“Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” – 2 Thessalonians 3: 1-5
In my last post I said, “I’m going to need at least another month of reflection time to truly soak in all His teaching.” Well, it’s been about a month since I last posted, so I guess I was right in some respects—I apologize for not updating sooner!
I’ve been back in the States for about two weeks now, and the thought of having spent six weeks in Sydney, Australia is still unreal to me! What an incredible privilege. I know I was there; I’ve seen the photos, and I have the memories of all that occurred during our time in Sydney. But sitting in my apartment in small town Montevallo, Alabama, I am still amazed at all God did this summer!
My prayer was, to in some small way, impact Australia for Christ. I believe I had expectations going over there, but for the most part, those were immediately thrown out the window. ‘Be faithful,’ God continued to whisper to me.
Be faithful to what? What does faithfulness look like in a foreign country, on the other side of the world?
It means living out your faith: investing your time to commune with Christ, and then pouring yourself out to a few. It’s life on life discipleship: living out what you believe, not once in a while, but every hour of everyday. Faithfully getting up in the morning and going to campus—not because of me, or because my leader told me that’s what’s on the schedule today, but because Christ calls us to seek the lost and encourage believers. Through this, God showed me the importance of reproducing my life!
This was incredibly difficult in Sydney. Ministry is different, campuses are spread out, and students rarely stick around past 2 or 3 o’clock. So how were we faithful to meet up with students? Anyway we could: soccer matches, soup kitchens, Pitt Street Mall, lunch, dinner, coffee…I learned to be casual, but intentional. If Christ is the center of my life, I’m going to talk about Him: how He is shaping me, changing me, etc. We all worship something, and what we worship we will bring up in conversation. So I found myself easily talking about my favorite food with a stranger, but not going much deeper than that. In a post-modern culture that believes ‘Christ is good for you, but no thanks’ you could be talking about your favorite flavor of ice cream for the whole six weeks…I had to be immersed in the Word of God, building my convictions on His Scriptures. It is much easier to share about the immeasurable power of my Lord Jesus Christ when I have been meditating on passages that speak of His overcoming the grave!
I believe we were faithful with what God gave us to do during our time in Sydney, but I also believe that God did much more in us then through us this summer. I believe we did the work of missionaries: we went to campus, we shared Christ—but God works outside of our work. So to say that ‘we did,’ is to dishonor the work that God did—and is continuing to do in our absence. He taught me so much more about His kingdom, His purpose, and His ways, then I taught anyone. And I’m thankful for that.
Two weeks post field…I knew I would miss going to campus, I would miss seeing the beauty of Australia, and I would definitely miss all my new SOW friends! I had been preparing for this though. But more than anything, I miss our community so very much. As believers we have the privilege of biblical community! God went to great lengths to pursue His people (at the cost of His Son) and He uses those people to pursue and invest in a younger generation of believers. For six weeks, with eleven of my closest friends, I got to participate in doing this daily. They encouraged me by the Word of God, they prayed for me, and as a team we labored and learned together. But just because I’m back in the States doesn’t mean this has to stop. We are spread out across the Southeast right now, but my prayer is that we will take what God taught us this summer to our campuses in the Fall. May we all see God’s kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Thank you for coming on this journey with me, God Bless you all!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
And you’ll never know it…
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” –Hebrews 11:1
So begins our final week in Sydney, Australia. This month has literally flown by, and I’m sad to say good-bye so soon. God has revealed so much about His heart for the nations, His people, and His glory. I’m going to need at least another month of reflection time to truly soak in all His teaching. But for now, I’ll do my best to summarize.
Each semester the universities give their students a week off before exams start. It's called StuVac, or student vacation, and so the past two weeks have been really difficult to get around students. SOW meetings have ended for the semester and most students are studying at home now. In light of this, we started the second phase of our project. We have been working with Harbour City Church Plant doing city missions and mercy ministry this week—as well as still trying to meet up with students we’ve met on campus. Even with exam period going on, we’ve been able to connect for a few one on one’s, which has been really encouraging. Last week Kandice and I prayed over USyd with one of the SOW girls. She treated us to coffee and chiffon cake after and we had some great conversation. The SOW students especially have been so hospitable, so encouraging and just so incredibly sweet. I am going to miss them so much when we leave.
This past week we’ve been able to meet up with many of the SOWers down at Darling Harbour for soccer matches. (Sydney is one of only six other cities in the world that have what is called Fifa Fan Fest. It’s for the World Cup games being played in South Africa, and so they’ve set up big screens in Darling Harbour where you can watch a match with thousands of your closest friends (for free!). Our team has been going there almost nightly to watch matches between 9:30 pm and 4:30 am. It’s been exhausting, but so much fun!)
As I mentioned earlier, we started city missions this week at Newtown Mission’s Soup Kitchen. What an experience to say the very least! A staff of about six or seven volunteers work day in and day out to feed about 100 people who visit the mission for lunch. I think I can speak for our entire team that this is something we have really enjoyed. One of our favorite guys who visits is named Ross. He is covered in tattoos from head to toe and his dreads stretch down that far as well. In all honesty, if I saw Ross walking towards me on the street, I would probably cross over to avoid him. He used to hate God, hate life, and pretty much hate any and everyone he came in contact with. But after working alongside him this past week, I can truly tell he loves the Lord. Ross said he works in the soup kitchen as a way to give back for what God has done in his life! Just amazing really.
Since we’re getting down to our last week in Sydney, we took a team trip to the Blue Mountains last weekend. It was so beautiful to see God's creation. I felt so small as we hiked up and down the gorgeous mountains of Australia. Along the way we stopped at Featherdale Farm where we got to pet koala’s and feed kangaroos. Contrary to popular belief, these animals don’t run wild in the streets of Sydney—but they do roam around Featherdale, and so that was super fun to be able to feed and pet a kanga!
We also visited Hillsong Church last week as well. During orientation we had been told that Hillsong was a charismatic church catering to the younger generation. (If you’re not familiar with Hillsong, they are pretty famous for their worship music back in the States and all over the world). So last Sunday night we decided to check it out. We were all really excited to go, but the lights, camera angles, and jumping up and down, made Hillsong feel more like a concert then a church service. I’m glad we went, and it was good to witness so many young people who seemed to want to worship the Lord. But as we rode the bus back to Sydney, I couldn’t help but think: if that many people are so on fire for God, why has Australia not seen a revival? Why is church attendance at a staggering 3% in this country—and how can that change?
How can Australia become a nation under God instead of a nation under sport and leisure? I don’t want to lump all of Australia in to one completely secular category, there are Christians here who are laboring to see their country come to Christ, and Hillsong seems to be bringing in the masses. But I want to pray for a revival! I want to see this country—so diverse, so heavily populated—lifting up their hands in praise to the Almighty God.
And so I begin what I’d like to call the, “and you’ll never know it prayer requests.” Paddy Benn, head of the Evangelical Union at USyd, came and spoke with us yesterday. He mentioned praying for BIG THINGS that God could do when we leave…and we would never know if it happened or not (hence the, ‘and you’ll never know it’). I want to pray for these kinds of things. I want to see the city of Sydney on fire for Christ, for the state of New South Wales to be one filled with the Holy Spirit. I’m not at all sure how to go about it other than to pray to God to change this nation into one that desires Him. Please join me in praying for Australia. I have seen firsthand how God is working here. He is doing amazing things, but Australia is still only a nation of about 5% Christian.
We have less than a week left before we head back to the U.S. Monday and Tuesday we have city missions. Wednesday is our debriefing day, and Thursday is our last SOW event before we leave early Friday morning. If you could be praying that we would
1.) serve at Newtown Mission out of an overflow of love and grace
2.) be able to meet up with SOW students and encourage them in their walk
3.) Thursday night is Pancake/Café Night. It’s the last big event before we leave. Please pray that students will break away from studying for exams and come out for some food and fellowship
4.) Lastly, pray that our hearts would be forever changed by these past six weeks in Sydney and
5.) that God would continue to reveal His purpose for our lives and for His glory.
We were told from the beginning that we would have to be flexible. Unlike CCP’s in the past, we were going to be investigating Sydney, and so we didn’t really know what these six weeks were going to look like. Usually there’s one target campus, usually there’s a Campus Outreach to come alongside, and usually students live on campus. But in Sydney…there were three campuses! There was no Campus Outreach! And students commute on average 45 minutes to get to uni each day! Remember that advice to be flexible? This CCP, things were turned completely upside down—and all I can say is that I’ve loved every minute of it!
So begins our final week in Sydney, Australia. This month has literally flown by, and I’m sad to say good-bye so soon. God has revealed so much about His heart for the nations, His people, and His glory. I’m going to need at least another month of reflection time to truly soak in all His teaching. But for now, I’ll do my best to summarize.
Each semester the universities give their students a week off before exams start. It's called StuVac, or student vacation, and so the past two weeks have been really difficult to get around students. SOW meetings have ended for the semester and most students are studying at home now. In light of this, we started the second phase of our project. We have been working with Harbour City Church Plant doing city missions and mercy ministry this week—as well as still trying to meet up with students we’ve met on campus. Even with exam period going on, we’ve been able to connect for a few one on one’s, which has been really encouraging. Last week Kandice and I prayed over USyd with one of the SOW girls. She treated us to coffee and chiffon cake after and we had some great conversation. The SOW students especially have been so hospitable, so encouraging and just so incredibly sweet. I am going to miss them so much when we leave.
This past week we’ve been able to meet up with many of the SOWers down at Darling Harbour for soccer matches. (Sydney is one of only six other cities in the world that have what is called Fifa Fan Fest. It’s for the World Cup games being played in South Africa, and so they’ve set up big screens in Darling Harbour where you can watch a match with thousands of your closest friends (for free!). Our team has been going there almost nightly to watch matches between 9:30 pm and 4:30 am. It’s been exhausting, but so much fun!)
As I mentioned earlier, we started city missions this week at Newtown Mission’s Soup Kitchen. What an experience to say the very least! A staff of about six or seven volunteers work day in and day out to feed about 100 people who visit the mission for lunch. I think I can speak for our entire team that this is something we have really enjoyed. One of our favorite guys who visits is named Ross. He is covered in tattoos from head to toe and his dreads stretch down that far as well. In all honesty, if I saw Ross walking towards me on the street, I would probably cross over to avoid him. He used to hate God, hate life, and pretty much hate any and everyone he came in contact with. But after working alongside him this past week, I can truly tell he loves the Lord. Ross said he works in the soup kitchen as a way to give back for what God has done in his life! Just amazing really.
Since we’re getting down to our last week in Sydney, we took a team trip to the Blue Mountains last weekend. It was so beautiful to see God's creation. I felt so small as we hiked up and down the gorgeous mountains of Australia. Along the way we stopped at Featherdale Farm where we got to pet koala’s and feed kangaroos. Contrary to popular belief, these animals don’t run wild in the streets of Sydney—but they do roam around Featherdale, and so that was super fun to be able to feed and pet a kanga!
We also visited Hillsong Church last week as well. During orientation we had been told that Hillsong was a charismatic church catering to the younger generation. (If you’re not familiar with Hillsong, they are pretty famous for their worship music back in the States and all over the world). So last Sunday night we decided to check it out. We were all really excited to go, but the lights, camera angles, and jumping up and down, made Hillsong feel more like a concert then a church service. I’m glad we went, and it was good to witness so many young people who seemed to want to worship the Lord. But as we rode the bus back to Sydney, I couldn’t help but think: if that many people are so on fire for God, why has Australia not seen a revival? Why is church attendance at a staggering 3% in this country—and how can that change?
How can Australia become a nation under God instead of a nation under sport and leisure? I don’t want to lump all of Australia in to one completely secular category, there are Christians here who are laboring to see their country come to Christ, and Hillsong seems to be bringing in the masses. But I want to pray for a revival! I want to see this country—so diverse, so heavily populated—lifting up their hands in praise to the Almighty God.
And so I begin what I’d like to call the, “and you’ll never know it prayer requests.” Paddy Benn, head of the Evangelical Union at USyd, came and spoke with us yesterday. He mentioned praying for BIG THINGS that God could do when we leave…and we would never know if it happened or not (hence the, ‘and you’ll never know it’). I want to pray for these kinds of things. I want to see the city of Sydney on fire for Christ, for the state of New South Wales to be one filled with the Holy Spirit. I’m not at all sure how to go about it other than to pray to God to change this nation into one that desires Him. Please join me in praying for Australia. I have seen firsthand how God is working here. He is doing amazing things, but Australia is still only a nation of about 5% Christian.
We have less than a week left before we head back to the U.S. Monday and Tuesday we have city missions. Wednesday is our debriefing day, and Thursday is our last SOW event before we leave early Friday morning. If you could be praying that we would
1.) serve at Newtown Mission out of an overflow of love and grace
2.) be able to meet up with SOW students and encourage them in their walk
3.) Thursday night is Pancake/Café Night. It’s the last big event before we leave. Please pray that students will break away from studying for exams and come out for some food and fellowship
4.) Lastly, pray that our hearts would be forever changed by these past six weeks in Sydney and
5.) that God would continue to reveal His purpose for our lives and for His glory.
We were told from the beginning that we would have to be flexible. Unlike CCP’s in the past, we were going to be investigating Sydney, and so we didn’t really know what these six weeks were going to look like. Usually there’s one target campus, usually there’s a Campus Outreach to come alongside, and usually students live on campus. But in Sydney…there were three campuses! There was no Campus Outreach! And students commute on average 45 minutes to get to uni each day! Remember that advice to be flexible? This CCP, things were turned completely upside down—and all I can say is that I’ve loved every minute of it!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
G'day!
We just finished up our second week in Sydney! Time is just flying so quickly. This week God really opened doors to meet both believers and non-believers on and off campus. Sydney uni culture is just very different from the states. Most students live at home and so this makes getting around students more difficult. We were fortunate to meet students in a few of the colleges so we hope to meet up with them next week. Sorry this is so long. I feel like everyday there is so much to recap that I just don’t even know where to start….
We met a girl the very first day who Ramsey has really built a great relationship with. She spent the day with Ramsey last Tuesday, and it looks like we're going to be playing volleyball out at Manley Beach this weekend!
Last week I met a girl involved with SOW whose dad passed away in August. She has been struggling with opening up to her friends about it, as they’re just not able to relate. I was able to talk to her last week a bit after the SOW meeting. This is such a GOD thing! I am always encouraged and comforted to speak with girls who have gone through what I’ve gone through. I just pray that I can be vulnerable with her and that we would both be comforted by God's love (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
On Monday we spent a majority of the day at an EU staff meeting The EU is the Evangelical Union. They are the largest ministry on campus with nearly 700 students involved. Apparently, Christians face a lot of persecution from students and professors and so the EU focuses largely on building up the Christians already on campus.
It is encouraging to see that nearly 700 students are involved in this ministry, I just pray that their would be more of a balance in seeking the lost and building up the already believers.
From our meeting on Monday, a few of us got connected to a church bible study in the dorms the next night! We had been wanting to get into the colleges since we got here so we were very excited to get to go. (Btw, in case you’re confused, colleges and dorms are interchangeable).
We met some great girls at the bible study who really have a heart to see their non-Christian friends turn to Christ. The bible study is run by one of the nearby churches, but it is the only study the church has on campus. Infact, there is not a ministry at USyd that targets students at the colleges. It would be so great to see a Campus Outreach on this campus, as this is one of our major focuses back in the states.
We have been told by a number of Aussies that since most students live at home, it is difficult for Christians to hang out with non-Christians. It’s really difficult to hang out with friends in general. Out of 45,000 students that go to USyd only about 3,000 live in the dorms. On average, most commute an hour to school everyday, but we have met several students who commute nearly two to three hours!
Wednesday night we went over to Pastor Jim’s house for some food and fellowship. I have been so encouraged by the warmth and generosity of the body of Christ at Harbour City Church Plant. And just to add to the already amazing experience, I noticed on Sunday as we were singing worship that I can see the Sydney Opera House from the church window! Just unreal. I’m seeing God's hand in so much of where we go and what we do. I honestly don't want to leave.
Thursday we did some cold turkey evangelism with Student Life (it's like Campus Crusade for Christ in Australia). I partnered with Esther (one of the fourth year students from SOW), and we sat down and talked with two girls, Cathy and Victoria, for nearly 45 minutes! Aussies love to discuss and debate. We had some great conversation about whether they believe in God and what misconceptions they might have. They had loads of questions. It was so great! God really opened the door to share the gospel with them and I really think He had prepared Victoria's heart to hear it.
Unfortunately, neither Cathy or Victoria wanted to meet back up next week but Victoria said she was interested in reading about Christ in the book of John, and so I left my number with her. Please pray that God would convict her in her sin and she would turn to Christ. I am praying that I would run into her next week or that God would put someone in her path to share with her and help her investigate.
Friday is our Sabbath and then next week starts STUVAC (student vacation). USyd and UNSW give their students a week off before exams, so we really don't know what next week is going to look like. We are planning to have the SOW girls over Tuesday evening for some tacos and Tim Tams, and we hope to set up one-on-one appointments with some of the girls we’ve met over the last week.
Lastly (really, I promise this is the last thing). I had my mom check my messages last week and I had a message from Olan offering me a job to go on staff with Campus Outreach! Everyday I go to campus and I absolutely love sharing and learning and encouraging from the Word of God. There are definitely times where I feel like I’m not doing anything or Satan's lies keep me from sharing, but I can't imagine doing anything else. I love it! When I get discouraged because it seems like we don't have enough time to truly build relationships, I thank God that He has opened the door for me to do this in the States.
G’day!
We met a girl the very first day who Ramsey has really built a great relationship with. She spent the day with Ramsey last Tuesday, and it looks like we're going to be playing volleyball out at Manley Beach this weekend!
Last week I met a girl involved with SOW whose dad passed away in August. She has been struggling with opening up to her friends about it, as they’re just not able to relate. I was able to talk to her last week a bit after the SOW meeting. This is such a GOD thing! I am always encouraged and comforted to speak with girls who have gone through what I’ve gone through. I just pray that I can be vulnerable with her and that we would both be comforted by God's love (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
On Monday we spent a majority of the day at an EU staff meeting The EU is the Evangelical Union. They are the largest ministry on campus with nearly 700 students involved. Apparently, Christians face a lot of persecution from students and professors and so the EU focuses largely on building up the Christians already on campus.
It is encouraging to see that nearly 700 students are involved in this ministry, I just pray that their would be more of a balance in seeking the lost and building up the already believers.
From our meeting on Monday, a few of us got connected to a church bible study in the dorms the next night! We had been wanting to get into the colleges since we got here so we were very excited to get to go. (Btw, in case you’re confused, colleges and dorms are interchangeable).
We met some great girls at the bible study who really have a heart to see their non-Christian friends turn to Christ. The bible study is run by one of the nearby churches, but it is the only study the church has on campus. Infact, there is not a ministry at USyd that targets students at the colleges. It would be so great to see a Campus Outreach on this campus, as this is one of our major focuses back in the states.
We have been told by a number of Aussies that since most students live at home, it is difficult for Christians to hang out with non-Christians. It’s really difficult to hang out with friends in general. Out of 45,000 students that go to USyd only about 3,000 live in the dorms. On average, most commute an hour to school everyday, but we have met several students who commute nearly two to three hours!
Wednesday night we went over to Pastor Jim’s house for some food and fellowship. I have been so encouraged by the warmth and generosity of the body of Christ at Harbour City Church Plant. And just to add to the already amazing experience, I noticed on Sunday as we were singing worship that I can see the Sydney Opera House from the church window! Just unreal. I’m seeing God's hand in so much of where we go and what we do. I honestly don't want to leave.
Thursday we did some cold turkey evangelism with Student Life (it's like Campus Crusade for Christ in Australia). I partnered with Esther (one of the fourth year students from SOW), and we sat down and talked with two girls, Cathy and Victoria, for nearly 45 minutes! Aussies love to discuss and debate. We had some great conversation about whether they believe in God and what misconceptions they might have. They had loads of questions. It was so great! God really opened the door to share the gospel with them and I really think He had prepared Victoria's heart to hear it.
Unfortunately, neither Cathy or Victoria wanted to meet back up next week but Victoria said she was interested in reading about Christ in the book of John, and so I left my number with her. Please pray that God would convict her in her sin and she would turn to Christ. I am praying that I would run into her next week or that God would put someone in her path to share with her and help her investigate.
Friday is our Sabbath and then next week starts STUVAC (student vacation). USyd and UNSW give their students a week off before exams, so we really don't know what next week is going to look like. We are planning to have the SOW girls over Tuesday evening for some tacos and Tim Tams, and we hope to set up one-on-one appointments with some of the girls we’ve met over the last week.
Lastly (really, I promise this is the last thing). I had my mom check my messages last week and I had a message from Olan offering me a job to go on staff with Campus Outreach! Everyday I go to campus and I absolutely love sharing and learning and encouraging from the Word of God. There are definitely times where I feel like I’m not doing anything or Satan's lies keep me from sharing, but I can't imagine doing anything else. I love it! When I get discouraged because it seems like we don't have enough time to truly build relationships, I thank God that He has opened the door for me to do this in the States.
G’day!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Borders Beyond Israel!
“God purposed that the borders of our vision would be much, much larger then the boundaries of our lives.” – Paul David Tripp, A Quest For More
“You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord even beyond the borders of Israel.” –Malachi 1:5
We serve a God that has no boundaries, no borders, no limits! He is the same God in the States as He is in Australia. He is making His Name known among the nations, and I truly believe He has called our CCP team to Sydney to participate in some small way in bringing His Name and His glory to the nations. Whatever role that might be, I am excited to share my life and my faith with the uni students in Sydney. And so the journey begins….
We arrived in Sydney Wednesday morning around 11 am. (which is 8pm Tuesday in the US). We were met at the airport by Jim Jung, pastor of Harbour City Church in Sydney, Australia. This is the local church that we will be partnering with and attending all summer. Jim has also started a uni ministry (uni is short for university) on three college campuses in Sydney: Uni Sydney, New South Wales, and Sydney Technology. His ministry is called SOW: Student Outreach to the World. Dan and Theresa Choi are in charge of the SOW ministry and they met us at the airport as well. We will be coming alongside them to help connect Aussie students we meet to this ministry.
We are all settled in to our apartment now. It is absolutely incredible! Our view overlooks Hyde Park in downtown Sydney’s Central Business District. We are so close that we can literally run to the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge—and did so this morning. (It’s only about two kilometers away).
The past two days we have spent in orientation with a number of people who we will be partnering with over the next month.
We met with Rich Priebbenow, Regional Director for Campus Outreach Brisbane. He spent the past two days with us giving us insight into ministry on the Aussie campus: Australian culture, ministry expectations, weekly schedules, etc.
Australia is roughly 5% Evangelical Christian. Just to put this number into perspective, Indonesia has the world’s largest population of Muslims, and it is 10% Christian! It’s a staggering statistic, one that I pray will be radically transformed in the coming years. As a post-modern culture, Aussies are more concerned with sport and leisure than faith. They live simple lives based more on experience than working themselves to death. These are obviously stereotypes and we are learning that Sydney is much more different than the rest of Australia. But for the most part Aussies are very laid back.
Our team consists of 13 people: Matt and Linden White and 11 students from Montevallo, Samford, North Alabama, Auburn and Northwest Shoals CC. We are split into two teams so that we may focus our area of ministry to one of two campuses. These are the teams:
Team One is at the University of Sydney: Caleb Knox, Hunter Cassity, Brandon White, Ramsey Pursell, Kandice Kelley and Erin Duncan.
Team Two is at the University of New South Wales: Brandon Land, Kyle Kehoe, Rachel Bond, Haley Venard, and Beth Graham.
We have four days of ministry each week. Tuesday thru Thursday we will be on campus and on Sundays we will be with Harbour City Church. Each team will be on their respective campuses on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Wednesdays we all will be at Sydney Technology together. There are a number of things that we will be doing from investigating the campus, meeting students, connecting with SOW students, going to meetings, etc. I’ll be able to share more about this next week once we have spent a week on campus.
Tomorrow is very exciting though! Tomorrow is the Mayfair. Basically, this is an all day event that SOW is putting on. We will have the opportunity to meet the students connected with the ministry as well as their friends. It will be a great time for fellowship, food, and fun. They will be playing games, grilling out (which Aussies call barbecue), and there will be a time of devotion and worship too. These past couple of days have been great preparation, but nothing can substitute going out and meeting students. So I am super excited to get started.
Prayer Requests:
-Pray for tomorrow’s Mayfair:
that both believers and nonbelievers would attend the event
that God would use this event to help us build relationships with SOW students
-Australians are very skeptical at first. Please pray that God would break down those barriers of mistrust quickly and that He would bless us with many relationships.
-Pray that God would open doors for the gospel, that we would love the students we meet and be truly broken over those who do not know the Lord.
-Finally I pray that we, as a team, would be growing deeper in our understanding of the gospel, in what it means to be a part of the body of Christ, and what God’s vision for our life is.
Thank you all for your support. I would not be here without you all.
“You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord even beyond the borders of Israel.” –Malachi 1:5
We serve a God that has no boundaries, no borders, no limits! He is the same God in the States as He is in Australia. He is making His Name known among the nations, and I truly believe He has called our CCP team to Sydney to participate in some small way in bringing His Name and His glory to the nations. Whatever role that might be, I am excited to share my life and my faith with the uni students in Sydney. And so the journey begins….
We arrived in Sydney Wednesday morning around 11 am. (which is 8pm Tuesday in the US). We were met at the airport by Jim Jung, pastor of Harbour City Church in Sydney, Australia. This is the local church that we will be partnering with and attending all summer. Jim has also started a uni ministry (uni is short for university) on three college campuses in Sydney: Uni Sydney, New South Wales, and Sydney Technology. His ministry is called SOW: Student Outreach to the World. Dan and Theresa Choi are in charge of the SOW ministry and they met us at the airport as well. We will be coming alongside them to help connect Aussie students we meet to this ministry.
We are all settled in to our apartment now. It is absolutely incredible! Our view overlooks Hyde Park in downtown Sydney’s Central Business District. We are so close that we can literally run to the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge—and did so this morning. (It’s only about two kilometers away).
The past two days we have spent in orientation with a number of people who we will be partnering with over the next month.
We met with Rich Priebbenow, Regional Director for Campus Outreach Brisbane. He spent the past two days with us giving us insight into ministry on the Aussie campus: Australian culture, ministry expectations, weekly schedules, etc.
Australia is roughly 5% Evangelical Christian. Just to put this number into perspective, Indonesia has the world’s largest population of Muslims, and it is 10% Christian! It’s a staggering statistic, one that I pray will be radically transformed in the coming years. As a post-modern culture, Aussies are more concerned with sport and leisure than faith. They live simple lives based more on experience than working themselves to death. These are obviously stereotypes and we are learning that Sydney is much more different than the rest of Australia. But for the most part Aussies are very laid back.
Our team consists of 13 people: Matt and Linden White and 11 students from Montevallo, Samford, North Alabama, Auburn and Northwest Shoals CC. We are split into two teams so that we may focus our area of ministry to one of two campuses. These are the teams:
Team One is at the University of Sydney: Caleb Knox, Hunter Cassity, Brandon White, Ramsey Pursell, Kandice Kelley and Erin Duncan.
Team Two is at the University of New South Wales: Brandon Land, Kyle Kehoe, Rachel Bond, Haley Venard, and Beth Graham.
We have four days of ministry each week. Tuesday thru Thursday we will be on campus and on Sundays we will be with Harbour City Church. Each team will be on their respective campuses on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Wednesdays we all will be at Sydney Technology together. There are a number of things that we will be doing from investigating the campus, meeting students, connecting with SOW students, going to meetings, etc. I’ll be able to share more about this next week once we have spent a week on campus.
Tomorrow is very exciting though! Tomorrow is the Mayfair. Basically, this is an all day event that SOW is putting on. We will have the opportunity to meet the students connected with the ministry as well as their friends. It will be a great time for fellowship, food, and fun. They will be playing games, grilling out (which Aussies call barbecue), and there will be a time of devotion and worship too. These past couple of days have been great preparation, but nothing can substitute going out and meeting students. So I am super excited to get started.
Prayer Requests:
-Pray for tomorrow’s Mayfair:
that both believers and nonbelievers would attend the event
that God would use this event to help us build relationships with SOW students
-Australians are very skeptical at first. Please pray that God would break down those barriers of mistrust quickly and that He would bless us with many relationships.
-Pray that God would open doors for the gospel, that we would love the students we meet and be truly broken over those who do not know the Lord.
-Finally I pray that we, as a team, would be growing deeper in our understanding of the gospel, in what it means to be a part of the body of Christ, and what God’s vision for our life is.
Thank you all for your support. I would not be here without you all.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
I Shall Not Lack
Only 7 days until our team boards a plane for Sydney, Australia! Words cannot express how excited I am to be able to spend my summer seeking and sharing Jesus Christ. Finals are done. The hardest academic semester of my life is complete. I can now truly focus on the journey ahead.
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As I sat down to spend time with the Lord this morning, this verse jumped off the page. I wanted to share with you what I feel like God has been showing me:
‘Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” –Malachi 3:10
God promises that He will pour out His blessing until there is no more need! Praise be to God that His faithfulness endures forever. That He never changes. That although we leave for Sydney in less than 7 days, God has no time table. He is always right on time!
And so this is my prayer request for the week. That God would provide! There is a need for support, a need for our team to be able to share Christ in Australia. Would you join me in prayer? Would you ask God to change my doubting heart to a heart that trusts in Him, in His plan, and His work. Would you search your own heart and see if God is calling you to give to my mission?
I feel like there is still so much support to be raised ($1000) and so little time. I trust in the promises of God. I know He can do immeasurably more than I could ever imagine (Eph. 3:20). But there is certainly a doubt that I have hit a major support road block.
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My meditation for the week: Psalm 23
The Lord, our God, knows us personally and intimately. He takes great glory in taking what is broken and restoring it to righteousness, for His name's sake. He sustains. He satisfies. He pursues us with an everlasting love. Goodness eternal. Fellowship everlasting. His grace is always enough. And we are filled to overflowing. We shall not lack.
Because I am in Christ, I shall not lack. For He is my provider, my protector, my all in all. It is only by His grace that I have this opportunity to raise support. Only by His grace that I have the opportunity to know Him, and to share Him with others—and so I live to glorify God through it all.
-------------------------------------
As I sat down to spend time with the Lord this morning, this verse jumped off the page. I wanted to share with you what I feel like God has been showing me:
‘Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” –Malachi 3:10
God promises that He will pour out His blessing until there is no more need! Praise be to God that His faithfulness endures forever. That He never changes. That although we leave for Sydney in less than 7 days, God has no time table. He is always right on time!
And so this is my prayer request for the week. That God would provide! There is a need for support, a need for our team to be able to share Christ in Australia. Would you join me in prayer? Would you ask God to change my doubting heart to a heart that trusts in Him, in His plan, and His work. Would you search your own heart and see if God is calling you to give to my mission?
I feel like there is still so much support to be raised ($1000) and so little time. I trust in the promises of God. I know He can do immeasurably more than I could ever imagine (Eph. 3:20). But there is certainly a doubt that I have hit a major support road block.
--------------------------------------
My meditation for the week: Psalm 23
The Lord, our God, knows us personally and intimately. He takes great glory in taking what is broken and restoring it to righteousness, for His name's sake. He sustains. He satisfies. He pursues us with an everlasting love. Goodness eternal. Fellowship everlasting. His grace is always enough. And we are filled to overflowing. We shall not lack.
Because I am in Christ, I shall not lack. For He is my provider, my protector, my all in all. It is only by His grace that I have this opportunity to raise support. Only by His grace that I have the opportunity to know Him, and to share Him with others—and so I live to glorify God through it all.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” –Proverbs 16:9
What a busy couple of weeks it has been. I’d like to know where April went? But the quicker April leaves, the faster I leave for Australia! Only three and a half more weeks until we board the plane for Sydney! May 17th will be here before I know it :-D
Although the month of April has been crazy, God has really been showing me a lot. Most obvious is that God is in control of my life. He is and will continue to direct my path. With support, with missions, with possible career moves, God is leading me in the direction I should go. I trust He is working for my good.
This past weekend I had the privilege of speaking at Liberty Baptist Church in Clermont. I have been in contact with the Pastor for a couple of months now, and last week he asked me if I would be able to speak at his church about my mission trip to Australia. Of course I said YES! What an amazing opportunity to be able to share with the body of Christ what we are being called to do on the college campus in Australia.
Just in case you’re unsure of what we will be doing this summer, I wanted to give you just a brief explanation. We will be building relationships with college students at the University of Sydney in hopes of sharing the gospel with them. We will be partnering with Harbour City Church in the heart of downtown Sydney. Our hope is that God will use our CCP team to bring people to Christ and raise them up as laborers for the lost world. The ‘big picture’ vision for why we are going to Australia is that Australia is only 400 miles from the 10/40 window, the least evangelized area in the whole world! Just to put that in to perspective, Orlando to Birmingham is over 500 miles.
A brief support update, I’m at about 75 % of my goal of $6000! It has been incredible to see how God has opened so many doors to provide. With three weeks until I leave for Sydney, I trust that God is going to provide the rest. But if you haven’t given or if you want to give more, I would ask that you please prayerfully consider supporting me. No amount is too small.
I wanted to thank everyone who has been following my blog for the last couple of months. I have been so incredibly encouraged by your support. As the date to leave approaches, I am getting more and more excited to share the gospel in Sydney, and I hope you are too! I can’t wait to share about all that God is doing on the other side of the world.
Peace and Love
Although the month of April has been crazy, God has really been showing me a lot. Most obvious is that God is in control of my life. He is and will continue to direct my path. With support, with missions, with possible career moves, God is leading me in the direction I should go. I trust He is working for my good.
This past weekend I had the privilege of speaking at Liberty Baptist Church in Clermont. I have been in contact with the Pastor for a couple of months now, and last week he asked me if I would be able to speak at his church about my mission trip to Australia. Of course I said YES! What an amazing opportunity to be able to share with the body of Christ what we are being called to do on the college campus in Australia.
Just in case you’re unsure of what we will be doing this summer, I wanted to give you just a brief explanation. We will be building relationships with college students at the University of Sydney in hopes of sharing the gospel with them. We will be partnering with Harbour City Church in the heart of downtown Sydney. Our hope is that God will use our CCP team to bring people to Christ and raise them up as laborers for the lost world. The ‘big picture’ vision for why we are going to Australia is that Australia is only 400 miles from the 10/40 window, the least evangelized area in the whole world! Just to put that in to perspective, Orlando to Birmingham is over 500 miles.
A brief support update, I’m at about 75 % of my goal of $6000! It has been incredible to see how God has opened so many doors to provide. With three weeks until I leave for Sydney, I trust that God is going to provide the rest. But if you haven’t given or if you want to give more, I would ask that you please prayerfully consider supporting me. No amount is too small.
I wanted to thank everyone who has been following my blog for the last couple of months. I have been so incredibly encouraged by your support. As the date to leave approaches, I am getting more and more excited to share the gospel in Sydney, and I hope you are too! I can’t wait to share about all that God is doing on the other side of the world.
Peace and Love
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Humble Confidence
“With You, Jesus, I cannot perish; You are always in the boat with me; what have I to fear? You may sleep; I shall not awaken You. My poor nature will tremble, oh yes! But with all my will I shall remain in peace, in the midst of the storm, confident in You. "
O to have such humble confidence!
Hello supporters! It’s been a while since I last updated you all, so I wanted to fill you in on all that has happened.
During our retreat in early March, we were given the task of creating a personal development plan for this summer in Australia. Being the planner that I am, I was super excited to get to do this! But as I brainstormed, I realized that I had absolutely no idea where to start. Thanks to my buddy LB we came up with a pretty sweet plan.
This summer I will be learning about what it means to have humble confidence. What is humble confidence you ask? As of now, the best way I can describe this is to be bold in my faith, knowing that I have the Holy Spirit in me, but dependant on Christ as my Savior and the Lord of my life.
Financial support these past two weeks has been such a lesson in trusting in the Lord. Last week was the best week of support so far. God was so incredibly faithful to bring on supporters. Because of this, I came into the week with almost a deserving kind of mentality—full of confidence, yet severely lacking in humility. I was blind to the fact that I had been trusting in myself. God broke me in my pride by closing doors that I thought for sure would be open to me.
In light of these past two weeks I can truly praise God that He accepts us just the way we are, but loves us too much to keep us that way. He is about transforming us into Christ’s likeness, and I am so grateful for such a Holy makeover.
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.” –Romans 8:32
Happy Easter everyone!
O to have such humble confidence!
Hello supporters! It’s been a while since I last updated you all, so I wanted to fill you in on all that has happened.
During our retreat in early March, we were given the task of creating a personal development plan for this summer in Australia. Being the planner that I am, I was super excited to get to do this! But as I brainstormed, I realized that I had absolutely no idea where to start. Thanks to my buddy LB we came up with a pretty sweet plan.
This summer I will be learning about what it means to have humble confidence. What is humble confidence you ask? As of now, the best way I can describe this is to be bold in my faith, knowing that I have the Holy Spirit in me, but dependant on Christ as my Savior and the Lord of my life.
Financial support these past two weeks has been such a lesson in trusting in the Lord. Last week was the best week of support so far. God was so incredibly faithful to bring on supporters. Because of this, I came into the week with almost a deserving kind of mentality—full of confidence, yet severely lacking in humility. I was blind to the fact that I had been trusting in myself. God broke me in my pride by closing doors that I thought for sure would be open to me.
In light of these past two weeks I can truly praise God that He accepts us just the way we are, but loves us too much to keep us that way. He is about transforming us into Christ’s likeness, and I am so grateful for such a Holy makeover.
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.” –Romans 8:32
Happy Easter everyone!
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