Longing to Return

I have been back in the states for quite a while now. I am no longer in school, but a grown up with a real grown up job. I love my job, but I do not love this stage in life. Transitioning from college to the real world is not fun. Truthfully its a lonely and confusing process. I am ready for it to be over. But I feel like I will be in this stage for a while.

I don't know what I want to do with my life long term. I have never really known. But ever since I came back from Australia, all I know is that I want to be back there. And if I get my way (which I suppose may not happen) I will be back there one day. I don't know when, or how, or for how long. But I am going back. I long to be back in Australia. I long to be back among those people in that beautiful country. I want it so badly.

I don't know if I will go for a week, a month, a year or forever. All I know is that I want to go, and I will try my best to get there.

Missing Armidale

This is way after the fact, but I just haven’t been ready to write a final post, because it means this trip is really over. Everything about Australia is wonderful…I hope to return there someday. Our team met incredible people and saw an incredible country. I wouldn’t trade any of our experiences…not even the 8 hour greyhound bus rides.

During our trip I was blown away by the generosity of the people we met. We were never in want of anything. If we needed a ride, it was given, if we needed a kitchen to cook in…it was made available. Just unbelievable willingness to help us with anything.

I was also amazed that people actually wanted to spend time with us. They rearranged their schedules so they could. That blows me away. It also showed me once again in my life of the importance of the body of Christ…the importance of Christian community. It is in the presence of Christians, its when we are open and vulnerable and truthful with each other that we grow closer to the Lord. When we see other Christians serving and loving the Lord it pushes us to further serve and love the Lord. Christian community is an irreplaceable part of the Christian walk. And we got to share in that with so many Aussie believers, and it was a beautiful thing to share Christian community with believers from the other side of the world. To know that we all struggle with the same things even though we are from different places.

I have missed Australia, and especially Armidale, every day since I left it. I hope that one day, even if its just for a little while, I can return to this country.

Leaving :(

We leave Armidale tonight. We leave Brisbane on Friday morning. I'm so sad. I do not want to leave. I love Australia.

The Coast

The students are busy with exams and starting to head home for their midyear break, so our team took a little trip down to the coast. We stayed in Valla Beach which is near Coffs Harbor. One of our Aussie friends, Ben, had a couple of friends who had houses next door to each other that we could stay in. We went down on tuesday and stopped to see some sights along the way. The first place we went to was the Dorrigo Rain Forest! It was beautiful, but a bit rainy.



Once we got to Valla Beach we decided to walk down and see the water, about half way there it started to sprinkle and then poured and we got completely soaked. The next day it was sunny and warm and we went into Coffs Harbor. We stopped at the tourist sight..."The Big Banana" for a few photos and then went down to the jetty (which is basically a long pier) and some of the team members did as the locals do, and jumped off the jetty into the water.

The next morning we drove down to the beach and hung out for a little while before we had to head back to wintery Armidale. It was a great trip and a great chance to hang out as a team, plus 3 Aussies (Ben, Tim and Jess).

We only have a few more days left in Armidale, and tuesday night we take a greyhound bus back to Brisbane. Then we fly back to the states on Friday. Its hard to believe that its almost time to leave. I can't imagine leaving this place and all the amazing people we have met.

Lately

We are starting our last full week in Armidale today. We leave Armidale for Brisbane on the 22nd and then fly home on the 25th. This week we will be making a trip to the coast for a couple of days and get to see some sights. Last week started exams for the students at UNE. They have 3 weeks worth of exams and they are all busy and studying. They are about to start leaving on their winter break.

This last week or so we've been hanging out with students and enjoying time as a team. Some of us finally got to see a koala. Some people saw one down by the dorms one day, and then one was up in a tree outside our dorm a couple days ago, he was way up there and curled up asleep.

This past week I got to watch some netball, which is a sport a lot of girls play here. Its similar to basketball, but with way more rules, and really not all that similar. The picture below is of my friend Jess at one of her netball games we attended. Ive also gotten to see some of the girls from Mary White play netball as well.


Other than watching netball, this week in Mary White, we hosted a Block Supper...which is basically a study break with desserts and coffee. It was a great chance to get to spend some more time with the students we've met here, and get to meet more of the students in Mary White.

This past sunday evening our team led the UNE Church service at St. Mark's which was a great way to get to serve the church as many of their staff are on holiday right now. Joseph got to preach on Luke 15, and how it should be the parable of the loving father instead of the prodigal son. It was great and several of our friends from Mary White came to church with us.
We also provide the snacks for after the service and made everyone try apples and peanut butter...something most of our team loves, but most aussie think sounds discusting until we make them try it. We've only found one who hasn't liked it.

This past weekend a bunch of us girls all dressed up and went out to have a little girls time, while the guys went and had a cook out at someone's house...they ate some kangaroo.

Please pray that we can make the most of what time we have left here. Several of us, myself included have had colds, please pray that we will get better quickly. Pray for safe travels to the coast this week and next we as we head back to Brisbane and the U.S.

She'll Be Right

Australia is great. Everything is so relaxed and low key. We are having a great time getting to know people and getting to know each other better as a team. We just finished our second week on campus and it was phenominal. We are getting to hang out with students a lot and its so cool just getting to know them.

(Our team on our first day in Brisbane)

So much has happened since I last updated, so I won't try to go into it all. But everything is going so well. Our team is having a great time together.

This week, a few of us went to Trivia with some students from Mary White, and we won! It was so much fun, and I think we are going to go back next week and try to win again.

We also got to go out last night for two girls in Mary White's birthdays. It was a great chance to hang out with more students in Mary White and get to be around them and know them better.

This morning I went to watch Netball which is a sport that girls play here. Its similar to basketball, but with way more rules. Mary White played against Drummond Smith and won!

This week a couple of the colleges had coffee and dessert nights as a chance to get to meet some of us Americans. I went to the one at Earle Page, which also had students from Austin and Albies. Gabe and Kendall got to share their testamonies, and I was a great chance to get to meet some of the students outside of the colleges were we have been going.

I have gotten to know a girl named Jess really well. She lives in town with her family and its just been great to get to know her. She is super great and lets us come over a bake in her kitchen, and is so willing to drive us around so we don't have to take the bus to town. We are trying to talk her into coming to visit us in Alabama after she graduates in November.

(Jess and Me)

We are having a great time, and we really appreciate your prayers. Just keep praying for opportunites to hang out with students. And especially for ways that we can serve and encourage the Christians here. The church, St. Mark's Chapel, has been so unbelievably welcoming to us, and we want to be able to serve them as well.

.(Some of the Kangas that live on campus near our dorm)

We Finally Have the Internet!

So, I am finally in Armidale! And we finally have the internet! haha, its been quite interesting experience being so disconnected from technology for so long. I finally got to use the phone yesterday and make a couple calls, but we now have a consistent phone and we now have consistent internet, so i should be able to update more often. Its amazing how connected we are to technology, I didn't realize how dependent on it we really are, and its been really hard to be so disconnected.

Just to let y'all know everything from the last week: we flew out of Altanta on Monday May 17th. We landed in LAX and had about a 6 hour layover. We then flew from LA to Brisbane overnight on a 14 hour flight, and landed in Brisbane around 7 am Brisbane time on Wednesday May 19th...we did not have a Tuesday May 18th (so weird). The C.O. Staff and some student from Brisbane were at the airport to meet us. We had a great 2 days in Brisbane having orientation and adjusting to the time zone. Then on Friday May 21st we boarded a bus for Armidale. After a long, smelly bus ride, we arrived in Armidale about 9 hours later. We met the staff of the church we are partnering with, St. Mark's Chapel.

The church is located on campus and they are involved with a lot of campus ministry here at the University of New England where we are living and laboring. We are so blessed to be living in a newly renovated wing of one of the dorms here. This dorm is called Mary White College (they call dorms colleges) and is actually the college I will be doing ministry in while we are here. I am partnered with Savannah and Amy. The other students will be working with Duval College and Robb College. The church has bible studies that meet in each college and several other meetings throughout the week, which will be great for meeting students at first and then to invite other students to as well.

We went to church on Saturday night, Sunday morning and Sunday night and have gotten to meet a lot of people already. The church has been so welcoming to us and hosted a trivia night after their Sunday night service, which is called UNEChurch because its the student service.

We are starting our regular schedule this week and should start to get a regular rhythm going with different activities, meetings, and events. I am so ready for some consistency.

But we are having a great time and are really enjoying Australia. The people are fantastic. We have gotten to see some kangaroos! We were very excited about that even though they are actually not very nice animals and have been known to attack people, but don't worry they were behind a fence. We have experience the fact that they drive on the other side of the road, and I keep looking the wrong way before I cross the street. But I'm starting to get the hang of it. We have gone to McDonalds...and it tastes so much better here. Its incredible. They call it Mackers. Its hilarious. They have so many interesting words for things. Its fun, we are going to try to pick up the slang as well as the accent. They have a wonderful tradition here called morning tea...they often also have afternoon tea, and one of the guys on the team wants to start having midnight tea. So basically we are eating all of the time. Its great.

Anyway, we are having a blast and God is really providing. Several students have already made new Aussie friends, a couple of our guys are going to play rugby today. But please pray that we would continue to meet people. Particularly in Mary White, we have had a really difficult time. Few people at Mary White are involved in the Church. Many internationals live in Mary White as well so its a diverse group of people that don't really hang out with each other, while the other colleges are similar to our sororities and fraternities, and are made up of similar kinds of people who hang out with each other a lot. Pray that we will meet students who will want to hang out with us and introduce us to their friends. Also pray for ways that we can serve the church here and can come along side the students at the church who are believers and can be an encouragement to them, as unlike the states, they often have few Christian friends.

Thanks so much for your prayers already.
I should be able to update more often now.