Evangelism- Byron Bay

This week was crazy/amazing/draining. We left Sunday morning for Byron Bay. When we finally got there after the 4 hour ride we arrived in a pretty heavily hippie influenced town. The people here were very laid back and chill. Once we got there we met up with the YWAM Byron Bay base leaders ones name was Ian who is originally from Florida and he was going to be in charge of our evangelism for the week. The other was Kevin who was the base founder and would be teaching our lectures during the day. The church we were having lectures at during the day was an Assembly of God near the beech and the guys would be sleeping there during the nights and the girls in local houses.

The first night we all went to the Sunday night church service at the church and afterward went to the grocery to get some food, then came back and went to sleep.

Monday was our first full day in Byron Bay. We began the day with lectures from Kevin, the topic was obviously evangelism. Kevin is one of the most amazing men i had ever been around, he's one of those people who you can just see the face of Christ in. During the lectures he would tell us ways to reach the people of Byron and he instilled in us a heart for the people there. Once lectures were over we had lunch then we walked down and got our first glimpse of the beautiful beach of Byron. This place was beautiful, Ben Harper and Jack Johnson both apparently have houses here and have been known to give random unscheduled concerts around the town, but we weren't lucky enough to see any of them. Anyway we sat on the beach for a bit then came back for dinner then Ian came in and then a group from the mission organization called the World Racers(a group of 30 Americans who are going to 11 nations in 11 months preaching the gospel) joined us, and Ian began to tell us about how we were about to go into the streets of Byron with cardboard signs with some sort of words on them that would somehow spark a conversation with people so that we could tell them about Christ. We were all a bit intimidated, but after some worship and encouragement we hit the streets. My friend Cheets and I took my guitar and his drum because we wanted to simply encourage people with music that would bless people. Once we played for a good while we packed up and started to walk off. Once we did i bumped into a guy named Andrew and began to just talk and make sure he knew i wasn't a bible beater and let him know why i was here and what i was doing. He was very interested and i feel our talk really showed him what Christ was really about and how much Christ truly loved him. After that i saw a group of Aboriginal people in an argument (aboriginals in Australia are very oppressed people, very similar to Native Americans they turn to alcohol most of the time to rid the hurt and pain they have experienced all there life) and i felt like i was to go over there. When I did I met yet another man named Andrew, this Andrew was an aboriginal who has lived in Byron all his life and the Argument was because he wanted to go and beat up a white man who had called Andrews girlfriend a racist name. Through their drunken rage i feel God really gave them a sense of peace when we prayed over them. After this emotionally draining night we went back and feel asleep, but not until i had an egg cheese and ketchup sandwich which i have become very god at making.

Tuesday began bright and early with a a cup or two of coffee and lectures beginning at 8. We talked all about evangelism again and began to hit on the 7 spheres of Evangelism: 1. Home- Family, 2. Church- Religion, 3. School- Education, 4. Media- Communication, 5. Celebration- Arts and Entertainment, 6. Economy- Business, and 7. Government- Judicial. Once lectures ended headed inland about 2 hours to a town called Nimbin, Nimbin is the Amsterdam of Australia with hippies all over and any kind of drug you can think of. We went and felt the best way to bless these people would be by having a barbecue because they would all more then likely want some munchies after there visit to the cannabis cafe.

we were right about the cookout, they came in large numbers. We had live music in the central park and hot dogs and chips for free. The people here were very chill and open to here about what we had to say, we had many many good conversations here. When the sun began to drop we headed back to Byron for a group meeting. Our meeting was called because our leader Mallory felt like our group needed a time to just let God move. People then began to say things of how they think God wants to move and then one girl stood up and felt like we were to pray over another girl in our group who has scoliosis. We all surrounded her and prayed as hard as we could for healing because we knew the pain she had been going through on the trip and we all wanted her healed. Once e finished praying Bryan, one of our leaders, felt like she was to sit in a chair with her legs lifted up so we could see the difference in the size of her legs. When she did we could all see where her scoliosis had caused one of her legs to be an inch and a half shorter then the other. Bryan said lets pray again. And unbelievably her leg began to grow once we started praying and grew to be even with the other. We were all amazed at the healing that just occurred. We didn't know what to do other then praise God for what he had done. Others came up that night and other healings occurred and the Holy Spirit was so strong that you couldn't deny it.

The next day we began with more cups of coffee and a spirit of excitement for what had happened the night before. During lectures we had some great conversations about what to say when people ask certain questions about the gospel. Questions ranged from creationism to eternity. We all learned so much form these conversations. After this me and a couple guys went to the Byron lighthouse which is the most eastern point in all of Australia. This lighthouse was up on a mountain overlooking all of the coast and was amazing. After this and a beech chill session we went back to the church for church then Ian came in and got us ready for yet another night of evangelism. This night we were going to go into the central park of Byron and set up live music to draw people in and have free pizza and good conversation on the side. I played a set of songs then went to the sides and met two guys from Sydney who were in Byron on a summer trip with some friends, we then began to talk about faith for 3 hours. At the start of the conversation their hearts were very hard towards Christ and his teachings. They had grown up in a catholic school and felt like faith was forced down their throats and felt like they had come to the conclusion that there is nothing out there as far as a God. By the end of the conversation the guys hearts were so broken before the lord and the spirit had touched them so deeply. Once I showed them how real and down to earth God really is it really began to speak to them. I then prayed for them and they went on their way. I am still praying for them to this moment and I'm certain God is going to use them to further his kingdom. When we got back to the church we had some people in our group who had come in contact with some spiritual warfare and needed prayers for protection and we really felt an attack from the enemy and needed to get rid of that spirit in our group. We ended up staying up till 3:30 am praying and encouraging each other. God moved in amazing ways that night.

Thursday marked our last day in Byron. We had our last bit of lectures. Once lectures ended, we went down to the beach to host a beach volleyball tournament. We went around the beach and had locals, tourist, and anyone else come join. It was teams of four and got pretty intense, but it was a blast and a great way to bless the community. Once the tournament ended we had another cookout on the beach and invited anyone on the beach to come. We had yet another chance to speak of how amazing God to these amazing people. After the cookout we went back and all passed out due to exhaustion.

Friday we woke up, packed up and headed out. Byron Bay was an amazing week and i grew in my faith so much. We finally arrived back home to the Sunny Coast and now we are chilling out and recharging for a week of lectures focusing on "The Fear of God".

God is moving here and stirring and growing in me as well as everyone in our group. Continue the prayers because they are working. Thank you so much for the intercession!