a bit of leadership

Let's get this blog think crackin' again huh?! things are in full swing around here and much has happened since the last update. the biggest change in my life is that i have now started my trek of leadership and responsibility by taking over the youthstreet sports team! i have been a part of that team since i have been here (july '07) and the former leader decided to move on from that position and youthstreet leadership asked me if i would be willing to take over. it was an honor to be asked and now that means that I am in charge of the planning, facilitating, staffing, and making sure that a group of about 20 people have an incredible sporting experience every saturday. good times....i'll keep you posted on all of those happenings asit looks to be a fun and challenging time. gotta love responsibility!

another fun youthstreet story is that a couple weeks ago we did a big talent show with all the kids that we modeled after the "american idol." it was a huge production that involved 15-20 different acts (mostly music), live feed cameras, back stage interviews, many stage lights, and otherwise keeping about 100 kids engaged and entertained. they asked me if i would be willing to be one of the 3 judges. we do this show about every 3-4 months and it is usually the same judges but they had a spot to fill this time and for some reason they came to me. i ended up agreeing to do it and soon became "fletcher",,,,,the ultra american/jock/intense/know nothing about music character. it was a real stretch for me....:). after each performance i had to critique the act and simultaneously be funny and witty on the spot so that the audience will entertained. at one point i mentioned something about interpretive dancing and my buddy (who was also involved) called me out and so i had to go up to the front and do a dance for everyone as they chanted "fletch ER fletch ER." i hate dancing but apparently for some reason it was funny. i'm not sure why.....:). the night was a lot of fun and it went really well. they even asked me to come back and be a permanent judge. great. maybe i can dance more next time.

on another note, me and a group of about 20 staff our base went to a high school in town this last friday and did an "auslife" program. auslife is basically a program where we go and do a high intensity, action packed program designed to talk to the kids about a certain issue...this time we talked about self-esteem. we watched video clips, played games, had small groups, and just overall talked about self-esteem, what it is, how it affects us, how we can help others etc. It is also cool to because we are allowed to talk about God and as much as we want....even in public schools here. so up front we pretty much keep it to the topic but in small groups God comes up quite a bit. my group was actually way more into talking about God than anything else. my group of 8 were all in 11th grade and all told me at the beginning when i asked what they liked to do for fun, all mentioned drinking, partying, getting smashed, vodka, or some other form of drinking as their main source of entertainment. but they all ended up being really interested in God and who he was etc. it was a good day. at the end i was on a panel where the kids could write down questions about anything....self-esteem, God, life, or whatever. I was the one who started the answers off and so i was handed the microphone and then read my first question...."if God is there, why doesn't he answer our prayers?".... nothing like starting it off with a bang huh? my other questions ended up being "does God care about me?" "why do bad things happen if God cares" and "why doesn't God just show him/herself if he/she's really there?" so in front of 120 kids or so i did my best to tackle these questions. if you wanna know what i said.....ask me. i don't have enough room here but i would love to chat about it.

other than that life is chuggin away. still working in accounts where i will be for the next few months most likely. haven't lost any money yet! haha! i have a new roommate just move last night as well. he's from tonga. a lot more base news goin on....we just had 5 teams return from all over the region....indonesia, thailand, papua new guinea, torres straight islands, and mt. isa. they have amazing strories of working with prostitutes in thailand, goin to incredibly remote villages to put on healthcare clinics, working with youth programs and so much more. more on that later as well...

i'd love to hear from you guys. talk to ya soon!