Saturday July 16th, 2011
Traveling is quite a journey within itself. These past couple of days have been fast-paced yet slow, hectic yet peaceful and overwhelming yet exciting! The plane rides went by surprisingly fast; watched a lot of movies and actually got some sleep. Arriving into Melbourne was an experience all on it’s own! Breathing in that first breath of brisk air was the best! All of us were so happy and excited! We instantly forgot all the troubles getting out of the airport, the lack of sleep and the confusing time change. The only thing on my mind was – I’m here. I’m finally here! When we got in Melbourne, we instantly met up with the STINTers here! They are the Campus Crusade friends that got enough support to live here for a year and work on the campuses we’re going on. They were super helpful and encouraging! After we got into our hostel, they showed us the surrounding area nearby. They brought us to Melbourne Central which is a like a giant mall with a movie theatre on one level, tons of stores, food court, underground train stop, grocery store, and more! Basically everything we’d need. They also set up a scavenger hunt, which was really really fun! This was a creative and helpful way to get to know the city of Melbourne more! From running around the city, learning the train system and asking Aussies for help, it was an overall amazing experience! After all that madness, we got dinner in the food court and went grocery shopping. Everyone bought their own breakfast and lunch necessities for the week, which was harder than all of us thought. A not-so-fun fact, everything in Australia is expensive! That was a struggle for all of us to budget wisely. Ending of the night consisted of trying to fight jet lag and stay up till 9:30pm, which only a few of us accomplished.
Sunday July 17th, 2011
Good morning, good morning! We started the morning off right by going to a church nearby called City on a Hill. This was my favorite part of the trip so far! I loved everything about the church! The people were so friendly, the message was great and the worship was different but still filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s so great to see people from the opposite side of the world worshipping the same God as us in the states. Such a great picture of God’s kingdom! After church we went back to the hostel for lunch and a cultural/safety briefing from the STINTers. Following that was taking a trip to Big W (similar to Walmart) and Melbourne Central for a little wifi time. Papa Goods and Mama Tiff (our project directors) made us a delicious dinner, too many good things to say about that dinner! Ending off the night with a beautiful time of worship was just the way to go. These moments really re-direct my mind and soul to the reason why I am here. Since uni (college) hasn’t started yet, this week is all preparation. It’s easy to get caught up with all the cultural differences and adjusting that we might forget why we are here. I am so blessed to have a Christ-loving team that will always re-direct each other to the purpose of us being here!
Monday July 18th, 2011
Starting the day off with a great devotional led by one of the guys on our team is just the way I like it. Putting Christ at the start of our day really centers my life upon him. Michael went through three basic points: the truth of the Gospel, evangelism and basic apologetics. We talked a lot about a multiple of things and pointed to over 20 different verses. I am so stoked to go evangelizing on the campuses! I can just tell that I have an awesome and supporting family here that is ready to spread the Gospel! It’s so encouraging! Today was just filled with exploring the city more, ate lunch, went to a coffee shop, dinner and prayer night!
Oh Lord you are doing major work in the hearts of this team already! We are ready to go and make disciples! We are your workmanship and we are ready to further your kingdom in any way that we can!
Tuesday July 19th, 2011
This morning all of us got up early and decided to visit LaTrobe & prayer walk the campus. This was one amazing experience to say the least. We split up into 2 groups of 10 and walked around the campus first. Noticing the classrooms, center circle of food, dorms, etc. Then for about 40 minutes, we prayed. We prayed in center areas for specific reasons. In the dorms we prayed that community of Christ followers would be created in this time, that this living place would be available for spiritual conversations. In an amphitheatre, we prayed that someday church services might be held here, that there will be a body of believers worshipping the Lord! We stumbled across two separate male/female Muslim prayer rooms. The boys/girls in our group split up and prayed for the people who will go in there. The girls prayed that truth will be revealed and that these women may find their identity in Christ rather than this religion. We prayed over the center food area that divine appointments will come about! That the Lord will use us to love on these Aussies of LaTrobe! Prayer walk was simply beautiful and it has gotten me excited to spread the Gospel here.
On the tram there and back we also met a couple of Aussies! Great conversations already on the first day is just encouraging me so much! I am so excited to follow up with these relationships and I’m ready to meet more friends!
After all that, I had some quality time with two lovely ladies. Going in deep conversations with others on my team really creates this bond that I love! I am so encouraged by the love that they give off, the love of Christ shining through them! Today was just a glimpse of how beautiful they are. Thank you Lord for blessing me with some great ladies!
Ending the night off was perfect. Tonight is date night with Jesus aka go somewhere and be alone. Of course we went somewhere in a group, but we sat in separate areas. This night was filled with just conversations between me and the Lord! Conversations through prayer, journaling, reading the Bible and listening to worship music! Oh I really felt that the spirit was with me at that moment. I started my time off by simply praising Him! He has loved me and blessed me so much that it just causes me to stand in awe of him! Psalm 96 was a good tool to help me praise my Lord! I moved on the being thankful for what he has done in my life thus far and specifically this summer. Following that I prayed that he would use me this summer to do great and mighty works on LaTrobe! I want to be his child and his worker! Ending the night off with a song called “Take My Life (Let it be)” by Chris Tomlin really put me in perspective. I meditated on the lyrics of that song for a while. I want to give my whole life to my Lord who is more than worthy for all my praise! Overall great date night with my one true love, Jesus.
Thank you Lord for this beautiful day that you have blessed me with.
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