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