Well first off my apologies to such a length between posts but here we go. The first week and a half was quite a busy one, as we had orientation on Thursday and Friday the 20th and 21st. That was great as we got to know a little bit about Australia as a whole and then more specifically about Sydney. We got to meet Rich who is the head of Campus Outreach Australia, which is located in Brisbane. The reason for this trip is to branch out of just Brisbane to other cities such as Sydney and Armidale. So it was great to get their perspective of the nation. We also met Pastor Jim and Dan and Theresa who are the main leaders of the SOW ministry which is who we are teamed up with in Sydney. SOW stands for Student Outreach to the World. We are greatful to be teaming up with them as it gives us a chance to serve and encourage them as an already existing campus ministry as well as an in to the campuses to investigate and experience a different culture.
On the first Saturday we were here SOW had the first ever SOW Mayfair which was a big barbie to bring the 3 campuses(U of Sydney, U of New South Wales, and U of Technology Sydney) together and also a sort of welcome/introduction to the Campus Outreach CCP team. It was really great to meet so many students even though all of them are either from Asia or were born in Australia but their parents are from Asia, mainly Korean. Well we had a pretty traditional and simple Australian barbie with Sausages on bread with carmelized onions and BBQ sauce. It was simple but quite delicious. Also meeting the students and interacting with them through volleyball, soccer, or even the mingling games we played. Also there was a tug-o-war contest between the schools and a chicken fight contest. Chicken fights are different over here as they were not in the water nor on one's shoulders. You hop on one foot and try to make it to the other side without either falling on your own or being knocked off balance by someone from the other team. We were pretty wiped after that.
Sunday we went to the Church plant that Pastor Jim has started and we doubled the size with our team. Which for the time we are here makes it feel a lot more welcoming and richer as Pastor Jim feels. It was great to worship the same God and same Bible and same songs even, on the other side of the world! After church we all went out to eat and were introduced to Kebabs. Which here are kind of like a gyro except it is wrapped like a burrito. It was so delicious! Australia is kind of similar to America as far as food, there is no real label of a certain type of food like Mexican, Chinese, or Thai(which is really good here too) but there is a great mix of lots of different types. There is even Mcdonalds aka Macca's here as well as other american fast foods.
On Monday we had our first day on Campuses which my teamKyle Kehoe, Beth Graham, Haley Vernard, Rachel Bond, and myself were given the campus of New South Wales for the summer. It is a fairly modern campus with very many steps and about 45000 students. I try to not look like a tourist to the students so I havent taken any photos of the campus yet but have taken a few of the city which you can find on my Facebook page. The first day was a little overwhelming for me as I am used to a smaller student body as well as knowing most people on the campus so a bit different. Well Mondays were given to us on our own to meet do more investigation of the campus and meet students but Tuesday and Thursdays are given to being with the SOW students most of the day. On Wednesdays we are all together at UTS and the other 6 people are at U of Sydney the days my team is at UNSW. We had done a little bit of research online before going to campus so we saw that there was a Campus Bible Study on monday afternoons so we went to that and then met and talked with the staff for awhile which that is the biggest ministry on campus there. So it was great to meet them and hear all they do and offer. Everything in Sydney cost money, even if you are just going to church, Either paying a toll to drive across the bridge or taking the train or a bus. The food on campus is set up like a food court in fact thats exactly what they call it. So there are no meal plans other than meeting up with friends to go eat haha.
Well after the first week we went to Bondi Beach on Friday. When we stepped off the bus we were like little kids at Christmas as it was a massive and Beautiful beach. We didnt actually stay on the beach because there was a trail that followed along the shore as you can see from my pictures it was quite the sight! The guys got off the trail a bit and followed along on the rocks near the shore and was really fun since I really liking climbing. After going to the end and back we had dinner. It was probably the Best burger I have ever had. It was from Hurricane grill and bar on the strip by the beach. I had the Breakfast Burger which had cheese, bacon, egg, lettuce and thousand island all on top of the beef. It was great. Well then Saturday was our Sabbath Day and we all did our own thing except a few of the guys listened to Mark Driscoll's 18 points of Australian Anglican Christians. It was pretty on point from what weve heard and if you know Mark Driscoll you know he's not scared to tell it like it is! Then I rested a bit and got a good workout in and re-energized for this week.
Yesterday was a long day as well. We went to church which was on prayer and we all realized we need to be doing more of it! Then we decided to walk across the bridge to get that experience which was neat but long and tiring. That night we had to come back to North Sydney for the monthly Uchap with SOW which is like a worship service for all the SOW students from the campuses to come together. Matt White, leader of our CCP team gave the talk on being fishers of men. Matthew 4:19, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Which if you know me youve seen my Georgia Tech hats and you may have noticed the Fish hook as well. I wear it to be a daily reminder of what Jesus has called us to be. It was a great talk and very challenging to all in the room.
Well I know that this is a very long post and probably could of been split into about 2 or 3 posts I think its fairly good detail of the trip thus far. I will try to update again this weekend.
Please be in prayer for both teams as this is the last week of Lectures for the students and next week is dead week so they dont have to be on campus and will be focused on studying for exams. So pray that we are able to make great connections this week and meet up with students next week as well. Also that our hearts are in the right place to truly serve this city over the next 4 weeks. Thanks
B