Find Truth from Him, not people.

Graduation of Beach to Bush August 2011!
Sport's ministry in Indonesia!


team bonding in August 2011.

Beautiful Indonesian children!
Chinchilla, Queensland, Australia





Team Borneo on Graduation night! Flood repair in Chinchilla!

Lagi, Lagi, Lagi! (more, more, more)

Hello Folks!

I am back from outreach! I got back into Australia on the 10th but then left for school debrief for a week. Now we are back at base and just had graduation last Friday. It was truly amazing to see a bunch of 17-29 year olds completely transformed! The best part is that God used me and my fellow staff to be apart of that!

I will just give you a brief overview of outreach from my perspective! We were in Indonesia for 4 weeks and Malaysia for 2 weeks. While we were in Indonesia we played with the kids from a local orphanage, did many house visits, traveled into villages, and ran church services.

While we were in the bush villages we had the opportunity to work in a rice field. For about 4 hours we were hip deep in mud pulling weeds and the occasional rice plant on accident! We quickly learned how to avoid falling over and to identify the rice! The rice farmer felt to bless us so we all ate lunch together and during that time he shared that he was a new christian and once he dedicated his crop to Jesus his rice grew more and faster. He shares that with all the fellow rice farmers as a testament of how great our God is!

In the same village the first day we arrived we were walking around the village and went to look at the local church. While we were there children just started showing up by twos and threes. Soon we had probably 20-30 kids sitting around us! We had a guitar with us and so we started singing songs in English and they would sing some in Bahasa Indonesian. We also showed them a skit and played some games. At team daily debrief all the students commented about how even though there was no "planned" ministry for those children they were touched and Jesus moved.

In a different village called Commando, one of the students shared about how God is teaching her to trust and how his is good out side of our situations. Afterwards we had a ministry prayer time and the pastor invited people up who needed healing, 25+ came. people who needed forgiveness/needed to forgive, 35+ came. people who wanted to come back to Jesus, 50 came. We prayed for each of them as a team, but because there is only one translator we had to just trust God we were praying for the right thing. It was very encouraging to trust God and then communicate with the people that they were healed! It just goes to show it's not us who heal but the Lord!

After spending three weeks in the villages we came back to the house we were staying at just outside of town. There we celebrated a team mate's birthday and Christmas on the 24th! On the 25 we surprised the time with small things from their families and some team family time. After a short time we headed off to church for the service and a meal! After the church service we visited 5 more house and had fellowship by eating and talking! The last meal of the day was at the Governor's house. We sat in VIP seating and talked to a heap of people in the social area.

The next day we ate at 6 houses and talked to well over 150+ people. The neat thing about having so many house visits is that the people are from all different backgrounds. Families open up their homes and have food prepared ALL day. One women we visited said a visitor woke her up at 0730 to eat! Back home this would be a problem but in Indonesian the host families feel blessed. It's a very humbling and eye opening experience.

After our 2-day Christmas feast we traveled 8 hours on a bus to Malaysia! There we stayed with a family that hosts YWAM teams quite frequently. We did not have any official plans for the two weeks in Malaysia but almost immediately we saw where we could jump in and help...our host family's (Frank and Belinda) roof! It was leaking and in Malaysia's rainy season this is not helpful. So my handy co-leader set out on a mission for us to finish this project before we left. In the mornings we would clean the house and work on the roof, in the afternoons we had time for Intercession and worship as a team at the house and in the city. We also went into two schools to talk to kids and did 3 youth groups. We attended a Mandarin Chinese church service, where we got to sing in Chinese!!!

As our two weeks rounded up in Malaysia we had a few days to debrief our time in Asia. Some of the highlights was the personal growth in Jesus. One of the students completely fell in love with reading the bible. Every spare moment they would be reading! Another one kept walking out in trust that God has the perfect plan for our lives. Still another walked through a hard, but worth it process of worshiping God in the hard times. And last but not least, this student started believing truth about who his is and where he stands as a child of God! It was incredible to watch this process of growth in each of their lives. The tears, the frustration, the giggles, the joy, and the encouragement from each person on our team was just phenomenal. It warms my heart. (mushing, I know)

Personally, the hardest thing I learned on outreach was trust, both in Jesus and my co-leader. Jesus walked me through believing he loves me. HE. LOVES. ME. Obvious, right? But no! I know I love him...but HIM, the LORD of ALL CREATION LOVING ME, SHANNON BAXTER!?!?! I don't get it. It's been a really cool thing to fall in love with him with none of my girl friends around to go to when I've had a bad day. To spend time with him, to laugh with him, to just sit with him. To enjoy every aspect of life and relationship with him. Coming back to Australia the biggest thing I feel different in from before outreach is my security in my relationship with him. I feel the same comfort-ability and reliability as you do towards someone you've been dating for years. I just really like him. (you're called to love everyone but it's a choice to like them!)

That about sums up our time in Asia! God is moving in Indonesia and Malaysia. Pray for these countries, they need it! They are becoming more influential. Pray that people start to recognize Jesus in these countries because he's already there. (that whole omnipresent thing)

Before I close I would love to give a bit of an overview of the next step. The next 4 weeks I will be working logistically on the YWAM centre in Brisbane. A few of the jobs likely for me to get are, hospitality, kitchen (cooking for 100+), and reception. Along with having a book report and a personal growth plan for the next 5 months.

Then towards the end of February I will be flying home. As of right now I have a ticket to LA. I do not have a ticket from LA to VA though.(which is where I live!) At home I will be sharing/updating my local church, doing some fundraising, and visiting with friends and family. I am the most excited about seeing my family. God has shown me how much I love them and even like them! (:

I am currently in need of approx. $1200 for my ticket from LA to VA and back to Australia.

A few prayer points would be:

a drive to go after Jesus even though it's not "spiritual time"

rest; physically!

clarity for specific areas that need worked on

wisdom and boldness

Thank you so much for reading about my crazy quest! If you have any questions please feel free to email me! I love you all and truly appreciate your support. I will see most of you soon!

Shannon

If you would like to donate you can send check/cash to:

58 Arrowhead Drive

Stafford VA 22556

or pay online directly by:

Bank Name: Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Branch: 240 Queen Street, Brisbane

Account Name: Youth With A Mission Brisbane Inc

BSB: 064 000

Account Number: 12196816

***Please use my name in the reference field and email accounts@goywam.com to advise YWAM Brisbane of your deposit.

or if you would like to write me a letter/send me a package send it here:

YWAM

c/o Shannon Baxter

671 Samford Road

Mitchelton QLD 4053