joanna* originally uploaded by stephenjohnbryde
well friends... the School of Design has officially begun and you can officially call me Miss School Leader.... its craziness i tell you.... but it the reality and its been one week and one heck of a ride already. i just had to stop the other day, gather my thoughts, and to really just thank God for the significance of this school happening after waiting for so long. you've heard me say this a million times but it is 'vision becoming reality' and im stoked to see what God is going to build up, rise up and unlock in these students..... im lucky. i have front row seats....

the countdown begins...

and the countdown begins... *sigh*... here we have one of the reasons why God has called me back here to Australia... to lead a 3 month School of Design. click on the poster ad and check it out... the school hasn't even started yet but i've been on some ride with God these past few months leading up to this point. but im stoked. speakers are nearly booked and we got 6 students right now!... but praying in faith for more.... theres still much to do so pray for us... its gonna be here in... 17 days, 10 hours, 37 minutes, 10 seconds... 9 seconds... 8 seconds... you get the point...

the first time i met Saké

it all started when my friends fish died the night she was leaving australia... "rest in peace Red Betta Fish"... so with all this fish talk i thought it would be cool to get some kind of little pet while im here... so the other night, some friends and i went to the night markets in town and we were just about to leave and then i turned the corner and there it was... the first time i met "Saké" (also known as "saki")... so i paid my 6 aussie dollars, went home and i was stoked that i had a pretty little fish to take care of! its amazing.... seriously, its kinda funny how something so little that just swims all day in a 1 litre jar can make me happy....

a really long dejavu

soo.... im back in the land down under! that is... AUSTRALIA... for those of you who are geographically challenged... after a year and half im back at the ywam base and its all so familiar but yet all so different at the same time. its like a really long 'dejavu'... but making new friends and reuniting with old ones have made it a sweet return and the transition quite easy. but if i said the hard part of getting over here to Australia was the hard part, i would be lying... in fact, its quite the opposite... cause i'll be leading a 3 month School of Design that starts in July! and so im here... (and when im not star jumping in front of our YWAM base vehicle) i'll be praying and preparing with my friends, my staff... stephen john bryde and peter cabrera. im not quite sure what the heck im doing, but heck, im here... in obedience and in faith... and trusting God more than ever in this journey that He's called me to in the land of oz...

one encounter

apologies for the long silence... and i greet you all with a belated everything... though i confess... a few weeks of this long silence is dedicated to the prompting of Gods calling to missions in cambodia and thailand. its a long story of how it became, but basically, i went on a missions trip with my young adults group from my church in san jose for a couple weeks... talk about unexpected! i take a look back and if someone were to say to me that i was at home for this very reason to go to cambodia... i wouldnt argue one bit. i know that it was all in the divine plan of God... and i just fell in love with cambodia...

im still overhwhelmed and feeling all the post-outreach re-entry hoopla... and as i sort out my thoughts about cambodia, i settle to share with you this quote that almost became a theme for this outreach... "never underestimate the potential of one encounter."... we saw hundreds of kids in the villages, people everywhere walking or riding bikes on the streets of Siem Reap, busy people in Bangkok bound somewhere.... and yet, i realized, that no matter who they were, every encounter i had with them was a chance for the Lord to impress Himself through me and the Jesus in me. and it would happen during that 'one encounter.'... theres nothing like the unseen and what happens when eternity is altered for the glory of Him...

there goes another one...

i can't count anymore... they're going one by one. another one of my good friends jamie bartley is no longer a bartley, but a Whittmore. it was a beautiful sight, to witness their wedding, a dream in the flesh. to see jamie and dan together... in love... in commitment... *sighh* im stoked that i got to go to medford for the wedding... or you could say reunion. well those of you in ywam could agree the beauty of a ywam wedding is that, not only do you go to the wedding, but it disguises the event to a big ywam reunion... faces you thoughts you'd never see again and then you open the door, and bam, theyre there and next thing you know, you find yourself laughing together like there were no years or months in between that you've been separated. so this 'ywam- its a small world' ordeal thing- its true... you say 'see you later' cause your bound to see each other again... just look at us, half Brazil outreach team was back together! ... ohh, and jon hans.:) ... good times guys....