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 2: 1-5, John 7:37-39! 

We need to focus on what God is doing and then we will increase! Let God be God!!! Be who God made you to be, not who you want to be! 

I have more notes on Lordship and True Salvation! If you are interested in hearing, let me know :)

By the end of this week, I promise to have a blog up about the first local outreach! Thanks all.

Into the outback to go camping!

Hey all! I have been gone the past two weeks because I was camping in the Great Outback here in Australia! We all went to a place called Hidden Valley. It was about a 2.5-hour drive northwest from where we were on the beach in Townsville. On the drive up I didn't get car sick till the last hour. Once we hit near by the campsite, the roads got tight and curvy. I eventually fell asleep so I would not get carsick. The weather there was amazing! It got to be around mid 60s at night and felt like a nice fall night in Minnesota. During the day we had great sunny weather, with no humidity like we have in Townsville. This was my first time "really" camping (according to people). I went camping growing up but stayed in a Motor home, which was nice. We all slept in tents. My tent mates were Katie & Bree! We had a huuuuuge tent. It was suppose to be for six-nine people, but we got it for the three of us! It had three separate areas, so one we slept in, the other was a lounge area and last but not least our closet! 

The first week topic was on Relationships. This week was really good but somewhat hard for me. The speaker explained to us why God created us and how we need to have Godly relationships. The relationships focused on it all, family, friends and significant others within our lives. Our most important relationship is with God himself. Faith is a constant relationship with God. We need to let God speak in us and through us. Something I realized but never always did was that our attitude can lead to judgment. I think we know this but don’t always follow that. Having a real relationship is to be vulnerable with people. We need to be vulnerable with each other. Through this topic I learned a lot. I ended up taking almost five pages of notes. If you have any questions or comments feel free to ask away! Here are some great verses from the weeks topic: Isaiah 53:6, Luke 15, 1 Corinthians 12:7 onward, Ephesians 5, Psalm 104:7, Genesis 7:11 and Colossians 3:4!

If we incline ourselves with heaven, that’s what we will become!

My next blog will be about camping during week two and the topic of Lordship! Hope all is well! Also, my outreach team still needs $6,000 by this weekend, so if you feel led to help please let me know!! I have all my funds in but they are my family in Christ and I want to help them! Thanks all. 

This is one of the rivers we swam in and baptized people in!

The group camping on the last day!

Update & Finances

Hey all! I hope every is doing well! This week our topic is Community Development; as we have a month or so before outreach starts. This weekend we will be heading three hours or so into the outback in Australia to camp for two weeks! I am excited and nervous all at once. With this being said, we will not have wifi or any sort of communication. Please pray for safety and health. I will be staying in a tent with Katie & Bree. All of us are in tents with friends on the same camp site. 

Help please! My outreach team still needs to raise $9,000 by the end of this week. This is going towards transportation, accommodations, etc. We need this to go to Paupa New Guinea to do missions and help those in need. I was wondering if you would prayerfully consider donating to my team? I have all my funds thanks to my parents, but I want to help out my team as they are my family too! If you feel led to donate, please email me at QtBasketball4@aol.com Thanks all! 

If you feel led to donate, this is how you do it: Please say Anna Miller Team for comments and click this link below. Thanks all!

http://www.ywamrto.org/payments

Character & Nature of God

Hello all! I hope everyone is safe and sound as I am aware of the blizzard in Minnesota. Stay warm!

This week's topic was the Character and Nature of God. Our speaker was Peter and he is originally from Australia, but has been the base director at YWAM Denver. He is also an international leader of YWAM for part of the Western States and Baja in Mexico. During lectures it is recommended to take notes, so as I go along taking notes; I find myself pages into it and love it. I already knew some of these topics based on Crown, but I really liked how Peter re-worded it all. I loved diving deeper into who God is and always will be.

Here are a few things that really stook out to me: God has placed a knowledge of himself in every human being. Learning more about God's physical and emotional side was interesting. Here is a concept to look at. The walk of faith: 1. God Speaks; 2. I Obey; 3. God gives understanding...maybe. I liked seeing this drawn out and explained to. One thing that was probably the hardest for me to grasp is the suffering. Many say if God is so loving and merciful then why do people suffer from disease, death and homelessness, etc. Here is a verse that goes along with this one (1 Peter 3:15). The sources of suffering are 1. Man's Selfishness; 2. The Devil; 3. A fixed enviroment; 4. The Fall of Man; 5. The Curse on the ground; 6. God. All of these factors came with verses to back it up. If you are interested feel free to ask me more.

We found out where we are going for our outreach. The first two weeks we will be doing ministry in Townsville then going to Palm Island which is an indigenous area. Then the last six weeks we are going to Paupa New Guinea. I am so excited to see all that God has in store! Half of my team still needs outreach fees, so if you feel led to give financially please please let me know! We are a team and we are going as one! 

Week Two & Update

Hello all! This past week was the second lecture week. The topic for week two was Clear Conscience.  Our speaker was the base director Ken. This week was great and hard. We learned about forgiveness, pride, confession, etc. I learned to forgive things in the past and move on. Also, I learned to continue to strive more for Christ and trust him within my life. I have always wanted to or try to trust God but at times it's hard. I have always been nervous with my health, so trusting God in my health is tough but it stretches me. We all had an opprotunity to share something on our heart that we wanted to confess or ask forgiveness for. This being said, was in front of our school. We had to have confidence and courage. The first day I did not do this but then the second day I did it and felt relieved. I know that his plans are the best plans for my life. This past week has taught me to forgive and let go from some things and trust God with everything! I have felt the Holy Spirit move but want to feel him more!!

On the weekend we have our staff take us places. On Saturday we went to the Strand which is the beach and Sunday I went to the malls. It is awesome that they pick us up and take us places so we aren't stuck on the ship all day. My camera broke so I will be getting a new one hopefully soon and then you can all see pictures! I finally started walking without my boot on Saturday. I only did it for a while Saturday because I am not use to walking without support. Today I have walked all day without my boot and it feels good. I am going to try not to over do it and maybe do half days with my walking boot on. Please continue to pray for healing in my foot and that it won't be sore. 

Thank you all for the prayers and support. God Bless!

Here are some pictures- The group pictures of my DTS Team and then me walking without my boot for the first time in almost two months!

First week!

Hello! I have made it to the YWAM Base safe and sound. Katie and I arrived on Friday the 24 at 6am in Sydney then got into Townsville at noon. That night we stayed in a hostel. It was my first time ever staying in a hostel. At first I was nervous but also excited. I enjoyed staying in the hostel and meeting people  from all over the world. The next day was Saturday and we were scheduled to stay at the hostel but actually got to stay at YWAM. We thought we were staying in a dorm apartment style, but no we were wrong..we are living on a ship! It is a big ship which is YWAMs medical ship that they take to Paupa New Guinea. The ship has four levels but we can only use three. I will post pictures soon on facebook and here of the ship. It has been in the high 80s to lower 90s everyday and only low 80s at night. I knew Australia was hot but I didn't know it was this humid!

The DTS officially started on Sunday the 26. So far we have just had orientation and have got to know each other as a team. We have 11 different nations represented within the 44 students. There are two DTS' going on at the moment. I love my team. Everyone is so nice and fun. I feel like we met them weeks ago. We have already became close. In orientation we are learning basic  guidelines and what the school is about and what we will do. Our first lecture class is tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting into the school and learn more about God and my life. 

We all have a ministry placement or duty and mine is dinner clean-up. Dinner clean-up is 6-7:30 ish. At 8pm we go back to the ship for the night. During the days after school which ends at 12:30, we have freetime. Breakfast is at 6:15am and then we leave at 7am to go to the YWAM Base. Some mornings are different with worship, small groups, etc. We have weekends off until we start our outreach.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. Please continue to pray for healing for my foot as the humidity and sweat doesn't feel too great on it. Thanks! 

If you want to send a letter or package (I would love it) my address is:
Attn: Anna Miller
YWAM Townsville
P.O. Box 6221 
Townsville, QLD, Australia
4810

Thanks everyone!! Hope all is well!!

It all starts now!

Hello! As many of you have heard from family, facebook; or myself I am doing a DTS with YWAM in Townsville, Queensland Australia. Townsville is centered bording the Great Barrier Reef! The school starts the 26 of January. I leave in a week today with my friend Katie! We decided to leave a little early so we can rest and get familiar with the area. I am beyond excited to have Katie by my side. I have struggled the last two years on debating when to do a DTS and God called me this fall and it did not work out, so here I am and am going next week! This DTS is called Sports+. We focus on sports, coaching, mentoring, teaching, etc. We are also combining with a medical one, which will be interesting. Since I just applied last week and got accepted this past Sunday, everything has been a time crunch and shock. I have applied for everything I need there, such as visa, blue card, etc. Please continue to pray for the visa to finalize. Finally this week it has been doctor visits, shopping and more shopping! I have always wanted to go to Australia and now my dream is coming true! I finally get my cast off and pin out this Thursday. Please pray that it is continuing to heal and fast.

Here are some interesting facts about Australia:

-Australia is the 6th largest country in the world

-Over 200 different languages and dialects are spoken in Australia including 45 Indigenous languages. The most common non-English spoken languages are Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese and Mandarin

-Australia is 16 hours ahead of us (east coast)

-They drive on the left hand side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side

-They use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit (need to get use to this)

-They use liters instead of gallons, kilograms instead of pounds, meters instead of yards, etc

-While we are in winter Australia is in summer (perfect timing)

-In Australia all school kids wear uniforms

-Australia was the second country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1902

-There is no need to tip in Australia

-People can kangaroo hunt like we deer hunt

-Australia has over 750 different reptile species, more than any other country in the world