Darwin & Outback Tour 2009

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Comment by Julie McLaughlin on August 18, 2009 at 4:18pm

The night may have been short and simple…But it's one night where my life will forever be changed into some of my most memorable, and awesome nights...YWAM group to Darwin...You guys changed my life :)

That is what one teenage boy wrote on his Facebook. We met him at one of our events a few weeks before. A couple of the dancers spent a lot of time talking to him after the show. They shared about how as Christians we can know God intimately and talk to him about anything.

Every time that they talked about God’s love, the boy’s eyes would fill with tears. They could see that he really wanted to accept Christ, but he felt like he could not because his family was a different faith. They talked for quite awhile and then we had to go. We invited him back to the final show. The team was really surprised to see him because was meant to be at a cricket match that day.

We talked to him again and this time, even though he did not come to the front during the response time, someone had seen him put his hand up to respond. The guys talked more with him and were even able to pray with him and now they will stay in touch.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support for the Darwin Tour. It’s because of this that it’s been possible for us to impact young people in the Top End. There were 9833 people that attended the events and 513 people that made commitments!

Comment by Julie McLaughlin on August 10, 2009 at 12:08am

Team Xtreme went into the prison here. There were about 100 prisoners who came to watch the presentation. When it came time for a response, no one responded. Ale turned around to the rest of the team and said, “get ready guys, they are all going to come forward.” As he turned around, every single man came forward for prayer.

As the guys were praying for people, one man asked for prayer because he was returning to his community and back to his family and he wanted to make a fresh start because he had come to Christ in prison and was a changed man. He wanted to be given another chance to make things right.

Another guy had been in and out of prison and become a Christian, but he had a 17 year old son that he hardly knew and wanted us to pray for his son. Another man wanted prayer to be set free from the drugs and alcohol he was fearful to fall back into once he was released. While Ale was praying he asked if he had been hurt by other people. The man said yes. Ale encouraged him to forgive those people. They prayed together. After being prayed for, he said that this was just the best day ever. He felt really different inside.

Tonight we were in Bagot community. It’s such an interesting place because it’s right in the heart of town. We went in with the Church that is there. After travelling around and picking up heaps of people in the vans, we presented the Gospel through our dances and feats of strength.

One guy that came forward for prayer wanted to give up the alcohol. He said that, “Now I will say no no no no to alcohol.”

About 6 girls came forward to accept Christ and several men. One group of people were from Beswick which is one of the Aboriginal communities we were in a couple weeks ago. They hadn’t responded then, but wanted to tonight. They said that there were so many people that had come up after our visit to ask questions about God and a relationship with him that they were seeing lots of stuff happen. The only reason they were in Bagot was because their relative was in hospital and they had come up to visit and were staying with friends in that community and happened to be there. Our guys were able to pray with them as well as for their relative to be healed.

Comment by Julie McLaughlin on August 9, 2009 at 11:55am

Two water buffalo just missed the bus we were travelling in on Tiwi Island. It really wasn't that close of an encounter, but it sure wasn't just a normal day at the office. This past week, Proper Way Productions and the DTS travelled out to the Tiwi Islands as a part of the tour. Tiwi Islands has the highest suicide rate in the world. They are also very isolated and the very name "Tiwi" means only people. We were able to go into all five schools there on each of the two islands. "It's great to have you here. The students here don't get to have programs with people from so many nations. This is just been wonderful", was the feedback we received from one principal.

Team Xtreme and M3 were busy back on the mainland visiting lots of schools. We have now presented the Gospel to over 6,448 people and 448 people have responded to that message.

Last night we were in Palmerston where several hundred people from the area gathered on the grass for a beautiful sunset and performance. Many responded and one of the Discipleship Training School (DTS) students was talking to a group of young ones that had come forward, as their parents silently listened in the background. The DTS girl shared about how you can talk to God any time that you want. You don't have to be in a Church building or fold your hands in a certain way, but can talk to Him just like you would talk to a friend. One little girl was so excited that she asked if she could write a letter to God. She said she would really like to write a letter to God and as we heard the story, we couldn't help but feel God's delight in connecting with this little girl.

We also hosted a skate competition where about 20 Palmerston locals competed for some prizes donated by a local bike and skate business. The skate team that's arrived from Sunshine Coast facilitated this time, but they also got a chance to share their stories with the kids. It was a cool sight to see all of these skaters and BMXers park their bikes and boards to sit down on the fun box to listen to Des share about how God has impacted his own life. Many of those same kids responded last night at the show.

Today we are doing the Prison and Bagot Community tonight. We've got a day off on Monday and then we hit the schools hard one last week before our big night at Leanyer Recreation Park with the Youth Street Launch. Please pray for us this last week as the teams have invested so much physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. We are really encouraging each other to keep asking for more from God.

Comment by Julie McLaughlin on August 4, 2009 at 9:51pm

So far, we have presented to over 3263 people and seen around 265 commitments. The tour is about half way through, but let me share some stories.

The teams were in Katherine last week and we had some great results. Beswick is an Aboriginal community that has just seen about 70 of their young people accept Christ and be baptized. We performed there last week and saw God do some good things including two healings. The first one was a lady who was home sick with the flu. The teams went out in a van to pick up people and prayed for her. She said that she knew that she was supposed to come to the event that night so she got up out of bed and was healed. The second one was a young man who was deaf. He had been brought by his mother and when he was prayed for he indicated that he could hear better.

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Pictures from Proper Way Productions performing in Wadeye and surrounding Aboriginal Communities. Besides cleaning up the house for some locals, they had a couple of performances in two communities that YWAM has not been involved much with.

At the Katherine show, one of the girls was called over by an Aboriginal man to speak to him. He began asking what we were doing setting up in the park. She told him about how we were going to tell people about Jesus and the hope that He brings to our lives. The man was so excited that we were going to tell people about Jesus. He said that he had been feeling lost and wandering around and he was even thinking about how he could kill himself because he felt so hopeless. He said that he just felt like he should come to the Park and that someone there was going to give him a message of hope. He had tears in his eyes and began to cry as this young lady told him about the hope that we have in God. He was the first one forward as Ale’ put his hand on him to pray for him. It was a sweet night as one of the girls on our team ended the night by sharing songs on the guitar. It was like a magnet for the lost and displaced people that normally hung out in the park. They just kept drawing closer and closer to sing along with the worship songs. Pretty soon there was a band of locals singing along. They even began to sing some old Christian hymns in their own language. It was really a sweet moment.

As we went into the High School in Katherine, the chaplain there was just amazed at the open doors that we had to share. She really felt like the prayers over the years had opened the doors for us to be able to go in. We were so well received that the principal shared about how many positive comments he had gotten from teachers and principals.

At one of the Christian Schools we just did a program in, we saw 40 young people respond to the Gospel. Even though it’s a Christian School, the students all stared blankly as they were asked what sin was. The team presented a clear Gospel message calling young people to surrender their lives to God and many responded.

Comment by Julie McLaughlin on July 24, 2009 at 5:20pm

"You were never meant to be here...."

No pictures today because we were in the youth detention centre, but I have some pictures that will stick in my heart for some time. One is a picture of Suli sharing his story right after capturing the attention of about 30 boys and couple girls who are serving some time for various reasons. He had them captivated as he told about his own struggles of getting into trouble and not having a father figure in his life, but how God wants to be a father to us. One that doesn't leave us or disappoint us.

Another picture that sticks with me is the M3 crew having 4 or 5 of the boys dance and I was ready to sign them up for another tour because they had the moves. The thing that was significant about it was that we cheered them on and you could just see a change that came over them as we valued them and celebrated with them.

My favorite picture is of nearly every one of them responding to Ale's challenge. Ale was visably moved to tears as he told them that they were made with a purpose and that living in the detention centre was not that purpose. "You were never made to be here. You were made for a purpose." Yet, to find that purpose they needed to let Jesus lead them. Nearly every hand went up in response to this challenge and they surrendered their lives to their creator. It was great to hang out with them afterwards for a sausage sizzle and just spend time together.

It was like tearing our own hearts out when it came time for us to go, but the last picture that sticks in my mind is that of one of the indigenous kids sitting at a picnic table opening up his new Bible to have a read. Our hearts were really impacted by their stories and every one of us felt such a strong connection.

Tomorrow is a slower day where we'll brush up on some testimonies, but Sunday is a big day. We do a couple Churches in the morning and then pack up everything and all three teams drive to Katherine where doors of opportunity have really opened up to us. Thanks for your prayers. Proper Way has some more amazing stories that I'll pass along after tonight when they arrive back into Darwin.

Comment by Julie McLaughlin on July 23, 2009 at 8:32pm

One of the best quotes I've heard in a long time, " I love my Bible" said one of the students at Litchfield Christian School. He was given one after our school program today. So many students raised their hand indicating that they want to follow Jesus.

We also performed at the Royal Darwin Show where many people stopped to listen to personal stories about how God has impacted the lives of one of our dancers, and even our tech guy got in on the act.

Yesterday was the inaugural event at Charles Darwin University. There was a crowd of about 70 people or so that took time out between classes to have a sausage and listen to what we shared. The head of the Christian student group said that it was a great turnout for this environment. Many of us felt that it was a great advancement for the kingdom in a place that doesn't always have a strong Christian presence.

Ale' Bends the Bars at the Royal Darwin Show

Proper Way Productions had a divine appointment. They performed at Woolaning Christian School on their way out to Wadeye, an Aboriginal Community that is over a 7 hour drive (come to find out) in the Oka. They are performing tonight as I write this. At the school, the sound system had some serious problems and in the end, they sang one of their songs in order to dance, it was so bad. That put them in the lurch for tonights show unless they could find someone to help fix it. It was as if God has set up a special meeting with this guy who heard from another guy that the team was in town. He drove around town looking for the team and it just so happened that they parked the big bus out front of where they were staying and he found the team. Not only did he happen to be an electrical engineer who could fix the sound system, he also has been a part of YWAM, and also was able to set them up with an event in another community nearby for tomorrow. And it just so happened that we had time in our schedule despite Julie's efforts to fill it. God is moving.

Here are just a few more pictures from the events to enjoy!

Comment by Julie McLaughlin on July 21, 2009 at 6:30pm

Comment by Julie McLaughlin on July 21, 2009 at 6:29pm

Comment by Julie McLaughlin on July 21, 2009 at 6:29pm

Comment by Julie McLaughlin on July 21, 2009 at 6:21pm

Tomorrow are our first events! The last two days have been a very powerful time of meeting with God. God has been dealing with our hearts first and momentum is building because if we are going to see people come to know Jesus in a deep way, we had better know Him ourselves and let Him deal with us first. Psalm 24 became a battle cry and fuel for intercession as we found ourselves flat on our faces crying out for the people of Darwin and surrounds.

Pray for Proper Way and the team that will leave bright and early tomorrow for Woolaning School and Wadeye community. Pray that they minister God’s love and we believe for miracles as God moves among the people. Pray for safe travels. Pray for Team Xtreme and M3 that will be at the University, Royal Darwin Show (Thursday 2:45pm), Litchfield Christian School, and Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.

Please continue to pray for a couple of the schools that we would still like to involve. We are also in need of some more phone books. Many people have donated some, but we have a lot of schools and events we need them for.

We will keep you updated with the stories as they come this week. We are expectant at what God will do!

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