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