Torchbearers Australia is a wonderful place to live learn and grow. Where ever we are on this 25 acre property we surrounded by God’s beautiful nature and His peace. A lot of our students particularly enjoy this especially as it’s a far cry from a world that’s pretty full-on at distracting us just about every minute of the day!
We love to build up our students in their faith and then sending them out to put it into action! Every week there are lots of ministries happening here in our local community – all offering our students lots of variety such as working with young kids, youth, street kids, church, or old folk!
This week I spoke to some of our students and asked them to give us a flavour of the activities they get up to. I started with a group of three girls Cari, Kristen and Shannon, all from Canada and all go to ‘Xgen’ the youth group of One Life Church in Moss Vale. They said that it runs every Friday night from about 7.30 until 9.00 and there’s a lot to get excited about. They love just hanging out with the young crowd of about 15 youngsters before they begin to worship with the band. Then their ‘on fire for Jesus’ youth leader, Scott Cummings, leads a game and shares a message. I asked Cari what she liked best about the night and she said, ‘I love the atmosphere, its great! And I’m impressed that the kids get along so well, (aged from about 13 – 20).’ Shannon and Kristen both said they liked Scott’s motto, ‘When you come to Xgen, bring a Bible, bring a notepad, bring a pen AND a friend!’ I have to say I rather like that too!
Our other neighbouring town is Bowral and that’s where Thomas and Cade, (also both from Canada), go to on Monday evenings from 5.30 – 7.15. Their destination is St Jude’s Anglican Church’s Boys Club where there are heaps of 7 – 13 year olds all wanting to cling on to their arms and their legs when ever they can. They said that the boys sometimes they get so carried away with the games that it’s hard for them to hear what’s being said so Cade and Thomas have to shout a lot!!! I asked Cade what was the best thing about the club and he said, ‘Bonding with the kids. One of the guys only has sisters so it’s good to be a big brother to him.’ How cool is that!
There’s always something going on here. With 24 young people the energy levels run pretty high and they certainly keep the staff on our toes. But I have to say that the energy we really need for all this work is the life of Jesus. This week I was talking to the class about spending Quiet Times with God. I used the titles of two Hillsong songs to make the point: ‘The more personal time we spend with God the stronger we are FROM THE INSIDE OUT so that when we are in the world and faced with temptations we’ll be able to say, ‘I’LL STAND’ without falling!’ I think they got it and I hope it may encourage you too!
I’m off on a conference tomorrow in Sydney for two days and among other speakers I’m looking forward to hearing Dr John Dickson talking on Humility, the essential leadership quality. That will definitely provoke our thinking!!
Oh, just one other thing, the students who did an awesome job at fund raising for the Bush fire victims made it into the Southern Highlands News – another great story of putting our faith into action!
Looking forward to catching up with you all next week. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
WOODSEY
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Lots of exciting things happening
Welcome to all our new bloggers and thanks for being part of something great at Torchbearers. You will be kept up to date with all our news and of course, if you have any questions or suggestions please send them to the new email address: i58@torchbearers.com.au. I’d love to hear from you and respond to you straight away.
I was talking to Keith Walters this week, (he’s one of our former student from the States who designed this website for us), and we were discussing phase two for the website. During the next three months we will be working with flash and also looking at ways that will allow us to interact more with each other. We’re living in exciting times – please pray for us as this is an awesome way to tell young Aussies all about what Jesus is doing here in and through you guys.
This week the staff watched the live SKYPE broadcast of the memorial service for Arno, (former student), and Andrew who tragically died in a car accident. It was a service filled with the Spirit of God and all the hope of our eternal salvation despite the sadness of such loss. Many stories were shared of Arno and Andrew and it was clear that they lived their lives to the full and for God’s glory. What a blessing! We praise God for their lives and continue to pray for God to comfort their family and friends.
Last week’s SN@C was another creative programme to attract heaps of youth from our community. Together we learned more about God and sung our praises to Him. As people were arriving we showed a one minute film of all the action from the previous week and our SN@CERS loved it! Well done Thomas and Carl who put it together – you now have a new ministry!! This will become a new feature at SN@C so come along and see yourselves on screen or catch up on an awesome programme. We are planning to put those One Minute Clips on i58 so watch this space!!
This Friday our talented students will be joining Springetts’ Arcade in their efforts to raise money for our Victorian brothers and sisters affected by the bushfires. We’ll be doing lots of singing, playing and dancing - all to entertain the shoppers and to encourage them to give.
This Saturday we’re taking our students to the evening service at Hillsong Church in Castle Hill. Most of them have never been to Hillsong even though they have sung their songs and may have been to a United event, so this is again an exciting time for us.
Next week I will invite some of our students to share a little about their time at Torchbearers. You can hear news about our ministries and the ‘goings on’ of everyday on campus.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK
Woodsey
I was talking to Keith Walters this week, (he’s one of our former student from the States who designed this website for us), and we were discussing phase two for the website. During the next three months we will be working with flash and also looking at ways that will allow us to interact more with each other. We’re living in exciting times – please pray for us as this is an awesome way to tell young Aussies all about what Jesus is doing here in and through you guys.
This week the staff watched the live SKYPE broadcast of the memorial service for Arno, (former student), and Andrew who tragically died in a car accident. It was a service filled with the Spirit of God and all the hope of our eternal salvation despite the sadness of such loss. Many stories were shared of Arno and Andrew and it was clear that they lived their lives to the full and for God’s glory. What a blessing! We praise God for their lives and continue to pray for God to comfort their family and friends.
Last week’s SN@C was another creative programme to attract heaps of youth from our community. Together we learned more about God and sung our praises to Him. As people were arriving we showed a one minute film of all the action from the previous week and our SN@CERS loved it! Well done Thomas and Carl who put it together – you now have a new ministry!! This will become a new feature at SN@C so come along and see yourselves on screen or catch up on an awesome programme. We are planning to put those One Minute Clips on i58 so watch this space!!
This Friday our talented students will be joining Springetts’ Arcade in their efforts to raise money for our Victorian brothers and sisters affected by the bushfires. We’ll be doing lots of singing, playing and dancing - all to entertain the shoppers and to encourage them to give.
This Saturday we’re taking our students to the evening service at Hillsong Church in Castle Hill. Most of them have never been to Hillsong even though they have sung their songs and may have been to a United event, so this is again an exciting time for us.
Next week I will invite some of our students to share a little about their time at Torchbearers. You can hear news about our ministries and the ‘goings on’ of everyday on campus.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK
Woodsey
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Highs and lows of life
This week has been an awesome week for us. Going away last weekend was the highlight of the student’s time so far. The girls couldn’t believe how much fun it was to go out riding on the back of a Ute with a spot light looking at Australia’s amazing night wildlife. They saw so many kangaroos and lots of wombats – even got some pictures with one very docile wombat! The guys on the other hand loved the beach, surfing, eating BBQ ribs and just chilling under the stars. These experiences have offered our students so much opportunity to bond that they all feel as though they’ve been here for months – I think the homesickness has gone forever!!
Amongst the highs of great times and growing relationships we have also experienced some of the tougher sides of life.
The outcome of the Victorian bushfires had a devastating effect on everyone living in Australia. At Torchbearers we heard that one of our board members only just escaped with his wife and lost his entire house. A former property manager wasn’t so fortunate; he lost his wife and two daughters. Our prayers make a huge difference at times like these and we rely on our faith to help us through and see the good in everything. The spirit of the Aussies to rally round and help in so many different ways is outstanding. We have started our own appeal and some of our staff and students will be involved with fund raising.
On top of all that, a former Canadian student, Arno Ekkert and his friend Andrew Atoui, who were travelling around Australia, were killed in Queensland’s worst motor accident. We have all been grieving and our Principal, Neil, has flown to Canada to speak at the memorial service and be with the family. We truly love all our students not only while they are with us but also through life’s journey.
It’s amazing how these though times have brought us together as family. My prayer is that our faith will continue to grow and sustain us what ever we face and that our example may lead people to see Jesus in us.
WOODSEY
This week has been an awesome week for us. Going away last weekend was the highlight of the student’s time so far. The girls couldn’t believe how much fun it was to go out riding on the back of a Ute with a spot light looking at Australia’s amazing night wildlife. They saw so many kangaroos and lots of wombats – even got some pictures with one very docile wombat! The guys on the other hand loved the beach, surfing, eating BBQ ribs and just chilling under the stars. These experiences have offered our students so much opportunity to bond that they all feel as though they’ve been here for months – I think the homesickness has gone forever!!
Amongst the highs of great times and growing relationships we have also experienced some of the tougher sides of life.
The outcome of the Victorian bushfires had a devastating effect on everyone living in Australia. At Torchbearers we heard that one of our board members only just escaped with his wife and lost his entire house. A former property manager wasn’t so fortunate; he lost his wife and two daughters. Our prayers make a huge difference at times like these and we rely on our faith to help us through and see the good in everything. The spirit of the Aussies to rally round and help in so many different ways is outstanding. We have started our own appeal and some of our staff and students will be involved with fund raising.
On top of all that, a former Canadian student, Arno Ekkert and his friend Andrew Atoui, who were travelling around Australia, were killed in Queensland’s worst motor accident. We have all been grieving and our Principal, Neil, has flown to Canada to speak at the memorial service and be with the family. We truly love all our students not only while they are with us but also through life’s journey.
It’s amazing how these though times have brought us together as family. My prayer is that our faith will continue to grow and sustain us what ever we face and that our example may lead people to see Jesus in us.
WOODSEY
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The students have arrived!!!!!!!
Most of our students come from half-way around the world so settling in to a new semester can be the biggest adventure if they love meeting new people or a bit of a nightmare if they are shy! Whatever our student’s personality type we make the whole process as pleasurable as possible.
We offer friendly smiles and serve scrumptious food, (haven’t gone for the kangaroo steaks just yet!), then we take trips to get to know the local area and each other. Last Sunday arvo we swam in the local rock pools and raced to a friendly neighbour who gave us more delicious food, (like home made Oreos and pecan tarts). That night as we thanked God for all His goodness and sang awesome worship songs – heaps of Hillsong and Tomlin!
Our foreign students, (mainly from
As I’ve got to know the girls they say that they can’t wait to see kangaroos and wombats, (which they think are cute), and can’t understand why the Aussies don’t get excited about them! The guys just love the weather and love the surf, (Wednesday was beach day), and our only Aussie guy, Stephen, has been busy giving surfing tips in class and in the ocean.
There’s just a little bit of homesickness, but with bonding getting stronger everyday it’s feeling like family already.
There’s a fair bit of information about our course to soak up in the first week, but we also like to give a taste of what is to come. Our principal, Neil Bernard, has shared four lectures on ‘The Revelation of God’ and the students have lapped it up! Awesome job Neil!
We’re all looking forward to Friday when the girls head to a local farm to camp and the guys are heading to
Then on Sunday we present our first SN@C, (Sunday Night At Capers), where some of our students present an engaging programme for the local youth – can’t wait!!!
What an awesome start to what will undoubtedly be an awesome term.
Talk to you all next week,
WOODSEY
(Steve Woods’ nickname)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
