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