North Queensland Outreach

The destruction became increasingly worse as we drove north up the Bruce Highway toward Mossman. As we drove through historic Ingham the signs of the devastating category 5 cyclone “Yasi” were apparent, flatten banana plantations, sheds that had been ripped apart and strewn all over the place, roofs of houses and siding torn off, and trees in all sorts of condition, many blown over, some standing or leaning as if they had withstood a prolonged artillery borage. What was most noticeable was the overall lack of leaves on any of the trees and bushes. The highway through the small waterfront town of Cardwell was limited to one lane with sand covering the other and workers busily moving about clearing and repairing in the stifling heat. Having spent the first week of our Aussie Outreach in Townsville cleaning hundreds rural and residential yards, we could relate to their sunburn, exhaustion, and unquenchable thirst. Our next stop after Cardwell was Tully, strategically located with acceptable public bathrooms, good coffee it was also ground zero for the cyclone. After a quick pit-stop, we made a tour of the town taking in the dire situation of most of the residents. The houses and businesses were in varying degrees of ruin not one was immune. Along the edge of the streets were stacked tons and tons of building debris and residents’ belongings. Apparently, most of the town had been evacuated just before the storm thus, upon their return they were greeted to all their belongings soaked with water beyond saving. Our hearts longed to stay and help out as we had in Townsville but we already had firm appointments in Mossman and Cairns that couldn’t be broken.

It’s a solid five hour plus drive from Townsville to Cairns through amazing land sometimes resembling Hawaii and other times the rolling hills and farmland of central Oregon. Once we reached the city of Cairns and made our way north our views drastically changed as the highway paralleled the shoreline of the Pacific for about 20 miles. This part of the drive was breathtaking and Cameron and I began immediately to brainstorm how we might be able to come back as a family and enjoy this near paradise. Once the road parted from the waterfront and the views went back to cane fields, we made a short supply stop at a Port Douglas grocery store and then quickly drove the rest of the way to our host church, Mossman Assembly of God. This is a large building with an expansive open-air sanctuary filled with cushioned pews and a small tidy kitchen adjoining. Next to the kitchen is a covered patio for dining and general fellowship and men’s and women’s bathrooms with showers and even a washing machine! By moving the pews around and dividing the guys from the girls and our family, we were able to make this facility really comfortable for us, especially in comparison to our experiences in PNG.

Throughout the next couple of days the team visited a number of different local primary schools and Mossman’s state high school. The programs were adapted to the schools’ normal “Religious Education” period and our hosts were very accommodating and the students gracious and predominantly eager to meet us and learn about God and the various ministries of YWAM Townsville. In the primary schools our programs generally consisted of an introduction of the team, at least one testimony of a team member of how God had worked in their lives, a fun game like “banana, hunter, gorilla” (a variation of rock, paper, scissors), a humorous skit depicting a Bible story like David and Goliath or one teaching a good lesson like the importance of teamwork and God’s value of every individual. Toward the end would be a question and answer period followed by a conclusion and farewell. In the high schools the program changed to include a video about YWAM’s involvement in Papua New Guinea and the skits were replaced by more serious dramas about the dangerous temptations that young adults face everyday. We visited a couple of church youth groups and took part in two Sunday morning church services. We also had the opportunity to drive up to the Table Lands above Mossman to the farming town of Atherton where we visited three schools. This was a two hour drive of breathtakingly wonderful landscapes and cute but rugged towns. It’s apparent that this is amazingly rich soil for farming and the Aussies have taken full advantage of its bountiful blessings as we drove by farm after farm on our journey. Thankfully, there were a number of roadside produce stands with various kinds of tropical fruit offered including pineapple, mangoes, papaya, bananas, avocados, sugarcane, corn, and much more that we stocked up on and enjoyed throughout our stay.

On a day off, we drove back into the precipitous hills west of the church, past an aboriginal settlement, along a narrow road into the tropical forest to Mossman Gorge. It was a short drive to the car park where we gathered our family and swim gear and walked a quarter mile along a metal suspended pathway to the swimming hole. This was certainly one of the most beautiful places on our travels in Australia so far. Resembling the Sol Duc River near Forks it is created by the drainage of the constant deluge of water that rains down on the thick green rainforest blanketing the mountains on either side of the steep valley. The water was clear and cool though not cold, and full of small fish that resembled striped perch. I’m told the river is prone to dangerous flash floods from the thunderstorms prevalent this time of year, but this afternoon the waters were gently swift though it would have been nice to have a life-vest just to be safe.

Two real highlights for me were celebrating Cameron and my fifteenth wedding anniversary by leaving the kids with our teammates while we had afternoon tea with a very interesting and spiritually mature couple who live out in the bush above Mossman and then feasting on a very tasty dinner later in the evening in town. Second, was being asked to visit Julatten, a small village just twenty minutes up a windy road reaching the steep hills above Mossman. Being very rural and isolated many of the locals go to church down in Mossman, Port Douglas, or even all the way back to Cairns. But, an elderly family felt a calling to plant a church in the small community to meet the spiritual need and from that were born a couple weekly men’s and women’s fellowships. Julatten Family Church invited me and another student to attend the men’s group on a Friday night and then our family and some other students to visit their Sunday service as well. On Friday night we enjoyed a massive BBQ feast and great conversation with the guys, I also brought my guitar and some song sheets and led out in worship and then gave a short devotional Bible teaching. On Sunday our Family and two female DTS students piled in the van to attend the quaint service held in an out building in the middle of a field surrounded by lush vegetation and majestic tropical mountains veiled by rain clouds that loudly dropped their liquid contents on our non-insulated tin roof throughout the service. If it wasn’t deafeningly raining then the sun was out and cooked us like we’re in an oven. The students and Cameron were able to share a brief testimony of how God helped them through fearful times and then I followed up with a message on Psalm 56 in which David expresses his reliance on God through his dreadful times in the wilderness being hotly pursued by the belligerent King Saul. The small family church of about twenty five or so were very blessed by our visit and our lunch and fellowship time was rich. Preaching in that setting really reminded me of our early years in Washington planting Calvary Chapel Forks and I earnestly felt a fire in my heart to persist in our calling to bring the word of God to Australians. The congregation blessed us greatly and sent us off with a strong sense of appreciation and acceptance. The joy that is found in fellowship among the family of God (Rom. 8: 14-17) throughout the world never ceases to amaze me, we were truly blessed and it was an honor to serve.

We left Sunday afternoon for our next destination, the touristy city of Cairns. We were hosted by the very generous and hospitable congregation of the Cairns Baptist Church. Arriving just in time to attend their evening service, we were honored to share our PNG recap video and a couple of students’ testimonies. Right away we felt at home and embraced by the congregation and leadership which really made our stay comfortable for the final days of our outreach. We had two school programs to attend during our stay. The first up was a large Lutheran K-12 school in an newly built gigantic auditorium which was filled three times nearly to capacity with groups of children, probably close to five hundred in all. Since each group contained different ages and grades of students, we had to change things up to make the presentation relevant. For the younger audiences we shared a similar program as we with the primary schools in Mossman and Atherton and likewise with the older students, we matured the program to communicate more effectively. It was during the presentation to the older students that one of our guys gave his testimony of how he had been challenged in his faith while in PNG when asked to pray for an afflicted elderly man on a house visit. This was particularly difficult for this DTS student since his mom had passed away of cancer five years previous even though his family had earnestly prayed for her healing. Nonetheless, he felt compelled to go and found the man sitting on a mat under a tree in his yard. The man’s body was obviously stiff; his joints and muscles in great pain from years of being jolted while he worked as a heavy machinery operator. When he heard that Jordan and his team wanted to pray for him, he slowly rose to his feet and with great difficulty and effort made his way to his hut and allowed them to pray for him in a more dignified environment. The team laid their hands on him and Jordan began to pray for his healing. Once he had said, “Amen” one of the team members mentioned feeling something in the man’s back snap into place and directly afterward the man’s countenance drastically changed. He rose to his feet with a smile on his face and began to dance and move freely. He had been healed and was now able to visit family and friends having been physically unable for years. Jordan and the team were ecstatic as you can imagine and found the man the next day in the same rejuvenated condition and getting ready to leave to see family. This story touched many in the audience but none more than a young PNG girl who came up with her friends afterward to meet us and share a special truth that took our breath away…she was from Gabagaba, the same village that we visited and the man that was healed was her grandfather! Our joy was immeasurable and we all marveled at the wisdom and power of God who connected all of these people and events together for His purpose and His glory, what a privilege to be apart of it all. The second school that we visited was a Catholic K-12 that was located just a few miles south of Cairns. This time the team spoke before the grade 10 class and shared in much the same manner as in previous high schools. I don’t have a lot to chronicle in this instance since I spent much of the presentation in the van racing back to the Baptist church to retrieve a box full of pamphlets and buttons to hand out to the students at the end of the program, I made it just in time. I will say though, that in each of the programs, Cameron and our kids integrated right into the mix. Ryan would often take part in the skits or give his testimony. Aubry would help with the games. Sean and Kay mostly mingled with the school children and helped to hand out YWAM paraphernalia and Cameron would do a little of everything. I tried to free her up as much as I could to take more of an active role in the Aussie outreach since I got to experience PNG. It was fabulous outreach; difficult at times, but worth every minute and every sacrifice. Our trip came to an end quickly and we were glad to be back in Townsville and in familiar surroundings.

The DTS is now over with the students graduated and mostly all back home. In some ways it’s hard to believe that it’s over so soon (it’s amazing that it’s been nearly six months already since we started the school!) but in other ways we were ready for it to be completed so that we can move on to the next step in God’s plan…That’s another exciting and developing story that will be posted in about a week, so stay tuned.