Hi. Someone might read this, I guess. And it's nice to give some closure.
I got home yesterday and slept in this morning, and now I'm right as rain and ready to get back into the Australian ways again.
The last month has been life-changing, if you haven't got that impression from my blogs. I have photos and strories to tell, so if you'd like to hear give me a call some time.
L.A. and Fiji rocked! Who would've thought a 48 hour delay would've been so good! I made new friends and hung out in L.A. and swam in the hotel pool at 2am in fiji and got a taxi to give me and Evan from Utah a tour of the island before our flight took off. Fiji - vacation destination number one. Man that's a beautiful place. And my new best friend from north carolina has moved into her apartment at mac, so you mac folks have got to meet her when uni starts - she's swell!
I'll see you all soon I reckon, if I didn't see you last night at maccy's!
Love youse all, and thanks for your support and prayers.
Johnny in Australia.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Stuck in L.A.
Yes, you read it right. The flight from los angeles to nadi was cancelled because the engine was fried by a suicidal bird or two on its approach into LA. So I'm in the hotel Hacienda near LAX tonight and tomorrow, leaving on thursday to Nadi, then that night (Friday, I know, the dateline is confusing) I'm in a hotel in Nadi, then I'm in Sydney by around midday Saturday they think. Yeah. So If you don't here from me again then just hang out at the airport saturday about midday. Sorry its not more definate, but I don't know much.
But I made some friends at the airport, so we're spending tomorrow together. One is an aussie who went to shore who's name is Tim and he studies at Mac Uni! and the other is hannah and she is from north carolina studying, you guessed it, at macquarie this semester on exchange! Crazy stuff, huh! Funny how nothing goes quite to plan... But I'm fine, and the hotel is nice, except the internet is 25c/min!
Anyway, I've been awake for 22 hours now, so I'm going to go to bed now before my fun day in LA tomorrow. Sorry for the sad news that I don't get to see you for two more days.
See you soon, but not as soon as I thought!
Johnny.
But I made some friends at the airport, so we're spending tomorrow together. One is an aussie who went to shore who's name is Tim and he studies at Mac Uni! and the other is hannah and she is from north carolina studying, you guessed it, at macquarie this semester on exchange! Crazy stuff, huh! Funny how nothing goes quite to plan... But I'm fine, and the hotel is nice, except the internet is 25c/min!
Anyway, I've been awake for 22 hours now, so I'm going to go to bed now before my fun day in LA tomorrow. Sorry for the sad news that I don't get to see you for two more days.
See you soon, but not as soon as I thought!
Johnny.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Last Day
Hello to everyone who's still keeping up with the news from Ecuador. I imagine some have forgotten to check and are reading this in a weeks time. If that's you, I'M ALREADY HOME! If not, then I'll be home thursday.
I have had a wonderful time here in Ecuador, and I don't really know how to sum it all up. If we have coffee and I ramble and show you a couple of photos (I've only taken about 100, so don't freak out that you'll have to sit through thousands!) you'll get a better idea of my overall impressions.
The last couple of days have been great. I went to a little town about 2 hours north of Quito (in the northern hemisphere...) called Mindo, where we went and saw a waterfall and also went to a butterfly farm for lunch. It was so beautiful, in the highland rainforest. It rained a bit, and we got muddy, but it was great and I got good pictures.
Saturday night we celebrated Williams birthday, and Sunday lunch we celebrated Miguels. Williams was a few weeks ago while he was living in the bus shelter, and Miguel's is on wednesday. They were both great celebrations.
God has been teaching me to trust in Him and rest in Him this trip. I have been reminded of His strength in me, His goodness to me, and His sovereignty in all things. "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.
I will miss this house and this city. I've only been here a month, but it feels longer. I've learnt a lot and been through a lot, and I hope that I will not forget to quickly these things.
I'll see you all very soon now,
Love Johnny
I have had a wonderful time here in Ecuador, and I don't really know how to sum it all up. If we have coffee and I ramble and show you a couple of photos (I've only taken about 100, so don't freak out that you'll have to sit through thousands!) you'll get a better idea of my overall impressions.
The last couple of days have been great. I went to a little town about 2 hours north of Quito (in the northern hemisphere...) called Mindo, where we went and saw a waterfall and also went to a butterfly farm for lunch. It was so beautiful, in the highland rainforest. It rained a bit, and we got muddy, but it was great and I got good pictures.
Saturday night we celebrated Williams birthday, and Sunday lunch we celebrated Miguels. Williams was a few weeks ago while he was living in the bus shelter, and Miguel's is on wednesday. They were both great celebrations.
God has been teaching me to trust in Him and rest in Him this trip. I have been reminded of His strength in me, His goodness to me, and His sovereignty in all things. "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.
I will miss this house and this city. I've only been here a month, but it feels longer. I've learnt a lot and been through a lot, and I hope that I will not forget to quickly these things.
I'll see you all very soon now,
Love Johnny
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Sorry!
AH! It's been like a week since I blogged. Sorry to everyone who's been wondering what's happening to me.
The truth is there's not heaps to report on from the last week. It's been fairly uneventful in the sense that I've been doing the same things you already know I'm doing. But it's been anything but boring!
There are a couple of things to report on, now that a think about it. Yesterday, for instance, I lead the devotional in the evening by translator (Michael). It was on a passage that challenged me a week or so earlier, from Luke 6:46-49. The two builders, one who bases his life on the foundation of Jesus' words, and the other who doesn't, and has his house completely destroyed by the torrent. I challenged the boys to consider why they make the desisions they make in life - to listen to Jesus words in devotionals is one thing, but to build our life around them, living because of them, is quite different.
Today I went site-seeing during my freetime. The old part of town is very hilly. I'm not quite tired!
Sunday I went to a new church here called Montezion. It was great! I loved it there. It wasn't a very big church, but people were very welcoming and it felt like everyone was filled with love for each other as a family and love for God as their father. It was great. If only I could've understood the sermon. Oh, and they sang a hillsong song in spanish - it reminded me of Australia, and that even in such different culture on the other side of the world, people in the church here feel the same way about the same God, and sing the same praise to Him.
Daniel 7:13-14 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
I'm continually encouraged that God in Him wisdom has my path planned out before me. I want to faithfully follow Him wherever he leads me, until he leads me home to His new creation, where all people, nations and men of every language will worship him.
My God bless you all.
In Him,
Johnny
The truth is there's not heaps to report on from the last week. It's been fairly uneventful in the sense that I've been doing the same things you already know I'm doing. But it's been anything but boring!
There are a couple of things to report on, now that a think about it. Yesterday, for instance, I lead the devotional in the evening by translator (Michael). It was on a passage that challenged me a week or so earlier, from Luke 6:46-49. The two builders, one who bases his life on the foundation of Jesus' words, and the other who doesn't, and has his house completely destroyed by the torrent. I challenged the boys to consider why they make the desisions they make in life - to listen to Jesus words in devotionals is one thing, but to build our life around them, living because of them, is quite different.
Today I went site-seeing during my freetime. The old part of town is very hilly. I'm not quite tired!
Sunday I went to a new church here called Montezion. It was great! I loved it there. It wasn't a very big church, but people were very welcoming and it felt like everyone was filled with love for each other as a family and love for God as their father. It was great. If only I could've understood the sermon. Oh, and they sang a hillsong song in spanish - it reminded me of Australia, and that even in such different culture on the other side of the world, people in the church here feel the same way about the same God, and sing the same praise to Him.
Daniel 7:13-14 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
I'm continually encouraged that God in Him wisdom has my path planned out before me. I want to faithfully follow Him wherever he leads me, until he leads me home to His new creation, where all people, nations and men of every language will worship him.
My God bless you all.
In Him,
Johnny
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
update
Yep, I know, I keep getting behind on the blogging. It's been 5 days since I last posted! Sorry to all the regular checkers! Today's you're lucky day.
William has moved in, and settled in, and the house is feeling back to it's stable self. It was a little weird with a new family member for the first couple of days, I think weirder still for William, but he's back in. And I've been able to quickly connect with him. He's a real extrovert, and very funny when I understand his jokes!
Today I spent a lot of the morning with Alexis David. We played volleyball, and swapped juggling tricks. I also taught Andreas to play hearts, which was quite a challenge given the language barrier and the complicatedness of the game.
This week is the anual meeting for Youthworld, so I'm the only one here for most of the day while the others are at the meeting. I'm in charge in the morning and all alone once the boys are at school in the afternoons. This afternoon I spent reading the bible and praying and played the piano and sang to God. All that was for about 3 hours, and I feel very blessed by God through it. He's really brought me back on track, and I've been inspired to be just spending time with him
rather than trying on my own strength to do things for him, rather than living with him.
Please pray for my relationships with the boys, that have been getting better, that they would continue to be strengthened. Also pray for William in settling in, and for him and Alexis, who sometimes clash a little personality-wise.
And if you could rememeber Opcion de Vida in your prayers too, it's another ministry here in Quito for streetkids. They're open in the afternoons, and they have showers and food, a bible-talk, and a safe environment for the kids to hang out and play soccer or, for the little ones, build cubby houses. I visited there on Friday, and was really struck by how beautiful the children are and how sad it is that they live on the streets. Some of the kids in the house came here through that ministry. Angel David (who's one of the older boys) volunteers there with Miguel (one of the missionaries I live with here) and some other guys who I've become good friends with: please pray for Daniel, Fernando, Boris, Angel David and Miguel, and the other voluteers that they could provide for the street kids physically and spiritually in a way the glorifies God, and for the kids who live on the streets of Quito that they would be saved.
Love you all,
Johnny
William has moved in, and settled in, and the house is feeling back to it's stable self. It was a little weird with a new family member for the first couple of days, I think weirder still for William, but he's back in. And I've been able to quickly connect with him. He's a real extrovert, and very funny when I understand his jokes!
Today I spent a lot of the morning with Alexis David. We played volleyball, and swapped juggling tricks. I also taught Andreas to play hearts, which was quite a challenge given the language barrier and the complicatedness of the game.
This week is the anual meeting for Youthworld, so I'm the only one here for most of the day while the others are at the meeting. I'm in charge in the morning and all alone once the boys are at school in the afternoons. This afternoon I spent reading the bible and praying and played the piano and sang to God. All that was for about 3 hours, and I feel very blessed by God through it. He's really brought me back on track, and I've been inspired to be just spending time with him
rather than trying on my own strength to do things for him, rather than living with him.
Please pray for my relationships with the boys, that have been getting better, that they would continue to be strengthened. Also pray for William in settling in, and for him and Alexis, who sometimes clash a little personality-wise.
And if you could rememeber Opcion de Vida in your prayers too, it's another ministry here in Quito for streetkids. They're open in the afternoons, and they have showers and food, a bible-talk, and a safe environment for the kids to hang out and play soccer or, for the little ones, build cubby houses. I visited there on Friday, and was really struck by how beautiful the children are and how sad it is that they live on the streets. Some of the kids in the house came here through that ministry. Angel David (who's one of the older boys) volunteers there with Miguel (one of the missionaries I live with here) and some other guys who I've become good friends with: please pray for Daniel, Fernando, Boris, Angel David and Miguel, and the other voluteers that they could provide for the street kids physically and spiritually in a way the glorifies God, and for the kids who live on the streets of Quito that they would be saved.
Love you all,
Johnny
Thursday, January 25, 2007
La Dia Australia
Hey all
Yeah, so it's 8pm and thanks to Hannah (hey Hannie!) I'm reminded that today is Australia. Of course, in Australia it's no longer Australia day, so I feel kind of unaustralian to have missed it! Oh well, I'm not all that patriotic...
Just real quick news: One of the boys who ran away (7 months ago) is returning to the house in the next couple of days. His name is William, he's 12 years old, and he lives in a bus station and juggles for money on the street. Please pray for him that he'd be able to come back in smoothly and feel loved here, that he'd come back into fellowship with God and the rest of the boys and missionaries. He said yesterday when he was here that he hadn't prayed the whole time he's been away. He prayed repentently then and there, with tears. It was really moving. Praise God!
Ok, I'd better go. The dinners going to burn otherwise!
Love you all,
Johnny
Yeah, so it's 8pm and thanks to Hannah (hey Hannie!) I'm reminded that today is Australia. Of course, in Australia it's no longer Australia day, so I feel kind of unaustralian to have missed it! Oh well, I'm not all that patriotic...
Just real quick news: One of the boys who ran away (7 months ago) is returning to the house in the next couple of days. His name is William, he's 12 years old, and he lives in a bus station and juggles for money on the street. Please pray for him that he'd be able to come back in smoothly and feel loved here, that he'd come back into fellowship with God and the rest of the boys and missionaries. He said yesterday when he was here that he hadn't prayed the whole time he's been away. He prayed repentently then and there, with tears. It was really moving. Praise God!
Ok, I'd better go. The dinners going to burn otherwise!
Love you all,
Johnny
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
What's happenin' man?
Hey all!
I thought, since there were being questions asked (both in your comments and emails I'm recieving) about what life is like here, I would blog broadly on what this place is like and what's going on.
Quito, if you look it up in an atlas, is high in the andes mountains, nestled in a long but narrow valley. It's a crowded city, since it's hard to expand outwards. Incidentally, the airport is right in the middle of the city, so it's hard to expand upwards too with the building limits to stop airplanes hitting things (I know, scary place to land a plane, let me tell you!)
It's not an ultra-poor city like calcuta or something. There's a lot of people here that make single-figure US$ per day, most of the city in fact. But then you get enough to eat and drink for about $3 a day, so that gives you some idea of things. People are poor, but not many are starving. Having said that, on any main road you can't go more than 50m without someone asking you to buy something. I've been offered everything from tv remote controls to lollypops to Icecream to sunglasses. You can buy most things from the street! There's also jugglers and buskers at traffic lights, and windscreen washers, and ladies with boxes of fruit.
We've got supermarkets and an 8-screen cinema complex and an iceskating rink just 5mins away from the house here, even with macdonalds, so that gives you some idea of how normal it can sometimes seem. It's this kind of weird dicotomy of western culture meets thirdworld economy. Very strange!
The house is big, but there are only three boys here at the moment. Over the last six months, or maybe a bit more, seven boys have left the house for various reasons and gone back to live on the streets. This is pretty hard on the missionaries, but teenagers are like that I guess, especially ones with such a difficult background. I met one of them the other day - he's a windscreen washer and lives in a bus-station. He's not malnourished or anything, and he seemed happy enough, but his life holds few prospects. Please pray for him and the other boys who've left, that the gospel would not be something they forget, but that they would look to God in there hardships and remember his promises to be there father when they need support, friend when they're lonely, and the saviour of their souls when they fall into the temptations of life on the street.
That's enough to make you read for one day.
Thanks for your support,
Your brother Johnny
I thought, since there were being questions asked (both in your comments and emails I'm recieving) about what life is like here, I would blog broadly on what this place is like and what's going on.
Quito, if you look it up in an atlas, is high in the andes mountains, nestled in a long but narrow valley. It's a crowded city, since it's hard to expand outwards. Incidentally, the airport is right in the middle of the city, so it's hard to expand upwards too with the building limits to stop airplanes hitting things (I know, scary place to land a plane, let me tell you!)
It's not an ultra-poor city like calcuta or something. There's a lot of people here that make single-figure US$ per day, most of the city in fact. But then you get enough to eat and drink for about $3 a day, so that gives you some idea of things. People are poor, but not many are starving. Having said that, on any main road you can't go more than 50m without someone asking you to buy something. I've been offered everything from tv remote controls to lollypops to Icecream to sunglasses. You can buy most things from the street! There's also jugglers and buskers at traffic lights, and windscreen washers, and ladies with boxes of fruit.
We've got supermarkets and an 8-screen cinema complex and an iceskating rink just 5mins away from the house here, even with macdonalds, so that gives you some idea of how normal it can sometimes seem. It's this kind of weird dicotomy of western culture meets thirdworld economy. Very strange!
The house is big, but there are only three boys here at the moment. Over the last six months, or maybe a bit more, seven boys have left the house for various reasons and gone back to live on the streets. This is pretty hard on the missionaries, but teenagers are like that I guess, especially ones with such a difficult background. I met one of them the other day - he's a windscreen washer and lives in a bus-station. He's not malnourished or anything, and he seemed happy enough, but his life holds few prospects. Please pray for him and the other boys who've left, that the gospel would not be something they forget, but that they would look to God in there hardships and remember his promises to be there father when they need support, friend when they're lonely, and the saviour of their souls when they fall into the temptations of life on the street.
That's enough to make you read for one day.
Thanks for your support,
Your brother Johnny
Thursday, January 18, 2007
no nesisito espanol
Hola amigos
A quick update of what's going on, for the two people who read my blog (thanks for the comments bree and em! Other viewers, feel free to put in a little comment for me, it would make me smile, and it will only take you 30 seconds!)
I have begun a fun new ministry here in the last two days. Painting. That's right, I'm painting a wall. The resident missionaries here put the thinking caps on for what I can do while I'm here, and so my main ministries are painting, cooking and cleaning. Someone's gotta do it!
As for how life is here, it's often quiet, and I'm not really working that hard. The boys are at school weekdays, and so I have lots of time to hang around, reading books, painting the wall, stairing at the ceiling, etc. Ok, so that's a bit of an exaguration, I don't find that much time with nothing at all to do...
For those secretly wondering what possible use a 21 year old with very little experience or language skills could be in a place like this, let me just say this: I have, just in this last week, managed to encourage the resident missionaries, help cook, shop and clean, hang out watching futbol with the boys, go to church with the boys, swap english and spanish words (we're teaching each other our languages!), share my testimony with the entire staff of youth-world (the parent organisation of casa gabriel), and paint half a wall out the back of the house. Who knows what other wonderful things I can acheive in the next four weeks?!
I should also tell you all that there is an adorable little kitten (gatita) who lives here, and keeps me company while I blog to you all.
That's more than enough, thanks for taking the time to read such a long post!
Lots of love for you all back home
see you all soon,
Johnny
A quick update of what's going on, for the two people who read my blog (thanks for the comments bree and em! Other viewers, feel free to put in a little comment for me, it would make me smile, and it will only take you 30 seconds!)
I have begun a fun new ministry here in the last two days. Painting. That's right, I'm painting a wall. The resident missionaries here put the thinking caps on for what I can do while I'm here, and so my main ministries are painting, cooking and cleaning. Someone's gotta do it!
As for how life is here, it's often quiet, and I'm not really working that hard. The boys are at school weekdays, and so I have lots of time to hang around, reading books, painting the wall, stairing at the ceiling, etc. Ok, so that's a bit of an exaguration, I don't find that much time with nothing at all to do...
For those secretly wondering what possible use a 21 year old with very little experience or language skills could be in a place like this, let me just say this: I have, just in this last week, managed to encourage the resident missionaries, help cook, shop and clean, hang out watching futbol with the boys, go to church with the boys, swap english and spanish words (we're teaching each other our languages!), share my testimony with the entire staff of youth-world (the parent organisation of casa gabriel), and paint half a wall out the back of the house. Who knows what other wonderful things I can acheive in the next four weeks?!
I should also tell you all that there is an adorable little kitten (gatita) who lives here, and keeps me company while I blog to you all.
That's more than enough, thanks for taking the time to read such a long post!
Lots of love for you all back home
see you all soon,
Johnny
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Settling In
Hello all. I tried to post a picture this time. I tried and tried for about half an hour, but to no avail. You'll have to wait til I return home, I think.
Things are going well, my knee is holding up fine, my spanish is very very gradually improving, and I'm making friends with the boys here and with some of the local volunteers at the daytime youth shelter down the road. Life in ecuador is slow and steady, and I'm getting into the routine and the pace at which life is carried out. I think I'm going to get a shock when I return to the frenetic pace of Australia!
Please pray for language, more than anything else. That's my main challenge at the moment. And give thanks that even without much spanish I'm still relating well with people and having fun together!
Until next time,
hasta luego,
Johnny
Things are going well, my knee is holding up fine, my spanish is very very gradually improving, and I'm making friends with the boys here and with some of the local volunteers at the daytime youth shelter down the road. Life in ecuador is slow and steady, and I'm getting into the routine and the pace at which life is carried out. I think I'm going to get a shock when I return to the frenetic pace of Australia!
Please pray for language, more than anything else. That's my main challenge at the moment. And give thanks that even without much spanish I'm still relating well with people and having fun together!
Until next time,
hasta luego,
Johnny
Saturday, January 13, 2007
arrival
Hola todos
I have arrived safe and sound in Ecuador. Quito is a wonderful city, I'll put up a photo later!
I've been hanging out with the boys a bit. They took me siteseeing today (well, Michael, one of the missionaries here, took me and the boys...they were a bit 'we've seen this all before, and its boring'. But it was cool.)
I'm not great with the whole language thing so far, I need to work on my spanish. I'm praying that I'd be able to speak more and build relationships, that'd be great. And I'm trying to be helpful with cooking and cleaning duties, since I'm so well looked after here. Thanks for all your love and support,
En Christ,
Johnny
I have arrived safe and sound in Ecuador. Quito is a wonderful city, I'll put up a photo later!
I've been hanging out with the boys a bit. They took me siteseeing today (well, Michael, one of the missionaries here, took me and the boys...they were a bit 'we've seen this all before, and its boring'. But it was cool.)
I'm not great with the whole language thing so far, I need to work on my spanish. I'm praying that I'd be able to speak more and build relationships, that'd be great. And I'm trying to be helpful with cooking and cleaning duties, since I'm so well looked after here. Thanks for all your love and support,
En Christ,
Johnny
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Leaving Sydney
Buenos Dias!
This morning's post will be very short and sweet. I've got to go to the airport soon. I'm all packed and ready. It's really happening. Today I go to Ecuador!
Please pray for me!
If I didn't get a chance to say goodbye, GOODBYE! I will see you all when I return.
With the love of Christ,
Johnny
This morning's post will be very short and sweet. I've got to go to the airport soon. I'm all packed and ready. It's really happening. Today I go to Ecuador!
Please pray for me!
If I didn't get a chance to say goodbye, GOODBYE! I will see you all when I return.
With the love of Christ,
Johnny
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