Red Frogs!

This is our whole DTS. My amazing new family!

Red Frogs! Me, Hannah, Marissa, Kayla

Red Frogs!

   
     Hello from Australia everyone! I want to give you an update on what I spent the last week doing. In Australia when the kids in grade 12 finish their exams they go out and party as hard as they can for about two weeks to relieve all the stress from the exams they just finished. I guess you could compare it to spring break in Miami or Daytona Beach. Byron Bay, where I am living, is a very popular location for schoolies to come because it is a very nice place to vacation. They said that they expected to have anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 schoolies. As YWAM we were a part of a ministry by the name of "Red Frogs." As Red Frogs we would go into town at night, all wearing the same tee-shirt, and would just walk around offering our help to the schoolies. We would walk them home at the end of the night whether it be because they were to drunk to walk themselves or because it was a girl walking alone and it wasn't safe for her to walk home alone. If someone was throwing up we would also just stay with them and get them up to our first-aid tent or walk them to the hospital, depending on their condition. The schoolies all know who the Red Frogs are, they know that we can help them and so many of the kids would come running up to us frantically and say can you please come help my friend, she can't get up and can barley even speak. We would asses the situation and see whether it was better to just let them sit for a bit, take them to the first aid station, call the ambulance, or walk them to the hospital. I think they find comfort in knowing that we can probably help them and they associate us with being safe. We would walk the streets from 7:30pm to sometimes 2:30am. Even though my feet heart and I barley had any energy I really loved these kids! God's heart hurts for them and he really loves them so regardless of how I felt I wanted to show them God's love for them! I remember one of my last nights there was a 19 year old guy who was just vomiting profusely and I went and stood behind him and held his head up for him and rubbed his back and wrapped him in a warming blanket. My heart flat out broke for him. I wanted to hug him and make it all better for him. I know that I want to spend my life loving and serving other people when they are in need and hurting because I am never happier than when I am loving and caring for people the way Christ did!! That would be the most fulfilling and amazing life ever!!! It was hard for me to watch them have a fun night but at the same time that fun be so temporary. I wished I could just share with them how they can have that same fun and fulfillment through God but it is only a thousand times better because it is not temporary it is everlasting!! But in their current state all I could really do was love on them selflessly and so that is what I did. I would go home after a long night and pray that God would show up in their lives and show them the love that he has for them and that no matter what they have done in their past and no matter where they are at in life God wants a relationship with them, HE LOVES THEM! I can't make them believe that, I can't open their hearts and eyes for them, only God can do that and only they can allow him to open their hearts. God is a gentleman and he would never force his love on them, God gives us the free-will to choose the amazing life full of love, happiness, and fulfillment he has to offer us! In the morning we saw the result of that temporary fun and this was our chance to show the schoolies even more of Christ's endless love that has no bounds! The schoolies could call a hotline number that  "Red Frogs" has and ask us to come to their accommodation in the morning and make pancakes and clean up their living space for them. So we would knock on their door and do just that and simply hang out with them and have a great time. One house we went to was GINORMOUS and it was a group of six guys. They were so kind and it was so much fun to hang out for them. They had a pool in their back yard and they invited us to go swimming but we had to turn the offer down reluctantly :(( One other time we made pancakes, our first appointment, was for a group of 12 guys... they were very polite and very easy to get along with. All the guys were much cleaner than the girls surprisingly. The pancake appointments are so cool because you hang out with these people and then you sometimes get to see them around town that night and you kind of build relationships with them. I miss hanging out with the schoolies and I will continue to pray for them. I hope they all do really well on their exams and know that they are loved by God!
     I hope that you all are staying very warm! It was 90 degrees the other day but it has been averaging about 82 degrees here the past couple of weeks. It is so sad not having snow or cold weather for Christmas. It is so hard to get in the holiday spirit without picking out a christmas tree with my family and decorating it, that is quite an event in my family hahaha!!! How many ornaments a piece this time boys ;)) love you mom! I will be heading off to the Great Barrier Reef for Christmas holiday to do some snorkeling, hike through the rainforest and of course to lay on the beaches. Thank you God for your amazing and beautiful creation! I will tell you more about that and how it is going when I am there and I will be sure to show you some pictures!! I love you all so much and please feel free to ask any questions if you have any. Hugs from Australia!