Time to Go -- Again

Honestly, this tour is run, run, run. Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, now Gladstone, and Monday morning we sail for Brisbane. 

In all the running I have failed to keep you updated. I am trying, but wifi is scarce at best. In only 10 minutes I will have to run again, so this is my hurried attempt at relating what I am able in a short time. 

Last you knew of my adventures was Billabong. I'll start there. We will see how far I get. 

We moved from Townsville to Hidden Valley for one week before jumping aboard the medical ship. Hidden Valley was a time where we studied the Lordship of Christ intensely with minimal distraction. Amazing things happened. I was spoken to in astounding ways. My life will be changed and is being changed through this time. I have hope for my future and am excited for the promises of welfare and of persecution that I found while seeking God. 

After camping, literally a mountaintop experience, we moved to the ship. Our first sail was to Cairns. Like Mark Parker said, it was one of the hardest weeks of my life. Questioning decisions made, and basically just hating the fact I had made them at all... Questioning my sanity. Missing home more than ever before. Wondering what is next and where to go in the future. There is a lot on my mind!

Cairns was crazy, but good. We had so much to do with ship tours, but we also had free time. When you have free time, Cairns is the place to be. Whether it was visiting the Great Barrier Reef (I got to scuba dive for the very first time!), or shopping the night markets, watching fire dancers or listening to friends play piano downtown, there was more than enough to do. It was a welcome break to the constant thinking and working.

We all hopped back on board to sail to Mackay from Cairns. Each time we sail the view is amazing. We often see whales, or at least I do. There are some people who chance to miss them every time. This past sighting, between Mackay and Gladstone, was quite spectacular--the whales really put on a show! Often God paints the sky in gorgeous hues varying from gold to crimson, and mountainous islands often silhouette the sunset sky. It is beautiful out here on the water. 

I wish I could remember all there is to say. I feel like what I am writing is only a jumbled mess of unrelated thoughts--a collage of sorts. 

Since I am writing all this, I need to say something honestly to you. This tour is hard. More than the fact that I have been terribly sick with an awful cold the past week. More than that I have trouble sleeping at night. More than the fact that it is run run run all the time. It's hard being here in Australia running a public relations tour from a cruise ship as we travel down the coast, basically sightseeing. It feels like a party ship on a humanitarian mission. Don't get me wrong, there are stories of people whose lives have been touched--this including our own. Yes, we are doing it for the people of PNG. Yes, God is using us. But it's rough. Many times I feel useless here. Like I could be doing something more beneficial elsewhere. . . . .something that feels more like Kingdom work. It's hard, too, because our team, Pacific DTS, is split into three different PR teams and we don't even work together at our stops. Even when we sail, most of the girls get seasick and stay in bed the whole time. So the family I have at home is distant, and the family I have here is missing. Time is scarce and rushed, so though the purpose of this whole thing is to save people for Jesus, Jesus is forgotten, it seems, in the chaos. It is hard to find time or a place to listen to and spend time with him.

Mackay was difficult because we had to all stay on the ship the whole time. Gladstone is in town again, or just outside, so we are able to get off and walk around. In Mackay, we were at an industrial wharf and needed to shuttle people between the gate and the ship--and it was 20 minutes from the gate into town. 

Today is Friday, tomorrow I have tours all day. Sunday I have the day off and will hopefully get to some free wifi zone for internet access and post some pictures from there. This post has been pieced together in four sections as I find time to add, usually when walking through free wifi zones while I was out on promo. I'm finishing it from the ship's computer...though I have only 10  minutes left. Time time time. Run run run. 

Monday morning, 0900, we ship out. Arrive in Brisbane 29 hours later. We stay there [about] a week, sail to Gold Coast, spend a few days on PR and tours, etc. Then we drive back to Brisbane, do a few church services while we are there for a week, and fly back to Townsville. Lectures for a few weeks after that and we fly off to Sydney for our second outreach. 

Thanks for watching my updates and for praying. Hopefully, this will have supplied enough information to keep your prayers up to date for a while. Still trusting God will continue to provide finances, so if you would pray for that as well it would be wonderful. 

God bless you all, 
Alainya Slakes