The month of April was an adventure! Every week was something exciting! (Have a look at the egg portrait Lucy painted of me on Easter weekend.... it's uncanny!)
Let's start at the beginning. After an eventful Easter weekend full of Maunday Thursday, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday Services, we were back at college for a week of lesson Intensives in Ministry and Mission. We spent a lot of time hearing from local ministers about how to be missional as a church. There was a lot to consider and think about especially as we then split off into our Chaplaincy Groups for a week of Mission.
Mission
What is mission? Well as a college, Moore prioritises the sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ in local communities. To help us a students engage in this skill, we are sent out in Chaplaincy Groups (groups of 15-20 college students across all 4 cohorts) to different local communities to support a church in this work. Some groups went as far as the Solomon Islands, others to North and West Australia. Most of us stayed local to the surrounding Sydney area. I was involved in the Newtown Mission at a church down the road from the college. You may have seen some of the mission posts on FB or Insta.
What did we do? Newtown and Erskineville Anglican Church (NEAC) were celebrating Newtown's 150th anniversary of the church building. They were running special events at the beginning of the week that we were able to attend. On the first Sunday, we ran the kids work so the parents and leaders could be in the special Sunday service. We then shared in a lovely lunch in the graveyard of the church. We attended an evening highlighting and remembering women of the faith and their impact in Australia for the sharing of the gospel. One night, we attended an Evensong which was a highlight for me. Basically, Evensong is a traditional service that is led through singing of prayers, liturgy and hymns. It was beautiful. I had never seen or heard anything like it! They had a fantastic quartet come in and lead the singing for us.
During the rest of the week we spent time at the Erskineville Church site where we were helping to prepare for the relaunch of a new service the following Sunday. The church closed down for a time during Covid and was re-opening in the neighbourhood for the first time since. We did a lot of gardening and site maintenance, door-knocked around the neighbourhood to let them know about the new service, hosted a street BBQ, a toddlers song group, a men's BBQ, youth night and women's event where we packed birthing kits for midwives in Central Africa.
On the final Sunday, we supported the launch of the first evening service at Erskineville. In the morning, I sang on the worship team and many of our other team members shared testimonies of how they came to know God personally, preached and gave the kid's talk. We were exhausted by the end but filled with great joy to see the local church growing in Newtown.
Moree
The following week was HOLIDAYYYYYYYYYS! I went to Moree with my friend Lisa to visit her family and experience more rural Australia. It was a beautiful 8 hour drive North-ish. Lisa taught me to play the car game, windmills. Basically, windmill spotting, which I was terrible at at the start of the trip. But by the end was giving Lisa a decent run for her money! Lisa's family were so generous and really kind to let me into their family life. It was the rest I needed. The country is beautiful!
We were able to enjoy a week of relaxed reading and adventuring with her family after mission. We went to the local pool and spent ages going up and down the waterslide with Lisa's nieces and nephew. We went up Mt Kaputar and made friends with a little mountain kangaroo. I saw emu, wallabys, kookaburrahs and kangaroos just hanging out in the wild! It was fantastic! Although I also got eaten alive by mozzies which was a struggle.
Copacabana
Week 3 was technically Research Week so we all had a big assignment due at the end of the week. But that didn't stop us 1st year girls from heading up the coast to Copacabana! We were house and dog sitting for a classmate and her family. It was such a blessing to not have to work in the library but enjoy the sunshine of the coast while we worked.
We got our work done but also managed to have a lot of fun cooking together, playing games, walking the dog on the beach, watching the rainbow lorikeets and cockatoos. A couple of other 1st years came up for a day trip on the Wednesday which led to a trip down to Tarrigal for fish and chips by the beach. Some swam, those of us who felt it a little too cold for swimming just walked the beach.
Though I remember having lots of fun and making great memories, I cannot actually think of anything else to write about Copa! haha. So just enjoy some photos!
Now what?
Well.... as I write this, it is Tuesday of week 3 of the term! I was meant to update the blog 3 weeks ago. Maybe that gives you an idea of how full on the return to term has been. The struggle at the moment seems to come from trying to balance college, church responsibilities, and fun music opportunities.
I came back from Copa and went on my church weekend away. I was leading all the music for the weekend. It was fun to get to know folk at the 4.30 church a lot better as I normally attend the 11am service. I also had the opportunity to lead 9.15 and 11am services on guitar the following week which was scary but a huge achievement for me. All the guitar lessons with Liv are paying off and I am ever thankful to God for his kindness in granting me skills and understanding to serve in this way!
It feels like a much shorter term and the assignments have all seemed to fall now. I have some big assignment due every Monday of the term and then 2 huge exams at the end. I was sick last week which meant missing some classes and getting behind on some assignments. We also had our 1st year Weekend Away with college last weekend which was phenomenally fun! We were in the Blue Mountains, playing board games and getting to know the folk we do classes with and their families. I was on the music team again. I think the combination of being ill in the lead up, the cold, rain and lots of singing (and shouting through the Bush Dance aka Ceilidh) has led to a bit of vocal strain. Which leads me to Prayer Points!
Prayer Points
Praise God for the opportunity to learn and serve on mission in Newtown.
Pray that God would grow his church there, sustain and bless the leadership, and continue to teach me and my chaplaincy group how to serve Him missionminded.
Praise God for friends to travel with, great rest over the holiday and memories made
Praise God for time to get the research week project done!
Pray for upcoming assignments and responsibilities:
15th May - Teaching Scripture Class to Kindy at local school
20th May - Exegesis on Romans 5 due
23rd May - Hymns by Candlelight service (pray for my voice to heal)
27th May - Leadership Reflection Assignment due
3rd June - Cross Cultural Assignment Due (Praise God for Isabelle, who agreed to be interviewed for my Cross Cultural Assignment)
14th - New Testament Journal Due
11th -14th June - Study Leave
18th June - Overview of Church History Exam (We have covered 2000 years of church history in 6 weeks, and another 6 weeks on missiology - there are a lot of little details to remember!)
21st June - Biblical Theology Exam (100% of grade - my hardest class. I am really struggling with this class. Please pray that I will be able to understand the questions, and communicate well in my exam.)
Other responsibilities at church like serving on Church bands and Sunday School teaching.
Praise for improvements in guitar and opportunities to serve more with music at church and college.
Praise God for his continued provision for all my financial, physical and spiritual needs. Pray that I would manage these gifts diligently, and that I would trust in the Lord with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding.
Pray that I would continue to enjoy learning here, making memories, and being built up in my faith.
In Christ Alone!
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