"Home" all around the world

Hello from my warm bed in Choctaw, Oklahoma!

We finally made it back to the States! The plane landed in Dallas Monday at 1:00 p.m. and we were in OKC at 8:00 p.m. It is so incredibly great to be with family and friends again! Before I talk more about the last day or two of the trip and here are some last minute pictures I wanted to share.

On our last Sunday in Australia, we had a farewell lunch for the group after morning service.

This is Kirra and her mom, Cheryl, who I stayed with the first weeks in Campbelltown.

This is Emily and I with Dinora. I moved in to Dinora's house 

when I left Kirra's the start of our last week in Australia.

Me and Tiff with our matching UGG boots we bought in the 

city the night before!! This woman is the sweetest!

Sunday afternoon from 2-3 we all just hung out. Katy's on the 

far left, then Madison, Salomon, Emily, and Chloe.

Me, Katy, and Beka, a HIM worker returning home to Oklahoma soon.

Kyle, me, and Chloe at the going away party.

Joe and Tiffany were SUCH a blessing to us and continue to be a blessing at Southwest 

Church of Christ. They have about 14 months left until their time is up for the HIM program unless they decide to stay longer. We are sad such a wonderful family is all the way 

in Australia and not here, but they are doing an excellent job!

Jonno and Kim. Jonno is the youth minister at Southwest. Anytime we needed a place 

to hang out or go talk with the whole group, their house was ALWAYS open. We were 

all grateful for opening their home to us the past two weeks.

The only picture we have of Breakfast Club. We can't take pictures of the kids 

unless we have permission from a parent, but this is the whole group that helped 

each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Breakfast Club was one of the best things 

about Australia and we will miss the kids so stinkin' much.

They all matched and DIDN'T plan it! :)

Joe at the Sydney airport with his grilled cheese sandwich and coffee. There is a joke 

about him always getting a grilled cheese, but it's for the campaigners ears only.

Another joke from the trip... :)

Jonno, Madison, Kyle, Nancy, Marcus, and Josh eating at the airport.

Katy and I thought this breakfast was a little TOO cheap... "ONLY $19.50"...what a rip.

Katy and Marcus on the plane.

Look who's behind us! Chloe, Madison, and Salomon on the plane.

Me, Kyle, and Emily about to leave Australia. :(

Tuesday was a great day. I was able to actually sleep in (I heard a few from the group woke up really early on Tuesday morning and couldn't go back to sleep). Then me and Chloe headed to Edmond. Guess where we ate??...

Chick-Fil-A!!!!!! (Root beer included since Australia doesn't have that either...)

We're excited about our lunch. Going without Chick-fil-A for over a 

month should be illegal. And guess who we saw??...

My old roommate Ashley!!!!! It was so good to see her even though she was working.

I also saw Krystin Lovejoy, a wonderful early childhood education friend, Lindsay and Austin Stephens, and Holly Anderson and Alana Giesemann at their apartments on campus, but I forgot to take pictures with them. Sorry guys!

Again, I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog the past month. I've had the best time writing and posting pictures to keep everyone informed. Being in Australia has been the best experience I have ever had and it will be hard to top it. I know that when I go to Australia again someday, I will have several places to call home. Many people we have meet in Macquarie and Campbelltown have offered multiple times that their home is my home when I return someday. It's weird to say that I actually LIVED in Australia for month. Many people can say they've visited someplace, but I can say I've LIVED in another continent and know that I have a home there. My heart is full of joy when I think about the people we've met in Australia and they will never be forgotten. They  were a blessing to me and the rest of the group. I continue to pray that the Lord blesses them and their efforts in spreading the good news in Australia. Please pray for Kent and Nancy as they travel back to Oklahoma in the next few days. Without them, none of us would have had the chance to go and we are, again, grateful for them and the work they did many years ago.

Sadly, this blog has come to a close. I appreciate the thoughts, prayers, and support over the past four weeks. God is good. I love all of you and CANNOT wait to see you if I haven't already. I encourage you to have "beautiful feet" for God like it states in Romans 10:15.

For the final time, goodnight. :)

Amy Michele

Something Changed

The day has come. Tomorrow we have to leave the coolest place on earth. The past month has been the most wonderful experience we could all imagine. So many activities, meeting new people, and learning about their stories. The group met earlier tonight to talk about the trip as a whole and we came up with some great things. I feel like each of us has grown in our own way and we will forever be changed by this trip. We have come to know each other in the group and have built relationships that will last a long time.


A song comes to mind that is in a really good movie, The Ultimate Gift. The song is called "Something Changed." I thought it fit well with how much we've grown as a group and individually. Here is the link to the song:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aZ6C1S8K-s

The activities that we have been doing for the past month, we have seen, have already prepared us for conversations and interaction between friends, family, neighbors, and people we don't even know about the most important thing. We are all better prepared to talk about the Lord to others and to spread the good news. Just being able to have the courage to talk to people about their faith is something that some of us, including me, didn't really have until this trip. It took flying half way around the world for me to figure this out and everyone in the group can't wait to go back and share their stories and what they learned in the past month. God has blessed us tremendously and we can't thank Him enough for the congregations here in Australia, Kent and Nancy for putting up with us, and the host families that we've stayed with. We have planted seeds and hopefully, they grow and further God's kingdom.

I am ready to bring my "beautiful feet" back to Oklahoma to share all about the trip and touch more lives. The group has touched many lives here in Campbelltown and Macquarie, but none of us thought that we would be touched by even more by the people here. God is good and we have so much to be thankful for. Em and I are headed to bed (it's 3 am here) so we can get some sleep for breakfast club in the morning. My next post will be from my house, where the sun is shining warm!! :) It's been wonderful writing this blog and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. Thanks for all your support and prayers! Love you all and we will see you very soon!! For the last time, goodnight from Australia.

Amy Michele

3 in 1

Hello from Australia!!

I just realized that I only have a few more opportunities to say hello from here...this makes me so sad. We still have one full day left here and I don't want to start getting all upset about it. I would have posted all of this last night but we got home really late from Sydney and I needed to upload a lot of pictures. I'm gonna talk about three things in this post, hense the "3 in 1" title. So here's what we've done the past few days...

Part One: 

Saturday morning we had a Super Saturday. It was so much fun! Here are a lot of pictures from the event.

Above: Chloe, Madison, Katy, Marcus, and Kyle teaching the kids a song.

Action shot of the "Hippo" song. Priceless.

Katy and some of the girls making cards. We decided to do this craft so the kids would have the opportunity to do something nice for someone else just like the Samaritan was nice in the story.

Instead of "pin the tail on the donkey" we played "put the band 

aid on the hurt man"...haha. It was wonderful and the kids loved it!

This is Ryan trying to put the band aid on the hurt man.

Salomon helping a girl with her card.

Some of the boys working on a memory verse game.

Lunch time! 

This girl was precious! So quiet, but incredibly sweet.

Some of the kids playing on the playground outside after lunch.

Part Two: 

GNO BNE!!! "Girls Night Out, Best Night Ever" was the saying for our Sydney outing and truly was a wonderful night. 

We went to Paddy's for a last minute shopping run, duh.

Emily, Chloe, Madison (Tiffany's cousin that just got here), Kim, Madison, and 

Tiffany waiting to cross the street, heading to dinner.

This was an artsy sculpture of the Opera House that lit up and changed colors.

Where we ate dinner. This place was so stinkin' good! We all loved it!

Here are some of the pizzas.

All the girls after dinner. :)

We had to get gelato on our last night in Sydney. It was delicious! There is 

nothing pretty about sticking out your tongue for a picture...

For just a few days in Sydney, they do a light show on the Opera 

House and we were able to see it. How cool is that?!?

Part Three: 

Over the past month, we have all come up with nicknames for everyone in the group and I thought it would be fun to share them with you guys. 

Salomon: The Funny Guy. He will deny it if you tell him he's funny, but he's kept us laughing all month long. He can also be serious, too. He made all of us cry at lunch today...just the beginning of a few tearful days coming up.

Madison: Sad Puppy. AKA "Mad Dog" on campus, we decided to change her nickname up a little bit. I'm so glad this girl came with us. I've loved getting to know her the past four weeks. She was such a blessing to our team.

Marcus: Mr. Giggles. This guy is one of the best guys I have ever met and he's constantly giggling. He's all the time laughing and making people feel good. It's been a privilege to get to know him.

Chloe: Seedless. The first Monday we were here, Chloe found out that there were seedless grapes when I guess she had never known about them before. We thought it was hilarious and have laughed about it ever since.

Katy: Ranger (NOT pronounced like Walker Texas Ranger) "Ranger" is what Australians call Redheads (they don't pronounce the "g"). Even though we have been in Gamma for two years, I really didn't know Katy until this past month. She is such a wonderful girl and I cannot wait to get to know her more this coming year.

 

Kyle: Mr. Aussie. If there is an Australian song written, Kyle knows it. If there is an Australian saying, Kyle says it. Kyle always tries to lighten the mood and makes everyone happier. It's been so good to get to know him better.

Emily: The "Go" girl. Anytime we needed to be someplace or had to be there on time, Emily was always ready to go and help everyone get there. I can't imagine not going half way around the world without my sister by my side. She's been a wonderful roommate the past month and we've grown even closer.

I've grown to love these people. They are like my family and it makes 

me sad to think that I won't see them everyday. They have been such a blessing to me 

over the past month and I couldn't have asked for a better group to be a 

part of. I love you guys more than you know!!

The plan is for Em and I to stay up as late as possible tonight so we can crash on the plane when we leave tomorrow. This isn't my last post. I will most likely post something within the next few hours. I tried to get this posted earlier today, but with the internet not being the greatest and so many things going on, I wasn't able to, so expect another post REALLY soon. Prayers are appreciated for our flight tomorrow. We are all gonna take drugs to help us sleep on the plane to make it go by faster. I hope everyone has a great Sunday worship back home. We had the best worship this morning. It couldn't have been better. The singing was wonderful, Kent had a great lesson, and the people were incredibly sweet, like always. I pray that God blesses the Southwest church for many years to come. I'll write again real soon!

Amy Michele

Joshua 1:9

I have to apologize for not posting for several days. Since I have been in a few places after leaving Kirra's house On Monday morning, my mind has not been here. I am also recovering from coughing, scratchy throat, aches and pains and so on since Tuesday. It's good to report that I am doing better! It sticks when you're sick on a campaign.  Anyway, that's not what's important! Here is what we've done the past few days! Enjoy! :)

The group played mini golf! There is a teenage boy in the church here, Tim, that loves playing miniature golf and he invited us.

Above: Katy is ready for a hole-in-one and Kyle is just being Kyle.

Madison is blurry, Salomon decided to look down, BUT Joe is showing his pearly whites! 

Me, Emily, Kyle, Chloe, Salomon, Jonno, and Marcus riding the bus to Canberra on Thursday.

This is where parliament meets. We got to sit on them arguing. 

We couldn't bring anything in with us, so no pictures.

The entrance hall. Pretty cool.

Me and Katy on the roof of the parliament building.

A view from the roof.

This is in a Veterans Memorial that we visited in Canberra.

Tonight we hosted a Mexican dinner for all our wonderful host families. The night was a blast.  

Tif and Katy cooking!

Chloe and Emily baking the famous Goff cherry cobbler! YUM!

Kyle, Chloe, Jonno, and Salomon most likely listening to Kent. HA! :)

Salomon, Katy, Marcus, and Chloe doing a great job serving dessert.

We have had a great time here in Campbelltown. We only have a few days left and we're gonna make the most of them! Since I was sick the past few days, I missed out on helping with the after school program on Wednesday and a good dinner that night, but it's alright. In the morning, we are having Super Saturday which is like mini VBS over the good Samaritan. We have planned some games, crafts, story time, skits, and more. I hope it is a success. I will leave you with this verse: 

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.  --  Joshua 1:9

It's on a bracelet that Vanessa gave Emily and I both before we left for Australia and wanted everyone to read some encouraging words.

Emily and I are headed to bed now. Goodnight for Campbelltown!

Amy Michele