Mid-Experience update

        Hello all! I’m doing great out here in Australia. Missin’ the family and my friends! Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but as soon as it all started it just hasn’t stopped. The program is so much fun and I’m learning a lot and gaining a lot of experience. I think God is doing a lot within me though… It’s a good feeling to be used by him to make a difference in these kids lives. It’s a challenge to get through to these kids though because of the language barrier, but the girls seem to want to be really close to me and I’ve attempted to refrain from getting close with them but I’m starting to give in because they seem to want that love and I’m kind of their mom figure for this whole month and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think I will struggle riding that line of instructor and friend. They seem to respect me a lot though. We just got through with expedition 2 a couple of days ago. In the beginning when they arrived at camp we did activities to try and cement the group before we did any really major things out of their comfort zone. We played lots of games and taught them a lot of basic skills for expedition one which was a one night camping experience. We also taught them how to ride bikes better. I spent most of that time teaching some girls how to ride a bike because they didn’t know how! That was pretty awesome I thought J. Then we went out on exp. 1 and then went out for an activity day (Rock Climbing!!!) it was so much fun teaching these guys how to climb and watching their fears become reality and facing those fears and overcoming them. I had a couple days off and then went into exp. 2 which was a 4 day 3 night backpacking and canoeing trip. I got the chance to teach a lot more and just get to know the kids more. After exp. 2 they did a debate on to dam or not to dam a river in the local area. So it’s been really chill around here the last few days and on the 26^th I got the chance to hang out with Brock all day for the first time since the program began. It’s been so hard being away from him and him away from me. It’s going to be so much worse when he goes home and I stay here another month… L. Anyways so the kids did that debate and the 28^th We took our group Abseiling (Rappelling) for another activity day. And today I’m on my day off and I have tomorrow off as well and this is the first time I’ve gotten to just chill out and not be traveling to places to hang out. I really just want to go climb and talk to my family. We start expedition 3 really soon after I start work again which is a 5 day 4 night mountain bike, canoe, and backpacking trip. The kids are really excited about the trip but also really nervous about getting lost because this expedition we hand over everything to them and they lead us and make all the decisions its all up to them this time. I could go into why this is such a big deal but it’s a long story but its mainly to do with their culture and how failing is highly looked down upon and they have a lot of pressure to perform and succeed and if they don’t succeed they get really upset. anyways so in a way we want them to fail to bring out some emotion of stress to push them to grow and become stronger people. Wow… I’ve written a novel this time. So much to say and don’t know how to fit it all into a one page blog, unfortunately. I’m having an amazing time though and Brock and I are planning to return at the end of January because our bosses like us and think we add a lot to the program and they’ve practically offered Brock a full time position, but we’ll see what happens when he graduates. I’m planning to return because I love what they’re doing over here! Ok well I love you all so much and I hope that gives you a pretty good glimpse into my life at the moment. Just keep praying for us over here and that we continue to glorify Him in all we do. Cheers Mates! Xoxo!

-Amelia-

Settled In

      I am finally at my home for the next four weeks! I’m about a .5 mile from the town of Kenilworth and can get free internet!!! Surprisingly, there is no free wifi anywhere! It gets expensive. The camp (Kenilworth Homestead) is incredibly beautiful, it’s a big homestead from the 1800’s with just lots of pastures with rolling hills and the boundary is carved by the merry river. Our bosses house was the original house and it’s amazing and massive! There are about 28 horses, there used to be cows but they were becoming more of a hazard than useful, there are 2 goats, 1 sheep, 1 alpaca, 2 chickens, and one massive python named Monty. Our rooms are amazing with great mattresses and really hot showers! I feel right at home going running every day by the river where you might get lucky and see a platypus and spend the evening as the sun is going down doing some yoga. People would be crazy if they didn’t like this place! The kids arrive on Thursday the 14^th and my co-instructor is Dylan from Canada he’s really nice and our personalities are very similar so we’ll be able to work well together with the kids and get them excited about playing in the bush. So the kids that will be coming are from Hong Kong and some have never seen the stars so this could possibly be really out of their comfort zone. It’s a great opportunity to really show these kids different way of life than the lives their culture forces them to live. Dylan and I are really excited to push these kids in ways they’ve never experienced. Brock’s group arrived today at Tuchekoi where I was living the past 2 weeks I’m anxious to hear how everything went for him. I already miss him so much and it’s only been one day haha... He’s doing great over here and has been having lots of fun. We’ve all been kinda ready to just start working instead of dinking around with whatever, so I’m a bit jealous of him. I’m trying to think of what else you all would want to know but I can’t think of anything at the moment. I guess since the last time I wrote nothing major has happened but just more training stuff last week we went on an overnight recky (recreation) 6.5 miles canoeing then camped then 10 miles hiking the next day. We saw Guana’s which are similar to a gilla monster just not poisonous. And we saw some Kangaroo’s! The next day we worked around camp to get things ready for the programs. The next 2 days after that we had formal training and one of those evenings I went running and saw a wallaby right on campus! It was awesome!!! They are really cool animals and Kangaroo’s are so lazy and don’t care about anything really, they are nocturnal animals so they sleep most of the day, you can walk right up to them just like the picture of Brock. Well I guess that’s about it for now kids. I’ll probably write again next week sometime updating you about how the kids are and such. 

Since last time.

So since last time I wrote I have been climbing, rappeling (absailing), hiking, and canoeing. I've seen a wild pig that was probably 200+ pounds and wild dogs and lots of birds. We're on our days off and we got to finally make phone calls home! yesterday we went to the beach all day and the guys played in the freezing water while I laid out in the cold haha.... today we're goin to the beach again then hiking through Noosa Nat'l park and cooking out while watching the sun set over the water. Tomorrow we head back to work to go hike another route we'll be taking the kids on the Noosa river. It will be an overnight canoe and hike... what a horrible office right? I'm getting paid for this!!!! anyways so i guess thats the update. But I heard some news about Amy Milam's dad (Bill)... He's been in the hospital so be praying he gets a out soon. keep praying thanks so much gotta go! :) bye!