Down Time

I finally have some down time to write something a little more substantial. A quick health update, My cold is almost gone! BUT, during our scavenger hunt yesterday I felt something in my foot pop and now it hurts to walk. It really is just one big joke now. When I am finally 100% healthy we will know something is horribly wrong.

Yesterday we got a chance to walk all around the city of Melbourne and it was great. We did a photo scavenger hunt of all the cool places and its good to know most things are not out of walking distance from out hostel.

We had to get random Aussies in our pictures for more points. My team ended up tying for second place.
We had our first family dinner last night and it was great being able to sit down and relax while eating and just enjoy each other's fellowship. We also walked around the city looking for gellato together.

Our days are usually up around 8am, and in bed around 11pm. The days are long since we are still adjusting to being here but it has been great. We all can't wait to see what God is doing on the RMIT and Melbourne Uni campuses.

I have been reading through Isaiah while we are here and have found it very refreshing and enjoyable.
"The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. 
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. 
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. 
They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:11-17)



“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 1:18-20)

I split the verses up for a reason. We can work to please God all we want. We can send burnt offerings, feasts in his name, bring sacrifice animals among other things and God's response to this is that it is, "detestable", "meaningless", his "soul hates them" and he will hide his eyes and not listen. What a great few verses. What can I do to please God with that kind of response? He immediately makes a promise to us that our sins which stain our hands will be washed white as snow. As long as we are willing and obedient, we will be clean and be abel to spend time with God for eternity. Those who resist and rebel, 

"Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (Revelation 19:15-16)

Those who are not obedient and who resist will be struck down. That is a fate no one should endure. Isaiah tells us that they will be devoured by the sword, and Jesus is the one wielding the sword. We won't have too much of an impact on students here since we will only be working with them for 3 weeks. Our hopes and prayers are that we can encourage the student life students on the campuses to really take initiative and reach out to their campuses even more than they already are. We want to be a light in a dark place, and we want to make their light shine even brighter than it already is. So please pray that we can have an impact on the students who know Christ and the ones who do not.

Austria!? Well, "G'day mate. Let's put another shrimp on the bar-b"

The movie just allows for great blog titles for this trip. We landed in Melbourne two days ago and its been an interesting ride for me. I got sick the last two days in New Zealand and it has continued on through Melbourne. In fact, I almost went to the hospital last night because me temperature was so low but i survived.

The city is incredible. I went for a prayer walk and walked by the RMIT campus that we will be working at, walked down the the main street that runs through the city and really saw some of the darkness. I walked by an adult store that was openly advertised on the street. Things like that blew my mind yesterday on my prayer walk. The team is very excited to start reaching out the the people in our hostel and on the RMIT and Melbourne Uni. campus.

The V20 conference was incredible. So many nations, so many stories and later this week I will post a video of me giving my testimony to over 400 people from 30 different countries. God really is awesome when you learn that there are people with stories just like yours. I will also post a few pictures later this week. As for today we have prayer, orientation, and a scavenger hunt which I may or may not be a part of depending on the weather and my health. Love you all

If you call could pray for our team that would be amazing. Pray that our unity continues to grow and that we would be intentional about working and hanging out with the student life students when we start working with them.

Headwear

So I am lying in my camper during a session because my glaucoma is acting up and decided this is a good of a time as ever to make a post.

We have been in Ngaruawhia (pronounced "narawahia") for 3 days now attending the V20 conference. The conference is Student Life's (what they call Cru down here) vision for the year 2020. It has been incredibly uplifting to see and hear all the things God has been doing around the world. From hearing stories about New Zealand and Australia to Hong Kong and East Asia, God has been working big around the world.

Roger Hershey has been giving his talk about the heaven and the reign of Christ and it has been very refreshing to hear. A great reminder he gave was in 1 Cor 3:13 where it says "the fire will test the quality of each man's work". Quality, not quantity. That is what our team needs to be reminded of. Australia is hard soil, but the quality of our work is more important than the quantity of work we do. This quality will lead to one of the promises that is made. We receive crowns for our work we do on Earth. We must work towards these crowns, not to say, "Look at how many crowns I have gathered in my lifetime", but to humbly walk up to Jesus in heaven and lay them at his feet. Our crowns are not to show what we have done in our life, they are to show what we have done for God during our lifetime because of what he did for us. If we are faithful to Him during our life, the quality of our work will be infinitely better then trying to work without Him. We will receive praises from Jesus when we get to heaven hearing "well done good and faithful servant". What more could we ask for from the creator of all things.

IT'S OK, I'M A LIMO DRIVER!

Is what Lloyd yelled as he runs off the boarding ramp to the plane. Jo, this reference is specifically for you.

This is pretty much how day 1 of this trip felt like. After spending two awesome days, one being my 23 birthday, with my best friend, I got the the airport only to find out that me and one of the other people on our trip were transferred to another flight. Not only that, but instead of flying directly to Auckland, New Zealand, we flew to Sydney, Australia then to Auckland. A 12 hour flight to Auckland turned into a 14 hour flight to Sydney, and then a 3 hour flight to Auckland. It was a ridiculously long day. To make the day even more hectic, our friends got in 5 hours before we did so they were picked up at the airport, and we had to get a taxi. I could have been much worse considering we don't have use of our cell phones. There was a lot of room for error but God watched over all of us as we made it safely to Auckland. I would go into a lot more detail but it is almost 9pm here, and 5am back home and jet lag is not a good friend. I promise the next posts will be more coherent and more detailed. This story will be much better in person also. We are going to be in rural New Zealand for the next few days attending the V20 conference, so I doubt I will be able to make any posts during that time, but i will definitely get you all up to date as soon as I can.

Week 1 project verse: 2Cor 4:5

A few good friends

4:15am and I have been home for no more then 30min. Why am I up right now? I spent my night with two people on complete opposite ends of the friend spectrum. Both are two of my best friends in the world but have appeared at completely different times in my life.

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." (Romans 12:10-11)

Me and Nick (with a green monkey)

Nick Lane: Possibly the funniest guy I know. If you go to the post that precedes this one, you will see his farewell song to the seniors of Cru. Very gifted, very smart and a great friend. I have known him since the spring of 2003 when we were on our high school lacrosse team. I can't begin to tell you the impact he has had on my life. When I first came to UMD, he was the only person I really knew well. During the first week of classes he invited me out to Cru. That invitation to Cru is where I started thinking about God, and while I give God all the glory for changing my heart towards Him, He placed Nick in my life for a reason which is all too clear to me three years later. At least one of the many thoughts in his head is about God. It could be a question, insight, a verse or just a random thought about how awesome God is. Our friendship is a long story but I have grown so much with the help of Nick and am so thankful for him.

Jo and I

This picture was taken at Big Break 10. Jo was placed in my car to drive to and from the conference everyday. I met Jo fall of 2009 but never really talked to her too much. We knew each other and could small talk like champs. This year we started hanging out more and started to become good friends. It was around winter this year where the person I thought she was, was shattered. She turned out to be cooler then I could have ever imagined. She is one of the most honest and open people I have ever met. She is extremely gracious, honest and always seeing the bright side of things. I love the conversations we have that go from nothing, to life, to God, to questions we have about God and so on. I don't even know how to explain our conversations because they are so much fun. She loves throwing God in the middle of a conversation and I love it. She is always happy, and it is contagious. I am so happy we have become friends, and am happy we have become close friends who aren't afraid to have real conversations form time to time.

When the three of us get together, it get to be a little ridiculous. Tonight, Nick was packing up his room so Jo and I came by around midnight to hangout and have some fun. Lots of laughs, reminiscing, sharing stories and talking about God. I love these two people. They have made this past year one of the most memorable in the past 22 years. I love you two and can't wait to see what God has in store for our lives.

"If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" (Ecclesiastes 4:10, 12)

The End is Just the Beginning

IT'S OVER! Finally finished with the semester and did pretty well (Thanks to God for answering my prayers for school all semester) considering the amount of work I had, and the amount of effort I put in. Sorry to the friends and family who's bubble I just burst because you thought I worked harder at school then I actually do. My finals schedule wasn't all that bad. Started Friday at 8am and 1:30pm. Saturday at 8am, and Monday at 10:30am. What was bad was the horrible virus my good friend Joanna and I got from the Penley's bible study cookout. Thursday morning we both got horribly sick and I laid in bed almost all day praying for sweet relief. Being sick really set me back on studying... but if you want the truth, it gave me a reason not to study even though if I had wanted to, I couldn't. It was bad. Just take my word for it.

Cru is also over for the year. It was a great year of growth for me and for the ministry. To make a long story short, we have been turning to God to help our ministry to be successful. All semester we have been discussing "what is the gospel?", and it has been great. Not only that, making some great new friends, growing closer with old friends, and having a new appreciation for the relationship God wants with us. With the end of the year we say goodbye to seniors and only Nick Lane could send them off in such a great way (and only Nick can procrastinate in such a way the night before his last exam)

Now with exams being over, its two weeks of pure bliss. Video games, reading, and watching hockey for the next two weeks. Then comes summer school. Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm for three weeks, but I will survive and make it to Australia.

As I sit in class

It's about 11:10am and I have punted the semester. I have 2 papers, and a group project due within the next 12 days of class. My teacher is talking about poverty, and I am learning i am very good at typing while looking at the slides. Great to know when I take school seriously for next semester. I have probably said too much to anyone not in college.

I just contributed to the discussion so I don't feel bad about continuing to write this.

SO since I haven't really updated this for a few weeks now, I feel now is a better time then ever. SUPPORT! Support, support, support. Support has been great, and not so great. God has blessed me so much with the support He has raised for this trip. Finding more money then expected in accounts, friends owing me money, loving father, aunt and uncle (and praying for grandparents, brother and girlfriend, and possibly her family...? We shall see). Friends sound like a cheap way, but when I told him to write me a support check, he put it like this, "now I feel like I am actually supporting you." As of right now, I stand over 50% and could not be more blessed by God and the people who are willing to support me.

The only downfall is that I am in crunch time for school. 12 days of class left before finals. Just because I have punted the semester doesn't mean I won't do the work, just that I am horribly unmotivated to do work (more so now then at the beginning or middle of the semester). It is cutting into a lot; my support raising time, prayer, and time with God. It's not an excuse and I have finally noticed it over the past week so I am getting back to it this week.

So now for the serious part. Prayer list. I will be, and I ask that you be a part of this, praying for:
1. My time with God in the word and in prayer
2. Motivation To finish school strong
3. Support to come in, not just for me but for the entire team. I love my team and want to have this experience with all of them.

So until next post, I hope you will be praying along with me and can't wait to tell you all more about God's work in all of this!... GO CAPS!