Box day thought

Ok as i sit here writing this thinking about where i am and what i am doing. i am reminded that this day for the past 22 years has been a day where you do very little, you relax and eat leftovers and play with the toys you got for Christmas hang out with the family that are still around and most importantly watch the cricket. being here though in a country that does not celebrate Christmas it is very different even to those that do Christmas is very different. it seems to be a day where you spend time with your family but not extended they don't seem to have special meals or traditions other then church and boxing day is just a normal day. which has made me think about Christmas back home and how commercial they have become. Yesterday my team here spent the day together eating a special Christmas lunch then exchanged small gifts but the most important things is we just loved each other. This year our Christmas was all about love and Jesus. which made it amazing. am i sad that i am not watching cricket with my family right now absolutely would i have LOVED to be there for my nephew's first Christmas of course but in saying all of that i would not trade this for the world. i got to spend this day with an amazing group of people from around the world as most of us spent of first Christmas away form family. we have also had the opportunity to show the people here that they are worth our time.

over the last 3 weeks we have done a lot of Church ministry going to church serves, spending time with children and teaching and a christian school here teaching them English and just hanging out with them, we have gone to a pray tower to which in 20 odd floors up and prayed over the city with a bunch of locals, we have spent some time in the slums meeting people and handing out food. even though they don't really cerebrate Christmas here most of the origination we are working with have a break at this time of year so the opportunity have been quite light things will pick up after the new year though. also while i was here i had the privilege to meet with my grandmother sponcer child Ricky.

Now this for me was even more emotional due to my history, but meeting Ricky was a moving experience. from the moment i met him and his family there was giant smile on his face. which was awesome to see from a 13 yr old boy. we went to a museum and then out for lunch the whole time he and his dad where talking about all the letters asking question about my family (that they had from the letters, like how is my cousin and nephew who where just born and how my grandfather is.) we talked about school and hobbies. he is a very shy boy who was so nervous about his speaking ability, but i could tell that he LOVES writing and receiving the letters.

also this is a picture of the base in Vancouver just after we left.

i know this update does not it seem like we have not done much, but like i said it has been a pretty chill couple of week, i know it is about to get pretty busy so the next update will have more in it.

:) (spelling mistake just prove it is me )

Never would have imagined

Ok so i am writing this update sitting in the Taipei airport on a layover on my way to Indonesia where i am going to spend 6 weeks assisting in leading a group of 6 students, working with the locals doing all sorts of ministry stuff. Then i am going to Singapore for 2 weeks then Hong Kong for 3. All i can think about while i sit here waiting is how the heck did my life get to be this amazing.

When i got on that plane on the 1st of Jan heading for Hawaii i NEVER would have imagined my life to turn out the way it is now. The thing that blows my mind the most is people believe in me so much they are willing to financially support me to be able to travel and serve God in this way. I will never be able to express just how lucky i am to be surrounded by these people. 

Well this update is about the last 3 months. well as many as you will know i have been staffing a DTS which is the mission cause i did earlier this year. so i have been living in Vancouver with 12 students and 10 staff (in multiple houses). the adventure starting with a weekend trip to a cabin in the mountains where we got to know each other better as well as going over exceptions and information about the next 3 months. it was a very fun weekend. when we got back we went st-right into full swing off lectures and other stuff. This is so amazing just as good as when i was a student, even though the topics where very simler the people presenting them where different and because of this they presented in a new and exciting way which i got a lot out of and have grown alot. The thing i enjoyed most though was watching the students grow and change like i did when i was a student it makes all the late night, long hours so so worth it.  apart of this lecture phase we took a road trip to a confrace that ran in Alberta this week was the most amazing weeks of the last 3 months it involved alot of presentation from people that have severed around the world, also we met up 2 other school and made lots of new friends. The thing i loved most about this week was we got a lot of different view what i missionary is and it made me look at this is a new way. (also the worship that week was just epic). Also i went to my first ice hockey game which was so amazing. Also with a small group of the students we found out Aussies should not ice skate.

So this is now my life, saying yes to God and following him where he wants me, i just want to say that ever since i said yes for the the time my life has not be all rainbow and butterfly there has been a lot of difficulty. i still have troubles and fear but now i know i am not walking alone i have amazing family and friends who are willing to support me in what ever way they can. but even better then that is i have a loving father in heaven that just wants what is best for me. That is what God can give you, he wont make your life perfect but he will make sure you don't have to face it alone. While this may not seem like an exciting update but i don't care i have loved every second even the times when i was worried or struggles cause they all made me to be there person i am right this second. 

love you all 

Nicola 

(if you did not already know who blog this is)

Feeding the masses.

note all the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors just prove it me :).

So when i came to Canada i was unsure of what i would be doing, well this journey has been a fun one where i had to really trust God. when i arrived and starting staffing i was still unsure where i fit in and why i was here. even though my fellow staff are amazing and i have loved every second of it. well in class a few weeks ago we where doing an exercise in listening to God. we asked "What do Jesus and i have in common" the first thing i heard was "we fed the masses" which made me laugh but then got me thinking as i am currently over seeing the kitchen and the day where i get to spend time cooking for people i am so happy. so i was thinking maybe i should be doing this full time.

So we went to Alberta for a week for a conference on the Sunday after it finished after the whole week feeling like i maybe pursuing sign right now it not what i am meant to be doing  i asked God if he does not want me to peruse sign right now show me. the next day some one came up to me and said " so your staying after the DTS to cook right" then a few days later someone else said "i really want you to stay after" so i was like OK God i get it.

 i went to talk to one of my leaders and ask if there was a need for a full time cook next year and his reply was there is a desperate need. i could not follow it much past that as int he last 2 weeks i have cooked for large groups that have been visiting us here and doing a mission adventures program. this involved cooking 2 dinner one for 60 people one for 65 (in a kitchen worse them kenelworth) i had so so much fun doing this even with delayed due to kitchens breaking and then having to move with only an 1 and half till serivs but still loved it :).

it had been almost 2 weeks since i had talk to my leader and i had not really followed up with him about it then the next day the other leader came up to me and said " i need to talk to you about staying after and cooking" and after that i found out that they had not spoken to each other about this and i have now decided to stay here for the next year or so and cook full time for the school they have running. its going to be totally amazing. ohh and also the kitchen is being renovated so it wont be horrible for long (hopefully)

but before this happens in just under 3 weeks i am staffing an outreach to a few different cites in Asia. i will post another update before i leave about that though :)

NOTE: all the pics where from the meal i cooked for 65 ppl last Wednesday.

My adventure so far

Before you start reading i am going to point out that there might be spelling mistakes and grammatical errors but that is just a way of proving it was 100% written by me :) Also i know this is quite long but please read it. i promise they will not be this long from now on !!!

Almost exactly 14 months ago i made a small decision that changed my life completely i said yes. Now i know this seem like a word you say every day but when you say it to the right questions it is life changing. the funny part about this story is a did not even know i was answering a question it took me a few more months to work this out. well last year in august after being told i was too young to be a chaplain, my uncle suggested i do a YWAM DTS (Youth With A Mission Discipleship Training School). Now i had no idea what this was but it sounded like lots of fun so i deiced to go my mother found me one in Hawaii so it did not take that much convincing. i would be spending 3 months in Hawaii learning about God and Missions and then spending 2 moths somewhere else in the world doing mission work then after that i planned on becoming a summer camp councilor in Canada. So when i got on the plan on 1/1/13 that is what i thought i would be doing little did i know i was saying yes to God and following the plan he had for me i just thought i was in for a really fun 10 months that i would make lots of friends. (which happened but to extends i could not even imagined). On the 3rd of January i arrived at the university of the nations in Kona Hawaii to start my DTS. From day one this was life changing i met the most amazing people that have become family and everyone of them has impacted my life. i have done things i never even could have imagined doing for example, i had s'mores for the first time. this might seem like a little thing but did i mention we toasted the marshmallows over lava! I had sailing lesson just off the coast of Hawaii, during most of these lessons i saw dolphins or whales no sharks though :(. but during one of these lessons i was swimming out the back of the boat with 2 of my friends and then we heard a noise looked up to see a whale about 1Om away, so now i have been swimming with whales. I also went cliff jumping off a 50ft cliff. although these thing where absolutely amazing life changes events the best thing that happened on the little island in the middle of the Pacific is, i gave my life back to God. Even though i did not know it at the time when i left for Hawaii that i was saying yes to God, or that i was so far away from him at the time i left, i am so thankful he chased me down and dragged me back to him. There was a moment during the 3 months in Hawaii when i felt God telling that maybe the summer camp was not for me and i sure stay and staff with YWAM and he rekindle my passion for sign language and the deaf. so  after my DTS finished i planed to stay and staff YWAM Ships in Kona but i had a lot more adventures to go before then. so in the first month in Hawaii i found out that my 2 month outreach would be to central america Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico aboard the Caribbean reach a boat owned by YWAM Ships. my team had 9 students and 1 staff.

Our little team got on very well and where very excited when we got on the plane and fly to Panama. after a very long flight and a small mishap with the first one of our team to get on the boat fulling into the water we where aboard the boat that would become our home for the next 2 months. we met the amazing crew who where so amazing words can not describe them and the captain and his wife. after traveling for 2 days we where then told that boats water maker was broken and we had very limited water so we could not shower this did not make for a happy team but we all got over it (well kinda). One of my favorite thing we did in the first few days was to get into the water scrap the bottom on the boat clean (not only cause we got some sort of cleaning in the water). i have always wanted to do this as my father had told you a never a real sailor until you have clean the bottom of the boat or gotten into the water to detangled something caught around the props. after a few days we set sail for out first long sail this included night watch little sleep but no sea sickness which was a huge miracle. I knew going to live on a boat for 2 moths would be so much fun but like always i thought i would be horrible sea sick, however i felt God asking me to go so i said yes and i did not sea sick once :). We saw so many dolphins, birds, phosphorescent plankton, turtles it was so cool best of all the stars where breath taking and this was just a 3 days sail. we arrived in a small port in Golfito, Costa Rica which would be our home for the next 3 weeks due to boat issues (our engine did not work) but this delay allowed us to visit every primary, high school and university in the town and surrounding areas. we also met up with some other teams and help disturb bibles to every house in Golfito. this was so much fun and we got to experience the joy and hospitably of the locals. we also help fix up a house for one of the people that worked in the marina. It was crazy to see God move in the town though out team in just a small amount of time. after our amazing time in Costa Rica we set sail again and headed for Guatemala which was a 5 day sail.

Somehow we were ahead of scheduled so our captain decided to stop the boat 70 miles of the coast and we jumped in the water with turtles dolphins, sting rays and even a sward fish that swam right at one of the crew and my self it was awesome.

 also on this sail i saw 2 sharks so i was the happiest person ever even though i was not in the water at the time :(. we arrived in Guatemala to find out that a congressman would be coming to visit our boat and we would be doing a little presentation for him then we where heading into Guatemala city to stay at the base their and work with them. This made one very busy afternoon but it was lots of fun and so worth it as we made made friends with he congressman and he even took us into the city and bought us dinner. we then went to the base and had an amazing time there playing soccer with kids who live in slums handing out hot drink and sweet bread to the homeless and as it is Central America playing soccer with them on the street at night. we also made 200 hotdogs and went to the hospital to hand them out to people and pray for those waiting to hear about family members. after 5 days in the city which included a day in Antigua were our congressmen friend bought us a steak lunch, we went back to the boat and did some more ministry in the port city were the boat was. After a few days there visiting school churches and youth groups we also got the privileged of hosting out host of the boat for a meal so in a very small boat kitchen i was now cooking dinner for 30 people i LOVED every second of it after dinner was all done and the people where happily fed we were hanging out when my leader came up to me with a sad look on his face and i was worried i had not cooked enough dinner, then he informed me that the group would be back for breakfast and him being Canadian he apologized but i was so happy i got to fed lots of people again :) after this we set sail again for Mexico.

This sail took a total of 6 days and God had his hand on out boat that is for sure as we arrived with almost no fuel and because of this we had to stop in Acapulco to fill up which was not originally planed but when we arrived there we found out it the place we were going was not a port of entry so we would have had to go back. We spend the night it the bay there then headed on the next day. the view at night there was stunning and the photos we have do not do it justice.

 when we arrived we had a very sad farewell as we left the boat behind and went to stay in people house from the church we were doing minisity with. Mexico was lots of fun and we did a lot of street ministry which involved setting up a sounds system on a corner or in a park and doing some songs and a testimony a short skit and a sermon. we also helped fixed up a church floor. after only 10 day in mexico we were on a plane (well 3 planes) heading back to Hawaii ready to be reunited with the other team and share our stories. it was so surreal to be heading back and even more surreal when our time was over and we said goodbye to the people who in just 5 short months had become family.

I how ever stayed in Hawaii to Staff in the ships office this was a very interesting and fun month that i staff there. After the month my Visa was about to expire and it was then i felt God saying remember you have a Canadian visa go learn sign and staff there. So on the 27th of June not really knowing what i was going to be doing in Canada i said yes anyway and went. i fly into Vancouver and had 3 night accommodation booked at the most dodge place i have EVER been too but not much plan other then a sign language course that started on the 21st of July in Toronto with no real plan or idea where i was going to stay i prayed to God and had an amazing transcanadian journey meeting some of my DTS family along the way and spending some time with them. I did the sign language course and met some awesome fun people that even though they might not have believed in God they were very excited to hear about my travels. During this time i emailed a few different YWAM bases around Canada and after Vancouver was the only one that replied to i applied to staff there so after my course finished i went back to Vancouver where stating in September i would be staffing a 6 month DTS which would include staffing an outreach.

these are just a few story's of the countless i have and just a few of the amazing thing i have done in the past 10 months. Saying yes to God was the best decision of my life and i am so thankful to all the amazing people who i met that also said yes as my life would not be the same out every one of them including my incredibly supportive family.

i also want to say that the past 10 months have not been all fun. I have had some hard times as well especially being away from my family for so long including my brother becoming a dad for the first time. There was also a few times where i just wanted to get on a plane and go home but i knew that staying where God wanted me no matter how hard it is is the best option and i know my life wont always be carefree it will have sacrifices and i am prepaid to make them i ready to say yes to God what ever His plans are for i know they are a lot better then mine.