READY TO GO!

This will be the last blog post for a couple of weeks as the whole school is about to move out into the wider community to serve in various ways. One team is heading south to work with the Anglican Church in Nowra and the other team is going to Sydney to serve with the Salvation Army and their street ministry.

So here’s a run down of some of the highlights over the last week. First up, our lecturer this week was Satish John, the Director of Torchbearers in India. The students were very impressed by his stories as he expounded on ‘The Servanthood of the Believer.’ This timing of these lectures was perfect – the week before heading out for Prac Week.

Here’s a few alternative stories; some of the girls went over to the Briars for a coffee and they got the giggles when then saw an elderly lady fall asleep on the sofa – Kelsy said, ‘You could see right up her nose!’ All the students enjoyed our Thursday morning breakfast as we had porridge for the first time this autumn (fall). We also had lots of other goodies like dates, yoghurt, sultanas and a fruit platter as we broke up into our Prac Week teams to enjoy a time of bonding! Oh yes, and how could I forget, we have three new additions to the school – three miniature ponies grazing in our paddocks – they are a great hit with the students, especially the girls! And for the guys, the latest update is that Thane and Cade have changed the name of their car from Thade to M – if you want to know what ask them on the i58 page on facebook.

Talking to the students, the highlight of the week was most definitely going to Sydney to help the Salvation Army collect for the Red Shield Appeal. We left at 7.30 in the morning in the pouring rain, wondering if we would ever return the same, when suddenly as we passed Campbelltown the sun began to shine brilliantly. What a perfect day! We arrived at the Street Level Church to be given our uniforms, (something like a red pinafore with the Salvos’ logo), and then sent out into teams of about six. We had one of our SN@CERS, Zac Barr join us, to help collect all the money. We started around 9.30 and went straight through until 4.30. Once we had finished, the Salvos estimated that we had collected $12,000 - $15,000, not bad for a whole day’s work. I have to say, I was very proud of the students who went – they worked very hard and as well as collecting so much money they also had great team work and enjoyed themselves heaps.

Well, tonight is SN@C, the last for a couple of weeks so we are expecting a huge crowd. The team have been working hard, as usual, ready to make an impact with the gospel message on all who come.

Oh, just one last piece of news. Following the huge success of the Hong Kong Mission Trip we have decided to go again in September. I am so excited about this and am looking forward to what God will teach us as we step out to put our faith into action to build into the lives of the poor.

Well, until I write again, enjoy wonderful times with Jesus,

STEVE aka WOODSEY