Vanuatu

Well, I thought I should write something so that I don't just peace out and no one knows where I went. So Saturday morning I am leaving for one of the islands of Vanuatu. I will be working alongside my team of 13 and the YWAM base there to pioneer Youth Street in Vanuatu and do different work there. We will be just outside Port Vila in a town called Pango? I think. So I'm there for about two months. Our team made a video and put it on youtube if you look up Team Vanuatu 2008 you should find it. The picture you should see is of a man with a blackish shirt on the right and a woman with a white tank top on the left. That is my team! So if you could pray for us I'd really appreciate it. Specific prayer requests would just be for team unity, humility, safety and good health. Also that we could be really sensitive to their culture and just that we would see God work in awesome ways through us. Thank you guys so much I will see you in two months!

Magnetic Island

So yesterday I went to Magnetic Island with my Youth Street Team. It was absolutely gorgeous. We went for a little hike and then spent a couple of hours on a really beautiful beach. It was really fun. There are pieces of dead coral lying on the beach too. I thought it was cool. It is only three weeks until I leave for Vanuatu for two months. I am very excited but very nervous. I would appreciate as much prayer as I can get. Specific prayer requests for our team would just be for humility and servant hearts while we are there. Two months is a long time to not complain but we really can't complain while we are there. Also just for God to really work in miraculous ways. We just really want this trip to be about what God can do for these people and what he can do through us and not at all about ourselves. I get to co-lead worship, so that's exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. This next week is on Spiritual Warfare, so it is going to be exciting I think. I only have three more weeks of lecture phase left, I will be home before I know it. I don't know what else to say. Everyone Have a great day.

Camping.

So I just got back from camping at blue water scout camp for two weeks. It was a really fantastic experience and I'm kind of sad that it's over with. I met some fun creatures like possums and tree frogs. Possums here look like cats. We had a lot of time to bond as a group and spend some quality time with God. The first week was really random with the way lectures went, we had a lot of people from the base come up and speak and had different topics everyday. The second week we had a kiwi man named Mark Parker speak on Lordship. It was really intense. I really felt the importance of making God bigger in my life and giving him the control as opposed to myself. God has really been teaching me a lot and I've been gaining a lot of confidence in myself and my gifts. It's really cool. I know that I won't be the same person when I get home. It was my birthday when I was down there, I am now 19. Crazy. On my birthday I got a package from Ali and a letter from my grandparents. I was really happy, it was definitely a blessing to me. We went to a really beautiful beach while we were there and just spent some time worshiping and hanging out. The ocean is so gorgeous. God is good. I'm getting exceedingly more excited for outreach in Vanuatu. I don't really know what else to say. I got an awesome package from my family yesterday, it was sooooo great. Tim Horton's coffee and a starbucks double shot espresso! I was the envy of the dts. If anyone wants to send me things, it always makes my week. I love you guys lots, talk to you later!

Camping

Hey everyone
This week was really good. We had a man named Dave Cole from New Zealand talk about knowing God and the Character of God. This week was really busy because we have been getting ready for camping and we had a book report due today. Yesterday was Valentines Day so I made valentine's for everyone. The cadbury chocolate here is better than in Canada, also more expensive. In the evening we cleaned up our house and then the boys came over and surprised us with ice cream sundaes and valentines. It was very nice. After that I went to finish my book report and a few of us sat on the deck and wrote. It started raining really hard so I just stood in the rain and watched the lightning and got drenched it was awesome. Tommorow I leave for camping for two weeks so I will have no communication. Just so you guys know if I do not email back I am not dead, just camping. Love you all.
Caitlin

Feb. 8th.

So, yesterday Kim and David (my outreach leaders) talked to our contact in Vanuatu. We found out that they would love us to come there and pioneer a youth program for them. We prayed about it and decided that we are going to go there for our whole 2 months of outreach. I am really excited because we actually get to start something up and work really hard and build relationships. I am much more of a stay in one place and build relationships kind of girl and I definitely think this what God had in mind for me. Ashley and I were thinking that all of our training in camp ministry will prove to be helpful in this endeavor. I am also thankful for a brother in ministry who I could go to for ideas if I need to. This week we did inductive biblical studies and read Philemon a lot. It was good though. I'm excited for camping.

Outreach

Hey guys,
Sorry I have not posted much lately but I will try to do a better job.
I wanted to let all of you guys know that I found out tonight that for my outreach I am going to the islands. I will be going to Fiji and possibly Vanuatu. I am really excited about what God has in store. We don't know much about what we are going to be doing yet but I will let you guys know as I know. I have a really fantastic team filled with lovely people and lots of Canadians.
We are going camping in like a week and a half. It will be really fun. We still don't know where we are going but it will be lots of fun.
This week we are learning about inductive bible study and just studying the bible more and stuff. I'm liking it, but this week is really busy.
We are camping on my birthday so if you want to send me a birthday card or something (hint hint) send it soon! I don't know what else to write. I think we might be going to Magnetic Island this Sunday. Should be a good time. If you have specific questions for me let me know because I never know what to write on this thing. If you want to write me a letter, you should, I like them a lot. Lots of love.

wombat!

Hello,
This week has been really good. We talked about clear conscience which was crazy but good. Friday night we went down to Flinders street which is the clubbing area of town and just hung out with people who wanted to talk. It was good. Yesterday we had Youth Street all day so I got to go swimming, which was good in the heinous son. Working with youth is fun so I liked it. Today we went to the billabong which is a big animal sanctuary/zoo thing over by here. It was wicked awesome. I got to see kangaroos and wallabies and I got to hold a koala, a wombat, a baby crocodile and a big snake. Hopefully I can get some pictures up soon. Anyway that's about all for now.

Caitlin

Walabi

So it is now week two. Awesome. Saturday was my first youth street and it was lots of fun. Youth Street is the youth program run out of RTO on Saturdays. During the day we have youth street teams which is like different activities that the kids can be a part of. There are music, sports, dance and skate teams. I get to hang out with the sports team. We played soccer, so I liked it, but it was hot. Saturday night is Youth Street Live which is more like the youth groups I am used to. We had a concert and it was fun but I miss my youth kids from home. I did find out that there is a Chris Martens in Australia his name is Shamos. Yesterday I went to the beach and swam in the ocean and ate ice cream. It was great, I'm a little burnt today. This week we are learning about Clear Conscience. Here is my mailing adress for those who would like to send me a letter (which I would appreciate):
Caitlin Jantzen
c/o Reef To Outback
PO Box 6221
Townsville, QLD
Australia 4810

Koala

So I have been here for about a week now and in many ways it feels like much longer. I'm getting used to the lifestyle and the people and everything so it's good. I'll give you a little rundown of my schedule for most days:
5:30 wake up
6:00 excercise
6:30-8:00 breakfast/devotions/getting ready time
8:00-9:00 worship or intercession
9:00-10:30 lectures
10:30-11:00 morning tea (greatest Australian institution ever)
11:00-12:30 lectures
12:30-1:00 lunch
1:00-5:00 free time/work duties
Evening is something different every night
My work duty is house cleaning aka intro to wifedom. I'm not very good at it yet. Yesterday Ashley and I bought hair dye, she had blonde hair and now it's red, I got red streaks but they didn't work very well. Lots of people here don't know what perogies/vereneke are. It's ridiculous. Did I mention there is a pool in my backyard? It's quite fantastic.
I know these next months and lectures will be challenging but essentially good. I appreciate all the prayer I know I am receiving. Thank you all for your support. If you have any questions let me know.
I have yet to see a koala.

Writing titles is the hardest thing

I apologize if this is short but this keyboard is really slow and delayed aka uber-annoying. So I've been here threeish days now so I am a little bit more settled now. I am enjoying my time here more every day. It gets better as I have started to actually form relationships with some of the people here. Everyone is really nice, I think I have a fantastic group. There are about 12 girls and 7 boys in my dts group I think. We've just about finished orientation and will be starting lectures and stuff soon. Tonight we learn about Youth Street, which is the youth program that we will be involved in. They have a skateboarding team, maybe I will learn. I do remember what happened last time, but even so. It has been raining a lot so far. I think the boys flat is slightly flooded. There are no Starbucks in Townsville and few in Australia. I have to get more creative to feed my caffeine addiction. I have yet to see a koala, a kangaroo or any other creature indigenous to this territory. I have learnt how to do the tim tam slam. It involves a cookie type thing called a tim tam and a warm chocolate beverage known as Milo. I will teach people when I get home. For now, that is all. I love hearing from people, feel free to contact me.

Arrival to Townsville

So my adventures in Sydney are over now. The last couple of days there were pretty good. We were supposed to go on the bridge climb Friday night but we got our times mixed up and missed it so we had to do it yesterday morning which actually worked out better. So Friday night we got ice cream and walked around the Opera House. It was fun, and the view over there is gorgeous especially at night. I had coffee ice cream which was fantastic since I haven't had coffee for like a decade, and by that I mean like two or three days. The bridge climb was fun but there's not a lot to say about it, we walked along the path of the harbour bridge, it had a nice view of Sydney. After that I took a train and a bus to the airport then flew to Brisbane and then to Townsville. The climate here makes your skin feel really nice. Townsville seems like a really nice city. It's a little bit smaller than Saskatoon. The girls here are really nice and I haven't met the boys yet. It feels kind of like camp. I have a top bunk, which is weird because there are no ladders to get up so it's really difficult. Anyway, I don't know much about it here yet. Today I'm going to the store to buy a pillow and sheets then I have orientation at 3. It'll be sweet.
Things I miss (discluding family and friends):
Apples
Perfume
Drinking cold water from my water cooler.

First Day Down Under

So I have officially been in Australia about twenty four hours now and I'm starting to get adjusted. I'm staying at a hostel for the first two days and hanging around Sydney with Carson and Chad and I leave to go to Townsville tomorrow. The hostel that I'm at is really nice actually. It's clean and I'm staying with three German girls who are nice and more importantly have not stolen any of my things. Sweet. Sydney is a very good looking place but I miss cute little Saskatoon. We did a lot of walking yesterday. We take busses part of the way and then usually walk another half an hour to get anywhere. Yesterday we went to Bondi beach for a while, which took us like two hours of walking, and then we over by the Sydney harbour and the Opera House to have supper. I think we mostly payed for the view but it was very nice. On the way to the harbour we went through the botanical gardens, which was very beautiful. All kinds of trees and plantlife. In fact, I'm confident that they stole and replanted the evil tree from Ferngully because I saw a tree that looked just like it...minus the big red X. Also through one part there were about a bajillion flying foxes (large bats) flying around. One tree was encompassed by like a hundred, I felt like we had walked into the bat cave. It was awesome. Otherwise I'm just really excited to get to school and get settled down. That's all for now.

In Sydney

So right now I'm sitting in the Sydney airport waiting for someone to come get me and take me to the Hostel. Travel was long but altogether not so bad. My writing will likely be choppy because there are people waiting right now and I feel pressured to be quick. Anyway, flying makes me feel sick but it's really beautiful here, I can tell already. From Calgary to Vancover I sat beside this nice old man, I will call him travelman because he was fully equipped with all of my travel needs, and he helped me out a lot. His son lives in Australia and his wife works on the set of Smallville. Thanks to him I am the proud new owner of an aeroplan...plan? Redundant? Perhaps. But yes, I'm in Sydney and now the adventure begins but I have to go so I will hopefully post something more exciting soon.