Well I have arrived at the Melbourne airport and am waiting to be picked up to head to Lorne which is where the Summer Project I am leading will be going.
We are going to this coastal town where a thing called schoolies takes place. This is an event that happens once students graduate high school. They go off to small coastal towns to party in the pubs and celebrate finishing school and getting ready to move onto university.
We will be staying for 2 weeks with these hundreds of schoolies taking care of them and helping them if they get into trouble. We also provide free shuttle bus pick up and drop offs and will also have a no alcohol zone activity centre. At the centre we will have free food, games, possibly some live music and provide a place for the students to go if they do not want to drink.
Please pray that we would be able to share the Gospel with the schoolies and that over the next two weeks our team would be united in reaching out to these students.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Celebration Night
The semester has come to an end and we had our celebration/vision night for the students as well as community members of Newcastle. This was such an encouraging night because we got to hear about and remember all the amazing things God has done over the year. Students got up to share about how they have grown or stepped out in faith this semester and it was so amazing to hear how God really changed hearts.
We also had a lot of community members come from our local churches or families to hear about what Student Life is doing on the campus and how uni students are growing in their relationship with Jesus. It was sweet to be able to cast vision and share what Student Life is about and what we are doing on campus.
Here are a couple of the students stories from that night:
-Being connected with all the people at Student Life has been amazing this year. Just getting to see all of these other young people, totally on fire in the spirit and seeking hungrily after God’s heart is completely inspiring and encouraging to the soul. I really feel God’s presence and His blessing when we meet together. I really feel that God has been growing me in my understanding of worship - total submission of my life for the purpose of His glory. Being with Student Life has been a major part of that. I remember that, for many, many months, God’s voice was quietly calling on my heart to perform the symbolic act of kneeling before Him as I praised His name. I stubbornly refused, despite full knowledge of my disobedience and the way this attitude - seeking to cling onto myself - was holding me back. Then, one night, during a session of worship in the form of music at Real LIfe, I clearly felt this desire again and I finally knelt. I stopped resisting and finally surrendered myself to God’s love and will. I have learnt so much this year. God has used the people to challenge and stretch and teach me. I am blessed to be in fellowship with them. God is good!!
-This year Peter Barlow and I have been trying to do outreach through something we both enjoy doing, playing games. We did some brainstorming before the start of the uni year and came up with a plan to run a Halo Lan night every Friday. We would try and have some breaks and talk to people during those breaks. We wanted to invite anyone so we put up posters advertising it around uni trying to get as many non-Christians coming along as possible. However, during the first semester we got few people responding to the posters and the ones that did often didn’t make return visits in following weeks. We had the two of us, one guy from our church and another Student Lifer after first semester. Second semester went a lot better. We now have about eight people regularly there and we have up to sixteen involved or interested. We have yet to have anyone become a Christian from it but my prayers are for more spiritual conversations and that fruit will come from it.
We also had a lot of community members come from our local churches or families to hear about what Student Life is doing on the campus and how uni students are growing in their relationship with Jesus. It was sweet to be able to cast vision and share what Student Life is about and what we are doing on campus.
Here are a couple of the students stories from that night:
-Being connected with all the people at Student Life has been amazing this year. Just getting to see all of these other young people, totally on fire in the spirit and seeking hungrily after God’s heart is completely inspiring and encouraging to the soul. I really feel God’s presence and His blessing when we meet together. I really feel that God has been growing me in my understanding of worship - total submission of my life for the purpose of His glory. Being with Student Life has been a major part of that. I remember that, for many, many months, God’s voice was quietly calling on my heart to perform the symbolic act of kneeling before Him as I praised His name. I stubbornly refused, despite full knowledge of my disobedience and the way this attitude - seeking to cling onto myself - was holding me back. Then, one night, during a session of worship in the form of music at Real LIfe, I clearly felt this desire again and I finally knelt. I stopped resisting and finally surrendered myself to God’s love and will. I have learnt so much this year. God has used the people to challenge and stretch and teach me. I am blessed to be in fellowship with them. God is good!!
-This year Peter Barlow and I have been trying to do outreach through something we both enjoy doing, playing games. We did some brainstorming before the start of the uni year and came up with a plan to run a Halo Lan night every Friday. We would try and have some breaks and talk to people during those breaks. We wanted to invite anyone so we put up posters advertising it around uni trying to get as many non-Christians coming along as possible. However, during the first semester we got few people responding to the posters and the ones that did often didn’t make return visits in following weeks. We had the two of us, one guy from our church and another Student Lifer after first semester. Second semester went a lot better. We now have about eight people regularly there and we have up to sixteen involved or interested. We have yet to have anyone become a Christian from it but my prayers are for more spiritual conversations and that fruit will come from it.
-At the start of the year I was someone who was quite fearful of sharing my faith with others. By the end of the year I’m someone who does it without even meaning to sometimes. It has become second nature to me. Student Life has taught me the tools to do evangelism and by finding my strength in God, I have no fear anymore.
-I have learnt so much through meeting Jake. Basically he is a guy we met on walk up. To me he appeared like the most unlikely dude to want to receive Christ. He looked tough, well built and disinterested. Even in conversation he didn’t seen to show an interest at all and didn’t say much. Yet during the first follow up he received Christ in the most authentic way which brought me to tears mid-prayer. He said he had been looking for hope (in Christ) or something like that for awhile and thanked us for meeting with him discussing and eventually praying with him. At every step of the way Jake continued to blow away my perceptions of what someone receiving Christ was like (I had never been part of it before). He was keen, listened, wanted to keep meeting up, went home and read a whole gospel and is now planted deeply in a local church. What did I learn? Don’t assume someone is not ready or does not fit the bill to receive Christ. The harvest is ready!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Baptisms
This last Sunday was really exciting. We had two of our students who have recently accepted Christ decide to get baptized through their church. It was such an amazing day watching them share their testimonies and seeing them take the next step in their faith.
Sarah is one of the students who got baptized. She accepted Christ at the beginning of this year and shortly after started coming along to Student Life events. She ended up in one of my discipleship groups and it has been amazing watching her grow. She is so on fire for the Gospel and sharing it with others. I am so excited to see what God does in and through her.
Jake is the other student who was baptized. He is so awesome and really seeking after the Lord. Ryan and myself met him doing a walk up evangelism the second day of second semester. He was so interested in the Gospel that he decided to meet up with us and start the Christianity Explained course the very next day. He accepted Christ at that second meeting and has completely turned his life around this semester. I have loved seeing him grow in his faith and it has been so cool to see God changing his life.
Sarah is one of the students who got baptized. She accepted Christ at the beginning of this year and shortly after started coming along to Student Life events. She ended up in one of my discipleship groups and it has been amazing watching her grow. She is so on fire for the Gospel and sharing it with others. I am so excited to see what God does in and through her.
Jake is the other student who was baptized. He is so awesome and really seeking after the Lord. Ryan and myself met him doing a walk up evangelism the second day of second semester. He was so interested in the Gospel that he decided to meet up with us and start the Christianity Explained course the very next day. He accepted Christ at that second meeting and has completely turned his life around this semester. I have loved seeing him grow in his faith and it has been so cool to see God changing his life.
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