The Journey Beckons

February 28,2010

2010-04-19T14:07:00.001-07:00

Buenos Dias!

God has been doing some more amazing things this week! I have been so
blessed to have the opportunity to experience God in this way... It's
hard to even explain it!

We visited an orphanage this week, which was really fun! the kids were
fantastic, and a lot of them were already Christians because
apparently Christian organizations are really the only people who
visit the kids! So that was pretty cool- but OH man did i want to take
all of the kids home with me!

We also spent the day at a park across the street from a couple of
schools and we made bracelets with kids. Everyone got to pick a heart
bead for their bracelet- there were two different types of hearts,
ones that were just outlines and were empty in the middle, and other
hearts were solid and filled in. We explained to all of the kids that
our heart looks like the first one, with a big hole in the middle
before we have Jesus living inside of us --> But once you ask Jesus to
live in your heart, he fills it like the second bead! I personally was
able to pray with 20 kids to accept Christ throughout the day :D what
an amazing experience!!

Guess what!!! I even learned how to go through that whole story, and
ask if anyone wants to pray IN SPANISH!!! haha it was so much fun
being able to actually talk and not use a translator 100% of the time!

We also set up a painting table with lots of chalk, paint, and
different kinds of paper in San Miguel and half of our team spent the
day there coloring with kids from the area while the other half went
out and did evangelism. Playing with the kids was awesome, the parents
love us- even the ones who don't believe in God yet! They want us back
every day because we bring so much joy and love with us!! The half of
our team that went to do evangelism somehow ended up preaching at a
funeral!!! haha i have no idea how that happened, but a lot of people
were saved, including the family of the little boy and father who
died. God's plan and his timing amazes me! What a blessing to have
been there for that!

Yesterday our YWAMers from the School of Evangelism came to our host
church and put on an evangelism seminar which was amazing! We spent
the day learning/teaching on evangelism, and then spent two hours with
everyone out in the city actually doing evangelism! We had 3 different
techniques that everyone got to try-
1) Prayer Evangelism = they just went and asked people if they needed
prayer! from there a lot of amazing conversations happend and many
people were saved, and those who didn't accept Christ at least got to
see his love and compassion which was really cool!
2) Public Proclamation = People just stood up and started preaching or
sharing testimonies loudly to whoever will listen! They weren't
preaching condemnation or Fire, they were preaching love and hope,
people loved it and it drew a lot of attention and there were a lot of
salvations through that as well!
3) Proclamation Art - this was my favorite :) We had this huge board
that was painted white and we prayed and received an image from God,
and then we painted it on the board. While we were painting (there
were three of us painting) people started coming around to watch, so
then other people from our team got to explain the image and talk to
them about God! I painted for part of the time, and then i got in this
really awesome conversation with an 18year old girl who spoke english,
so i left the painting to talk with her. She was also an artist, so we
had a lot to talk about and i was able to use my Solarium (a picture
survey that i used as an evangelism tool with Campus Crusade for
Christ at MSU) and she went from not believing that God existed to
believing in Him, and his son, and wanting to have a personal
relationship! How amazing! Art is so powerful!!!

Anyways, Great things are always happening, This week we had a total
of 152 salvations!! Praise God! :)

Have an amazing Sunday everyone! I can't wait to see you all--- March
22nd i come home! time is flying by!

Love,
Allison

February 22,2010

2010-04-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hola amigos!!!

First of all i want to say thank you to everyone who has been praying
for my team and me... It is very obvious that we have a lot of prayer
support, and its definitely needed!

I know that some of you already know this, but Friday night my team
was asked to do evangelism, and some preaching in this area near here
called San Miguel. San Miguel is known here for its drugs, gangs, and
violence... Last friday a 12 year old boy was killed because of a gang
fight and apparently these gangs have a pact with the police so the
police wont get involved.. they wont even come into the area! Needless
to say we were a little nervous about going there with the gospel. A
few members of our team had been to this area before and they said
that they could just feel the evil in the air... it was a very heavy
atmosphere and they just felt terrible by the time they left.

There are alters all over the streets... Big ones to Santa Muerte
(saint death) and other ones to lots of other different idols and
"saints" that they worship. and we were set up to preach and do a
drama in the middle of the street right between these alters.

Tons of people gathered from the streets because we had loud music
playing and big lights on ( it was around 8pm when we started) So we
had a mix of christians and non christians. We did a drama- to the
Lifehouse song,Everything- then John preached a salvation message and
we had 2 people give testimonies. All of this was done with
translators. After we were finished Lots of people wanted to accept
Christ, so we asked everyone to wanted prayer to come forward. Prayer
for anything, not just to accept christ.

The first person to come forward was a 9 year old little girl named
Paula. She was in a wheelchair and had been paralyzed from the waist
down since she was a baby... so she came to us with a huge smile on
her face and told us that she wanted to walk. She had no doubt in her
mind that if we prayed for her, God would make her walk... so how
could we not believe just as much!? Talk about having faith like a
child! So we all laid hands on her and prayed.. Even some of her
friends came and laid hands on her. Then, we helped her up and she
stood up on her own for the first time in her life!!! We were all
crying and praising God, and we continued to pray as we helped her
take her first steps! Her legs were very weak and hard to straighten
out, but as we continued to pray and walk with her, she was able to go
from sitting motionless, to moving her legs, to standing on her own,
to walking with a lot of support, to walking while simply holding our
hands!!! I still can hardly believe it!! She was the happiest little
girl i have ever seen.. and everyone who was there that night got to
see God's amazing power first hand. How incredible!!!

Between friday night and evangelism last night, we have seen 85 people
come to know Christ!!!! 85 salvations in two days!!! Praise God!!!

Mexico City is so ready you guys... God told us all that the harvest
was ready, and it is so true! We are seeing amazing things happen
every day :)

There is still a huge battle to fight here though, so please continue
praying for us! there is no way we could have done all that we did
without your prayers friday night. The entire atmosphere was
different.. And i know it is because God heard our cries and made a
way. A couple of us, myself included, got this picture of God sending
his angels in chariots of fire into San Miguel ahead of us and lifting
that heaviness and fighting the spiritual battle so that when we got
there we could just focus on the people and their hearts... and i
truly believe that is what happened! so thank you so much for praying!
Prayer is SO powerful!

I love you all, and will see you soon! i come home March 22nd! Check
my facebook, i will be posting pictures from Friday night soon... and
from this afternoon- we get to go to an orphanage!!!

Your sister in Christ,
Allison Duer

February 11,2010

2010-04-19T14:05:00.002-07:00

Hola Amigos!!! :D

Wow, i hardly know where to begin this email! I have now been in
Mexico for almost two weeks, and already I have seen God move like
never before! We are staying at a local church called Bethesda- it is
a very contemporary, spirit- lead Christian church and the people here
are amazing! We have been welcomed into their family and are treated
like kings! Everyone says hello and goodbye with hugs and kisses, so
we really all feel like we are part of a new, huge, spanish-speaking
family! Its wonderful! I think i caught up on the hugs and kisses that
i have been missing from home all in the first day! ( :

We are working with their youth group which has been awesome! We had a
"meet and greet" night where a lot of the youth came to the church and
just hung out with us and we got to know each other. This was very
interesting, however because very few of them spoke english! We had so
much fun with the language barrier, though- from and outsider looking
in, it probably looked more like we were playing charades than having
normal conversation because we had to act out most of what we were
trying to communicate! What you will see in the video is what was most
amazing about the night. While we were all talking, one of the Mexican
guys brought out a guitar and started singing worship songs! It was so
much fun because all of the songs they sang we knew in english!! So it
was amazing, we got to sing the same song, but in different languages!
It was so great!

The first event that we lead out here was a big prayer session in the
city. (Thats the video attachment) We went to a place called Zocolo
where they have this HUGE Mexican flag marking the exact center of
Mexico City. We gathered around the flag and prayed for Mexico CIty.
We had many languages and people from many nations gathered around all
praying for restoration for the city and the people- we had Mexicans
speaking spanish (obviously) but also from our team we had Americans,
Canadians, Malaysians, Swiss, and English all represented. After
prayer, someone lead out in worship, so we sang, in at least 3
languages, "Your The God of This City". What a powerful prayer/worship
time! There was singing, dancing, and rejoicing.. and we drew a very
large crowd! it was so cool! ( :

Yesterday we went on a prayer walk around the city... its a huge area
so we split into groups and it was incredible! We had locals with us,
so as we walked they pointed out specific areas that need specific
prayers. As i was praying, the Holy Spirit moved in me like i have
never felt before! I was brought to tears as my heart broke for the
families struggling with domestic violence, child abuse, kidnappings,
and overall poverty. These people were so desperate, and seeking
comfort and provision from idols and "saints". I really felt my heart
breaking the way God's heart breaks when he sees these children of
His.
BUT
the coolest part was what happened next!!! God told me of his promises
for his children. He reminded me that he promises them HOPE and that
he will show love to the children and wives, that he will teach the
men how to be leaders in their families. He showed me the original
beauty that Mexico held and promised to restore it to its intended
beauty. Suddenly, in the same prayer, i went from crying for these
people, to smiling and actually giggling with joy and peace and
excitement from the Holy Spirit!

God is doing intense things here already, and i cant wait to see how
else he is going to move! We are definitely in the middle of a battle
for this City, however, so i need your prayers!! We are in the front
lines and are definitely feeling the attack. Today during our
intercession time, God told me to do a prophetic act, and it was very
powerful! we stood on our roof speaking truth over the city, and we
stood in a tight line (the front line of battle) and as we prayed
against the enemy we all moved forward... pushing the enemy back and
standing strong with our shields of faith and with the sword of the
spirit. we were declaring truth and claiming the City and using God's
strength to push forward and not let the enemy move us back! It was
amazing... i cant even describe it!

So anyways, watch the videos, and praise God with us!!! and please
join us in the battle over

Mexico

!! I love you all, thank you so much
for your support... its so incredible to know that you are all
fighting alongside us here!

Dios Te Bendiga! (God Bless You)

Allison

January 8,2010

2010-04-19T14:05:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness this has been a crazy week!!!

we are working with ARMS (Australian Relief and Mercy Services) so we
are going to peoples houses and providing help where ever they need
it! this week it has meant a LOT of yard work, gardening, and
cleaning! we are in 3 groups and we each go to 2 houses a day, and at
the end of our time at each house we get to pray for the people we
are helping! it has been really awesome! We have seen people healed,
and have gotten to really touch people in amazing ways!

One man named Liegh had us cleaning in his house and then we just
stopped and talked with him because he was so lonely, all he really
needed was some company. Through talking, we got to share the gospel
with him, and he opened up to us and told us some crazy life stories,
then he asked us for our testimonies! we all shared with him ( there
were 4 of us and all of us were students) and we broke down lots of
walls with Liegh. By the end of our conversation/ prayer- we were able
to pray deliverence from the spirit of witchcraft and the spirit of
depression, and the spirit of loneliness. it was amazing to see the
change in him from begining to end of the prayer... he manifested a
bit during prayer, which was crazy to experience, but in the end it
was so incredible to see God's power of evil!!!! Praise God!

I also got to share the gospel with a man names Oscar from India. My
friend John and i were walking past a bus stop when we saw him and
decided to go talk to him. We ended up staying at the bus stop for a
VERY long time talking with him, and his eyes were totally opened to
truth and we got to pray with him as he accepted Christ! it was ssoooo
cool! As soon as we finished praying he was SO filled with the Holy
Spirit that he started preaching to us! haha- He was so awesome, i
loved every second of it!

We have also seen a lot of salvations and healings through our public
worship times... ahh they ahve been so awesome!

So praise God! Outreach has been amazing so far!!!

Love
Allison Duer

January 2,2010

2010-04-19T14:04:00.002-07:00

Happy New Year everyone!!!

First of all, i want to apologize for my last email. I sounded very
ungrateful and i feel like i sent out a bad image of how YWAM is
treating us! So, let me tell you that for one thing, our new living
situation really isnt that bad! its actually kind of fun living with
all of these girls! Also, this is extremely temporary- a lot of teams
have already left so we dont have the full 67 girls anymore. Also,
that one shower that we have somehow never has a line and the cold
water is refreshing because it is so hot! So anyways, things really
are not as bad as i made them seem, and im sorry for the bad attitude
that came across in my last email- i do appreciate all of the prayers
though :)

Also, i wanted to let you know a bit about what we are doing now that
we are on outreach! Since we are staying in Perth until February 1st,
we are staying on base to work with the ARMS ministry here. Basically
we are joining up with the mercy ministries that partners with YWAM.
So we are going to people's homes and helping with yardwork and
cleaning, and childcare... things like that! I am VERY excited! i cant
wait to get to go into peoples homes and talk with them about God as
we demonstrate it through the time we volunteer to help them out!
Should be amazing!!! Besides working with ARMS, we also have times of
"creative evangelism" where we come up with fun ways to share the
gospel in the city!

We have started off the new year AMAZINGLY! Yesterday, January 1st,
our team got to lead a man to Christ! We brought a bunch of fun games
and things to this park that is down the street from our base- its
right on the river so it is usually pretty busy with families. We
played soccer with some people that we met who were there having a
barbecue and then we had a time of worship! during all of this two
girls from our team started up a conversation with these to guys. One
of them was not interested because he had a lot of issues of his own
to deal with, but his friend was very open to what the girls had to
say and by the end of the conversation he prayed to accept Christ!
Praise the Lord! :) it was so amazing!

New Years Eve was a crazy night for us! We gathered in the middle of
the city where there were hundreds of people partying- i have never
seen partying like this before.. and i went to MSU!!!! This was
madness! so much drinking, people dressed up crazy, music and bands
and drugs and WOW! it was intense. BUT a huge group of us gathered in
the square that lead from the main street to the center of the clubs
and pubs... so pretty much everyone had to funnel through the area we
were in at some point whether to come or go. So we gathered there and
did worship and gave testimonies and it was incredible! Loads of
people stopped to see what was going on and most of them stayed to
hear testimonies and even participated in some of our singing and
dancing! Besides typical worship songs we did lots of fun crazy songs
with dances to draw in the crowds. People were saved and others
introduced to the gospel and it was just an amazing night of steering
people away from the parties and drawing them closer to God. What a
great way to start the new year!!! :)

Im going to send out another email about Mexico City soon, we are
getting more information on where we will be and what we will be
doing, and i have some specific prayer requests dealing with those
sorts of things. I love you guys- hope you are all having a great New
Year!!!

In Him,
Allison Duer

December 28,2009

2010-04-19T14:04:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!!

I would LOVE to have a little extra prayer over the next couple weeks
please! We are all starting outreach right now, and while we are
waiting for our teams to be sent to Mexico, the January quarter is
starting their lecture phase, so we have a LOT of people on base at
the same time! Over the next few weeks we are going to have 67 girls
living in one big room in a building that does not have any air
conditioning!! Thats right, i said 67 girls! no mistake! we have heaps
of bunk beds lined up filling the room, so needless to say, when it is
103 degrees outside (like it was today) and all of those girls, it
gets REALLY hot!! Also, we only have one shower and it only has cold
water, and we have 2 toilets. so getting ready for each day is going
to be a challenge! We are able to use showers on base, but it means
walking about a block away where still there are only 3 showers and
they are already being used be people who live on base.

I am actually really excited about living with all of these girls, it
will be fun but VERY testing. So your prayers will be appreciated!!!
we would love to all be able to make it to mexico without killing
eachother! :P

Thanks so much! love you all!!

Allison

December 18,2009

2010-04-19T14:03:00.004-07:00

What a crazy week this week!!! We just finished up with Spiritual
Warfare and Freedom in Christ! Our class grew so much this week,
seeing each other get really vulnerable and open up to bind spirits of
rejection, mind, occult, other religions, addiction, and sexual lust.
Things got pretty intense in class and we definitely got to see the
power of the Holy Spirit at work! I saw bonds being broken in areas i
didnt even realize were part of my life! I love how God knows me
better than i know myself :). I am really excited to see even more
progress in these areas and would love to have your prayers as
everyone is now in a time of processing.

Wednesday night we all got dressed up for Commissioning Night! it was
a blast- we got dressed up in our best outfits, they prepared an
amazing meal for us, we all got to share about what we have learned so
far during our lecture phase (which ends next week!!) and then we were
all prayed over and commissioned for outreach! After the
dinner/ceremony, we had a fabulous dance party :) it was so much fun!!

I cant believe that our lecture phase is already ending! We only have
three classes left and then we are off to outreach! Our first month is
here in Australia working with local churches- and i can not wait!! I
was looking through my journal from the first week i was here, and i
was totally blown away! We had to write down a prayer to God setting
out our hopes and expectations for DTS, and as i read my prayer and
looked back at the 11 weeks i have spent here, i realized that EVERY
SINGLE hope and expectation had come true! God totally answered my
prayers and i got more out of my lectures than i ever expected to.
Praise God! :D

I can NOT believe that Christmas is only a week away!!!! I still can
not get used to the fact that the temperature is in the 90s and we are
singing Christmas Carols... how strange! Last week we had "carols by
candlelight" out at a local park and it was soo amazing! Tons of
people from the community came and we put on a great carols concert-
people were sprawled out on blankets with dinner picnics and drinks...
it felt like a fourth of July party... but when it got dark, instead
of watching fireworks, we lit candles and sang carols!

I hope you are all staying warm and healthy! I had a pretty nasty case
of the flu last week, but i feel 110% better now! (thanks for all of
your prayers mom and dad!)
Have a Merry Christmas!!!

In Him,
Allison

December 10,2009

2010-04-19T14:03:00.003-07:00

Wow we are so lucky to have a Father who is such a faithful provider!
Tonight our finances were due and as a class we got together to pray
because we were short thousands of dollars! Throughout the prayer
time, many people were lead to give money to others and by the end of
the night MY WHOLE OUTREACH AMOUNT WAS GIVEN TO ME!!!!! So i am
officially done raising support :) Total, our class gave around
$12,000 tonight!!!! It was so amazing to see God speak to people and
to see their obedience and faithfulness! Praise God!

In Him,
Allison

December 1,2009

2010-04-19T14:03:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! happy late thanksgiving!!! i hope you all had a
WONDERFUL time with friends, family and feasting!!

These last couple weeks went a lot better than i had expected! They
dont celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia (obviously..) so i was afraid
of being super homesick not being with my family like normal, but we
had a really great week/weekend and it didnt really even feel like
Thanksgiving, so i didnt feel so much like i was missing out! Plus i
did get to skype with my family + the DeBones! so that was great! :)

This weekend was absolutely amazing! a bunch of us went camping out on
the beach friday night and it was beautiful!! We weren't right on the
water, we were just over the other side of a huge sand dune so we had
a fire and sang worship songs and stayed up to see the sunrise over
the ocean :) We took a bit of a nap and then went for a morning swim
in the BEAUTIFUL, clear ocean water! it was incredible!! there weren't
any other people at the beach.... it was so cool!

Last week we focused on Missions, which was VERY exciting! our
speakers were full of crazy stories that i could hardly believe! I was
very encouraged by the faith these people have- they were willing to
die for what they believed in, and through their faithfulness, God
saved them out of the least-likely of situations! One of the other
speakers had a really powerful testimony on how he stayed strong and
courageous in scary situations with just crazy demonic things. Ahh it
is so encouraging to see how God has used these people- and the only
thing special about them is that they gave their lives to God saying-
Send Me! How cool!!

This week we are studying fear of the Lord and wow. its definitely
something i need to work on! The main thing that stuck out to me in
todays lecture was the fact that i have been so comfortable being
surrounded by sin, which obviously means that i dont have fear of the
Lord. Even when he said this, i was still a bit confused on what it
means/ looks like to Fear God... but the speaker clarified that having
Fear of the Lord does NOT mean being afraid of God! and that is
totally where i was stuck... so that was good.

I am also getting a lot more comfortable with going out and doing
evangelism. I had done it a lot with Campus Crusade, but its different
here because i am talking to people of all ages, not just college
kids, and im out in the city while people are going to clubs and pubs
and stuff, so the atmosphere is totally different. I love it though! i
have had many leaders tell me that i ahve a gift for evangelism and
that was REALLY encouraging :)

Well i hope you are all doing well and enjoying the cold weather :P
its been in the 80s here haha Tomorrow we are all having dinner out at
the beach, and thursday we are putting up christmas decorations!!!! I
love you all and i will talk to you soon!!!

November 25,2009

2010-04-19T14:02:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone!! This last week has been absolutely insane!! God has
been doing incredible work in so many of our lives which is awesome,
but Satan is super jealous and scared so he is being a really big
jerk! The girls i live with and i have been under some really intense
attacks lately.

Lauren just found out Saturday that 4 of her friends died in a car
accident that morning- Three of her best friends were driving in one
car, and they hit their other friends sister... all four girls died.
The girl in the other car has a baby girl who was in the car with her
and she survived, but the mom wasnt married, so im not exactly sure
what is happening there. Needless to say, Lauren is a wreck over the
whole situation and wants to go home to be with her friends and family
really badly!

Kate's dad left her step-mom and disappeared somewhere in California
leaving her little sister to live with a friend. Her step mom wont
take care of her because she doesnt feel it is her responsibility...
she is only in middle school. I guess her dad has gone a little crazy
like this before (after his first divorce) and Kate is really scared
for him and for her sister. She also feels the need to go home to be
with her sister and try to do something about her dad.. but we all
know that its best that God's plan is for her to be here!

Bridget's grandma died last week, and it has been really hard for
her- her Grandma practically raised her and was the only one in her
family to support her coming to YWAM. Her mom told her this weekend
that she wasnt welcome at the house after DTS because she chose God
over the family, Her little sister is on her mom's side and they have
been fighting with her and breaking her heart numerous times over the
last week.

Bailey is having huge doubts about God and Satan is attacking like
crazy- she has even been thinking of suicide... scary!!!!!! She has
been really confused lately, thinking that she is hearing God tell her
things, but we all know that it isnt. nothing she claims he has told
her lines up with His character, so she must not be walking with the
Spirit... shes falling into the devil's lies!

there have been at least 5 of us girls having nightmares almost every
night. Mine aren't super scary, but still not good. a few of the other
girls have been waking up screaming in the middle of the night- ahhh
its been nuts!!! Some girls are having demonic dreams, others having
dreams where loved ones die, others have dreams that they are
constantly falling back into lives of sin that they have given up.

Needless to say, it has been a very rough week/weekend! everytime
someone gets a phonecall or email we all pray right away because we
are afraid to hear what has happened next! The guys on our DTS seem to
be fine.. no major issues, so they have been awesome prayer warriors
for us girls which is super encouraging!

I could just really use your help!! The atmosphere just keeps getting
really heavy around here and it would be awesome if you could help to
pray against the enemy and pray for peace, comfort, and strength for
us girls! Thanks so much!! Love you guys!!

In Him,

Allison Duer

November 1, 2009

2010-04-19T14:02:00.001-07:00

first of all, i hope you all had a happy Halloween!!! i would love to
hear trick-or-treat stories and fun costume stories and such... they
dont really celebrate Halloween in Australia, so i missed out this
year! They did, however, have a gay pride parade yesterday... i wasn't
in the city to see it, but from what i hear it was pretty overwhelming
so nobody from YWAM really stuck around to watch.

I did have a great Halloween though!! no costumes or candy were
involved, but i got to see a bunch of kangaroos at kangaroo island!!!
We had a blast! I didnt get to touch any... but i got about 3 feet
away from two of them, it was extremely cool! I also got to see
dolphins swimming in the river! yes, thats right- dolphins in a
RIVER!! the big river that runs right by our base is a saltwater river
so the dolphins come swim in it pretty often!! So yeah, i'd say it was
a pretty fantastic day! Ill post pictures on facebook asap- my camera
died so im just waiting for it to recharge- let me know if you dont
have facebook and i can email you pictures!

This week we were studying worship and intercession in our lectures. I
know that you will all find this very surprising.. but it turns out
that i can get very loud and excited during worship and intercessory
prayer, so by friday night i had completely lost my voice and had to
settle for whispering. :( It was an amazing week though! I loved being
able to be here in Australia, but knowing that i am making a
difference in other places in the world just through interceding with
my prayers- How Awesome!!

This next week is going to be a crazy one- but i am really excited
about it! we are hosting the National Leaders Meeting here at our
base, so we have YWAM leaders from all over the world staying with us!
I am excited to meet them all, and to hear them speak- instead of our
normal lectures, we have lists of who is teaching on what topics
throughout the week and we get to choose which ones to go to. :)
Should be a great week!

I am waiting for lunch right now, and as soon as we are done eating a
few of us are going into Northridge for this huge art exhibit they are
having in the city! I can't wait for that!! I have also discovered a
few free art museums that i am really excited to check out! Perth is
an amazingly beautiful city and they are very into the arts here, so
just walking around downtown there are always incredible things to
see! it's so cool!!

I hope you are all having and amazing fall!!! jump in a pile of leaves for me!

In Him,

Allison Duer

October 17,2009

2010-04-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

Hey all!!

I am definitely having the time of my life!! We are having so much
fun, and staying SO busy! Here is what my first week has looked like:

6:00-6:30 --> exercise (30 minutes of running or some type of activity)
6:30-8:00 --> Time alone with God/ Breakfast/ Get ready for the day
8:00-8:30 --> Morning Chores (my morning chore is cleaning the dorms)
8:30-9:30 --> Worship and Intercessory Prayer
9:30-10:00 --> Tea time! (yes we actually drink tea and eat pastries!!)
10:00-12:30 --> Lecture
12:30 LUNCH!
then I am free until 5PM when i do dinner dishes for my work duties.
Then we usually have some sort of activity at night!

So as you can see its been a very busy week here! It has all been so
much fun though! I am learning so much about God, we have been
studying His character and really being able to hear His voice. which
is awesome!

Thursday night we had our first night of evangelism. so we broke up
into twos and set off throughout the city to talk to people and pray
with people and holy cow there were some awesome stories!! I got to
pray with a woman named Monica, which was really awesome, we got to
speak truth into her life where she was believing lies, and got to
encourage her in areas where she was really down.

I have learned a lot about how to trust God in every area of life..
even times i wouldnt expect! For my work duties, i do the dinner
dishes and the first night we were there, the Cook asked for us to
start praying over the food as she was dishing it out because she
didnt have enough to go around... apparently that happens almost every
night, and every night we have leftovers!!! God is so amazing!

So this is what my weeks will look like for the next 3 months here! I
just booked my plane ticket to Mexico, we leave February 1st, so
please keep that date in your prayers!! we are all flying to LA and
meeting up then flying to Mexico all together from there. I also
booked my flight to come home and will be leaving Mexico March 20th!!

One more thing that i would love for you all to be praying for is
money! I don't quite have all that i need for my Outreach phase in
Mexico after buying all of my plane tickets. So if you could be
praying that the extra money would come in it would be amazing!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!! God is definitely
doing amazing things here! and feel free to email me back! id love to
keep in touch more specifically with each of you!

Love you all
Ali Duer

October 11,2009

2010-04-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! i know it hasnt been very long since my last update, but
i have learned a lot about Australian culture that i thought it would
be fun to share!

Fun Fact #1: Aussies drive on the left side of the road... that means
that if you want to cross a street you have to look RIGHT first and
then left, or there is a good chance you will get plowed down by
oncoming traffic!

Fun Fact #2: In Australia, pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.
so you really will get plowed down by oncoming traffic if you cross at
the wrong time!

Fun Fact #3: When a cashier give you change back, do not disregard the
little penny look-a-likes... they are actually worth 2 dollars,
whereas the huge half-dollar looking ones are only worth 50 cents.

Fun Fact #4: Although in the U.S. it may be a somewhat ghetto way of
saying "peace" by holding up your first and middle fingers (the back
of your hand facing out) But here in the Outback that is a very
insulting hand gesture resembling our middle finger.

Just some fun things that i have learned in this first week here...
unfortunately i did learn all of these by experience... but dont
worry, i havent gotten hit by any cars, i only lost one $2.00 coin,
and i was warned to put my hand down before i could really offend
anyone!

I love you all and hope all is well!! talk to you again soon!

Love, Allison

October 6,2009

2010-04-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!!!

Just wanted to let you know that i made
it to Australia safe and sound!! It took me 42 hours to get here...
but it was well worth the trip! I am already having the time of my
life and its only been four days!!

The people here are amazing.. People from all over the world and of
all different ages! I know im going to leave here with the strangest
accent between all of the canadians, the aussies, and my new friends
from england and switzerland! it ought to be a crazy blend of accents
for sure!

We havent started any classes yet, we start next week but we have been
having so much fun exploring the city of Perth! We take trains and
busses to get most places... and do a lot of walking- Perth is SSOOO
beautiful!

I found a church that i really like called Riverview (kind of ironic
since my church in lansing was also called Riverview) - its a church
off of Hillsong so the worship is amazing and the overall atmosphere
just blew me away!

I will email you all again as soon as i start learning fun new things
and have some stories to share!!! I love you all! Thanks for all of
your love and support! I would love to hear back from you, i want to
stay updated on your lives too!!

In Him,

Ali Duer

Fundraiser/Concert/Pig Roast

2009-08-18T16:53:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!! awesome news: the party we had on friday night was a HUGE success!!! I was able to raise more than double what i was expecting!! Praise God! It has been so amazing to see the body of Christ come together to help send me off to share His love with the world! Thank you so much to all of you who have been a part of that!

I have raised about half of what i need so far... so please keep me in your prayers while i continue to raise support and prepare for my six month long adventure!!

God Bless!

New Idea

2009-05-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

Spring Lake Wesleyan Church gave me a great idea for my trip! Since i will be flying from here to Australia, then Australia to Mexico, then flying back home.... It would be awesome if people could donate frequent flyer miles!!

Especially people who dont exactly have the extra cash to help out... that would be ab amazing way to support me! The airfare is a HUGE part of the expense of my trip.

Great Start!

2009-05-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

The fundraiser at the Wagenmaker Greenhouses was a fantastic start to my summer of support raising!!
Thanks to all of you who went out to buy flowers Friday and Saturday, i was able to raise around $500 total! Praise God!!!

This first $500 will go towards buying my Visa for Australia, and paying for my entrance fee to the school :)

Thanks again SO much for all of your help! I couldn't do this without you all!

Praise God!

2009-05-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

Great News!
The first day of my fundraiser at the Wagenmaker Greenhouses went amazingly! I raised around $200 already and can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring (especially with nicer weather!) God is such an amazing provider... i love being able to see Him work and can't wait to see Him provide for me throughout the summer

Thanks SSOO much to all of you who are supporting me! i couldn't do it without you!

Fundraiser at the Greenhouse!!!

2009-05-06T21:47:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! if you would like to buy flowers for spring while helping me raise support for my mission trip, head to the Wagenmaker's greenhouses May 15th and 16th!! Print out the flyer above and turn it in when you check out, every flyer gives me 10% of the purchase!!

scripture/ life motivation!

2009-05-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has eternal life and cannot be condemned; He has crossed over from death to life."

John 5:24

"And how can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear unless someone is preaching to them?
And how can they preach unless they are sent?
As it is written: Beautiful are the feet of those who share the Good News!"

Romans 10:14 & 15

What's Next!?

2009-05-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

After my six months away from home, being in the mission field, i will be coming home to Spring Lake! I don't know how long I will be home for... but for now my plan is to simply come home, work, raise more support, and prepare myself to go out on another mission!

I wont go through the discipleship training school again- the next time i go out will probably be for a longer period of time, and the whole trip will be dedicated to outreach. I don't know where I will be going, or what i will be doing... for now i am just trusting God with this trip and waiting for him to reveal the rest of his plan for me!

Please keep me in your prayers as i don't exactly have a set plan for my life after my DTS and that can be both intimidating and scary!! Just pray that i can be content with waiting for the Lord to show me where to go and what to do!

God Bless

Outreach

2009-05-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

Besides the time i will spend in Australia learning, I also get to go out for an outreach portion where i get to utilize the skills i have been taught.

I will be flying to Mexico City, Mexico where i will spend three months giving back to the community and enhancing the Lord's kingdom! I will be doing things like working with children in orphanages, helping with children in need, sharing God's word, and spreading His unconditional love!

At this point i don't have many details on that portion of my trip, but as soon as i find out more specifically what I will be doing and where i will be working i will let you all know!

God Bless!

Discipleship Training School

2009-05-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that in only 5 months i will be on a plane to Perth, Australia! Not to mention that only three months after that i will jump on another plane to Mexico City! What a crazy change in the plans i had made for my life... but then, God has a way of making his plans workout a lot better than my own!!

I have most definitely felt the Lord move in my life, leading me to a full time position in missions with Youth With A Mission. Now, this doesn't mean that i am simply thrown out into a foreign country and expected to know how to reach out to people and share the Good News on my own. It is quite the contrary actually! I will spend an entire three months in Australia being trained on how to effectively share God's word and love with the world.

I will be living with other students of all ages and nationalities who all have the same desire for the great commission (Matthew 28) as i do. Each day we will be taking classes on knowing God more personally and what it means to be a missionary. I get to spend three months being poured into by amazing teachers who will encourage me, help me to find my strengths and spiritual gifts, and also develop the areas of my life that need to be strengthened.

I can't wait to share all of the amazing things that i am going to learn!!!

God Bless!