Week 1 at Perth!

This has been a very interesting, exciting, and long week. It isn't even over yet, but I wanted to give an update to my time here so far. I was one of the last few to arrive for our class of 18 students. We got to the base just in time for dinner. I got to know one of my school leaders, Bek, during this time. She is a lot of fun and reminds me of my cousin Christy. After dinner we went to one of our staff's house to have some tea and snacks. I learned what a Tim Tam Slam was. I haven't tried it yet, but I do plan on it soon. Tim Tam's for those of you who do not know are cookies covered in chocolate. A Tim Tam Slam is where you bite two corners from opposite side off then you stick it in your tea or coffee and slurp the tea through the passage way then eat it without using your hands! It is very messy. Got to go to my house, which we call 228, and got settled in. I am sitting on the top bunk. It is a pain to get up and down the stairs, but it is nice to be up where the heat migrates too. I never thought that Australia could get this cold, but I was wrong. I wish I had more winter clothes with me. The clothes I brought were for comfort and not style. It still was not enough for the cold.

We had "Rego" day (in Australia this means Registration Day)! This is where I learned that my finances were not what I thought they were to be. I forgot to convert the amount into Australian dollars. So I am now short just $500. Then at the same time I found that I have to have most of my outreach fees upfront. So, I am now needing to raise $4500 before October. I know God is great and that he has called me here. Therefore he will provide for me some way. So, if you are reading this and God is moving in your heart to help me please contact me and I can give you some information on how you can send your support in. I can always use your prayers that God will provide for me as well. We have a few fundraisers here at the base that I will be able to take part in to help raise some funds too.

During this week we learned about God's character and nature. Our speaker's name is Josh Seykora who leads a bible school. What I got out of it was that God still speaks today. He also is a Sovereign God and is in control. He also has emotions and he grieves for us. His nature is constant, strong, all-knowing, immutable, infinite in presence, and he is a PERSONAL God. He is our uncreated creator. God is even with us in the darkest part of times. God is always faithful and righteous. Since God is love, he can choose who the authority he has goes too. During this time we seeked God for a word of faith that he has for us. When I was praying I felt that God was giving me the word COURAGE. To know that God is with me no matter what is going on around me. We also did a brief outline in chronological order of the Bible. It was very interesting to see how Josh Seykora spoke of the timeline. It definitely shows me how much God really does love us and how you can see his big picture coming to play. At the very end of our week we took some time and spent some time to figure out what our covenant to God is for who he is. The covenant that I got was this: My covenant to the character of God is I will stay strong and faithful to God and never let my worrying get in the way of who God is. For God is my rock and my foundation. He will always provide for me because he is faithful. God is love and he is Sovereign and never wants bad things to happen to me. He will never forsake me or leave me. God gave me the verses from Psalm 18: 30-36; 46-49. It spoke to me so much.

This Saturday our class went to do a breakfast in the park called Cardboard hill. It is called cardboard hill because you can take some cardboards and slide down the hill. It was a lot of fun and a great way to get to know one another more. Here are some pictures from the day:

Thank you for following me today. I will be posting more about week two next week. Again, if you would like to be apart of my support team, please email me at daniellmansfield@gmail.com

Thanks and God Bless!!!