Hello again!
It’s occurred to me that many of you, our faithful readers, are not quite informed on what YWAM Reef to Outback does and what we are doing as staff interns. So, I’ll give you what I’ve seen, heard, and experienced so far and will fill you in more as we continue to serve. First, I’ll tell you about one very exciting ministry that has been and will continue to be effective in changing the lives of many, many needy people. It’s the YWAM medical ship called, the Pacific Link. This old Japanese training vessel was miraculously acquired by YWAM RTO a few years ago and has been in the process of getting fixed up and prepared for its main purpose, medical missions trips throughout the South Pacific Region. While the work has been done in getting the supplies and volunteers together, the directors have had it touring throughout the eastern coast of Australia visiting various city ports with the manifold intent of performing youth outreaches to the many troubled teens in these cities while also offering tours of the ship and giving presentations to groups, schools, churches, and the like who might be interested in being involved in the future medical missions. Lastly, the base is conducting a Discipleship Training School stationed on the vessel with the small number of students and staff (6 or 7) having their lectures and outreach onboard. Currently, the Lord has opened doors for the Pacific Link to motor up to Cairns for more outreach and promotion and then on to Thursday Island located at the very northeastern point of the mainland where they will stay for a short time before making their way across the channel to Pupua New Guinea (PNG). Everyone is ecstatic about this part of the trip since this is where the mission will really begin in earnest. The vessel will arrive in one of the main ports in PNG and make sure all their paperwork is in order and fuel tanks filled. Next, it’s on to the various remote towns and villages to meet the needs of the local people. The ship is equipped with eye surgeons, primary medical doctors and nurses, dentists and assistants and the facilities for these gifted professionals to perform their duties. Also, in preparation for this trip, many extremely generous medical and dental supply companies, private practices, individuals, and groups have donated copious amounts of supplies and financial support for the outreach. We are all super excited to be apart of this grand endeavor and can’t wait to hear the stories of those who are serving on board the Pacific Link. In the meantime, a small army of workers need to stay back and take care of the base and the other important ministries that are happening weekly…that is where we come in.
Next, here are some of the other ministries that are going on here at the base:
Youth Street: A weekly outreach on Saturdays to teenage youth in the community. It consists of many kinds of staff led activities, from art, to music, dance, and skateboarding all for the purpose of leading the kids into maturity in every area of their life, especially spiritually. Ryan and I are involved in the skateboarding team during the day and occasionally we stick around for dinner and the evening, Youth Street Live part of the ministry where the kids are often treated to bands, games, insightful biblical teaching, and other activities.
Mission Adventures: A youth focused ministry that seeks to send teens on short-term mission trips in order to stir their hearts for God, for service, and for missions. This is a ministry that Cameron and I are interested in being apart of possibly in the near future. Hopefully, when things slow down a bit, we’ll be able to take the whole family along for some nearby outreach trips!
Proper Way Productions: A ministry designed to reach out to native peoples of Australia and the Pacific Islands. It employs dance, music, and other culturally rich activities to touch hearts for God.
Discipleship Training Schools: These are 6 month schools which are split into two main parts. The first is a lecture series that mostly takes place on base with students receiving rich study in spiritual principles and incorporating living in the community of the base and serving in various capacities both there and in the community. The second part are mission trips which help the students to put into practice the principles that they have learned while at the same time experiencing what “missions” is all about. Being in and heading up certain aspects of the Community Life department of base operations, I get to oversee anywhere from two to four DTS students in their daily work responsibilities. This gives me the opportunity to get to know these young people and to encourage them in their work ethic and spiritual growth, what a blessing! In the beginning of October another school will be starting with a large class of around 40 students in attendance.
School of Music in Missions: This is a school especially for the ministry minded musician. It consists of lectures in biblical principles of worship, opportunities to work with other musicians in teams (bands), and trips across land and sea to lead worship and reach out to the unchurched world.
Introduction to Primary Healthcare School: This school is designed to prepare students for Christian medical outreach.
*For more info and probably much better descriptions of these ministries check out the YWAM RTO website at ywamrto.org
Here are some events that are coming up:In October the base is hosting a number of conferences, seminars, and meetings and as a result we will all be very busy accommodating and facilitating them. Some of these are: The National Leadership Meeting, The National Base Leaders’ Meeting, Slingshot (a leadership conference), Marine Reach Meeting (gathering of various leaders in the relief ships world). I have been asked to be a venue manager during these events so I’m expecting to be very active moving chairs and tables around and generally helping out.
In December an amazing, extravagant annual event takes place called, Stable on the Strand. What makes it so amazing is that virtually all of the churches and local government (and many sponsors) in Townsville team up to put on a huge Christmas celebration. YWAM is in the thick of it helping the churches to work together and providing many staff and student volunteers throughout the event. I have been asked to take a large role in this event and so I’m praying about it. It is clear that one can get overcommitted easily so Cameron, Peggy, and I are working on balancing our time and work load so we don’t get burned out.
It is amazing to be in Australia in the center of God’s will, being used by Him in the lives of many different people. It is truly a miracle and we feel incredibly privileged to be apart of all this. With all of the areas that God has us involved in, 1Cor. 10: 31 comes to mind and rings true in our hearts “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Thanks again for your love, prayers, and support; you are a huge blessing to us!

The Lord has been doing much in my heart to confirm our direction and give me peace about serving in Townsville with YWAM for this season of our lives. Since we arrived, I’ve been really searching for God’s purpose in bringing us to Townsville and how our connection with YWAM could be apart of it all. I mentioned that we were praying about starting a Bible study in our home on Sundays and we’re still praying. In the meantime though, we’ve been attending a local church fellowship in the central district of the city called, Townsville Central City Mission an affiliate of the Uniting Church of Australia. This denomination is quite vast is Australia and as I understand it varies drastically from one congregation to another. Some are extremely liberal in theology even to the point of rejecting the inspiration of the scriptures and allowing practicing homosexuals to serve as pastors and elders, to much more conservative and evangelically traditional. As I’m told, the Uniting churches in the state of Queensland tend to be more conservative and this specific fellowship certainly leans that way, as a result we feel we’re in agreement on most things spiritually. We were introduced to this church by some friends from the YWAM base and felt really accepted from the start. We’ve attended other churches on our stay but this one has been a good fit in that it is biblically based, somewhat contemporary in style of worship though there are a few hymns included (Cameron especially likes this), it is very family oriented with attendees ranging in age from newborn to the elderly, even folks in their eighties and nineties! It’s conveniently located (just a few miles away and on the opposite side of Castle Hill from our house) and is strongly missions minded and inviting of the various minorities such as Pacific Islanders, Southeast Asians, and of course Aboriginals. They also offer their facility on Sundays to a South Korean fellowship. We’ve really connected well with the congregation and felt a unity in their heart for city outreach and international missions. I’ve begun attending a men’s fellowship on Tuesday mornings and have been asked, to my delight, to produce curriculum for a study through the book of Ephesians, I can’t wait to see how the discussion go! The Church is on a scheduled reading through the scriptures on Sundays, but the morning message is not often chapter by chapter and verse by verse as we are used to, nonetheless we’re blessed to be in a good, loving fellowship and we’re praying for God’s will in growing together with them. Who knows what God will do in this new relationship…

Recently Ryan and Aurbry participated in an event at the church called “40 Hour Famine”. The purpose was for the kids to experience in a small degree what it’s like to live as a kid in a third world country. Throughout their over-night stay they and their young friends got to bake bread and make butter from scratch, see the sights at the local dump to get a whiff of what it would be like to live and work there as many children do around the world. They made beaded jewelry like many do who’re stuck in sweatshops, had to make creative shelters with materials that the parents had strewn about creating a post cyclone scene. They carried water in buckets around the neighborhood and ate only a couple spoonfuls of plain rice for dinner and experienced hunger through the night and into the next day as they didn’t eat until after lunch. Overall, both were really blessed by the experience and agree that they have a better understanding of life in other countries.
Saturday was another day of outreach for me as I took part in Youth Street teams. Ours is called Skate Team 1:21 in honor of Phil. 1: 21 where Paul bravely states, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” We had 8 or 9 kids this time and headed out of town to the area called the northern beaches, about a twenty minute drive. It was nice to get out and see some new sights as we have only been skating near by and at the base. It was another graffitied cement park in a small community with a KFC fast food restaurant right next door. It’s brutal to exercise and have that smell wafting through the air. The park was packed with local kids, mostly scooting and riding bikes. A local kid and I were the only ones skating until the end when a couple more locals showed up. For the most part it was controlled chaos as everyone did their own thing. I was pretty overwhelmed by all the people and resigned myself to mostly just watching all the action. There were certainly some impressively gifted athletes out there but it was also evident that all the dangers that I faced as a kid were alive and well. I’m not referring to the dangers of hitting the cement or other kids. There were older kids there slamming power drinks, smoking, and generally carrying on setting a bad example for the younger ones. It’s not a surprise nor is it an unnatural thing but one where I can see myself in them when I was their age. All I wanted was to have fun, skate well, and be respected and accepted by my peers. What I didn’t realize was that I was seeking acceptance from the wrong source, people. The acceptance that I needed was from God. His acceptance and love is unconditional and consistent where all other avenues come up short. His love is perfect and without end. I always try to be conscious of any opportunity to shine the light of Jesus into the lives of the guys I see at the parks but what’s utmost in my mind are the lives of the kids that God has me overseeing. They’re all really great kids and the Lord has opened some neat occasions to connect with them on their level. When I see the moves that some of these kids are doing now, I realize just how anciently unskilled I am yet, there’s still the connection that is made regardless of whether I’m a skater or scooter or biker and I pray that the Lord will use that connection to influence their lives for His good.

Aubry wanted to say something too…

I have had a great time in Australia so far. It is very silly that we live so close to the ocean but we haven’t gone there yet. I was hoping for some pets when we first got here. There was an old bath tub outside in the yard full of mucky disgusting water, the perfect place for Mozzy’s to breed. So, my Dad dumped most of it out. I was amazed one morning, when I looked at the water and thought I saw tadpoles, but they turned out to be fish! Mom and Dad found an aquarium at the thrift shop and decided to buy it for the family. Though the biggest fish didn’t live, Ryan and I found three baby fish left in the water and put them into their new home. Two of the fish follow one another around like best buddies. So, now we have some pets!
I just met a new friend named Anna and our family’s been going to her church. She is an Australian and uses words I don’t know sometimes. She has a very cool personality and likes joking around a lot. She’s eight years old and doesn’t have any brothers or sisters but has two cute puppy dogs named Rose and Cushion. She also lives just a few blocks away so we can walk there when I have a play day. I made another friend named Emily who is visiting from Hawaii and will be leaving in a few days. She’s seven but acts more like a nine year old so I’m pretty glad about that. She has two cool younger brothers that Sean likes to play with.
My favorite thing to do during the week is driving in our new bus. It has twelve seats and Mom and Dad are just learning how to drive it because they have to stay on the left-hand side of the road and the gear shift is on the steering wheel and they have to shift with their left hand.
We’re so happy now that we have a better washing machine since the old one used to travel right out of the laundry room. Peggy has been a great nanny for us and is constantly blessing us by hanging up our clothes to dry (we don’t have a dryer) and doing the dishes and other household chores.
Home schooling is not so fun but if I want to learn I must do it. Mom likes to read awesome books to us, like The Twenty-One Balloons and Helen Keller. My favorite subject is Math-u-see.
Mythbusters is about to start so remember, God made you special and He loves you very much…Goodbye!
Love,
Aubry

What an amazing place we live in! We have been seeing all kinds of new animals, multicolored, and varying in size. One thing that is a constant is that these animals, bugs and such have very little if any fear of humans. They see us as just another life form among a host of others. As the photos display, there are huge grasshoppers, cute possums, toads (reportedly abundant during the summer months), bats (locals call them flying foxes), and geckos. Not pictured but worth noting are the mice, wasps, disease carrying mosquitoes, and 3 inch long roaches not to mention the spiders and snakes but most of these animals are harmless and the latter seem to be pretty rare in the urban areas though the huntsman spiders are prevalent and tend to be quite big, about the size of Kay’s hand and are aggressive. Thankfully, though their bite is painful, they are not poisonous just really imposing especially when they unexpectedly leap a few inches off the ground when provoked...No Worries Mate!

Cam's Latest

Hello all!  Please accept my apology for lack of communication.  We still do not
have internet service at home.  Also no phone.  You really don’t realize how much you
depend on things until they are missing!  (Like a dryer, or screens on the windows &
windowless shutters :)

Yeah, as far as not realizing how much you depend on things until they're gone...not
having a vehicle has been a huge adjustment.  We have had to limit our groceries to what
we can carry or put in the stroller.  We were given a jogger stroller (pram) which is
awesome.  But guess what? The church we've been attending has a diesel 12 passenger
bus/van and they are thrilled to let us use it all during the week!  They only use it to
pick people up on Sundays and consider it a blessing to have it used instead of sitting
around.  I had tears come to my eyes when they offered.  AND I actually drove it!!!  Yes
on the LEFT side of the road, and it is a manual tree shift—you know the kind that shifts
from the side of the steering wheel—on the left side?  Yeah, AND I didn’t crash, praise
God!  Although I did turn on the windshield wipers a few times instead of signaling!

Ryan has gotten involved in a group called Youth Street.  Youth Street is part of the
YWAM ministry to young Aussies aged 12-18.  They get together on Saturdays.  From 2-5pm
they have teams, at 5pm they have dinner and from 5:30-10pm they have a huge youth group
type gathering at the YWAM Center with games, activities, music & bands, skateboarding… 
Youth Street has several teams: dance, music, skateboarding, recruiting new people,
sports, and art.  Ryan has joined a skate team (even though he’s only 11) and Jeremy is a
team leader.  Please pray for me because Ryan gets to stay on his own after dinner until
9pm…growing pains for Mom :).

Aubry has found a new friend at church.  The girls have gotten together a few times and
had heaps of fun.  Sean is Mr. Congeniality and all the missionaries at the base love to
talk with him.  Kay is coming into her own and talking so much.  She tries to boss all
the other kids around sometimes and the funny part is that sometimes they all listen to
her!  All the people here at YWAM love our kids.  God really uses them, probably more
than us, to bless people here.  It is really a blessing to watch.

Well, it’s 10:35pm and I’m at the base and need to get home.  Oh, I just love you guys. 
It is such a comfort to have your support through your love and prayers.  Please pray for
internet & phone at home and for continued adjustment into homeschooling.  I work two
afternoons in the accounts office and one morning is spent on base for worship, staff
meeting and then staff internship.  Jeremy is working full time in the community life
(Comm Life) office.  He helps oversee keys, security, and facility management.  The first
two weeks beginning July 11, we were both here at the center until lunch.  I did my two
half days and the other three days I went home.  Jeremy was in Comm Life all five days
after lunch.  He was only on his second week of working half days when the head of the
department left on outreach to Papua New Guinea and Jeremy was in charge!  He really did
such a great job managing it all.

OK, yes I have to go.  I love you.  I miss you all just too much (heaps, we say here). 
Thank you again for your support.  There are so many young people here struggling to
raise financial support as well as have their family’s positive support and blessing.  By
releasing us to be here, both by your financial support and your blessing, you really
enable us to be free to focus on what God has here for us.  You guys are truly amazing. 
Please write when you have time (email or snail mail).

Love yous (another Aussie expression),
Cam & Fam