After my 1st week of lectures on evangelism, we had the opportunity to go 3 hours south to the Gold Coast and stay on their YWAM base. We stayed specifically in a city called Surfer's Paradise (which I thought was an epic name for a city) and had an amazing time of outreach that I can tell you about in detail if you ask me (for sensitivity reasons). While we were in the Gold Coast I had the chance to meet some amazing Muslim friends. I met a wonderful family from Dubai and I really clicked with the two girls (Mahra and Sarah) and their brother, Mohammed. We had such wonderful conversations about life, our hobbies, love, music, movies, even God. I will definitely miss our chats over coffee and chai, but thanks to Facebook we will keep in touch. After spending a few days in this city I learned that a lot of the families from middle eastern countries that lie in the gulf peninsula travel to the Gold Coast to get out of the extreme heat of the summer. So literally, we were in a cultural melting pot. I think I even learned a few essential Arabic phrases while we were there.
Our outreach was long and hard. By the end of the week I was so drained emotionally and physically; not to mention my back was killing me from sleeping on the floor. So you can imagine my excitement when we decided to go to this really REALLY cool city an hour south of us to relax and shop around. We spent the night in this small hippie town called Byron Bay. You can drive through this place in less than 10 minutes. They don't allow any franchises and have one major grocery store. The best way I can describe this place is like this: Take the laid back beach town of Mission Beach, California; mix it with the people from Eugene, Oregon and Sedona, Arizona; and add the greenery and lighthouses from Kauai, Hawaii....and you would have Byron. It has shops that you would find only at a local renaissance fair. Very New Age-y with crystals and mysticism. Everyone has dreads in their hair and they walk barefoot, with all of their homemade clothes on their backs. You can rent vans with stoves and kitchen tables, just to park on the beach and surf all day. At night, the whole city came alive at the park overlooking the ocean. As the sun went down, the barbecues were lit and people pulled out their guitars and bongos and music and dancing began. It was something out of a movie.
Speaking of movies, this was the town that was the inspiration for the animated movie "Ferngully" (one of my favorites growing up). It was created to promote the movement that was against tearing down the rainforest. If you don't know which I'm talking about, google it and it will all make sense. :) They have this amazing trail that leads along the beach front and up to a light house which is the most Easterly point in Australia. It is just breathtaking. We went to this church Sunday morning and I felt like I was transported back to the 70's. This church was more like the basement of someones house with couches and chairs, local artwork adorning the walls, and the worship team was comprised of men and women in their 40-50's. The lead singer of the worship team looked like Cyndie Lauper, and they jumped and danced and swayed with the music while they sang to Jesus. The pastor walked around the stage, sharing his passion through his sermon, while we all listened and drank our coffee. It was so comfortable and people could express themselves however they wanted to do and no one cared. All I could think was "my MOM would love this place!!!" Hope you enjoy the pictures.
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