Rolling Stone

It was a bit of a drive to Rolling Stone, about forty-five minutes north of Townsville on the highway toward Cairns. We left with partly cloudy skies and a hot sun making us sweat in the high temperature. The further north we traveled, from suburbia to bush and agricultural fields, the cooler and more cloudy it became. By the time we pulled off to our swim spot the rain had begun to gently fall and we were ready to exit the van and test the cool water. "Youth Street Teams" takes place during the day on Saturdays and is a great time for the kids to focus on an activity that they really love and to build relationships with their peers and with the adult staff. Our particular team is called, "1: 21 Skate" after Paul's great statement in Philippians 1: 21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Most Saturdays we gather and skate at a local park for a few hours before coming back to the YWAM base where we continue to hangout and skate on the base ramps, but this time we were in for a treat, a swim at a local creek. Not all that different from the Calawah River in Summer time back in Forks. Beautifully scenic, slow moving fresh water with slippery mossy river rock covering the round river rock bottom. Immediately upon arrival the kids jumped in and began playfully romping about like a bunch of young platypuses. Though the river was quite low it was clearly evident by the large exposed sand banks and debri strewn around that the water level rises quickly and often, I'm sure the next time we visit we'll be able to dive in headfirst without any fear of injury. After the kids played a while, we headed back up to the OKA, our 4X4 monster truck (see photos) and got lunch cooking on the barbie. The traditional meal of Australia is a sausage or "snag" as they call them, cooked up on the barbie and placed on a piece of regular white bread covered in roasted onions and tomato sauce (a sort of ketchup) or BBQ sauce. We have had this meal countless times since we've been here. At first I "relished" it and gorged myself on them. But after about the fortieth one I got a little sick of them and had to take a break. Now, I've begun to eat them again but with more caution and self control. With full bellies and a few handfuls of chocolates, we were off to the next swimming experience, the bridge! A short distance up river, there was a tall highway bridge with another smaller and shorter one-lane bridge next to it. This was all new to me but the kids new the drill, by the time I reached them, they were all launching themselves off the bridge and into the water about a 12-15' drop. It was neat to see Ryan without hesitation jump into the water. I guess all those trips to the Rogue River in Oregon have enboldened him to jump off anything...that and the fact that all his friends were doing it too. We spent another hour there at the bridge pushing each other into all kinds of daring and rediculous jumps. Thankfully, the Youth Street staff had arranged for a qualified lifeguard to be there but more importantly that God had His angelic lifesavers present as well. God has blessed me greatly in developing relationships with these kids and its through these kinds of activities that bonds are developed, it really reminds me of doing youth ministry back in San Diego at Calvary Chapel Point Loma. Much prayer goes into these Saturday activities and it really pays off when wonderful breakthrough conversations occur. I was told later that night during the Youth Street Live time (the time when the kids eat dinner together and enjoy live bands and ministry related speakers) that one of the kids from another team struck up a conversation with his leader which developed into the young man giving his heart to the Lord! How awesome to be used by God and see troubled kids find value and purpose in life. so many of these kids are at risk, coming from broken homes, abusive relationships, and heavy peer pressure to give in to destructive choices. It is a huge privelege to be part of the solution rather than sitting on the on the side longing to be in the mix.