Overwhelmed by His Beauty

After the “I’m Sorry” outreach on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday included sharing out on campus as usual. On Wednesday, the guys played “gridiron” (American football) against each other, Aussies vs. Americans. It wasn’t much of a surprise that our guys beat the Aussies 35-0, but payback is on it’s way since this week they are facing off in “footy” (Aussie rules football).  Wednesday night after we enjoyed a late afternoon at a local park watching the guys, the girls took a tram out to the suburbs to “The Lemon House”, which is where 4 of the STINTers live. We had such a great time chatting, watching Friends, eating a delicious dinner and sharing our hearts with each other.

Friday was our free day and with that came a nice relaxing manicure with some girls on the team and a much-needed run. There’s a park about a block from our hostel that is absolutely gorgeous. Friday’s weather was perfect for running…60 degrees, sunny, with a slight breeze. (Sorry to those back home who are barely able to step outside in the 110 degree weather). I just had great time with the Lord while running and it was a great time to recap and think about my time in Melbourne.  All I could think about was how blessed I am. The fact that I was running in Australia just overwhelmed me. I was in Melbourne, for the Lord, experiencing things that I never would’ve thought I would. Then the thoughts rolled over to the blessings I have been given back home: family who love and support me, a church family that was a HUGE part in making this experience possible, friends who are always encouraging me in my faith, and a future that is a blank canvas with God holding the paintbrush. It brought so much joy to me that I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time I was running. I’m pretty sure the people I passed in the park were a little weirded out, but I’m ok with that.

While on the topic of running, I would like to lift up Bobby Jones. He is an amazing man, father and husband who is part of my church family. He was on vacation last week with his family and had a surfing accident and ended up breaking his neck. Praise God that surgery wasn’t necessary and that there was no paralysis or long term damage because of it, but I ask that you lift him and his family up in your prayers. He encourages me so much as a runner and I have gotten a lot closer to him in the past two years. He is a wonderful man with a selfless heart and I just pray that he heals quickly and is always seeking the Lord in his time of anger or sadness because of this.

To finish up the week, we spent all day Saturday traveling the Great Ocean Road. It’s a windy road that stretches across the bottom southeast shore of Australia. The view was incredible. The immensity of the ocean and the cliffs were remarkable and pictures don’t even do this journey justice.

The end of the road was my favorite. We ended at what is known as the “Twelve Apostles.” They are 12 rock formations that sit just off the shore. It was so beautiful!! Our last two stops were right up the road from that and were called “The Gorge” and “Thunder Cave.” The Gorge was my favorite place of the day. It reminded me of a mermaid cove. It was surrounded by giant walls of rock cliffs and filled with water just a clear and blue as you could imagine. I could’ve literally stayed there for hours looking at awe in its’ beauty.

our view for 2 hours

“You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and al that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” –Nehemiah 9:6

“For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” –Psalm 95:3-5

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of me; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” –Ecclesiastes 3:11

“Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar…” –Isaiah 33:17

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” –Romans 1:20

These verses couldn’t describe more perfectly what my eyes were seeing. All I could think about how it mirrored the beauty of my Lord and what He is capable of creating.

And today was just a cherry on top of a perfect weekend. The JMU ladies had a girls day in St. Kilda (a 20 minute tram ride to the coast). The beautiful and wonderful Katherine Ross treated Erin, Shannon and I to a lovely lunch and then we spent the afternoon strolling along the boardwalk and shopping at the outside markets. The best way I could describe St. Kilda would be to say California. There were palm trees, beaches, parks, cute little venues, a pier, and so many beautiful people. 

This is our last week in Melbourne. A part of me is sad, but another is really joyful looking back at all the the Lord has done in the past 4 weeks. It has really been incredible.  So looking at this last week, I'm hopeful. I'm not expecting anything magical or crazy, but I don't put anything past God. 

Pray for our last week, that it is full of fun, joy, and evident presence of our Father :)

The I'm Sorry Outreach

I'm Sorry

A glimpse of what today’s outreach entailed.

The “I’m Sorry” Outreach.

Today we were vulnerable. We met at the RMIT café at 9:30am for prayer with all of the staff, STINTers and students. We prayed for our own hearts to be humbled before the Lord and the entire campus today. The whole point of this outreach was to apologize for not fully living out what we say we live for…Jesus and His love. The staff had told us about this outreach about 2 weeks ago, to give us time to pray about what we’ve been most convicted of or what God has laid heavy on our hearts. We wrote our apologies on poster boards and stood on the main walkway through campus and held our signs in silence.

The main sign that was held between all of us said: "Jesus has nothing to be sorry for, but Christians do..."

It was hard. Watching people walk by laughing hurt the most. It wasn’t the fact that they were laughing at me or what my poster said, but the fact that they were laughing at Jesus, my Savior. Standing in front of a crowd of college students for two hours…all I could do was picture Jesus being mocked by the crowds and guards. He was spat on and was beaten to absolute humiliation. Having that displayed in my mind today brought me to complete humility. Knowing that what I did today wasn’t even a legitimate example of what Christ endured for us and it was a huge eye opener for me. I cry every time I watch the scenes in “Passion of the Christ” and I get an ache in my heart whenever I read through the gospels about how our Lord was treated, but today was a new experience for me. I felt the weight of the cross, heavily. I was able to vaguely experience what persecution and denial felt like.

[I wish I could include pictures, but because the internet here is not the best, it's taking too long to upload. I'm hoping to upload them tomorrow when I go to a STINTers house, so stay posted. I know it's hard to picture all of this, but bear with me and I'll be sure to show you tomorrow.]

I don’t want to make this outreach sound like all it produced was negativity, because that wouldn’t be accurate at all. In fact, we had many people come up to us in curiosity.

Some reactions we got today:

You are forgiven.

Why are you apologizing, didn’t Christ already do that for you?

You guys, of all people, shouldn’t be the ones apologizing.

This is awesome. It took a lot of boldness for you to do this, props.

I just want to give everyone up there a hug.

Those are just a few of the reactions we got today. We did get some pretty rude and hurtful comments as well, but the uplifting and encouraging comments are the ones that gave us our hope. Along with some pretty sweet comments, we had some guy taking our pictures and he told us that he works for some magazine in the city and he wanted to talk to his editor about making this outreach a part of the next issue. That was pretty exciting J At the end of our outreach, a student approached one of my teammates and asked if we were going to be doing this again. She was an art student who wanted to use our outreach as her photography project.

God, I believe, really worked in the hearts of all the students that read our signs today. If anything, I firmly believe the name Jesus was mentioned more at RMIT today that it ever has been, whether it be in the classrooms or over coffee. People had out their iphones and cameras and took pictures and videos of us today. I’m not sure of their purpose, but for me, as long as the thought of Jesus goes through their mind… it’s worth it. In God’s timing, He will route that thought down into their hearts and expose His Truth to them.

During prayer, we read one of my favorite Psalms as a reminder of how undeserving, but yet how blessed we are by what Christ did for us. It was needed and completely appropriate for preparing our hearts for what we experienced today.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot our all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will singe of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” –Psalm 51:1-15

Today was humbling and after talking to my team today, it was exactly what we all needed to experience. 

Finish Strong.

This week we will be doing ministry at Melbourne Uni. I’m really excited about this week. Last week was draining, but after 2 days of rest and a refueled soul, I’m eager to step out in faith for another 5 days. Melbourne Uni is slightly different than RMIT. MU is known as the “Harvard of Australia.” It’s one of the most prestigious universities in Australia and everyone there is aware of it. Many students base everything they know off of pure fact and proof. What they read and what their minds can comprehend is what they believe. I think this week is going to be more difficult than last week. The conversations are going to be more difficult and I’m thinking people will be less apathetic and more argumentative.

This weekend I’ve been asking the Lord to prepare my heart for such conversations. Wanting to be right all the time is going to be a struggle for me this week. It’s one thing when you talk to someone who puts down your God with theories that don’t make sense or contradict each other, but it’s completely different when someone dismisses your God off of reason that make perfect sense to the normal person. It’s going to be challenging. I firmly believe that God has prepared me for such conversations and I know full well that His Holy Spirit is always with me and therefore will provide me with the wisdom needed this week.

Just a glimpse of what my week will look like:

Today: Lexie and I met with Amitola for lunch at RMIT and talked more about God and answered her questions. She showed interest in being a part of Christianity Explained.

Tuesday: “Cardboard Testimony” outreach at RMIT from 12-2 and then at Melbourne Uni until 4

Wednesday: Melbourne Uni

Thursday: Erin and I are meeting with a STINTer (Nicole) to walk through a course called ‘Christianity Explained’ with an RMIT student. At 1:30, we’re meeting with Zoe to further talk to her about potentially starting ‘Christianity Explained’.

There are many opportunities this week for God to show up and do some mighty work. Two different meetings with women who are interested in knowing more about God, a humbling outreach on Tuesday, and engaging with students at Melbourne Uni during their first week of second semester.

I will hopefully blog on Tuesday about the outreach, I’ll explain it in detail then just because I’m not 100% sure how it’s all going to play out yet.

Continue to pray for our team. We’re around each other just about every hour of the day except for when we sleep. We’re doing fine and we love fellowship, but it’s hard to find alone time here. Pray for our patience with one another as well as coping and serving each other when it seems difficult. I love my team incredible amounts and I am so grateful for each one of them, but I too, need to spend some time with just myself and Jesus.

Prayer for this coming week would be awesome as well. There are a lot of opportunities, a lot of dry desert that desperately needs water, and a team that has the source of the Living Water. Pray that we can effectively pour out onto the students that we meet and our words will quench the thirst that they’ve been trying to satisfy.

“My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” –Jeremiah 2:13

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” –John 7:38

What we did this weekend:

We went to a "wildlife sanctuary" and got to pet and feed some of Australians native animals...emus, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and koalas. It was such a fun experience! I'm sorry that there are no pictures to document all of these adventures, but there will be upon arrival. I have no way to upload my pictures onto a computer here. 

This morning, Ryan (our leader) gave us a great message this morning to pump us up for the last 8 days of ministry here in Melbourne. This is the last leg of the race and it's up to us to ask God for the energy to finish strong. I know for me, especially when I run (literally) I like to talk myself out of finishing to full length of my run. I'll tell myself "Casey, you've gone far enough" or "That's enough for today." But that's sooo Satan trying to make me give up. I see Him do it not only in something as small as running, but in my ministry as well, especially in sharing my faith. So these next 8 days I'm going to cling to these two verses:

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me -- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." -Acts 20:24

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." -Hebrews 12:1-2

One Sentence.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” –Romans 1:16

Paul would know better than most the truth of this verse. This week has been long, and it’s still not over. But this verse keeps me going. I know the power the cross has. I’ve experienced it in my own life. I’ve seen it change people in incredible ways. The rejections, the weird looks, the apathy…it’s all worth it to see just one person come to know the Lord. And that has become a truth for our team this week. The apathy on the campus is unreal. You can sit down with someone thinking they’re interested, watch them nod their heads while you explain the gospel and then leave with a “that works for some people, but I don’t think I’m interested”. Inside I just want to grab them and shake them and say, “You have to get this! It will change your life. You’re making a mistake by saying no!” But then God always seems to tap me on the shoulder and remind me that changing hearts is His job and not mine. That truth alone is what I must cling to daily in order for me to press on to the next conversation knowing that what I’m doing will be fruitful in God’s timing.

Fortunately, we serve a God who knows just what we need and when we need it. With each of us having outcomes similar to the one just laid out, He decides to show us a reason to stay true to our purpose and give us a “halftime pep talk”. On Tuesday, Mia made the decision to join us as the body of Christ. The first saved soul (that we’ve seen) so far. It was exactly what we needed to hear happen…it gave us hope and assured us of why we are here. Even if Mia is the only one who comes to know the Lord this summer…it will be worth it. So praise the Lord for showing us that the Holy Spirit is in Melbourne, He is working through us, and He does care what we are doing for Him :)

Tonight StudentLife had an outreach at a local mall…Cheeseburger Party! Everyone who came got a free Macca’s (McDonald’s) cheeseburger. It was a great time of meeting some more RMIT students and finding out where they are spiritually. I had a few really great conversations and hopefully a few coffee dates in the next week J Praise God for that!

The need for bold Christians at RMIT is still great. We are trying our best to spur the Aussie Christians along in their faith, but it’s been a struggle. Our aim is to team up with them and go sharing on campus with them, but because they are in classes, it’s difficult to work around their schedules. Another big obstacle is that many of them are new believers and the boldness is lacking. We are trying to encourage them as much as possible and build relationships with them, but again, that is another difficulty as well.

Going back to our experience on campus so far this week…it’s hard. Melbourne is indeed a desert, a land desperate for rain. Today I was asking the Lord to give me hope for this city, because honestly, it’s hard to see it. I had about an hour of alone time tonight before our team meeting. I was debating how to spend this precious hour of time (alone time is pretty sparse here). My decision: listen to a sermon I had downloaded on my ipod. I opened to Jonah and the Lord left me even more in awe of His incredible power.

Just to summarize… Jonah was commanded by the Lord to go the city of Nineveh and preach the Good News. Nineveh was at the time, the capital of Assyria, a people that were planning on causing major destruction. So, like most, Jonah saw it pointless to go try to this city to preach to people who won’t even give Jonah a second glance. Jonah decides to try to hide from God, in hopes that he wouldn’t have to go. Well, that was a bust. God of course, showed mercy to Jonah by saving him. The point of the sermon isn’t God’s mercy on Jonah, although that is a great sermon in and of itself. The point the pastor was making in this specific sermon was the compassion God has on the world.

In chapter 2, Jonah arrives in Nineveh and ended up leading the entire city to the Lord using one sentence. ONE, a total of 5 Hebrews words (8 translated English words). What the? Yep, that’s God.

What I wrote in response to reading this:

“Now that is power. Reading that is such a great reminder to me during this point of my journey that the amount of words you say doesn’t make people believe. It’s not about a long dialogue or a lot of questions. It’s about the capability of God’s power. God can change the heart of a city the size of Nineveh in just ONE day and with just 5 words, using Jonah, someone who initially ran from God in fear of even going. God uses the weak and He can revive cities with just one man and just a few words. His power is seriously incomprehensible!”

God is awesome. God is working. God will continue to work. He’s bringing the rain to Melbourne, whether it’s while we’re here on not.

If you want to come along beside me and my team, we’re keeping a list of people we meet and are praying about.

-Kiriaa, he is from the Ukraine = grew up as a Christian, but fell away. He wants proof through science.

-Amitola

-Chris

-Long

-Joe

-Jack

-Natalie = interested in becoming part of StudentLife

-Arthur

-Daniel

-Mia = our new sister in Christ…pray that she fights the horrible attacks Satan is throwing at her in her first days of being a believer. Pray that she continues to search for Truth and lives in the joy of having the Holy Spirit in her life.

We're Half Way There, Living on a Prayer.

Full on ministry has begun. This past week, we were able to get a taste of sharing on campus and what it is going to look like for the most part. Wednesday and Thursday we took a tram out of the city to Deakin Uni about 45 minutes away.

Our team were paired up and spread out over the campus approaching students in hopes of getting into a spiritual conversation. Wednesday was such a good start to my ministry here in Melbourne. God put 4 solid conversations in my schedule and each one was encouraging in different ways. We talked to 2 agnostics, both of which were willing to listen to the Christian standpoint and one of them allowed us to walk them through the gospel.

Today was the first day at RMIT and was really successful. Being the first day of classes, campus was pretty crowded and busy. Lexie (one of my teammates) and I were able to share the gospel with a Chinese girl named Amitola. We walked her through the key concepts of the gospel and constantly asked questions making sure she was understanding everything we were saying. She had a lot of questions about the Christian faith, but she showed quite a bit of interest. We left her with a KGP (Knowing God Personally booklet) and she eagerly gave us her contact information so we can meet up again to answer more questions she has. We also met a girl named Cindy from Indonesia who was a Christian and was interested in being plugged into a Christian ministry. That was a huge answered prayer, so we got her contact info as well so we can get her involved with StudentLife (Aussie’s CRU).

It has been quite a draining spiritual experience, but so worth it :) The Lord is working on these campuses and it’s so encouraging to hear all the conversations that my teammates have had. People are hearing the gospel, some are interested and a few are even becoming captivated by it. I am positive that God is calling Melbourne desperately to Himself. He wants so badly for the darkness in this city to become captured into His kingdom.

“I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” –Philemon 1:6

 Another summer project team arrived last night. This is the PSW team (Pacific Southwest) and are mostly from California. They are working at other campuses on Melbourne as well and knowing that they are here for the same reason we are…following the Great Commission. Both teams got together last night and had an hour of worship and just to better capture the moment, I’ll share what I wrote in my journal last night:

“Tonight was a night that I probably won’t forget. The PSW summer project invited us to worship with them. The room was full of students singing out to the same God. We didn’t even know each others’ names, but yet we were bonded. A bond like that can only by found in the cross. We’re all from different places, we all have different backgrounds, but the gospel brought each of us to Melbourne, Australia to serve Him. Hearing and seeing how passionate that summer project was brought so much encouragement and motivation to me. Tomorrow is our first day at RMIT. I pray for effectiveness and a fruitful harvest. We are made to “chuck” seeds, and to do so with grace, love and eagerness. Reading through the book of Acts has really opened my eyes to what spreading the gospel looks like. The expansion of the church is incredible to read. Willing disciples, the gospel, and God’s power equals a fruitful Kingdom. RMIT is ready for the gospel. They are ready to experience unconditional love. We’ve been placed at their disposal, equipped with the key to their eternity.”

Another thing that has been something that I’ve really grasped since I’ve been here is how important quality time with the Lord is. Spending time with the Lord each day has been part of my life for a while now, but here…it’s different. I’m pouring out so much of the wisdom God gives me each day in the conversations I get into, and without intimate time with my Lord I would be spiritually drained to the max. I need the Word, I need conversation with God and it has been so clear how important it really is. One of our leaders, Ryan, has done a great job in continuing to challenge us as a team in our personal relationships with the Lord. This morning he talked about John 13 and how Jesus washing His disciple’s feet isn’t just showing Jesus’ humility and service, but more of how it paints a picture of how He came down to this earth, take on such a crummy job, and “washing our feet” in order for us to know His love. The metaphor was an incredible picture of the gospel and he challenged us to pray about and even share the sins Jesus has washed us clean of these past 3 weeks. It was really great to become vulnerable with my team and share my heart as well as hear the hearts of my teammates. Ryan had us listen to a song by the Bridge Band called Search Me. Listening to it brought me to tears this morning. The lyrics spoke the exact cry of my heart and the thoughts I so often find myself thinking.

I don't wanna hide anymore from Your voice

I don't wanna run anymore from Your words

I don't wanna bow anymore to these gods

I don't wanna worship anymore of these things

Search me - oh God and know my heart

Test me - and know my anxious thoughts

See me - if there is any offensive way in me

Lead me - in the way everlasting

I don't wanna chase anymore of these dreams

Don't wanna walk away anymore from your love

I don't wanna live anymore for this world

Don't wanna find my strength anymore in myself (go to chorus)

I don't wanna spill anymore of Your blood

Don't wanna be ashamed anymore of Your name

I just wanna lay all my crowns at Your feet

I just wanna raise up my hands and say (go to chorus)

Search me

Test me

See me

Lead me

Thanks for your continuing prayers and I know God hears them.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” –Colossians 4:2-6

People I’ve met and am praying for (and it would be awesome if you could pray for them as well):

Matthew (atheist), Jeremy (agnostic), Sam (agnostic), Allison (the lady from my last post), Ann (atheist), Cindy (Christian who wants to become involved in StudentLife), Steph (atheist), and Amitola (agnostic, but showed great interest in the gospel).

Adventcha'

Today was our first day out on the campuses in Melbourne and it was pretty amazing. 

We met the STINTers at 10am on the RMIT campus. They sent us off in pairs to walk around the campus and pray for what God is going to do in the next 4 weeks. Today was sweet...prepare yourselves :)

Description of today = ADVENTURE

Shannon and I partnered up and started walking and ended up at our first stop, "the Hub". For those JMUers who are reading this, it was what looked like our Warren Hall. For others, it was pretty much just an information office, a few computers, some lounging areas, and lots of bulletin boards to advertise clubs, events, etc. We found a cute little semi-circled booth and began praying. We prayed for the incredible opportunities that await RMIT because of the diversity of their students. The mindset: We reach out to them, they take it back home to their countries. After that stop, we made our way over the the uni's spiritual center, because of curiosity of course. We went into what we thought was the center, was greeted by a woman named Allison, and was led to an open office where she said we could pray. We met with Jesus, exchanged our hearts' desires for this campus and how we would love to see the students really take advantage of the spiritual center. On our way out, sweet Allison offered us a cup of coffee/tea...and of course we said yes. We sat down with Allison and I started asking her questions about the students at the uni and what primary religions were present. That lasted for a while, and then for some reason I felt the need to ask her what she believed...I mean, she does work with chaplains in the uni spiritual center. From her reactions to us from the beginning (surprised that we were "prayer walking", and her interest in why we were here) I had the feeling that she had some faith of her own. Her answer was not at all what I expected, and I think Shannon would agree. Her answer: "I grew up a Christian, but now I don't believe there's a god." Didn't see that coming. We continued to ask her about her past and why she had come to that conclusion. She told us that she grew up in the church, taught Sunday school through high school but when she got to college and began taking classes for her major (math and statistics) she started noticing that things didn't seem to add up. Her final statement about her reasoning was, "it takes faith to be a Christian, and I just don't have that kind of faith." Shannon and I asked a few more questions before we left to finish up our walk around campus. We talked about it after we left her office...and we were heartbroken. It was so sad to hear that someone knew the Truth (or said they did) and then has chosen not to accept it. Shannon and I believe God put Allison in our life today for a reason. We know where she works, so we know where to find her to talk to her again. She has a skewed vision of Christianity...she is basing it all on facts. We want to change that for her. We want to love on her during the next 4 weeks like she's never seen. We want her to experience firsthand what it really looks like to be a Christian, and we think what she's lacking in her life and has lacked is Christ's love. 

So that was a good start to the morning. I think the best word to describe it was humbling. The conversation with her was difficult. And I believe God used that just to show us a glimpse of what the next 4 weeks will look like.

There's one more thing I want to say about RMIT...the spiritual center, it's built into what used to be a prison. It's now used for tours and what not, but at one time it was the state prison. This is a sad, sad thing to say but it's unfortunately very true. Being built into a prison, this paints a picture of the current status of the spiritual atmosphere of Melbourne and the campuses. I, as well as my team and the STINTers, pray that this will change. These people are in bondage. Bondage of sin and lies. They are slaves to themselves and to Satan and are so saturated in it that they have become numb. Our plea for this city is that they hear the Truth that will break those bonds and set them free. 

After lunch we headed to Melbourne Uni. I'm going to do my best to paint a picture of this campus. In your head, imagine Hogwarts and Oxford combined and put it smack dab in the middle of a city. That's what this uni looked like. The buildings were amazing, the campus is beautiful and I'm so excited to spend time there!

Shannon and I were wandering around praying, taking pictures and talking when we ran into 2 students who offered to take our picture. The guy, Ryan, is actually from the States. He graduated from the University of Utah and is here at Melbourne Uni for his masters studying architecture, and the girl, Angie, is a purebred Aussie from Melbourne studying architecture as well. They were so nice and offered to show us around a little. We ended up getting Ryan's number and email so we can meet up and hang out some more :)

God provided some pretty sweet divine appointments today and I am so excited about the remaining 4 weeks. Today was just a glimpse of what it's gonna be like, and I really really liked what I saw.

Continue to pray for us. We're about to dive in to ministry this week. Tomorrow we have orientation of the unis and with the other Christian Aussies who we will be working alongside. Wednesday we're getting sent off in the city to share our faith. 

Prayer Requests:

-eager hearts for the gospel

-team unity, continual encouragement

-team sickness (still dealing with coughing and runny noses)

-RMIT and Melbourne Uni

What I've been meditating the past few days:

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." -2 Corinthians 4:7-12

Kiwis, Plane Rides, and Dance Parties

I'm finally settled in. It has been a long, exciting and adventurous 10 days. For those who have been asking...here is a recap of my last ten days:

Day 1-2 (June 28th-30th)

-Consisted of planes, airports, terminals, overpriced food and LOTS of coffee. We were in the air for about 20ish hours overall. It was long for sure, but being entertained by my team made it a lot easier.

Since we flew across the international date line...June 29th was non-existent for us. It got lost somewhere between Hawaii and Fiji for us. The plane rides were pretty normal. It was dark the majority of the time, so scenery was...invisible. The one awesome thing we did get to experience was actually out of the "plan". Our flight from LA was supposed to go straight to Auckland, New Zealand but because of some weather issues, we landed in Fiji for about an hour. Lucky for us, we got to watch the sunrise of the mountains of Fiji. It was absolutely breathtaking. Such an amazing reminder of how artistic our beautiful Creator is :)

Day 3-8

-V20 Conference in New Zealand! I met and prayed with people from 39 different countries!

Some words I've learned:

"jandals"- flip flops

"sneeds"- sneakers and jeans (a big fashion no no in New Zealand)

"sweet as" - awesome

"stubbys"- men's rugby shorts...very short shorts

"egg" - idiot

"muppet" - idiot, jerk (in a more humorous sense)

I was able to go out and share my faith during the week of V20 in a nearby town called Hamilton. I got into a wonderful conversation with a woman named Collet. She invited me into her home and offered me a "cup o" (cup of tea/coffee). She shared with me her upbringing in a Catholic home and the negative impact that had on her. She had some skewed views about the Christian faith, so I asked if she would be willing to walk through the KGP with me (Knowing God Personally booklet). This booklet is a tool we use to witness. It encompasses the gospel in a clear and simple way. I ended up talking to her for about an hour and a half and by the end she was eager to share it with her husband and children. She was such a sweet lady and the conversation I had with her really got me excited about the experiences to come.

As of now, this is my second day in Melbourne and in about an hour we're heading out to do an "Amazing Race". The STINT team has put together a scavenger hunt through the city for us today. I'm pretty excited about it! 

Apologies for cutting this short, but I'm out of time :/

Prayer Requests:

-for our team: unity, encouragement, bonding, good health (we have a few runny noses)

-for our leaders: strength, energy, quality time with the Lord

-people in our hostel (we want to take each opportunity to witness to them as well)

-our parents back home: peace and joy knowing God is completely protecting every move we make

Mom and Dad, I love you! 

Everyone, thanks for your prayers :) They are much appreciated and I know that God is answering them!

Update again soon!!!

Ps. Emma, Logan, Katie, Amy, Laurel...I miss you girls and I love you so much!!

And Kristin McGregor...HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM AUSTRALIA!!! I love you sooo much!