Day 7 on Mission in Port Hedland

Today is Friday and the week is coming to an end. We started our day by going on a tour of the BHP site in Port Hedland. This is where all the Iron Ore is taken from the various mines (usually by massive trains) to be shipped off to various locations around the world, usually China. The tour had the potential to be massively interesting but our tour guide was hopeless. She read off a sheet and half the time I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking at. She also made unfunny jokes all the time... Oh well, it was still good to have a look around the site.

After this tour we had a bit of free time before lunch. Following lunch Ellisa and I fell asleep due to being so wrecked from the week's activities. We woke up in time to go and collect Matt and Vaughan who were coming with us to play basketball at the YIC Centre. YIC is like a Government funded secular youth program which is meant to keep youth off the streets. In Port Hedland it mainly attracts Indigenous Youth. In fact it was exclusively indigenous when we went there today. When we turned up we had a look around their facilities. They were pretty cool. Playstation, computers, couches, pool table, basketball courts, BBQ... I was wishing it was my Youth Ministry room!

Anyway, it took a while for many kids to show up but eventually there were probably about 20-30 kids there. Many of them were primary aged and recognised us from the primary school shows we had done earlier in the week. That was cool, because even though we weren't able to do any sort of presentation, the kids still knew who we were and what we were on about. We ended up playing a 30-40 min game of basketball kids on adults. This was loads of fun and a great way to show these kids we cared about them more than just coming to do a show in Port Hedland at their school.

We left YIC at about 5:50pm to make our way back over to Port Hedland for dinner with the rest of the team and billets at the Port Hedland Yacht club. This was beautifully positioned and were got there just in time to see the sun set over the water. Following this, Ellisa and I hung out with her billet, playing board games. It was a good night, and Ellisa and her billet (Sara) seem to have become good friends over the week. Encouraging each other lots in their faith.

So Friday wasn't a particularly busy day, but it was still good. Playing basketball was one of the highlights of the trip, and it was great to spend more time with some of the kids we'd performed for in the primary schools earlier in the week.

Things to pray:

• For the YIC centre and its staff
• Give thanks to God for his provision of people for us to stay with during our time in Port Hedland
• Give thanks that many of us have become great friends with our billets and have been encouraged by them