Goodbye

It's time for me to leave now. Before I leave I want to declare God's goodness no matter what happens on outreach. He is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. So, Sri Lanka and Jakarta here I come!

I'll be having a friend update this blog since I won't be able to check it due to security reasons. If you have comments, questions, or encouragement feel free to email me. Please make sure to use 'code' when you email me substituting words like prayer, christians, and muslims with talking to dad, brothers, and people who aren't in our family. I'm sure all of you can think of better ideas so be creative! Some people decided to use star wars terms, maybe I'll try that out. :)

I'll miss all of you so much. I can't to go out to the nations, but I also can't wait to come home and see all of you again. I'll do my best to keep everyone posted. God bless you all!

Much love,
Andrew

Outreach is near!

The lecture phase is coming to an end and outreach is drawing near! We're leaving on Dec. 26th for Sri Lanka and then we'll head to Indonesia on Feb. 14th (estimate). I think we're planning to be back on Mar. 14th, spend a week in Perth and then head back home.

We received a contact in Sri Lanka and now have a tentative schedule! We'll be working with an orphanage, providing relief to where the tsunami hit 3 years ago, and working in a nursery home. I'm really excited to go to the coast where the tsunami and spread the love of God there. All the details are pretty slim as of now and I'll let you all know more when I find out. As far as Indonesia goes we'll be in the city of Jakarta but we're still working out what we'll be doing and what contact we'll be working with. I've heard that for Jakarta we have to be careful with any media so I won't be able to check the blog during that time. I'll find the most convenient way to update everyone and let you know later.

Anyways, this is going to be a quick update. This week our topic is Lordship and it has been awesome. Our speaker is Dave Gustafson from LA! he is the director at YWAM LA. Great man of God, hilarious speaker. One of my favorite things he's said was "God I'm bored, blow my mind!" I've been learning a lot about giving things. Imagine making a very, very tight fist as if it's something you're holding onto in life wheter it be your dreams, goals, desires, whatever. Once you try letting go you realize that it hurts because you've been making a fist for so long! But only until you open up your hand can God put His gifts in your life. Once that happens we tend to hold onto that again and God has to teach us to let go all over again. We not only have to trust God with everything but have a heart after His own so our desires are in line with His!

Some prayer requests:

• Healing for Emily and Petra. Emily has a inner ear imbalance problem which has made her miss a lot of class for 2 months now. Petra is our team leader who is still recovering from Dengue fever when she was in Jakarta during her last outreach.
• Health and safety for our entire team. We need God's protection beginning now from physical and spiritual attacks. Sri Lanka is still in a cival war and we also need to be careful in Jakarta. Spiritual warfare has been a big lesson to us. When we're doing big things for God the enemy is going to try to attack so we have been constantly wearing our battle armour.
• In Sri Lanka we're getting visas upon arrival so be praying on the day we arrive (the 27th) that everyone is able to get into the country without any problems.
• Last but definitely not least, that God will TAKE THESE NATIONS! God has given all of us a heart for these countries and we are desperately pressing in to see God work. We want these nations to be woken up and revived for the glory and kingdom of God, woohoooo!

Time has flown by so fast. I hope God has been growing in all of you more than He has been in me. And if not, I encourage all of you to earnestly seek Him with all your heart! He will meet you and He will "blow your mind!" That's a promise.

Blessings,
Andrew

Movember!

I have to start off by apologizing for not updating so long. Much has been happening here at YWAM Perth and things have been getting busier and busier as out outreach phase is almost here. First off with some outreach updates!

Our outreach fees have gone up, up, up! The original estimate was $4000 and now it is at $5200! Our staff has told us that it is the most expensive time to fly and airfare has gone up a lot. Thankfully to all of you who have supported me I have just enough now for all of my expenses (and a little extra which I've given to other students in need). The amount for the other two teams have gone up as well and it was really a test of our faith to trust that God would provide. Last week we still needed around 90k to cover our outreach expenses. Thankfully our God is faithful and he has provided all of that and MORE. We're now 3k over our need and waiting to see how God calls us to use the money. Praise God for his faithfulness and his ultimate provision! We we're doing what we could to bring in funds and God was faithful to bring in the rest. Every weekend we were washing cars for 5 hours praying that people would be gracious in their donations. One of the days we received 400 dollars from only 5 cars, needless to say we came across some generous people. We also went on a 16km (10 mi) walk last week to raise support. It was a long walk, but we saw a lot of money come in and it was great times all around. We were praying for God to release the money every morning and sure enough He did, on the day everything was due. There were so many stories of how other students got support it was amazing.

One day during lecture we were told to ask God if there was anything we felt we should give to one another. Things we valued the most or just something we knew someone else wanted to support and encourage each other. One student felt God was telling her to promise a large amount of money to someone else even though she didn't even have it. Sure enough the next day she received two emails of promised support that was over the amount she needed. We're not just talking about hundreds of dollars here, we're talking thousands. God is good.

To leave you off with a picture, I must explain this one first. Here at YWAM Perth November is also known as Movember, where a select group of guys grow mustaches for absolutely no reason other than to look awesome. So I had to represent the Asian brothers since the rest of us don't grow much facial hair and I've been blessed with that talent. So here's a picture after a month of not shaving, thank goodness it's over!

This one made it to the front page of www.ywamperth.org!

and now a close-up for your viewing pleasure :)

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Please be praying for our outreach team. If you have been keeping up with the news you'd know that safety is a large concern. We trust that everything is in God's hands but need to keep fighting for health and safety. One of the girls on our team has had an inner ear imbalance condition for weeks now. Her name is Emily, please be praying for her. Also for all the people in Sri Lanka and Indonesia that God would soften their hearts because we want to see salvations! Nothing would bring us more joy than to see more people fall in love with Jesus.

Miss you all dearly. Sorry if I haven't got back to some emails, things have been so busy here as the outreach date gets closer. We leave early in the morning on Dec. 27. I'll work on returning all your emails and letting you know more about what's going on with me. Bless all of you!

With His Love,
Andrew

it's official!

I'm going to Sri Lanka and Indonesia!

outreach destinations!

So we we're finally given our outreach options! The locations are decided but the prices and type of work aren't for certain yet. The numbers in parenthesis are the danger warnings for each country. It's a scale from 1-5, 5 being the most dangerous. There are three different teams to choose from, here's the breakdown:

1. Sri Lanka (4) - 6 weeks
Jakarta, Indonesia (4) - 5 weeks
$4000 AUS

In Sri Lanka we'll most likely be working with the Assemblies of God church movement doing evangelistic work. Right now there are many evangelistic movements going on and many orphans as well. The dominant religions are hindu and buddhist. Currently the country is in a civil war so there is potential danger.

Jakarta has very open doors right now and an established ywam base. Ywam Perth has targeted Jakarta for an entire year now and has sent many teams already. The main focus is to work with churches to promote evangelism. There are also many slums there that we'd be working with. There is antagonism towards westerners and christians (and chinese!) from the high percentage of muslims.

2. Cambodia (2) - 5 weeks
New Zealand (1) - 6 weeks
$4500 AUS

This team will spend a week in Australia working with youth groups to prepare them for a 2 week mission trip to Cambodia. Afterwards they will take them with to Cambodia to lead their missions trip. Then the team will spend another 2 weeks serving there on our own. There is a ywam base already established and they'll be working with them.

After Cambodia they'll travel to the New Zealand which used to be one of the biggest missionary sending countries. They'll travel across the country promoting missions and encouraging youth to take up missions.

3. Ethiopia (4) - 6-7 weeks
Australia (1) - 5-6 weeks
$5000 AUS

In Ethiopia there will be lots of public proclamation and evangelistic campaigns. Possibly offering some relief to the people starving there. There are many Islamic extremists and the border reigions are extremely volatile (but the team won't be going there). There is an established ywam base as well.

Afterwards the team will head to northwestern Australia. The direction isn't very clear yet but it seems like the natives will be a target.

I'll need to make a decision by Thursday morning, which is Wednesday night for everyone back home. Please be praying for me! I'll be spending time asking God where He wants me to go and hopefully make the right decision. We've been waiting for this moment as a school for a while now and it's definitely an exciting time. We've been learning a lot on how much God loves the nations and now we finally get to set our hearts on nations once the rosters have been set. So please pray for me to hear clearly from God and soon! I'll let you all know once I find out where I'm going!

Bless you heaps,
Andrew

worship and intercession

It has been an exciting week of teaching. I'm just going to start it off with some cool things we've been taught this week.

• We want to hear from God because we want a relationship with Him!
• It should be normal to hear God speak.
• God's ability to speak to us is far greater than our ability to hear from Him.
• Every time we try to hear the voice of God it is a step of faith.
• Spiritual battle is real and we all have our own part to play!
• We have authority through Jesus while we are acting according to His will.
• We are living sacrifices, even if you're tired worship God with all you got!
• If you're distracted by other people during worship, stand in the front.
• Give your best years to God.
  

So those are just some great points that we went over during class. One thing I'd like to mention is hearing God's voice. In learning to hear God's voice we start off as infants and it's really hard for us to discern His voice. It's like when a stranger calls you on the phone, you can't tell who it is by their voice but as a friendship develops you start to recognize that person's voice. It works that way with hearing God's voice as well. That's why it can be so difficult to start recognizing His voice from the very beginning. We've been taught that God wants to speak to us and that it should be normal so we should be expectant to hear from Him. The application of this is that anytime we have any sort of inkling no matter how small we should go for it in faith (and humility) that it might be from God (assuming it follows His word of course). If we keep doing this we'll be able to strengthen our 'faith' muscles and learn to discern His voice. How exciting is that? God speaks to us concerning the big things and the little things in our lives. The speaker this week used a lot of stories and anecdotes to really get his points across. One of the examples he used was from the movie Wall-E. He compared the people to our ability to hear from God saying that it's normal for us to walk but since the muscles of the humans were so weak they could barely stand anymore. Makes sense to me. I'm going to work on those faith muscles and not be afraid to be a fool for God!

So last weekend we went camping! I volunteered for the camping committee and it was more work than I thought! Camping in Australia is much different than camping at Cabrillo Beach. The biggest different was bringing and cooking food for 50 people each meal. It was good fun though spending time out in the woods. We spent some time canoeing, cooking and cleaning, toasting marshmallows, playing some group games including capture the flag in the dark which was quite intense! The only part I didn't enjoy was the enormous amount of flies! I must have ate a couple that weekend that got mixed up into the food. We labeled the really big ones 'Goliath' and they actually pack a punch when they bite! Overall it was a good time to bond and spend some time outdoors. I'll put up some pictures at another time.

As usual, praying for all of you at home. Especially the youth group! I always think of the Philippians 1:3-5 whenever I think about you guys. Keep pressing on and deepening your relationship with him because He is so worthy of everything. Don't waste this precious time you have and set your eyes on Him! Love you guys so much. That goes for everyone, I miss all of you!

Blessings,
Andrew

repentance & forgiveness

Hi everyone, I've missed all of you! Before I start getting into the second update, I want to encourage all of you in deepening your relationships with God. He is so amazingly worthy of all of our praise! Please feel free to continue emailing me prayer requests so I can be praying for all of you.

This week we have been covering repentance and forgiveness. I’d just like to highlight a few points that stuck out to me during our lectures.

• Jesus’ main purpose on Earth was to get us to repent from our sins.
• It is a privilege to repent from our sins!
• Be thorough in repenting of your sins .
  
• We become a victim of someone we haven't forgiven.

This past Friday our application on repentance and forgiveness was to confess and repent from our sins and to give forgiveness to anyone we held something against. The difficult part was that we did it one at a time before God and the rest of the class. We got started in the morning and broke into two groups in the afternoon to speed things up because it took around 15 hours for a class of 43 people. The air in the classroom was so heavy. So many sins were confessed that day from the darkest corners of our hearts. Someone was living in fear for 20 years because of something they were holding onto. Bonds from sin were broken and people were released to start walking in holiness. It was an amazing time. Never once did we judge someone, we always shared in their pain and lifted them up no matter the sin. After half the day my heart really just wanted to stop hearing all the sin that people have gone through. Seeing all the hurt and pain really gave me a new hate for sin. But of course we pressed on and it was an amazing time of newfound freedom and cleanliness.

Not everyone was feeling that way afterward. Many of us who are clean and walking in righteousness now still don't feel that way. There can be so much sin from the past and habits still rooted in us that we don't feel forgiven. At this time I think that spiritual warfare becomes very real. Now that we are empty of our sins Satan is very eager to fill us again with evil. Our struggle is to pursue God and fill ourselves with His word before anything.

For me personally I've been feeling hopeless and discouraged. I know that I am forgiven of my sins but there are so many things that I need to change and I'm not sure how to do it. I want to walk in holiness because I am so convicted of the sin in my life but I'm fearful of failing again. I guess that part is the 'asian' built in me. I know God will continue to forgive me but I want to mature and run as far away from sin as I can.

Last weekend we went to a river/beach to go sandboarding! We had to walk a mile or two to get to the slopes but it was heaps of fun. Since every post needs some pictures, here they are!

A view of where the river meets the beach

Another one of the river/beach just for fun

Me lost in the desert somewhere along the 1 hour hike!

The sand dune that leads into the river

And me going down!

As for an update on the last prayer requests, almost all of them have improved thank God! The messages/lectures have still been difficult to focus and stay awake, but now I've been gradually doing better and better. We're encouraged to stand up if we get tired and I'm usually the first one to stand up. No shame! I'm getting more and more used to the schedule but I'm still working out times during the day when I can sneak in some journaling or reading. The situation with my roommate has improved! He was having a hard time here but lately he's really coming around and opening up to people. Some students are still sick but at least it's different students, the other ones are all better now! Praise God for all the things we have been praying about! He really is that good to us, even in the little things. I feel so supported knowing that I have all of you praying for me.

Here are some more prayer items so that everyone can continue praying for me (I'm not bashful about asking for prayer!):

• For peace in my heart to know that I am forgiven and righteous.
• Wisdom on how to battle pride. God is convicting me of some serious pride, but I'm really struggling with this because pride is so deceitful and has many different faces.
• Pray against evil attacks! There are a few students here who are really struggling and barely hanging on each day. There are so many mixed emotions and confusion that is either from Satan or could really be used by Satan. There are also a few girls who have been sick for a few days now.
  
• That my ears and heart will be open to hearing God's voice. I desperately want to hear from Him!

Thanks again everyone so much. God really is working in everyone's lives here. Sometimes it's frustrating because I feel that others are getting more blessed than I am or that they hear the voice of God and I don't, but even if I come home the same I will continue to praise Him for He is worthy. Some days are really hard, but thank you for all your continued support and encouragement, I eat that stuff up! I'm eagerly awaiting my package! Sometimes during the day while I'm doing something I wish that you all could be here with me. Miss you all heaps upon heaps (Aussie's like the word heaps for some reason). Don't forget to let me know of any prayer requests you might have, I'd love to be praying for all of you.

Fight on CCCSB! Be Bold and live for our King in everything you do because he is worthy.

Blessings,
Andrew

the beginning

G'day from down under mates! Here is a picture of our base from the street! Sorry it took me so long to contact all of you, but I've arrived safely in Perth and classes are underway! First off, a big thank you to everyone who has been supporting me and praying for me. I wouldn't have been able to follow God's call for me if it wasn't for all of you! So thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I've been praying for all of you that God has been blessing you in partnering with me.

There have been so much happening since I came here. My schedule is packed full with morning exercises, lectures, cleaning duties, worship times, work duties, evangelism, and more lectures! Having such a busy schedule and waking up at 5:30am everyday for morning exercises is really tiring me out. I've been doing my best to get to bed early but with all of the reading and homework that is assigned its a battle against time everyday.

The city (from what I've seen so far) is beautiful and in some ways reminds me of home. I live in a room with 10 other guys and the space is pretty tight. It's been a struggle not to have any personal space like I'm used to but I'm beginning to find God in all places and at all times during the day. Another thing to mention is that the food here is scarce! I'm usually not one to complain about food seeing how I'd forget to eat meals often back at home, but it is a little challenge here. We always eat as a family with around 200-300 people and I usually end up sitting around a table with 6-8 hungry guys scrambling for food. There are 5 bakeries that donate bread to us every morning, so needless to say I eat bread everyday for breakfast. Not only do I eat bread for breakfast, but I also eat bread in between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, and after dinner! Now I know it sounds sad that I eat half a loaf of bread a day, but it's really alright. His word is my daily bread that that will continue to sustain me. I've heard that compared to most YWAM bases we should count our blessings so I'm grateful for the food that I have.

The people I've met here come from all around the world. It is quite the diverse environment here. There are people from Canada, Holland, Indonesia, Wales, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, England, Switzerland, China, S. Korea, France, and still many more. I've already begun to befriend people from all around the world and it has been exciting. At first it was very difficult for me since I have been so sheltered living in California all my life. I had to really learn about a whole different side of the map!

So that's roughly how things are around the base. Here are some pictures to show you what I see everyday here in Perth.

dining area

auditorium (right next to the dining room)

laundry room

the bread!

the student lounge

the room I'm staying in! The top left bunk is mine. Living with 11 guys and no fresh air can get pretty foul so I bought an air freshener :)

This is a view of downtown Perth. We used to have to walk into the city to buy things quite often until we got our train cards. What a blessing those were!

This is just another shot of the city. Our base is located in an industrial zone so it looks quite different around our base.

On a more personal note, things have been difficult and challenging here. Meeting so many different people and not having any other asian americans has really stretched me and forced me to reach out of my comfort zone. The first week was difficult to adjust to everything and I missed home more than I ever have. For a few days I lost focus why I was here and let my heart open to attacks from the satan. I had a lot of thoughts put in my head and I really wanted to come home. Thankfully I continued to pray and find my strength in God which reminded me of the calling I have to be here. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me as well.

Since then things have been getting more comfortable and I'm more focused on seeking God and hearing His voice. The best part is how amazing it is to be surrounded by christians who are putting their trust in God and literally living out their faith. I've met so many people here who are completely surrendered to God, confident in hearing His voice and obediently listening to him. Hearing people's testimonies and watching them live out their lives now reminds me that my fear of complete surrender is unfounded. It really comes down to my trust in God that He has plans to give me hope and a future. To fully trust Him is to surrender to Him and that's when your relationship can really deepen with Him.

I havn't suddenly turned into a super christian of any sort, but I have been earnestly seeking out God. If anything, I'm starting to see more and more of my weaknesses and especially the pride that I've carried for so long. So I just want to encourage everyone who reads this to seek the Lord with all your heart. Our God is a loving God who wants to speak to us and have an intimate relationship with us. He said that when we seek Him with all our heart we will find Him. So keep praying and waiting on the Lord for Him to speak in your lives!

prayer items:

• I'm having a difficult time focusing during our message/lectures. Please pray that I will stay attentive and receptive, expecting to have new revelations about God's word during the lectures.
• Strength to get me through the day. The schedule is very grueling.
• My relationship with another roommate. We have a difficult time communicating which leads to much misunderstanding. Pray for patience for both of us.
• Spiritual warfare is becoming more real to me. There has been frustration with certain things and many, many, many people getting sick. Pray for God's protection and that the devil get behind us!

I miss everyone at home so much. I've been praying for many of you and for God to work at CCCSB. Stay strong and press on, God has so much in store for us if we stay surrendered and obedient.

Your brother down under,
Andrew

my mailing address is:
Andrew Liu
PO Box 8501
Perth Business Centre, WA 6849