"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." - 2 Corinthians 5:14
Hello friends and relatives! As it turns to spring over here in Australia, my thoughts are being brought back to my friends starting college in the United States. I've been praying for each one of you to be surrounded by mentors and friends who will bring you up rather than pull you down. College has been incredible for me so far and I can only hope the same for you.
This week, I've been learning about sacrificial love. Christ devoted his life to serving us and accepting the punishment meant for our sins. The commandments that he gives to us are to first love the Lord God with all heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
On Saturday, I volunteered once again with Hillsong Maintenance to paint lines in the car park. The place where I was painting is affectionately referred to as "Siberia" because of it is incredibly far from absolutely anything. During which I received many lessons from Ariah and Clayton as we talked about everything from theology to chemistry and everything in between. It is a huge blessing and answer to prayer to have such strong christian mentors to help prepare me for the next stages in my life.
This week, after serving at Macquarie running the monitor board and setting up stage, I was given the opportunity to help a woman move from her house to another. The woman is in the middle of going through a divorce and her husband has decided to suddenly move away and leave her with a house which she can not pay for. So, Sunday afternoon, I spent 8 hours loading boxes and carrying furniture into a moving van. It was seriously the most rewarding experience that I have had in Australia. Not only was I able to connect with the music director for Macquarie, Derek, I was also able to connect with Simon from Switzerland and Tim from (Idaho?). The labor was entirely worth it just to hear the miracle story of the new house and God's provision.
During this past week, this woman has needed to sell her old house and completely move into a new one with her 3 children. She also has had other family stuff to do in Brisbane. So, for the past week, the church family here has been gathering around her in love. A contractor named Al has been working for the past week to completely renovate her new house for free. An all-volunteer crew has gathered around him to rework the plumbing, electrical, and outdoor area. When Al has been shopping for materials, he has had most things simply given to him for free. A brand new display kitchen was given for an incredibly low cost. Basically, this project has been a miracle work from the very beginning. I thank God for allowing me to take part in being a miracle for someone else.
Thank you all for praying for me and blessing me so that I can be a blessing to others. I hope that you can all be compelled by Christ this week to love as you have been loved.
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Beautiful Things
Fun fact: Australia is roughly the size of the contiguous United States and has less than one tenth the population. I now have a strong urge to visit the vastly unpopulated outback region.
This week has really started off in God's direction. The worship band that I'm in has continued to impress me with their growth and response to challenges. It is an incredible feeling to see people making leaps and bounds on their instruments and voices with the extra work required. More importantly though, I can also see that my bandmates are growing in their relationship with Christ. As we sit in classes and participate in tutorials together, I have felt the atmosphere definitely change as we share our testimonies and pray for one another. As a band, we've come together to pray for healing and to encourage each other with the word of God. Memorizing scripture with other people is incredibly rewarding as well.
Due to a series of unfortunate events, housemate Dave must leave the country for the rest of the semester. He will be visiting with Junior for a short time in California before heading to his hometown of Dallas to work in production and hang out with his family for awhile. He is planning to come back in January, however, he is unsure whether he will be coming back to this house or not. According to him, it actually is a blessing to be able to go back to his family for awhile. He said that his job at Hillsong Music had actually caused him to stop singing for awhile to focus more on the production part of his job and that this break will allow him to once again sing his heart out for the Lord. Although I am sad to see him go, I'm excited to see what God has for him. In about a month, Junior should be returning from California.
For our chapel service today, the team put together a series of hymns and other old songs to sing. From time to time, they like to worship in this way to prove that Who we worship is much more important than How we worship. I'm not sure if there was a message planned or not, but after 15 minutes of "I Surrender All" at the top of our lungs, it was pretty clear that God wanted the praise and worship to continue. It was also the first chance that I've had to see the Dance stream participate in the chapel service. Until the service, I had never understood how motions of the body could communicate a message of praise. Now, I have seen and I understand.
Yesterday, I was able to see my Aunt Renee and Uncle Ken who are pastors from New Zealand. It was awesome to be able to pray and meet with family once again. I also had the privilege of participating in a time of prophecy in the church where they were speaking in Sydney. My uncle Ken, the same man who baptized me in crystal lake, was now being led by the spirit to speak encouragement into my life about my future and the plans that God has for me. How awesome is that? They also invited me to come and stay with them in New Zealand for a week over Christmas break to have a great time of fellowship and growth. I'll definitely be praying for God's will there. I also was able to meet Jason and Amy, the pastors of the Every Nation Church in Sydney. I am very thankful that God has moved me into great friendships here and I am hoping for even more to come.
This week has really started off in God's direction. The worship band that I'm in has continued to impress me with their growth and response to challenges. It is an incredible feeling to see people making leaps and bounds on their instruments and voices with the extra work required. More importantly though, I can also see that my bandmates are growing in their relationship with Christ. As we sit in classes and participate in tutorials together, I have felt the atmosphere definitely change as we share our testimonies and pray for one another. As a band, we've come together to pray for healing and to encourage each other with the word of God. Memorizing scripture with other people is incredibly rewarding as well.
Due to a series of unfortunate events, housemate Dave must leave the country for the rest of the semester. He will be visiting with Junior for a short time in California before heading to his hometown of Dallas to work in production and hang out with his family for awhile. He is planning to come back in January, however, he is unsure whether he will be coming back to this house or not. According to him, it actually is a blessing to be able to go back to his family for awhile. He said that his job at Hillsong Music had actually caused him to stop singing for awhile to focus more on the production part of his job and that this break will allow him to once again sing his heart out for the Lord. Although I am sad to see him go, I'm excited to see what God has for him. In about a month, Junior should be returning from California.
For our chapel service today, the team put together a series of hymns and other old songs to sing. From time to time, they like to worship in this way to prove that Who we worship is much more important than How we worship. I'm not sure if there was a message planned or not, but after 15 minutes of "I Surrender All" at the top of our lungs, it was pretty clear that God wanted the praise and worship to continue. It was also the first chance that I've had to see the Dance stream participate in the chapel service. Until the service, I had never understood how motions of the body could communicate a message of praise. Now, I have seen and I understand.
Yesterday, I was able to see my Aunt Renee and Uncle Ken who are pastors from New Zealand. It was awesome to be able to pray and meet with family once again. I also had the privilege of participating in a time of prophecy in the church where they were speaking in Sydney. My uncle Ken, the same man who baptized me in crystal lake, was now being led by the spirit to speak encouragement into my life about my future and the plans that God has for me. How awesome is that? They also invited me to come and stay with them in New Zealand for a week over Christmas break to have a great time of fellowship and growth. I'll definitely be praying for God's will there. I also was able to meet Jason and Amy, the pastors of the Every Nation Church in Sydney. I am very thankful that God has moved me into great friendships here and I am hoping for even more to come.
Friday, 19 August 2011
Author and Authority
"If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." -John 14:14
Hello kingdom and nations! God continues to provide in exciting ways. Thank you all for your prayers and support over the last month.
Monday was the first time for our band to play actual songs together. We practiced through Fix You, Hello Goodbye, and I Shot the Sheriff. It started out a bit rough, but as soon as a good communication was established to the band, we were jamming out. The best blessing that God has given me through the band is a drive to be excellent. I can tell that each member of the band is focused on giving the best performance possible and is putting in the amount of practice time required to do so.
Today, I will have a meeting with Hillsong Maintenance about a volunteer position for the weekends and possible job opportunities in the future. I'm looking forward to learning whatever they have to teach me every weekend and working to take care of the house of God. Please pray for favor in this area. Also pray that I can be diligent in my assignments.
This week in my argument class we discussed the factuality of the Bible and the creation story specifically. Did God really create the heavens, earth and everything in-between in 7 days? This question really got me to focus on my faith and what I really believe about the bible. I realized that I had reasoned my way out of the creation story. For me, it isn't about how God created the earth, it's about the fact that He told us that He did it in 7 days and I tried to rationalize my way around it. I didn't really believe that God actually could create the earth in 7 days. Now I believe that he could and it encourages me to know that the Bible tells me he did.
I've also been challenged in my New Testament Tutorial class to purposefully read the book of Matthew and memorize scripture. In the first ten chapters of Matthew, I have recognized the major theme of God's authority. Jesus seems to always be healing sicknesses and raising dead people while asking if people have faith in Jesus authority. The verses that stuck me the most were Matthew 9:28-29, When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to the, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened...
Once again, the challenge came to me, Do I really believe that God is able to do these things? Do I turn to Jesus with my problems with full faith that he can solve anything? This is definitely something that I've been thinking and praying about.
Thank you all for allowing me to come here and be challenged in all aspects of my faith. I pray that you are all being taught, encouraged, and challenged as well.
Hello kingdom and nations! God continues to provide in exciting ways. Thank you all for your prayers and support over the last month.
Monday was the first time for our band to play actual songs together. We practiced through Fix You, Hello Goodbye, and I Shot the Sheriff. It started out a bit rough, but as soon as a good communication was established to the band, we were jamming out. The best blessing that God has given me through the band is a drive to be excellent. I can tell that each member of the band is focused on giving the best performance possible and is putting in the amount of practice time required to do so.
Today, I will have a meeting with Hillsong Maintenance about a volunteer position for the weekends and possible job opportunities in the future. I'm looking forward to learning whatever they have to teach me every weekend and working to take care of the house of God. Please pray for favor in this area. Also pray that I can be diligent in my assignments.
This week in my argument class we discussed the factuality of the Bible and the creation story specifically. Did God really create the heavens, earth and everything in-between in 7 days? This question really got me to focus on my faith and what I really believe about the bible. I realized that I had reasoned my way out of the creation story. For me, it isn't about how God created the earth, it's about the fact that He told us that He did it in 7 days and I tried to rationalize my way around it. I didn't really believe that God actually could create the earth in 7 days. Now I believe that he could and it encourages me to know that the Bible tells me he did.
I've also been challenged in my New Testament Tutorial class to purposefully read the book of Matthew and memorize scripture. In the first ten chapters of Matthew, I have recognized the major theme of God's authority. Jesus seems to always be healing sicknesses and raising dead people while asking if people have faith in Jesus authority. The verses that stuck me the most were Matthew 9:28-29, When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to the, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened...
Once again, the challenge came to me, Do I really believe that God is able to do these things? Do I turn to Jesus with my problems with full faith that he can solve anything? This is definitely something that I've been thinking and praying about.
Thank you all for allowing me to come here and be challenged in all aspects of my faith. I pray that you are all being taught, encouraged, and challenged as well.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Family
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple."
Hey family and friends! God is good over here and is continuing to show me things that I can share with you all. So, here we go.
First off, this weekend I witnessed an undeniable miracle. The Lions beat the Bengals 34-3 and Matthew Stafford wasn't injured. Hallelujah! The greatest part is that my housemates and I went in together to buy the NFL Gamepass for a total of $130. The gamepass records every single game this season, including preseason and playoffs, as well as all the games from the past two seasons. This means that for one payment of $30, I can be uplifted every weekend.
On a more serious note, I had a class this week called New Testament Tutorial. For an hour straight, we went around the room and read our favorite verses or chapters from the Bible with nil commentary. It was one of the most powerful classes that I've had here so far. It also prompted me to read the Book of Zephaniah, which contains a lot of imagery of the Lord's wrath. Whenever I read about God's wrath, I am always reminded that this awesome and terrible punishment for my sins was poured out on Jesus Christ so that I could be in relationship with Him. He not only suffered the physical pain of being crucified, but also suffered the wrath of God stored up because of my sins. Hallelujah, what a savior!
This week, I was also able to serve in my first service at the Macquarie extension service. The service takes place in a movie theater and requires about 2 hours worth of set-up time just to start practicing. After running an endless amount of cable, I started to learn how to run a light board. I've never really worked with lighting before, so it was difficult to really know what I was looking for with colors and everything. Next week I'll learn how to set up and connect the lights. This is a skill that I'm definitely looking forward to learning. God has also blessed me at Macquarie with a genius named Jared. Jared is the head sound guy at Macquarie and is a professional sound technician during the week. I've already learned an incredible amount about mixing and using a computer for effects. I can't wait to learn and practice from Jared in the next few months.
Tonight at Sunday Night Live, a message was preached about family and genealogy. The preacher took a look back through history for a couple hundred years and examined how the choices made by previous generations really affected the influences he had as a child. It really hit me how blessed I've been by previous generations of my family and the conscious decisions that my ancestors have made to live in God's will and be a blessing to their children. I was really convicted to realize that I don't know many of the stories and testimonies of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and various cousins. So thank you mom and pop, brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on for being an incredible blessing to me over the years. I love you all and hope that I can be as great of a blessing to my children and grand children as my family has been to me.
Hey family and friends! God is good over here and is continuing to show me things that I can share with you all. So, here we go.
First off, this weekend I witnessed an undeniable miracle. The Lions beat the Bengals 34-3 and Matthew Stafford wasn't injured. Hallelujah! The greatest part is that my housemates and I went in together to buy the NFL Gamepass for a total of $130. The gamepass records every single game this season, including preseason and playoffs, as well as all the games from the past two seasons. This means that for one payment of $30, I can be uplifted every weekend.
On a more serious note, I had a class this week called New Testament Tutorial. For an hour straight, we went around the room and read our favorite verses or chapters from the Bible with nil commentary. It was one of the most powerful classes that I've had here so far. It also prompted me to read the Book of Zephaniah, which contains a lot of imagery of the Lord's wrath. Whenever I read about God's wrath, I am always reminded that this awesome and terrible punishment for my sins was poured out on Jesus Christ so that I could be in relationship with Him. He not only suffered the physical pain of being crucified, but also suffered the wrath of God stored up because of my sins. Hallelujah, what a savior!
This week, I was also able to serve in my first service at the Macquarie extension service. The service takes place in a movie theater and requires about 2 hours worth of set-up time just to start practicing. After running an endless amount of cable, I started to learn how to run a light board. I've never really worked with lighting before, so it was difficult to really know what I was looking for with colors and everything. Next week I'll learn how to set up and connect the lights. This is a skill that I'm definitely looking forward to learning. God has also blessed me at Macquarie with a genius named Jared. Jared is the head sound guy at Macquarie and is a professional sound technician during the week. I've already learned an incredible amount about mixing and using a computer for effects. I can't wait to learn and practice from Jared in the next few months.
Tonight at Sunday Night Live, a message was preached about family and genealogy. The preacher took a look back through history for a couple hundred years and examined how the choices made by previous generations really affected the influences he had as a child. It really hit me how blessed I've been by previous generations of my family and the conscious decisions that my ancestors have made to live in God's will and be a blessing to their children. I was really convicted to realize that I don't know many of the stories and testimonies of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and various cousins. So thank you mom and pop, brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on for being an incredible blessing to me over the years. I love you all and hope that I can be as great of a blessing to my children and grand children as my family has been to me.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
The Childrens
"Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger" -Psalm 8:2
Hello America! I've been praying for a couple weeks now for God to assign me to wherever I would glorify him the most. Let me tell you, that's a very dangerous prayer to pray. God has definitely shown himself to be faithful to answer my prayers.
Ever since Monday, I've been learning from different sources about what the actual role of an MD is. It turns out that I'll have to pretty much memorize every song in detail and be able to remember all the orders for performance. Also, I'll have to organize most of the practice sessions and learn all the bass parts. Not only will I have to play bass, but I'll also have to talk to the band during our performance through the in-ear microphones and remind everyone about everything coming up in the songs. Challenging? Yes. Did I pray for more responsibility and a challenge? Yes.
Almost every day that I walk to school, I take a shortcut through the park. I've noticed that there is a man with a turban there every day watching the sun rise. On Tuesday during chapel worship, God impressed on my heart to just go watch the sun rise some morning and talk to him. Challenging? Yes. Have I been praying for God to help me preach the gospel? Ugh, yes.
Recently, I also found out that I'm serving in Hillsong Kids for Sisterhood. I have to admit, I wasn't excited for the concept of working with children, but God has assigned and will provide. This morning was my first time on the job, and I can already see how God is moving in these kid's lives. After an awesome message from one of the leaders about how much God loves us and wants to help us, these kids in 1st to 5th grade started asking questions about God and sharing stories of ministry. I absolutely blown away to hear a kid in probably 2nd grade talking about how he had talked to a cousin of his about Jesus and was used for their salvation. His cousin is soon going to come to college here! Also, the leader of the kids group wants to start a small worship service for the kids and wondered if I could play guitar and sing. Challenging? Yes. Incredibly opportunity for me to grow and preach the gospel to kids through music? Absolutely.
Thank you all for praying for me and I pray that you are being used by Christ to lead others to their salvation. I am very blessed to be living and learning here and can't wait for God's plan to continue every day.
Hello America! I've been praying for a couple weeks now for God to assign me to wherever I would glorify him the most. Let me tell you, that's a very dangerous prayer to pray. God has definitely shown himself to be faithful to answer my prayers.
Ever since Monday, I've been learning from different sources about what the actual role of an MD is. It turns out that I'll have to pretty much memorize every song in detail and be able to remember all the orders for performance. Also, I'll have to organize most of the practice sessions and learn all the bass parts. Not only will I have to play bass, but I'll also have to talk to the band during our performance through the in-ear microphones and remind everyone about everything coming up in the songs. Challenging? Yes. Did I pray for more responsibility and a challenge? Yes.
Almost every day that I walk to school, I take a shortcut through the park. I've noticed that there is a man with a turban there every day watching the sun rise. On Tuesday during chapel worship, God impressed on my heart to just go watch the sun rise some morning and talk to him. Challenging? Yes. Have I been praying for God to help me preach the gospel? Ugh, yes.
Recently, I also found out that I'm serving in Hillsong Kids for Sisterhood. I have to admit, I wasn't excited for the concept of working with children, but God has assigned and will provide. This morning was my first time on the job, and I can already see how God is moving in these kid's lives. After an awesome message from one of the leaders about how much God loves us and wants to help us, these kids in 1st to 5th grade started asking questions about God and sharing stories of ministry. I absolutely blown away to hear a kid in probably 2nd grade talking about how he had talked to a cousin of his about Jesus and was used for their salvation. His cousin is soon going to come to college here! Also, the leader of the kids group wants to start a small worship service for the kids and wondered if I could play guitar and sing. Challenging? Yes. Incredibly opportunity for me to grow and preach the gospel to kids through music? Absolutely.
Thank you all for praying for me and I pray that you are being used by Christ to lead others to their salvation. I am very blessed to be living and learning here and can't wait for God's plan to continue every day.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Class
"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." John 13:14-15
Hello friends! God is really doing great things here in me. The semester is just commencing and I already feel as though I've learned a LOT. I'm really excited to see what is to come.
On Sunday, I began my study of the book of Revelation. I realized that of Faith, Hope and Love, I know the least about Hope. I figured that the best way to learn about Hope is to read a book filled with prophecies of things to come and to hope for. I'm not currently reading any commentary on it and just really trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal the lessons that God has for me. So far, I've learned about Jesus being the first and the LAST. It gives me hope to know that anything may happen but Jesus is the last. I like that thought. I'll keep you guys updated on whatever else I learn.
Also on Sunday was the first of the August series of Sunday Night Live's at Hillsong Church. Basically, Hillsong just gets super creative in preaching the message and even more awesome than normal at worship. This Sunday, we did a new song in worship and it blew the house down. I'm very excited for whenever they record the next album here.
Today was the first day of regular classes for 1st year students. I was able to meet my core tutorial class and leader (similar to a homeroom teacher), and also my worship band and music excellence leaders. My worship band leaders are Bob and Sheila Mpofu. Bob is the main bass player for Hillsong music and Sheila is one of the vocal trainers and worship leaders for Hillsong also. I am very blessed to have them as my leaders and teachers. Bob decided to make me one of two Music Directors for our band and since I'm the only bassist for our class, I get to play on all of the songs. Music directors speak to the musicians during a performance and clearly communicate the direction that the worship leader is heading to every band member. I'm blessed to have the responsibility.
The songs I have to play are:
Beautiful Things -Gungor
Betty -Brooke Fraser
Fix You -Coldplay
Hello Goodbye -Glee
Darkest Side -The Middle East
I Shot the Sheriff -Eric Clapton
Please keep praying for Junior as his family is going through the process of mourning. Also please keep praying for my maturity and servanthood. Thank you for blessing me and my housemates with you prayers and I pray that you are blessed as well.
Hello friends! God is really doing great things here in me. The semester is just commencing and I already feel as though I've learned a LOT. I'm really excited to see what is to come.
On Sunday, I began my study of the book of Revelation. I realized that of Faith, Hope and Love, I know the least about Hope. I figured that the best way to learn about Hope is to read a book filled with prophecies of things to come and to hope for. I'm not currently reading any commentary on it and just really trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal the lessons that God has for me. So far, I've learned about Jesus being the first and the LAST. It gives me hope to know that anything may happen but Jesus is the last. I like that thought. I'll keep you guys updated on whatever else I learn.
Also on Sunday was the first of the August series of Sunday Night Live's at Hillsong Church. Basically, Hillsong just gets super creative in preaching the message and even more awesome than normal at worship. This Sunday, we did a new song in worship and it blew the house down. I'm very excited for whenever they record the next album here.
Today was the first day of regular classes for 1st year students. I was able to meet my core tutorial class and leader (similar to a homeroom teacher), and also my worship band and music excellence leaders. My worship band leaders are Bob and Sheila Mpofu. Bob is the main bass player for Hillsong music and Sheila is one of the vocal trainers and worship leaders for Hillsong also. I am very blessed to have them as my leaders and teachers. Bob decided to make me one of two Music Directors for our band and since I'm the only bassist for our class, I get to play on all of the songs. Music directors speak to the musicians during a performance and clearly communicate the direction that the worship leader is heading to every band member. I'm blessed to have the responsibility.
The songs I have to play are:
Beautiful Things -Gungor
Betty -Brooke Fraser
Fix You -Coldplay
Hello Goodbye -Glee
Darkest Side -The Middle East
I Shot the Sheriff -Eric Clapton
Please keep praying for Junior as his family is going through the process of mourning. Also please keep praying for my maturity and servanthood. Thank you for blessing me and my housemates with you prayers and I pray that you are blessed as well.
Friday, 5 August 2011
Longboarding
Hello American people!
I've been here for a few weeks now and I've started to notice a few things. First of all, any American student that I've met always talks about food. In fact, most of the conversations I have with my housemates are about Taco Bell, Wendy's, Chick-Fil-A, and McDonalds. I now realize how cheap food is in America and I've had a craving for a McNasty for weeks now.
I also tried skateboarding and longboarding today with Will and Matt. They said that I was doing pretty good, but I just felt really nervous and never felt that I really had the hang of it. I also found out by trying to "drop in" on the skateboard that it's very hard to convince myself to do new things and overcome my lack of balance. I had a lot of fun though. However, I am now hard pressed to resist the urge to go out and buy a skateboard or a longboard.
My assignments for church life and fieldwork have come in the e-mail, and I'm being assigned to the Macquarie extension service. The service takes place in a movie theater that they rent out every Sunday. I'm not sure what my role will be yet in either the youth or the main service, but I'm sure God will bless whatever assignment he has given to me. I'm going to meet with my specialist at some point this week to find out more details about my placement and assignment.
Tonight, I was asked to run sound for Merryland's Youth, since their sound man was unable to make it. Matt wanted to come along as well, so together we were picked up by a leader from Merryland's and taken to the library that they convert every week into a church. It turns out that we not only had to run sound, but also set up the sound board, the snake, amps, and run leads everywhere. Thank you Steve, Clayton, and Pop for teaching me just about everything I needed to know to be able to do that. Matt and I were able to correctly connect everything and then run sound that night with 0 glitches. We performed our work with excellence and God rewarded us by seeing 8 kids respond to the altar call and begin their journey with Christ. Sadly, I am probably not going to be able to serve with Merryland's Youth any longer since I am rostered into the Macquarie Youth service. However, I am thankful for the time God has allowed me to spend there and for the ability to serve.
I've been here for a few weeks now and I've started to notice a few things. First of all, any American student that I've met always talks about food. In fact, most of the conversations I have with my housemates are about Taco Bell, Wendy's, Chick-Fil-A, and McDonalds. I now realize how cheap food is in America and I've had a craving for a McNasty for weeks now.
I also tried skateboarding and longboarding today with Will and Matt. They said that I was doing pretty good, but I just felt really nervous and never felt that I really had the hang of it. I also found out by trying to "drop in" on the skateboard that it's very hard to convince myself to do new things and overcome my lack of balance. I had a lot of fun though. However, I am now hard pressed to resist the urge to go out and buy a skateboard or a longboard.
My assignments for church life and fieldwork have come in the e-mail, and I'm being assigned to the Macquarie extension service. The service takes place in a movie theater that they rent out every Sunday. I'm not sure what my role will be yet in either the youth or the main service, but I'm sure God will bless whatever assignment he has given to me. I'm going to meet with my specialist at some point this week to find out more details about my placement and assignment.
Tonight, I was asked to run sound for Merryland's Youth, since their sound man was unable to make it. Matt wanted to come along as well, so together we were picked up by a leader from Merryland's and taken to the library that they convert every week into a church. It turns out that we not only had to run sound, but also set up the sound board, the snake, amps, and run leads everywhere. Thank you Steve, Clayton, and Pop for teaching me just about everything I needed to know to be able to do that. Matt and I were able to correctly connect everything and then run sound that night with 0 glitches. We performed our work with excellence and God rewarded us by seeing 8 kids respond to the altar call and begin their journey with Christ. Sadly, I am probably not going to be able to serve with Merryland's Youth any longer since I am rostered into the Macquarie Youth service. However, I am thankful for the time God has allowed me to spend there and for the ability to serve.
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