Well it’s about time I update you all! My apologies for falling behind on blogs… I haven’t had a “normal” schedule for over a month now. This is how my first semester at Hillsong International Leadership College concluded: lectures and tutorials came to a close, then there was two weeks of fieldwork intensives (for me I spent two weeks working on need analysis reports for various Sydney suburbs in order for Hillsong to evaluate what needs to be done and where we can help the community more), then there was Hillsong Conference (the event of the year attended by 20,000 people and served by 4,000 volunteers…which of course included all college students. My place was in Key Speaker Resource, meaning that my job for the week was to stand in the Expo area answering questions and assisting in purchases of resources from the speakers at conference. This was a week of little sleep and a particularly trying week for me physically and emotionally because in the midst of all this I was trying to move. I ended up having to pay rent for my old place and my new place for the week of conference and actually didn’t even stay at either place because they were overcrowded), and finally there was break! (I almost didn’t go on my planned vacation because I somehow injured my foot during conference. The doctor said I had bruised tissue in my foot that would take a couple weeks to heal. It’s still hurting pretty bad and is difficult to walk on but I decided to go anyways because I knew I’d be miserable and bored sitting around here all week…and I’m sooooo glad I did go because I got to enjoy the nice warm weather up in Queensland! I, along with a couple friends, flew up to the Whitsunday Islands, which are the lowest point of the Great Barrier Reef, and enjoyed a week of snorkeling, sailing, sun soaking, island hopping, reading, card playing, movie watching and relaxation!) And after all the craziness (some good and some bad) over the last several weeks, I start my first Australian job on Saturday and my second semester of school on Monday. Whewwww!
I was thinking on my flight back that the last time I was flying into Sydney was on my way here to Hillsong. My how things have changed since then! On my original flight here I was so desperate to get away from how things were at home because it had been a very difficult year for me; but now flying into Sydney was full of excitement to be back in my new home and enjoy the rest of this amazing year of growth. I have been so blessed and I can’t believe I really live in this incredible city and I am part of this amazing church and I attend this wonderful college!
An overview of the semester…
Highlights:
Preaching in AllStar Kids (grades 2-4): I gave a sermon about God being our friend and how we can “call” him anytime and he will always answer. Much to my surprise I actually really like being part of the Kids program. Crazy, huh?! There is a little girl (1 year old) that has taken quite the liking to me in the first service (I’m not going to lie… I might be slightly attached to her myself) and I have a group of 2nd graders in the second service that I lead and get to know more each week. They ask where I was if I miss a service, write me cards saying “I’m the best!” and they get so excited if I happen to see them outside of church. I love watching them worship and learning how transparent children can be.
The goal setting portfolio assignment for personal leadership: I really enjoyed the assignment and found it to be helpful and enlightening for self discovery and future plans. Not only that but my teacher for the class actually called me just to tell me how much she enjoyed reading my goals and values and that after reading it she felt that she knew me better and knew that I would succeed at whatever I do and that God has something big planned for me. J
“The Box”: The Box is like an open mic night for college students. I was asked to perform a rather unique form of poetry reading along with my good friend, Jenn. I read a little something I wrote about injustices while Jenn played the bass. We had a chorus and a bit of rhythm and it seemed to go pretty well. It was definitely a different experience for me.
Sermons in public speaking class: I really enjoyed listening to all of my peers’ sermons. Everyone really stepped it up a notch when they were sharing the Word in class and it was so great to see vast improvements in all of our public speaking abilities.
Old Testament Introduction lectures: The principle of our college, Katrina, teaches the OT class which has been so insightful and probably my favorite class. She is a very intelligent and funny woman who was able to make sense of a lot of OT information and put it in context with the New Testament. This is really helpful for people like me who struggle to put together the God of the OT and NT. I particularly liked our discussion about the various types of covenants that God made with man.
“Friends”: I love the people I have met and become close with this semester. There is a core group of people that I am generally with and we joke around that we are the “Friends” crew: three guys and three girls just hanging out… it’s the best and they are such a joy to be around.
All in all it was a good semester but I really think (and I’ve heard from second and thirds year students) that each further semester takes you deeper and challenges you more. I am thinking very seriously about doing a second year at Hillsong and I may even get my Masters while I am here in the Oz. Thanks for all your support and please feel free to contact me (snail mail, email, phone, Facebook, Skype) anytime because I’d love to hear from you!
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