these are the encounters I'm learning to live for.

I am writing to you at 12:30 Sunday evening. This weekend marks the mid semester break, and although we are technically off of studies, our weekends are still full with kingdom purpose. Saturday morning I arrived at church at 8:30am for Street Teams. This week, we joined forces with a group who goes to State funded housing in Waterloo behind the church’s city campus area.
We started off by meeting a beautiful young Australian woman named Carmen. She was terribly ill, and so she asked us to take her dog out (she lives on the third floor of a run down apartment building wreaking of smoke and urine and dust.) Then we had a visit with a gentle old man stuck in his home because of past work injuries. Lory was a pilot for many years before he was the victim of a plane crash that put him into a coma for 4.5 months. Since the crash he has slurred speech and very little mobility. He lives alone in a little apartment, and it is beautiful to see him light up under the snowy white beard covering his gentle face. We talked with him about the weather and how it made him feel. We talked about getting transportation for him to join us at Hillsong on Sundays. Everything we mentioned seemed so significant to this man, he hung on our every word. Since it is difficult to understand him, he was patient to repeat everything several times and use what little body language he could muster. This man is living in a cocoon feeling alone and rejected and once a week 4 college students spend 10 minutes with him and he closes the door very obviously feeling like a million bucks. It seemed so wrong to me.
We met with others, including a man from Finland who learned the accordion and laughed about his poor form and lack of talent. We met with men who needed help lifting things because of back problems, and elderly who treated us like princesses in their home just so they could have a few companions for a bit.
Saturday reminded me that the community I have at home and now at Hillsong is an honor and a privilege and not the norm. We are living among the forgotten.
I so often pass by the women on their walkers and the drunkards on the side of the street without a second thought. But tonight I am reminded of a Savior who didn’t just see their outward appearance; He looked into their soul and saw something worth dying for.
I’m embarrassed to say that Friday night I debated on whether or not I should even go to Street Teams. I struggled all night and I finally went to bed thinking that Kingdom purpose is a better thing to live on than 2 more hours of sleep. And now I think of Lory’s face when he closed the door. I think of Carmen’s desperate plea for someone to just take a dog downstairs for a bit. I think of old men with windbreakers dreaming of more vodka as a companion, and being pleasantly surprised to get us instead. These are the encounters I’m learning to live for. This is the purpose I’m living out in Australia.

That same Saturday night I met a beautiful Norweigan woman appropriately named Bella. She had the wisdom of a life filled with adventure, academics and humanitarianism. Bella sat near me on the bus and we talked music and culture and science. I was inspired to live life her way. She had been to 17 universities in 8 different countries with varying degrees from the highest rated schools and was working as a pediatric neurosurgeon through an organization that sends her all over the world to the greatest need. She had lots of knowledge, but more than that she had a lot of appreciation.

Christine Caine spoke tonight about living without fear. Getting to death safely is no way to live. I would like to be a beautiful Bella one day. I would like to be sent to the greatest need, but also find room for the invisible need in places like Waterloo state funded housing.
This weekend reminded me that I am alive for more than my desires. God’s call is so much bigger than our circle of friends; and sometimes you only need to take a walk to find the need.

We serve God

Joshua 3

The Jordan

^1-4 Joshua was up early and on his way from Shittim with all the People of Israel with him. He arrived at the Jordan and camped before crossing over. After three days, leaders went through the camp and gave out orders to the people: "When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile—be sure now to keep your distance!—and you'll see clearly the route to take. You've never been on this road before."

⁵ Then Joshua addressed the people: "Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you."

⁶ Joshua instructed the priests, "Take up the Chest of the Covenant and step out before the people." So they took it up and processed before the people.

^7-8 God said to Joshua, "This very day I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel. They'll see for themselves that I'm with you in the same way that I was with Moses. You will command the priests who are carrying the Chest of the Covenant: 'When you come to the edge of the Jordan's waters, stand there on the river bank.'"

^9-13 Then Joshua addressed the People of Israel: "Attention! Listen to what God, your God, has to say. This is how you'll know that God is alive among you—he will completely dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. Look at what's before you: the Chest of the Covenant. Think of it—the Master of the entire earth is crossing the Jordan as you watch. Now take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the Chest of God, Master of all the earth, touch the Jordan's water, the flow of water will be stopped—the water coming from upstream will pile up in a heap."

^14-16 And that's what happened. The people left their tents to cross the Jordan, led by the priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant. When the priests got to the Jordan and their feet touched the water at the edge (the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest), the flow of water stopped. It piled up in a heap—a long way off—at Adam, which is near Zarethan. The river went dry all the way down to the Arabah Sea (the Salt Sea). And the people crossed, facing Jericho.

¹⁷ And there they stood; those priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant stood firmly planted on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground. Finally the whole nation was across the Jordan, and not one wet foot.

The art of care packages.

my mom is a professional care package packer. Everything I would pack in a suitcase, she manages to pack in a medium sized box...
So kudos to mom.

But there's always the random stuff. See picture 2 for example. Sweet & Salty Nut bars. Good. Value Size. Great. Chicken Vienna Sausages in Chicken broth--ehh.. You know, a little weird, mom. I mean, great thought. I'm shocked it even got past the quarentine Australian people. The Slim Jims were taken and I was oh so sad. Apparently they call that 'beef'. crappy food police prolly ate it with their lunches.

In my last package I recieved 'gourmet jelly beans'. They were tasty. The only downfall was the unusual amount of bubble gum flavored beans. I have nothing against bubble gum, it's just a bit too exciting for my tender taste buds. They couldn't handle the explosion of easter flavor. And so I will put them on the list of weird things recieved.

My first care package had a pair of cheap sunglasses that Lynn bought at a 4th of July vendor during a volleyball game. Apparently mom didn't know they didn't belong to me and I recieved them in a package. lol. Sometimes we leave things at home because we'd feel better starting over without them. Sometimes it includes the belongings of others.


Out of the dozens of things I've recieved from my mom since being here, to only list off 3 random things gotten through the mail, I feel like she's made some kind of mom record. She balances heavy with light, she stuffs underwear in shoes, and puts toothpaste in ziplocs, and I can keep the ziplocs. She's so creative. I don't give her enough credit.

Mom's are underappreciated. I just decided.

Thanks Oswald

"We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."

hecka funny video

This is my friend Daniel and I's silly video trying to be like the dance instruction videos for hillsong Kids. We put on our best aussie accents and we reckon you'll enjoy it, mate! Follow along to our song we perform in songwriting class this week...lol, you never know, it might just end up on an album some day...

leaky faucet

This blog is meant for updating. The problem with updating is this idea that updates string together with the other updates, creating a kind of chronological tale of my time here in Oz. As you have noticed, my updates are few and infrequent. My updates are more like awkward highlights in a textbook—like the kid who doesn’t know how to study for his biology test, and highlights the things he thinks the teacher may find important. Sometimes, I write to my audience too much. I try to think of those who will read this and ask myself, “What would they like to hear of my experiences?” The problem is the expected fluidity of blogging turns into more of a leaky faucet.

But I figure if I’m going to give you a leaky faucet update, I might as well drop some large driblets.

Here are some new ideas for today. Only today, because my brain won’t even consider processing the last week.

In order for something to be fixed, it must first be broken.

My creativity isn’t wrong. It isn’t judged. It isn’t perfect. It isn’t ‘beginner’. Creativity is.

Don’t bother playing Chubby Bunny with an Aussie. Their cheek elasticity is better than Americans.

Rosie isn’t the only one in the world who calls people “Mangas.”
Watch Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging and the English world will open to you. I suddenly understand so much of my roommate that I once found perplexing. It’s a girly boy crazy teen girl who discovers acceptance. It’s Nickelodeon, so it’s pretty feel good cheesy, but it makes so much sense!

Girls nights never end with just girls.

I am not alone in the values I was alone in back home. I am in common minded company. Sometimes that makes things too easy. Sometimes its better to be around people who don’t think the same as you-- it stretches you. I don’t really feel the stretch mentally. I feel the stretch in different ways- emotionally, for instance—but not mental. I suppose if I was being stretched in all areas of life I would have a mental break down, so I guess this will do for now.

An Update: Assessments Unpacked

I was asked to write a reflection of our week at colour conference-- answering specific questions throughout. Maybe this will give you a little slice of what I do with my time at Hillsong College.
Grace & Peace
Sarah

Colour Conference was unique to Carson Stobbe and I, as we saw the beauty of womanhood through spongy eyes and lips. Our body was roofed in thick layers of fleece and a bright poly cotton blend. The 5 pound smile permanently displayed on ‘our’ faces welcomed cuddles from child and woman, Fijian, African, Dutch, American, Kiwi, Ozzie, German, and the like. Our focus was fun although our vision was lacking, not because we’d perished from the smell of our sweaty descendents, but because of the concave plastic shielding our eyes from the sites of stairs, narrow hallways, and hurried delegates.
Max and Melody is truly a world of its own. It is a kind of cartoon land, and it is easy to become spellbound by its repetitive cuddles, high fives, and giggles. Body language is the only form of communication in M&M land, and although it is worth 55% of all communication for humankind, it makes conversation a bit dull…unless of course, I’m interpretive dancing—then it’s legitimately the best conversation of the day.
I’ll admit it, 2 people dressed up as mascots can be a little creepy.
No one knows who we really are, and when women ask my helpers if the unusually tall Melody is actually a girl, it doesn’t help when their response is, “Of course Melody is a girl!” The women immediately assume that vague response is code for, “I can’t tell you because it is really a boy inside those pigtails and princess waves.” Some women create an awkward wall between the unknown (me) and the target (themselves). But since my job is to bring fun, I actually hide from them before they can even express their fear verbally. When they see how silly it looks for a 6 foot cartoon character to hide behind a pillar, they come out of their shell and laugh a little. Mission accomplished. I can move on knowing that I haven’t scared anyone. It’s all in keeping character. If an 8 year old were told she was feared, she would probably run and hide as will. It puts things into perspective.
Those inside Max and Melody are sweaty, tired, and sometimes dehydrated. Within 10 minutes my entire back was laced with sweat. It doesn’t matter how little you wear underneath, or how often you take a break, sweat is inevitable. During the first week of Colour the sweat didn’t bother me so much; but by the beginning of the second week I was tired of smelling like a hockey locker room. I didn’t want to be high energy anymore, and I certainly didn’t want to cuddle kids who would test my balance all day by hanging on the nearest appendage. I was done with 4 layers. There were times when my attitude was less than willing to be the face of Hillsong Kids; and then God would remind me that it is my turn now to be the change, and even if I didn’t get to be in all the sessions, because of what we’re doing, a women feels comfortable leaving their child with us so she can spend time with God; it’s all worth it when God reminds you of your importance. Every piece has a place.
Max and Melody have a sparkle in their eye for bit of mischief and a lot of love. The blend is fiercely appropriate for the atmosphere of Hillsong Kids and I feel that as the heart and soul of Melody, it was my privilege to bring this personality to life. I wanted to be seen, but I only wanted the best kind of attention—the kind of attention an 8-year-old girl longs for. The kind of attention that reminds a little girl she is princess, a marvel who is fearfully and wonderfully made. I wanted to remind women of the innocence of their youth, and I wanted to give them a moment of childhood if their young life had been somehow robbed.