-We thank God that our team is teachable and willing to learn
-We praise God that He has given us extreme travel mercies and given us advocates to help us along the whole way
-We praise God for the unity on our team...they not only love each other but they LIKE each other too!
-We thank God that He is giving us marital harmony and we have been mostly on the same page, which is encouraging...please continue to lift this up to God, that I (Julie) would follow Nathan well and be a cheerleader/support to him in everything.
-We thank God for the students' lives on the University of Newcastle campus that have already been touched
-Pray for continued open doors to the gospel on campus
-Pray for us as we pour into and disciple our 12 students (for strength, wisdom, endurance, God's Spirit in us)
-Please pray that our team would continue to walk into authenticity and remove the masks we all hide behind (overachieving, performance, always wearing a smile, pretending to be strong, being goofy/center of attention, and more)
-Pray for us that we would point our students to Jesus in everything and that they would connect with Him deeply
Thank you for your prayers and support as we lead this team. We seriously have felt your prayers over the past week and a half. We need you and are so grateful that you are beside us in this! More in the weeks to come...We love you!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Ministry in Australia
We have just finished our first week of ministry on the university of Newcastle campus. Our team of 12 students have been absolutely AMAZING. They are so brave in walking up to Australian students on campus and initiating conversations. They have built friendships already with Aussie's and are talking about spiritual matters with their new friends.
Each day we take the 10 minute train ride to campus, arriving at about 11:00 am. We are on campus until about 4 pm, at which time we take the train back to our hostel house.
Australian students are very open to spiritual conversations. We have been shocked at how many students have no spiritual background whatsoever. It's very different than the US, where it seems that most people at least have a context for what we're talking about. Here at the university, this may be the first time these students have really heard about Jesus. They are open to conversation and really seem to enjoy talking with our students. Each day our students get on the train to come home and have stories of the students they got to talk to and the encouraging conversations they had with Aussie's.
Next week we will be helping the local Campus Crusade staff team start a weekly meeting (kind of like a weekly youth group time). We will be inviting lots of students to come and start to get involved with Campus Crusade (it's called Student Life here). Please pray that the local staff would be able to secure a location and time on campus for this weekly meeting. And pray for our students as they invite their new Aussie friends to come. And pray that students' hearts would be touched as they begin to hear about Jesus and see Jesus in the lives of our students.
Nathan and I have the privilege of discipling the students on our team. We have 7 guys and 5 girls. We spent a lot of time this past week meeting with students individually and pouring into their lives. It is truly amazing how they have been opening their lives up to us, what a privilege. Please pray for wisdom as we engage in their hurt and pain and joys, and speak love and truth into their lives. Also pray for strength for Nathan, as 7 guys is a lot to disciple weekly.
Our team is amazing and we feel SO blessed. The theme of our trip is authenticity...authentic relationships with God and others and then inviting others into authentic relationship with God and people. We are reading a book called "True Faced" about being real and vulnerable and open. Our team has courageously stepped into this concept and are learning to remove their masks and walk into authenticity. Please pray for us as we continue to model this for our team and invite them to walk with us on the journey of being real and vulnerable. The Lord has given us a great team for this and it has really become a safe place for them to be real.
Next blog will be more prayer requests and also how God has been answering prayer...
Each day we take the 10 minute train ride to campus, arriving at about 11:00 am. We are on campus until about 4 pm, at which time we take the train back to our hostel house.
Australian students are very open to spiritual conversations. We have been shocked at how many students have no spiritual background whatsoever. It's very different than the US, where it seems that most people at least have a context for what we're talking about. Here at the university, this may be the first time these students have really heard about Jesus. They are open to conversation and really seem to enjoy talking with our students. Each day our students get on the train to come home and have stories of the students they got to talk to and the encouraging conversations they had with Aussie's.
Next week we will be helping the local Campus Crusade staff team start a weekly meeting (kind of like a weekly youth group time). We will be inviting lots of students to come and start to get involved with Campus Crusade (it's called Student Life here). Please pray that the local staff would be able to secure a location and time on campus for this weekly meeting. And pray for our students as they invite their new Aussie friends to come. And pray that students' hearts would be touched as they begin to hear about Jesus and see Jesus in the lives of our students.
Nathan and I have the privilege of discipling the students on our team. We have 7 guys and 5 girls. We spent a lot of time this past week meeting with students individually and pouring into their lives. It is truly amazing how they have been opening their lives up to us, what a privilege. Please pray for wisdom as we engage in their hurt and pain and joys, and speak love and truth into their lives. Also pray for strength for Nathan, as 7 guys is a lot to disciple weekly.
Our team is amazing and we feel SO blessed. The theme of our trip is authenticity...authentic relationships with God and others and then inviting others into authentic relationship with God and people. We are reading a book called "True Faced" about being real and vulnerable and open. Our team has courageously stepped into this concept and are learning to remove their masks and walk into authenticity. Please pray for us as we continue to model this for our team and invite them to walk with us on the journey of being real and vulnerable. The Lord has given us a great team for this and it has really become a safe place for them to be real.
Next blog will be more prayer requests and also how God has been answering prayer...
Life in Australia
The birds...so far we've seen parrots, kookoburra's ("laugh, kookaburra, laugh"), stork-looking birds, black birds with a long yellow beak, and this strange black bird that sounds like a child talking or calling out. It still startles us when we walk by one and hear it!
We have to remember to look left instead of right when crossing the street, since they drive on the opposite side of the road. And they drive fast here! We've realized that pedestrians are not respected in the same way they are back home, so we find ourselves hurrying across the street a lot!
Trains!!! We love the train system here. We wish Corvallis had a cool train system like they do here in Australia. After our two day team briefing in Sydney, we rode the train two hours north to Newcastle. The countryside we passed through was beautiful....lots of bays of water with sailboats and small ships, open countryside (surprisingly green), and various little towns. And now we take the train to campus every day, since it runs through the city. The only time I've gone running so far on this trip is several times running to try to catch the train at the platform!! Whew, made it each time. :)
Australia is very similar to the US, but we've been surprised that we and our team have experienced some culture shock. We had an extremely hard time setting up three cell phones to be able to use here. We have phones so our students can call Aussie students here to set up ministry appointments at the university. Nathan spent several days trying to figure it out and having it not work. Something that would take 2 hours back home can take two days here. But we are settling in well and it seems more like normal life now. There are just times where it requires more patience from us, I suppose that is a good thing the Lord is inviting us into.
Slang...we are picking up on Aussie slang and learning some interesting new words! "Aussie" means Australian. "How'd you go?" or "How you goin'?" does not mean what was your mode of transportation, it means how are you doing. "Heaps" means lots. "Juicy" means really (example, I'll pick you up juicy quick at the train station.) "No worries" means thank you, or no problem. "Cuddle" means hug (example, could I have a cuddle?) "Mozzi's" means mosquitos. "Brekkie" means breakfast (they use a LOT of abbreviated/shortened words like that). "The Uni" means the university. "Take Away" means to go (like at a restaurant).
It is fun hearing the accent every day and getting to know the Aussie way of life. In the next blog I'll update about the ministry we've been doing.
We have to remember to look left instead of right when crossing the street, since they drive on the opposite side of the road. And they drive fast here! We've realized that pedestrians are not respected in the same way they are back home, so we find ourselves hurrying across the street a lot!
Trains!!! We love the train system here. We wish Corvallis had a cool train system like they do here in Australia. After our two day team briefing in Sydney, we rode the train two hours north to Newcastle. The countryside we passed through was beautiful....lots of bays of water with sailboats and small ships, open countryside (surprisingly green), and various little towns. And now we take the train to campus every day, since it runs through the city. The only time I've gone running so far on this trip is several times running to try to catch the train at the platform!! Whew, made it each time. :)
Australia is very similar to the US, but we've been surprised that we and our team have experienced some culture shock. We had an extremely hard time setting up three cell phones to be able to use here. We have phones so our students can call Aussie students here to set up ministry appointments at the university. Nathan spent several days trying to figure it out and having it not work. Something that would take 2 hours back home can take two days here. But we are settling in well and it seems more like normal life now. There are just times where it requires more patience from us, I suppose that is a good thing the Lord is inviting us into.
Slang...we are picking up on Aussie slang and learning some interesting new words! "Aussie" means Australian. "How'd you go?" or "How you goin'?" does not mean what was your mode of transportation, it means how are you doing. "Heaps" means lots. "Juicy" means really (example, I'll pick you up juicy quick at the train station.) "No worries" means thank you, or no problem. "Cuddle" means hug (example, could I have a cuddle?) "Mozzi's" means mosquitos. "Brekkie" means breakfast (they use a LOT of abbreviated/shortened words like that). "The Uni" means the university. "Take Away" means to go (like at a restaurant).
It is fun hearing the accent every day and getting to know the Aussie way of life. In the next blog I'll update about the ministry we've been doing.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Down Under
Next Wednesday, July 15th, we will board a plane to Sydney, Australia with 12 students from Oregon State University and around the United States. We will have a three day briefing in Sydney, take a train 100 miles north to Newcastle, and do 4 weeks of college ministry in the University of Newcastle campus. Below are some FAQ's in case you are curious.
What will we be doing on campus in Australia? We will work alongside the Campus Crusade team (5 staff/interns) who are stationed in Newcastle, planning and running outreach events, and helping build the spiritual movement on campus. Our students will build relationships with Aussie's (Australians) and initiate lots of spiritual conversations. They will learn to share their faith, their testimony or story of what God has done in their life, and learn to disciple others.
What are the dates of our trip? July 13 through August 19...students arrive at our briefing site in the U.S. on the 14th
Where will we stay? In backpackers hostel's in Sydney and Newcastle. Most of the time we will be in Newcastle, with a few days of briefing and debriefing in Sydney.
What is our theme/hope for the summer? Authenticity. Authentic relationships with God give way to authentic relationships with people, which gives way to inviting others into authentic relationships with God and others.
Stay tuned for more from Down Under...
What will we be doing on campus in Australia? We will work alongside the Campus Crusade team (5 staff/interns) who are stationed in Newcastle, planning and running outreach events, and helping build the spiritual movement on campus. Our students will build relationships with Aussie's (Australians) and initiate lots of spiritual conversations. They will learn to share their faith, their testimony or story of what God has done in their life, and learn to disciple others.
What are the dates of our trip? July 13 through August 19...students arrive at our briefing site in the U.S. on the 14th
Where will we stay? In backpackers hostel's in Sydney and Newcastle. Most of the time we will be in Newcastle, with a few days of briefing and debriefing in Sydney.
What is our theme/hope for the summer? Authenticity. Authentic relationships with God give way to authentic relationships with people, which gives way to inviting others into authentic relationships with God and others.
Stay tuned for more from Down Under...
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