Where in the world is Abby Walker going?

Well folks...the word is officially in!


Last night, our Pacific DTS group received the official announcement of where we will be going for our short and long outreaches. Are you ready?! Here we go...


For our first outreach, taking place in 5 weeks, our group will be going up into the indigenous communities in the Mount Isa region, which is a town here in Australia. Some of our leaders have begun to build relationships with people in this community, and we will be continuing to build that. 

Our long outreach will be taking place in... (DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!)


NEW ZEALAND!!!
 Yea!!!! So...We will flying into Auckland, New Zealand, and then driving south to do outreach to a town called Wanganui (Won-gah-noo-ee). This town has a large community of islanders, those being from the Fijian (Fee-Jee-an) and Maori (Mow-ree) communities.


The most exciting part about this outreach is that 4 of the people in our group are either from NZ, or have already begun to build relationships and even have family in these island communities. Selena, a staff leader, is from New Zealand and a part of the Maori tribe. Eunice has some family in NZ. Andrew, a fellow student, is also from New Zealand, and has family and connections back home. Mena, one of our other staff leaders, is Fijian, and has also built some solid relationships with the people in these communities.


One thing that I'm learning about the island cultures is that family is of highest importance and value to them. "Wha nau" (Faw-no) is the Maori word for "family", and since we have people in our school that are part of the families we will be reaching out to, we will automatically be welcomed into their families. To hear the hearts of our staff and how long they have been praying for direction about outreach, it's nothing short of exciting and overwhelming, as this is also a pioneer DTS (The first outreach and DTS with this focus.) 

I find it soooo incredibly hard to put into words how my heart has just been overflowing with joy and peace that I have in being here right now, and in all that God is doing in my life, plus being a part of all he desires to see changed in this world. Even though there is so much joy and peace, my heart feels so burdened for the needs of the islanders, as I learn more about the brokenness and attack of their cultures that has taken place over the years. There is so much restoration that God wants to see in their lives and in their nations. From what the leaders have shared, it's my understanding that there is deep sadness, loss of hope, and even a level of shame for the culture that they are a part of. 


It is our hope, as a school, that we can be catalysts of change for them. That they can see that not only islanders have come together to come share about the hope of Jesus, but that also there are people from Australia, the USA, and Korea, that came all of this way, just so we can speak of God's love for them and that God has amazing purposes for them. I have no doubt in my mind that God has each student and staff in this school for a reason. I'm so grateful that God is allowing us to partner with him in helping bring about tangible change in the world. 


There is so much more that I want to share, but again, like I said, it's so hard to put into words how my heart is overjoyed but also burdened for seeing change. 


For all of you back home in the US, I'm thinking of you and praying for you. Please remember us in prayer as we prepare for the mission that God has before us. 


I still have quite a need for financial support, so I ask you to consider how you might be able to partner with me in this journey. To make a donation, you can do so by clicking on this link:
Donate Online

Enamorado, 
Abbs



 

Only took 6 years...

Well, I'm here. I'm officially on base at YWAM's Reef to Outback for Discipleship Training School in Townsville, Australia. It's SO SURREAL.


I am finally meeting people here that I have been Facebook friends with for several years. I feel like I need to pinch each person, including myself, to be sure that this is really happening! I'm jet lagged a bit, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.  

Here are some highlights of what I have been up to upon my arrival...


On Saturday, we had dinner and joined in with a program that YWAM runs on Saturdays, called Youth Street. It was a blast! Met a lot of teens (which we call "crew"), and had fun getting to know them, fellow DTS Students, and Staffers here. The youth had a program including a vocal performance, games, relationship talk, and a closing band that performed a Mumford and Sons song. People were singing dancing and having a blast!
Here's a picture...

On Sunday, there is a church that rents out the YWAM property to hold their services. I joined in on their worship service, followed by our official welcome cookout that afternoon. The food here has been delicious! We had kebabs (chicken, and kangaroo). The kangaroo kebabs were tasty! I think it tasted like beef. For dessert, we had Tim Tam Slams. 

So what is a Tim Tam Slam, you might ask? 

A Tim Tam is basically a chocolate cookie covered in more chocolate. (Cookies are called biscuits here.) So you bite a corner off of the top and bottom of a Tim Tam, place it in your mouth, then dip it into hot chocolate. The goal is to suck the hot chocolate into the biscuit until it's about ready to melt apart, then you quickly tip it back into your mouth and eat the whole biscuit. It's delicious (like everything else I've had so far.)

Here's a pic...

The ladies in our Pacific DTS decided to also wear their Lava lavas (skirts) to our first cookout. We also got beautiful necklaces and wore those too. 

Left to Right: Ana, Grace, Hajeong, Myself, and Eunice

Altogether there are 9 students and 4 staff in my DTS, representing Korea, New Zealand, America, Figi, Australia, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, so we are a really diverse group. But it's been really neat in these first few days to hear more about the work we will be doing on our outreach. For years, our leaders have had a passion for the islands and helping the islanders find restoration and redemption in their cultures, and to once again walk freely in the culture that God has given them. There is a lot of turmoil and pain from what some of these nations and people groups have gone through. It's been so touching to hear what my friends' people have gone through, and we all have an overwhelming sense that God will be using our group in very specific ways for outreach. Please keep us in prayer as we seek out how to go about that in the future, as this is actually a Pioneer DTS for this specific focus. 

Our school really feels like family already, and we have been told that as a group, we have a lot of joy to offer and share. If you know me, you know I laugh a lot and I laugh loudly...WELL...so do the rest of my DTS. haha! It's quite fun to just enjoy each other's company and to just be silly together. 

Worship here has been so inspiring, because everyone just does whatever they feel led to do. There is an openness and freedom and I get chills, cry, and laugh with joy all at some point during each worship session.

I just have this overwhelming peace that I am finally here (6 years later), and God has never been more on time than ever. I'm reminded that sometimes God changes things because he has his best for us. As I see things unfold here at Reef to Outback, I continue to find so many small and large ways that God is showing me that this time and place was in his plans all along. 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus!

I have a lot more to share, but the rest will have to wait for a later time. 

Thanks so much for all of the prayers and encouragement. It has meant so much to me. If you can pray for my finances, or feel led to give, I still have quite a large amount of fundraising to do. I believe and trust that God will be faithful throughout this entire experience.

G'day!

Infinitely Flexible

Those two words keep ringing through my thoughts on a daily basis..."Infinitely flexible"...


A few years ago, I remember our team leader imparting those wise words onto our team. "With missions, we always have to be infinitely flexible."
A few weeks ago, I shared this very phrase with my youth group students, as we began to prepare for our week long trip to serve at Kickapoo Friends Center in Oklahoma.


Now I find myself practicing what I preach. At the exact amount of 40 days away from leaving for my DTS with YWAM, I received an email from the base in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, letting me know that they are not able to make this July school a bi-lingual program.


Long story short, after much prayer and seeking to really hear God's voice, I had a calm assurance that God was telling me that it is still the time to go...it's just going to be somewhere else!


In the last two weeks, I have been officially accepted into the YWAM Reef to Outback Pacific DTS program in Townsville, Australia (The original location I wanted to go to six years ago!), got my student visa, booked my flight, re-routed my DR flight over to a flight from Oklahoma to LA, and LA to Indy, and have paid the course deposit for the school. 


Side Note: This is Mission Roo! My mom sent this to me about 5 1/2 years ago, when I was going to leave school to start missions. After some prayer, God made it clear that he wanted me to finish up college first. Mission Roo was sent to me as an encouragement during the times that I wanted to be exploring missions. Mom said, "Hold onto this when you are ready to go, and know that God will send you when it's time. Someday, it will happen..." 

I now officially have 3 days until I leave my family and friends in Indiana, and then will officially leave on July 14th from Oklahoma. 
Reality is setting in, and I am still in shock that I am going to Australia!!! 
It's such an amazing thing to trust in Jesus, and the more I allow myself to lean on him, the more I find him catching me in his arms. This song pretty much covers how I have been feeling and what I have been learning...Sweep Me Away: Kari Jobe 


So yes, the last few weeks have been a huge whirlwind and I find myself exhausted and frazzled one minute, and overjoyed and giddy the next minute. Through the ups and downs, the many changes in this course, all I can say is that I have learned so much. Funny thing is...I haven't even left the country yet! 


If this is just the beginning, then I can only imagine what God has in store...


Check out this song...May we all trust and follow our creator...I Will Follow- Chris Tomlin


Enamorado, 
Abby