The start of something new, feels so right to be here with you.

I am coming home for almost 4 weeks! This will include: visiting friends, hanging out with my family, going on a women's retreat, reporting back to my church, surprises, laughter, and eating. I have come to realization that I love my home/hometown. (weird)

When I come back to Australia in March I will be returning to the position of Hospitality. So far it's been amazing. I made pretzels last week, it was quite an amusing process, but they turned out alright. Some of the staff on the centre have made their own production company and are currently working on their first feature film! With that happening there are long term guests staying in our dorms and guest house along with a DTS of 60+ leaving on outreach AND 2 DTS's start this upcoming Wednesday. Lots of sheet and towel washing for this kid!

There is alot of transition in the air around here. In fact the other day I was feeling as though my heart was going to explode because of nervessness, things to do, and a sense of detactedness. It was so interesting because I didn't have anything to be nervess about or feel detacted about. But I spent some time with Jesus and then asked a friend if I was going crazy! (: It's so cool to experience His peace in times you're freaking out for no apparent reason.

I'm ready to be home but it's a teaser visit, so please keep this trip in your prayers. I would love to see as many people as I can, but my priority is my family and church.

AND...........when I am home I will be shaving my hair. It's down to my waist so I would guess 2 1/2 feet?. Somewhere around there. But around March 13th it will be all gone. I have wanted to shave my head since I was 16 but different things came up and if I'm honest with myself I probably would not have had the guts to rock it. Then when I came back to Australia right before DTS I was going to do it but talked myself out with the typical girl thought "what if I get married, I don't wanna be bald." Then God said to me, "do others have a choice to have hair in significant life events?" Which got me thinking why do I want to keep my hair? God has blessed me with thick,fast growing and beautiful hair, why not donate it who doesn't have that?
After sharing that with a few close friends they suggested "Why not have a fundraiser to shave your head, but also sell it afterwards to make a wig." I asked God about it and he wants me to donate it, but He's okay with a fundraiser.

Why have a fundraiser for shaving my head? Because God has called me into life missions. "Life missions" may be a scary term but in reality that means treating whatever field of work you are in like a mission field. Be that light in the fire department, Doctor's office, or government contracting building! That's what he wants me to do. After the commitment of Basic leadership school there are a few options all which he has given me a passion for...just a few are: going to a birthing attendance school(to be a midwife in developing nations), learning french for a possibly few years in Africa, and going to a bible school for the nations to help develope the ability to share and explain the bible verbally to english second language people.

All of those things cost money so why not combine the desire to donate my hair and the opportunities he has made aware to me?! The money that is raised from shaving my head will go into a savings account to help fund tickets,pay school fees, and provide launguage books.

If you are interested in watch or donating email me at: hugmemore08@gmail.com

I will update pictures of what my hair and life currently looks like! Thank you for reading!

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

The Time has Come...

to leave Australia. For 6 weeks that is. My co-leader and I are taking a team of 4 to Borneo and we are leaving at 2am on Sunday. We will be gone until 9 Jan. beach2borneo.blogspot.com is our team blog if you would like to check that! Really, I don't have much to say...prayer for our team would be greatly appreciated. Thank you fo rreading and please please email me if you have specific questions....it's easier to answer things that way! Talk to yall in a few weeks!

sunshine and giggles.

Hello all!
In the beginning of Fear of the Lord lectures there is a crazy lull around the centre while we are getting ready for the upcoming 4-week road trip and the quickly approaching overseas outreach. In the planning of this many a to-do lists have been written. Just a few things on that list are: writing sermons, practicing skits, preparing worship, purchase plane ticket home, praying as a team to build unity, finish assignments, finalize budget, and buy outreach clothes. Our team is really talented and very willing to serve in Borneo. We have purchased tickets for outreach at a reasonable price, which is a huge blessing. I have sent out emails to all the parents requesting for presents to be sent secretly to the centre so I can pack and bring them to Borneo for Christmas to surprise the students/my co-leader. I really enjoy surprising people!

Another praise is that we have a rough sketch of what the ministry side of outreach will look like in Borneo! In that you can be praying that the people's hearts are softened and prepared for our teaching, dramas, and service.

A complete side note, one of the assignments for our students is called "adopt-a-nation" where you pick a nation and "adopt" it by researching, praying, and presenting the culture to the rest of the school. There is about 25 minutes of presentation in which we learn social needs, history, population, and religious background and 30 minutes of intercession for that particular country. Tonight was an especially powerful and inspiring time. While the two students were presenting we had to pass a brick around signifying how difficult it was to live in this particular nation. The brick was to be passed the entire time or there was the threat of being whipped. For intercession we sat in a circle and passed the brick. Every time we had the brick we prayed for freedom, blindness in government, and peace.

The second "activity" was having a plate of delicious cookies and brownies and not being able to eat them. We prayed for hunger in this country. (the delicious pastries symbolized the selfishness the government has for food). The third thing was a practical act of being "bound" in this country. We all we "handcuffed" with zip ties and then in groups of four bound to each other. We prayed that the very few Christians in the country would be able to break free. The women and children that were tricked into sex slavery would jump at a chance to be free and not be filled with fear. The final thing was we were cut free and prayed in a circle, Korean style, to thank God for how he had moved, was moving, and will move.

I for real love prayer. I love the power of words. Our God SPOKE the world into existence. He is just waiting to be released. And imagine this...in times and situations that seem hopeless if we ASK HIM TO MOVE HE WILL. What other god will blind the eyes of government officials? What other god will supernaturally fill people's bellies? What other god will overtake the preset radio frequency to tell the people how valuable they are? I love him is what I'm trying to say.

My heart and desire for the intercession for this school is to pray for the locations of the Old Testament. To find events (that happened in the OT) that are reoccurring in certain locations today. The patterns of society. (and really I just like to see where the bible "happened" cause I'm a nerd! :})

I do have a few prayer requests:
-All student and staff's hearts will be sensitive to what God is teaching us this week
-There would be no stress for packing in either the road trip or outreach
-Overseas contact will be clear to set up ministry
-God would prepare hearts for Him

A few practical needs:
-$1000 for base fees
-$100 for outreach clothes (long skirts, modest cultural shirts,etc.)
-$100 for living costs (food, post fees, laundry, phone credit)
-$2000 for plane ticket home in February



Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all are blessed! Please, please, please email me and tell me about your life! OR!!!! You can write me a letter. (: I love letters.

Have a good day, spend time with Jesus, smile at a stranger!
Love,
Shann

If you are donating by check/cash make out to "image church" and mail to
58 Arrowhead Drive
Stafford VA 22556

Post of News

Selamat Pagi! (goodmorning in Bahasa)

After our three and a half week road trip, life has finally settled a wee bit! Just a bit of a recap: AIRLIE BEACH! Fun fact, the movie "Fool's Gold" was filmed at the Whitehaven beaches in Airlie!

During this week we had a a friend, Jay Hach speak about Holy Spirit. A lot of the students had questions about what the function of Holy Spirit is and how he fits into our daily lives. We had a worship time one evening and we sang and some danced. We also prayed for healing, either emotional or physical. During the evening, two people were healed of allergies, one guy was healed of a boil, and one guy had major breakthrough with hurt and anger from his past. He was crying for the first time since he was a little kid and then he started laughing because he was so happy he was crying! You could feel the Lord working!!

A little rewind...before we left for Airlie beach we announced the outreach locations for the school. They were; Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, India, and Indonesia/Malaysia. The students had the deadline of Airlie beach to tell us where they felt God wanted them to go. Fast forward to Airlie...Too many people were going to Vanuatu and there was more behind the scenes logistics that complicated some things. Because of this we gathered as a whole school to pray and figure out God's heart for the whole thing. During this night we forgot all about where we wanted to go, where our friends were going, or where we felt previously to go. During that night people felt convicted of being here for the wrong reasons and one girl shared the reasons she was distant. In the end God worked out the whole thing and the teams are almost evenly split!

drum roll pleeeeeeeeeeeease...... I'm co-leading a team to Indonesia/Malaysia!!!

After a week in the beautiful Whitsundays we traveled to Springsure. Some good friends to our school leader and amazing servants of the Lord. Scott and Annie have 35,000 acres of property and they are ranches through and through! They go to rodeos and have bible studies among the normal drinking and partying. The battle of health and normal season worries that farmers have doesn't seem to phase this amazing Godly family. After a few days of fellowship and service at the ranch we moved about an hour into town to Emerald!

Emerald is a small, adorable, quaint, country town. This was the first location for us to reach out. We stayed in a former YWAMer's front yard in our tents! We did some prayer walks, practical work,and Religious Instruction classes. A few other opportunities we had was an evening church service, a youth rave, a morning church service, and an aboriginal youth gathering. During a prayer walk a team felt they should fight against apathy by worshiping in the park. As they were doing this a man approached them and of course asked what they were doing. They shared a bit and he then asked for prayer for his hurting back. They prayed and he was healed! Thank you, Jesus. We also had the opportunity to listen to a christian aboriginal man and some strongholds that exist in the community and how exactly we should assist, which, just like any people group, is to NOT come in with a plan but just partner and encourage what is already going on! It was a very humbling and eye opening talk.

Carnarvan Gorge was phenomenal! God moved so much by us simply taking time out of our days and being with him. It was very very cold at night time! We all had to cuddle up in our tents to stay warm.

Roma was the last destination for our adventure. We got to run 4 different church services, we ran a 2day kids camp, and visited two aged care facilities. We helped facilitate a race for the elementary school's holiday party. I hung out with 30 five year old little boys! Talk about a day!!!

Six hours of driving to Brisbane we unpacked and rested for the evening. Unbeknownst to the students relaxation wasn't the plan quite yet. Because we got home on a Wednesday we still had two days of "activities". Thursday afternoon we started outreach prep. We broke into groups and simulated going to our different locations, shopping at the markets, finding accommodation, and preparing church services in 15 minutes. We do this so we can bond, have fun, and get a taste of a different culture. It was a blast!

Relaxation finally was in sight for two days!!!! The following Monday started Bible Study lectures! (I had been looking forward to this for weeks!) We had five different methods of studying the bible. One of the most exciting ones was homiletic. Which is apparently was pastors use to prepare sermons. Exciting fact! We had nightly homework to read a chapter of Colossians and do homiletics on each one. It was extremely challenging and fantastic. After bible study we had Lordship...

Lordship is a scary word. Do not fear...it's just being of one mind with Christ. The entire week was reading different places in the bible talking about being one with Jesus. Thursday we walked through the different areas and steps and details of the Old Testament tabernacle. These areas being outer gates, inner courts,alter (burnt and sin offerings), brazen laver, candle sticks, Holy of Holies. On Friday we had a ministry day and walked through each step. Which without sounding crazy basically means we praised God for a bit, then shared thanksgiving stories, then we told all of our school what we needed to lay down so that we could follow God with our whole hearts, bodies, souls, and strength. We also talked about things we needed to ask for forgiveness for. We then worshiped our hearts out! Communion was in the evening and we just shared stories from the day and loved on Jesus. It was a full day but it was well worth it and God made some major breakthrough!!!

This is the middle of the lecture week titled "how you relate with others". Which as you may have guessed is about relationships between us and God, us and others, us and ourselves, and boy/girl relationships. One of the most interesting points brought up thus far is "Every problem is a relationship problem." Think about it. Tell me what you think about it. (seriously, email me and tell me your opinion)

Next week, our school leader in training is doing a week long topic on "Fearing the Lord". It's interesting to see people's opinions on issues such as speeding, texting and driving, and being content with how God made us.

24 October is when we leave for a four week road trip to Byron Bay, Stradbroke Island, Toowoomba, and Chinchilla. These four weeks will be a mix between lectures, outreach, and team building.

A few requests of prayer would be:

-Hearts during relationship week. That all of us (staff/students) may be able to work through past hurt and find true relationship with God and how to love others 100%.

-Nico (school leader in training) will be Holy Spirit lead.

-Outreach logistics will continue to fall into place. (tickets, budget, accommodation, contacts, etc)

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read about the adventure God currently is taking me on! Please feel free to ask questions and write me letters! (:

Shannon Baxter

671 Samford Road

Mitchelton, QLD 4053

Australia

To donate;

Cash mail to: 58 Arrowhead Drive Stafford VA 22556

Check make out to "Image Church" post-it note "Shannon Baxter" and mail to: 58 Arrowhead Drive Stafford VA 22556

HIGHLIGHT in Airlie... we had a BBQ for any backpackers. About an hour into it, Matt (staff member) started talking to a backpacker. The backpacker's name was Andrew and he happened to be writing a letter to his dad working a lot of hurt out from the past. After a little bit of the boys talking Matt lead Andrew to a relationship with Jesus. Andrew grew up going to church but wanted to make it personal. Matt prayed for Andrew and explained that life and hurt wasn't going to go away, that relationship with Jesus is a process. Then Andrew came and joined us for lunch!

Corridor is french.

On Beach to bush we travel around Queensland doing programs in schools, youth groups, church services, and prayer meetings. Also we have lectures at camp grounds and beaches. On our last road trip we travelled up to Airlie beach (whitsundays) and we had lectures on Holy Spirit. We stayed in Airlie for a week. During that time we joined the Discipleship school that was running in Airlie for these lectures. It was really good to watch the students get revelation about Holy Spirit and how he is just as much God as Jesus is!

One of the opportunities we had was having a BBQ right on the ocean. (Airlie beach is a big backpacker spot) We just played sports and asked people if they would like to join us. As we were waiting for the food to be done I saw a man in a travel van. I walked over to him and asked if he wanted to join us. He told me yes but he needed to finish writing a letter. I asked who the letter was to and he said it was to his dad! I then asked if he had a good relationship with his dad and he said that he would after this letter! So I chatted for a bit longer and then walked away so he could finish. About 20 minutes later I look over and another guy from my staff team, Matt, was standing and talking to Andrew (the guy in the van) they talked for quite some time. Then I saw Matt praying for him. After about 3o minutes they both walked over to eat and Matt shared with me that Andrew had just become a believer! So stoked! He apparently had gone to church growing up but realized he needed more in his life. So we got to encourage him for a bit then we told him about the church we were attending on Sunday. And on Sunday, he showed up!!!! He told us about the night before he had met a couple and they were pastors and they had a 4/5 hour conversation about Jesus and the bible and they prayed for him. Then on Sunday afternoon he

came to the baptism of 2 of our students. It was so amazing to hear how God kept setting up app

ointments for him to keep going!

That is just one story of our three week road trip. I have to go make dinner for the base, but I will update more as soon as possible. Thank you for being patient!!

<3 Shann