My Life as a Pioneer
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Remember reading in history books about the pioneers? They worked hard for everything they had, which wasn’t much, and lived off the land. They made this country what it was as they set off for new land, not yet explored. Images like wagon trains, Daniel Boone and Little House on the Prairie usually come to mind. Well, these days I feel like I can relate to these early American pioneers.
YWAM Orlando has been in the process of restoring its new 198-acre property that was purchased last fall. During my DTS, we worked this property regularly striving to make it inhabitable. With their previous being rented facilities, and 15 homes spread out through several neighborhoods, YWAM Orlando has been steadily outgrowing its space. With this new property, which happens to be an abandoned church camp, all staff, students and schools can be in one place! It’s such a blessing! Last quarter, two schools were living and training out at the property, and this quarter all five schools moved out to the property. While that in and of itself is super exciting, here’s a few other things about the property I’ve left out. There’s still no electricity out here, as the process with the power companies has just taken an extremely long time. We’ve been running our buildings and kitchen off of generators. That works great, until you factor in water and sewage. Two things we also don’t have on the property. So its refillable water tanks and porta-potties! There’s one double wide trailer that has been set up with running water, which makes it a hotspot on campus. The majority of the staff out here are living in campers and RV’s as well. I’ve been lucky to be in a house [with 15 other people], that’s about 15 minutes away from the property, as there’s still just not enough finished space for all of us students. So that’s been the status thus far. It’s been challenging, and a learning experience, but we’ve been dominating each struggle.
Then yesterday we get this curveball. The city decides to tell us that we cannot “inhabit” any of the buildings without power. So all the students, staff, kitchen, offices, and classrooms now have to be moved to….where. But nothing can keep YWAM Orlando down for long! We made a pantry out of a trailer, and moved our “kitchen” into an outdoor picnic area. All male students are now in the double-wide, and classrooms have moved to homes. My new classroom is my living room. Should make getting to class on time a breeze!
And this is week two. Pioneering a new base is an adventure I didn’t realize I was signing up for. But what an incredible opportunity to see God provide in amazing ways. Also on yesterday, we found out we’ve finally been invoiced for the electricity, which means power lines can go in! We’ve been praying for this for 7 months. So God is definitely on the move here at YWAM Orlando and you can literally see it on the campus. I just hope I can keep up.
*Photo fail. These are all from the fall 2010 quarter. More current pictures to come on future blogs!
YWAM Orlando has been in the process of restoring its new 198-acre property that was purchased last fall. During my DTS, we worked this property regularly striving to make it inhabitable. With their previous being rented facilities, and 15 homes spread out through several neighborhoods, YWAM Orlando has been steadily outgrowing its space. With this new property, which happens to be an abandoned church camp, all staff, students and schools can be in one place! It’s such a blessing! Last quarter, two schools were living and training out at the property, and this quarter all five schools moved out to the property. While that in and of itself is super exciting, here’s a few other things about the property I’ve left out. There’s still no electricity out here, as the process with the power companies has just taken an extremely long time. We’ve been running our buildings and kitchen off of generators. That works great, until you factor in water and sewage. Two things we also don’t have on the property. So its refillable water tanks and porta-potties! There’s one double wide trailer that has been set up with running water, which makes it a hotspot on campus. The majority of the staff out here are living in campers and RV’s as well. I’ve been lucky to be in a house [with 15 other people], that’s about 15 minutes away from the property, as there’s still just not enough finished space for all of us students. So that’s been the status thus far. It’s been challenging, and a learning experience, but we’ve been dominating each struggle.
Then yesterday we get this curveball. The city decides to tell us that we cannot “inhabit” any of the buildings without power. So all the students, staff, kitchen, offices, and classrooms now have to be moved to….where. But nothing can keep YWAM Orlando down for long! We made a pantry out of a trailer, and moved our “kitchen” into an outdoor picnic area. All male students are now in the double-wide, and classrooms have moved to homes. My new classroom is my living room. Should make getting to class on time a breeze!
And this is week two. Pioneering a new base is an adventure I didn’t realize I was signing up for. But what an incredible opportunity to see God provide in amazing ways. Also on yesterday, we found out we’ve finally been invoiced for the electricity, which means power lines can go in! We’ve been praying for this for 7 months. So God is definitely on the move here at YWAM Orlando and you can literally see it on the campus. I just hope I can keep up.
*Photo fail. These are all from the fall 2010 quarter. More current pictures to come on future blogs!
About the author
Joy Muldoon is a full-time missionary and part-time blogger. Read about her travels, adventures, and missions here!
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