Wow!!! Where do I even start. This has been such a journey already. I have saw God move in crazy ways already, really even before I came to the base! I know He is going to do so much more throughout these next few months. I have already met so many welcoming friends from all over the world. I am still adapting to the Aussie accent (it's harder than you think!). In my group of students there are 20. We are known as the Compassion DTS group. Just for a little side note, many of you know I don't really like to blog, email, or journal so excuse the way I write this out. I am writing just as I am speaking it!
The road to get here:
Boy oh boy, was this tough! Many of you know what happened to Anna-Maria, but if not I will tell you. Anna-Maria was supposed to come with me to YWAM. We had been planning it since January of 2010 together. She always wanted to do YWAM. Well, the Saturday before flying to Perth, she had a seizure. Twenty-four hours before we were supposed to leave the States, she was diagnosed with having myo-clonic epilepsy. They put her on a medicine right away. The sad part is that the doctors told her she would have to stay in the States for 6 months in order for them to test the medicine on her. When hearing this news, I broke apart. I was already starting to get emotional about having to leave my family, but now having to leave one of my best friends? She was supposed to be my traveling buddy on this adventure. I had many thoughts run through my head for the whole 24 hours before my flight to leave....Should I stay home? Is this really for me? Why would something like this happen?....those were just a few of my thoughts! I asked God to give me a peace about the whole situation and show me what I was really supposed to do. He showed me immediately Mark 16:15-18 which states, "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well'". Wow, wow, wow!! It felt like a slap in the face. How dare I question what God had already told me back in December of 2009? I knew instantly I was to still come to YWAM. It may be hard having to say goodbye, and though I may not see where light is going to come from this, I knew God wanted me here. He showed me that this group I am involved in now was not for Anna-Maria, it was for me. God has things for Anna-Maria that need to be done back home or wherever God places her. This was for me. This was my time to grow as an individual away from my family, friends, and church family. This was my time to spread my wings and fly and know that God has His hand upon me, my family back home, and my friends. This was my time to learn to trust.
Well, January 5th finally came, the day I was leaving for 6 months and 20 days. It was very hard saying goodbye to my family and friends at the airport. I cried on the flight all the way to Houston. The poor guy who sat next to me on the plane probably left the plane thanking God he was not by me anymore, but he was probably wearing some of my snot from me crying as well! Poor guy! Once I landed in Houston, it was all about getting on the next plane. If I didn't think about it, I was okay. When we got to Los Angeles, it was like a mad house. People were everywhere in that airport. Barely no one spoke English and if they did it was not very fluent. We finally found where to check in to our next flight. The plane company is called VAustralia. I thought it sounded awesome until I sat in the plane and the pilot started speaking. Oh my gosh, the Australian accents hit me like a tidal wave! I could not understand one word the pilot was saying as he gave instructions! When they started going over the instructions for if there was an emergency, I just prayed nothing would happen because I couldn't understand the instructions. When they would pass around the food, I would have to ask 2 or 3x's what it was. I still never understood them after the 3rd time so I would normally just pass and say, "Just water".
We flew into Brisbane, Australia on the morning of the 7th. Back home it would have still been the 6th. We had a 12 hour layover there which was so difficult. I was dreaming of taking a shower and sleeping! Our next flight was to Perth which left late that night. That would be our last plane ride. When we got on the last plane ride, I sat next to an older couple from Australia. They were the nicest people and were so welcoming and glad about what I was doing. They taught me different things about Australia and I taught them different things about America. When we got off the plane, we took a cab with them to our hotel. I am now corresponding with them while I am here. Shout out to Mr. Ric and Mrs. Daphne Baisden! If you haven't caught this already, I keep putting "we" as in me and someone else. My dad did come along with me for the flying part because he is going to be doing business in Perth with customers....suurrreeee!!!!!
The world of Perth...well the short version for now:
My dad and I decided we would go out and tour the city together. This city is awesome! It's a mix between Atlanta dowtown and San Francisco. Atlanta, because the buildings look similar, just with a different name. San Francisco, because it is very hilly and kind of mountainous. We took a 2-story tour bus around the whole city of Perth. We learned interesting and hilarious facts about Perth. The bus driver was so funny!
The next day we went to see kangas in the bush! Let me tell ya, it is so hot in the bush! The kangas laid around like abunch of fat men and women and let us pet them all we wanted! There was a momma kanga with her joey there and it was feeding. Talk about cool! We left after staying 30 minutes because it was way to hot to be out there! We went straight to the hotel and then made our way to YWAM where he would leave me there. It was really hard on my dad to say goodbye, but I think he realized shortly after I was in good hands!
YWAM for real:
When I showed up, everyone came up and was introducing themselves! I felt so welcomed. They showed me my dorm and I knew I was not going to get much privacy! I share a dorm with over 20 girls. The bathroom only has 3 stalls and 3 showers. I am going to have to learn hardcore patience. Across the hall is the guys dorm and there are over 20 guys in that dorm. We all share the same kitchen which is interesting. We have over 29 nations of people at the base. In my group, we have every continent of people. It is really cool, but it is so hard to understand them and their names sometimes!
The first full day at the base (the 10th over here, the 9th for the States), we had our first worship together as a group. I have never in my entire life experienced something like that! It was amazing! Imagine having basically every tribe and every tongue literally in the same room singing praises to God. It gave me chills. We sang songs in Spanish and in English. It was just awesome! They had an Aborigine woman speak after worship. I have never in my entire life of being a Christian met and heard a woman that was so filled with the Holy Spirit. It was the most amazing thing. You could see God just flowing through her as she prayed. When I tell you, the presence of God was in that room, He was all over that room! I have never sensed His presence so much. It makes you want to do worship like that all day! Their are some Samoans at the base who were about to leave to go minister to Mexico. They felt that they needed to share with us one of their dances and prayers. It was so awesome! That is all I can say. I am still so speechless about it still. I wanted to just rewind that day and do it all over again. It reassured this is where I need to be!
The next day we had some classes or lectures is what they call it. That afternoon, they brought us to the beach. It was so pretty! The water was like a perfect blue. It was awesome! We stayed there all afternoon until dinner. We ate on a hill overlooking the Indian ocean!
Yesterday, we had more lectures and we had a guest speaker for my group. It was about hearing the voice of God. It was really, really good! It made me really excited to hear the other lectures that will be happening!
Today, we had more lectures as well as morning chores and work duties. Well, they must think I am some cook or something over here because both of my jobs deal with the food. This will definitely be interesting! Everyday for chores, I must help prepare lunch at 8:00 in the morning. My work duty....hospitality!!! I make all the sweets with 5 other girls. We take care of birthday parties at the base, doing the laundry after everyone is finished cleaning, decorating, and caring for whatever needs that the guest speakers have. I have to say, compared to some of the other peoples jobs around here, my job is legit!
The food....oh boy:
Well, lets just say there is nothing like Cajun food. The food is so bland here and just weird. The first night for dinner, we had some cooked spaghetti noodles with no sauce and something that looked like beef. Not ground beef, like beef that was whole that they cut up once it was cooked. Some people thought it was kanga, but really, no one knew what it was. Talk about interesting. That was probably the weirdest meal. They are all pretty bland. I definitely have not regretted bringing my seasonings that is for sure! Last night, a couple of other girls and I decided we were going to go to the store to get soda. We were in heaven!
I am taking pictures everywhere I go. I want all of you to be apart of this place with me! It is definitely a spirit filled base and as far as I can see, it is very organized. They have not told us where our outreach is yet. They are keeping that a secret! The founders of this base are Pete and Shirley Brownhill. They are an awesome couple. They live on the base with us!
Well, I think I made this long enough for my first post. Please keep praying for me, my family, my friends, and my group as we travel along through this incredible journey God has placed before all of us. Love you all!
P.S. I know people keep asking for my address over here and my email address, so here is is!
Lahti Arsement
PO Box 8501
Perth Business Centre, WA 6849
professor.klutz@yahoo.com
You can also follow me on Facebook to see more pictures!
