First 2 weeks of Class

Just finished week 2 of my new schedule so I'll give you an idea of what it's like. Sunday mornings I serve at the Southwest campus, which just opened earlier this year. I'm helping out with kids aged 5-8. It's been a lot of fun so far. Hillsong is pretty organized so the team leaders have a plan, which is definitely helpful. Last Sunday was movie day so we watched movies and ate popcorn. The kids also learned about fruits of the Spirit. Oh and it's like a 40 min drive to Southwest so I carpool. It seriously has to be the most diverse car. Diego is our driver, he's from Brazil. Ricky is from New Zealand, Beena is from Kuwait, and Ida is from Norway. Yep...very diverse! But we really enjoy the ride together. I have church back at the hills campus in the evening. This whole month they've had "Sunday Night Live" going on, which is just church services where they use media, drama and music. It's been great! The Sunday before last I cried 3 times. It was that good! My day off is Monday. A lot of my housemates have Monday off too so we usually just chill and watch movies. Today was one of the best Mondays for sure. My housemate Raquel and I went for a run. Man, I'm out of shape... but it was good. Then we came home and ate healthy food. But...it was followed by a Mexican party where we ate loads of yummy Mexican food (haha...). It was delightful :) Tuesdays I have 2 classes World Religions and Christian Doctrine. World Religions is so interesting. We're covering Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, New Age, Scientology, Confuscism, Taoism and more. I have a role play assignment coming up in October where a group of us will be acting out a conversation between a Christian and a Buddhist. Should be intersting! Christian Doctrine sounds boring but it's far from it. We're really getting down to what we believe and why we believe it in that class. Wednesdays are my longest day. I start at 9 and go till 5:30. I have Church History tutorial, New Testament Introduction, and Church History. New Testament and Church History are loaded with facts and dates, but so interesting. And if you ask a really good question, the N.T. instructor gives you chocolate :) Later on I have powerhouse, which is why my day is so long...but I LOVE powerhouse! Last week was our focus night and the worship was just insanely good! Thursdays I have no class. Sisterhood meetings are in the morning and I arrive at 8am to set up. I help out with the 2year olds...they're adorable and I really like my team as well. after that I have my fieldwork, which is the Hillsong Leadership Network. Basically, you or your church can become a member and receive resources, ministry advice, the latest cds, reserved seating for conferences, etc. It's really awesome! I feel so blessed to join the network team. I'm mostly going to be doing different administrative type job assignments. Last week I had to go get old brochures from one of Christine Caine's offices and throw them away. I had to carry a few boxes up to the office where I serve and when I got upstairs there was a guy holding the door open for me. It was Reuben Morgan! (haha...) Anyway, it's a fun area to serve in and I feel so blessed! Fridays are from 8:30-4. I have all the rest of my tutorials and my Personal Evangelism class, which might be my favorite class. Our instructor is really cool. . His testimony is amazing! Everything I hear in that class is just so encouraging. I love it! Saturdays are cool. I have the day off and attend Saturday night church...love it! Yep...that's what my week is like. And there's no way I could fully convey how amazing it is! God is working in me and I'm so thankful for this time of harvest!!

Intensives

The last 2 weeks here have been very busy. Last week we finished up "intensives." They are classes that basically build a foundation. They help us all start on the same page as well as introduce our chosen pathway. They span from 8:30-5:00pm Tuesday-Thursday. During the week we also have powerhouse and creative night/elevate...so it's been a super busy couple of weeks. But I've absolutely loved them! The information given to us was life changing!! My thinking has changed a lot and I feel prepared to start my regular classes this week.

Just to give you an idea...we start classes with prayer. You might have guessed that...but I was so amazed by it. I've always been in public schools so this is a new thing for me and I like it! They taught us heaps about leadership. If you're thinking about coming here and don't want to be a leader...uh you may want to reconsider. Well...I truly believe all Christians are called to be leaders but if you aren't prepared to be stretched in that...you may not like it here at all. After all the school is called Hillsong International "Leadership" College. So it's not like we should be suprised, but to be honest I was. They also let us know that they will not compensate for our weaknesses here and will set the bar high for everyone to help us become the leader God desires us to be. We will be criticized often, but shouldn't take it personally. If we want to understand our mistakes, we have to humble ourselves and ask. We were also warned that God will do such a fast work in us that we will have to grieve our old selves quickly. Yeah this sounds pretty intense I know...but their desire is to pull out the leader in us. So I'm actually going to be stretched...and that excites me.

I guess I'll touch on a few things we learned. Here are some of the main ideas covered:

The healthiest place to be is in a place where you say "God I don't have it. Please give me your strength to do this."

Keep your senior pastor healthy. Encourage them. If they aren't healthy, the rest of the church won't be healthy.

FAITH.HOPE.LOVE:
Faith- connecting people with God
Hope- equipping people for life
Love- serving and helping others

If you don't have character and integrity, your gifting won't sustain you.

Giving your life to others is the greatest God encounter.

You might think you're going to college to receive but you're actually there to give.

Everything about the word "teamwork" is bigger than yourself.

Love binds us relationally, but empowering grows us ultimately.

The team reflects the leader.

Leaders make leaders.

Don't cater to all the cultures in church, build on kingdom culture.

Promotion doesn't come from man. It comes from God.

A servant serves where they choose. A steward serves where best for the church.

Build God's house and he'll build yours.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

Okay that's a lot and there's SO much more but it was an awesome 2 weeks!

Last Thursday we had Elevate, which is a special night where all the hillsong campuses come together for worship and teaching at the hills convention centre. Unbelievable night of worship! Like Heaven on Earth I reckon. Darlene Zschech spoke as well. I love her! She has such a beautiful heart for God and people. She just reminded us of the importance of taking the time to listen to what God is saying to us. Don't get caught up in doing the good work more than listening to what God is telling you to do. Anyway it was FANTASTIC!!!

Saturday night church was also fantastic. Robert Fergusson preached. Wow I love his teaching!! He preached on "the value of an individual." If we understand the value of an individual, we understand the value of ourselves and others. Our value is the price that Christ paid. Think about it...it cost Him everything! How loved are we?! Thank you Jesus! Seriously was such a good message!

Sunday morning I got to see the Watoto Children's Choir. They are so inspiring and it was an unforgettable church service. Then last night was the beginning of "Sunday Night Live" which is where they use media, music, and drama to declare the gospel in a fresh and new way. So many people chose to accept Christ as their Lord last night. Praise God!! Wow I can't believe how blessed i am to be here!!!!

Today I've just been relaxing and taking it easy. I have a cold and thought I should rest b/c classes start tomorrow! Yes, I will be going pretty hard starting tomorrow. So please pray for me. Thanks!!

Orientation Day and Enrolment

So I'm a little behind on my updates but...I must tell you about orientation day, which was on the 13th of July. It was SO good!! I was truly blown away by it. There was so much of a focus and emphasis on fixing our eyes on Jesus. We worshiped between speakers and once again I felt with all my being that I am meant to be here. Such a good feeling to know you are walking in God's will in order to carry out the purpose and plan He has for your life!! Woo!! I would give you all the details but...I should leave some element of suprise in case someone who reads this decides to come here. (Sorry Crystal...but know that I still didn't tell you everything :) )Basically, the whole staff served us all day and made sure our focus was on Jesus. Definitely the best orientaion I've ever been too!

Enrolment was the next day. My stream that I will be studying is Pastoral Leadership. In case you are wondering there are also worship music, dance, and tv & media streams. The college has recently changed the curriculum and now you also have to choose a pathway, which is a more focused area of study. There are six pathways to choose from in the pastoral leadership stream: kids, youth, young adults, social justice, events, and church ministry. I chose "church ministry." I've served with kids in the past and love doing it, but I feel God wants me to experience other areas of the church. This pathway allows me to do just that. So it's good and I'm excited about it!

Trip to the City

So...everyday here just makes me love Australia more. I had the best time in the city. A large group of us went there. The not so good part was buying our day pass for the train. It costs 17 dollars everytime we want to go to the city! At least we can use it for the ferry to Circular Quay. Anyway, we went to Darling Harbour first. It's very beautiful. Everything is so big and modern looking. We had lunch there and observed seagulls that had the weirdest looking eyes. These birds had no problem getting close to you...and your meal. It was actually kinda creepy... but anyway it was an experience. Oh and I got to see an Ibis, which is a very interesting looking bird. In fact I've seen many interesting birds here. Definitely don't see this kind of variety in Oklahoma.

...So then we took a ferry boat towards Sydney Harbour Bridge. Oh my gosh it was AMAZING to see that bridge with my own eyes. It was HUGE and so beautiful with the opera house in the distance. It was one of those unforgettable moments in life. I took heaps of photos, trying to get a good shot of this massive bridge. As we went under the bridge, we noticed an amusement park was nearby with all kinds of rides. May have to go back and check it out sometime cuz I live here! Gosh...still trying to comprehend that.

Then we made it to the opera house. We all took so many pictures and there was the most gorgeous view of the bridge from there. We stayed to watch the sunset. It was wonderful. When it started getting dark, we headed for the train. Just before we got on we were able to see the bridge at night with all the lights lit. Beautiful!! The train ride was fun too...let's just say we all got pretty close to each other. There were so many people getting on the train...which was already full. But no worries. It was a grand day in the city!

Settling in

How are you going mates? Hope you are all well and at peace. Life here is really good. Homesickness comes and goes, but I know that's normal. After all I did just up and move to the other side of the world! But anyway, God knew I could handle it. So here I am enjoying the moment. My new friends here, Megan and Matt from Florida, are wonderful people. I feel so blessed to have met them and they really helped me to get settled. I so appreciate their kindness! Oh and their little daughter Kenzie is seriously one of the cutest kids ever! If you saw her, you would agree...she's precious.

Wednesday night I was blessed to be able to attend powerhouse thanks to Matt, who was kind enough to drive me. Powerhouse is the church service for 18-25yr olds. It was incredible! I loved every minute. During worship, I just had a sense that I belong here and I felt so at home. Before the offering Acts 17:26-27 was read aloud. "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." Those verses really spoke to me and I felt God saying "You are here for a reason!" It was a God encounter :) The message was really good as well. Pastor Thomas Hansen was preaching about how it's your responsibilty to protect your passion for God and for His word. Distractions will come, but it's your choice to be distracted. Yeah that's it in a very small nutshell. I took a lot of notes. Maybe I will post them sometime.

A few days ago our new housemate Raquel arrived. She is such a cool kiwi! We've been exchanging our cultures and hanging out a lot since she arrived. We made dinner together her first night, but she did most of the work. It was very good and then we chatted for hours.

Saturday night we went to church and it was really good! I loved it! Jad Gillies was leading worship. It's kinda funny how I will be seeing the faces of Hillsong United all the time. Afterwords we went to a party for new students at a house. We met so many people from all over the world! It was really cool and we laughed...a lot.

I went to my first Sunday service yesterday! Worship was lead by Reuben Morgan and it was fantastic! Then Pastor Brian Houston came out onstage with the new hillsong cd and dvd. He asked if there were any new college students. Raquel and I stood up and our seats were on the 2nd row so he looked right at us. He cam over and asked where I was from. Then he called me an "okie" lol! And then he gave me the cd. Raquel got the dvd. Was very cool and such a blessing! After the service we went up to him and said "thank you."

Later we went to the Sunday night service. There's a lot of college students in that service. So we went up front and praised God with everything. Was incredible!! Pastor Brian's been preaching about the significance of a God encounter. It has so much potential for fruitfulness that the enemy will try and undermine in any way he can. So hold on to your God encounter and listen to what God is telling you.

Today I'm going to the city with some other students. I'm so excited to see it!!! Will take lots of pics!!

Church Pics

G'day From Down Under!!!

I'm here in Aussieland!! I must admit the firts 24 hours here were kinda difficult because the jetlag set in and I was really homesick. I think I was mostly homesick because I made this journey all by myself and wanted to see someone familiar. However, I am adapting well now. It was so surreal seeing the hillsong church sign and when I got there I was greeted by many of the students and they were all very friendly. Very diverse group too. There were Americans, a Brit, A Swed, Aussies and an Indonesian. I haven't seen any of the sights in Sydney yet but hope to venture there soon.

I'm living in a house called Kiss of Heaven. Love that name :) There are going to be 7 girls living here total but some are on holiday and a couple have yet to arrive. I've met 3 of the girls. Tiff is the only Aussie. Rian and Brittany are both Americans from South Carolina. They are all so sweet and I know I'm going to like living with them. Raquel is coming tomorrow and she's from New Zealand and Carmen from S. Africa arrives on Monday. So yeah...it's going to be awesome!!

I went to a huge shopping centre with Rian yesterday called Castle Towers. It really was huge and not all that different from an American mall. The even had a K-Mart...lol! I found it to be pretty cheap too so I spent some AUD there. There was also a target. It was so funny... I felt like I was in America until I heard all the accents around me. When I entered Target an older gentlemen working there smiled and said "Have a jolly time shopping." I was like "yes, yes I will(haha). I took my first bus by myself yesterday. I wasn't sure where to tell the driver to stop once we reached the area my house is at. So I just got off the first time he stopped there. Basically I got very lost and was walking up and down trying to find my house. Thankfully there was a young girl waiting for a bus and she let me borrow her phone. I called the house and figured out I wasn't very far from home. So I made it back. Gosh, it's seems like I can't go to a foreign country without getting lost at least once.

So yeah, things are going well. I'm meeting up with a couple from Florida in a bit to go grocery shopping. I met them on facebook so it will be good to meet them in person. Anyway, hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer. It's nice outside here but super cold in the house. But no worries...I bought socks :)

I've Been Accepted Into Hillsong College!!!!!!

I'm completely amazed by God! I got an email saying I have been offered a position into Hillsong International Leadership College in Sydney, Australia!!! Wow I still can't believe it! I have had a dream to go to Sydney to Hillsong Church for a while but I wasn't sure in what capacity I would be going. I really felt like the Lord wanted me there for a good length of time. I tried to find a way to study abroad. Too expensive!!! I tried to find an internship in Sydney. Still really expensive and few programs guaranteed I could work in Sydney. Neither of these options seemed to be working out and I knew it wasn't the path God had for me. So I waited and God has changed me and shaped me along the way.

I started to really consider going to the college early last year but I still questioned it because I have a wonderful bible college at my church. I was praying and seeking God's guidance and in August He gave me an answer. I went to the Hillsong United Conference in Houston and it was absolutely amazing. I felt God working in me. There was a session about the college in which the president explained how it all works and what the costs would be. Then a few of the college's alumni gave us a testimony of their experience at hillsong church. I was completely amazed by their stories and felt God telling me, "It's going to be alright. You can fly to the other side of the world and live there for a year. You can be challenged and step further out of your comfort zone than ever before. You will have the money you need. I will take care of it." My heart cried back out to Him, "God, I just want to serve you. I want to know you more and if this is where you want me to go...I will go."

So I graduated last December and decided to apply for the college. It took about 1 1/2 weeks from the time I mailed it to the time I received an email of acceptance. I knew that if I wasn't accepted God was telling me to wait, but I did get accepted! God's not stopping me. In fact He's pushing me in this direction and I'm so excited about what He has planned!! I don't know what I will end up doing as a profession, but I know I want to serve the Lord everyday and I'm so hungry to know Him more!! Let the adventure begin!!!!!