The beginning...

Hi Everyone!
Thanks for checking in with me on my Australia Adventure! I'm currently in Townsville, Australia with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). I am attending a DTS (Discipleship Training School) and specifically my DTS is involved with the MV Pacific Link, a medical ship that is sailing to Papua New Guinea (PNG) at the end of May. We will be there for 3 months both in the local villages as well on the ship setting up medical clinics. We will also be involved with optometry and opthamology (eye surgery). I'm really excited about this amazing opportunity.

On the "Ship DTS" we have 20 students represented from 8 different countries including: Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Scotland, Germany, Faroe Islands, and the United States.  Everyone has been really friendly and incredibly welcoming. I know I'm going to be making some life-long friends.

This is my first experience blogging, so you'll have to bear with me as I figure this out :) A big hello to all my family and friends! Miss you all!
Unfortunately, I'm a little behind in posting as this is the start of the 3rd week here. Time is flying by so quickly, but we also have a very busy schedule. We have class lectures every morning from 8-12:30 (with breaks) then lunch, a bit of free time, and work assignments in the afternoon. I'm assigned to dinner prep which is awesome! Some fortunate others are cleaning the base :) I'm with 2 other nurses so we are covered in case of injuries. Oh, that's something else I should mention: We have 5 nurses (3 from Canada, 1 from Switzerland and me) and 1 doctor from New Zealand on our team. So far the first aid kit I packed and the medical experience has been utilized as our team has encountered colds, cuts, blisters and sunburns. But everyone (the guys especially) appreciate having medical personnel on the team to be well-taken care of :) Below is a photos of the Ship DTS welcome breakfast in which we didn't intend to, but wore purple; the one below is some of our team on work assignments.

We're currently in "winter" which is crazy to me since I am still sweating in shorts and t-shirts, but the students from the January school says that December and January were unbearably humid and this is perfect. I will agree with them as far as humidity- I feel sticky all the time. But thankfully we have showers (2 for 15 girls) but I'm grateful.

I'll have to elaborate more later, but the spiritual environment here is all about YWAM's mandate, "to know God and make Him known." All of us felt called to be here in this school, at this time, in this part of the world. It's been an incredible experience to worship with people of a different country , different tongue, and different culture: yet we all come together in the name of Jesus. There's nothing quite like it.