
Hi there, friends of i58!
Well, what a week we've had! Without doubt the biggest thrill was when we saw God move in an incredible way. On Friday I suggested to the students that we raise $1250 to buy a new guitar as we have 22 taking lessons. I asked them to have faith to believe that God would honour the time span we would set. Nathan boldly said, 'Four days', while the rest of the students said up to three weeks. Well, we collected our loose change and made a start - we were off! The next day while we were preparing the Conference Hall for our SN@C presentation on Sunday night I suggested we auction the drawings that last week's lecturer had made and left for us. So, at the end of SN@C the auction began. The first of seven pictures raised a staggering $105. WOW! But that was just the beginning! The bidding just kept going up and up! One sold for $300 and the final drawing of an eagle went for $400! We raised $1312!!! How GENEROUS is God. We have now ordered TWO guitars and all of us have been encouraged in our faith journey with God.
As our faith increases we desire to see more of Jesus and that inevitably means less of us. Sometimes when we focus on less of ourselves we actually do the reverse so the BEST way to go is always MORE of Jesus! In this week's lectures our Director, Haldane Rowan, is teaching on the Beattitudes, (Matthew 5-7). The buzz words that are going around the students are, 'Empty ourselves - just like Jesus did - so we can be filled with the Holy Spirit'. I think Jesus said it clearly in Luke 9:24, 'For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it'. I'm proud that we have a student body who is seeking to do just that and bless you to do the same!
The other big news this week is that our school announced to the community that it was no longer pursuing the sale of the property. This has been welcomed by the community who enjoy our interaction and support of many local ministries. Our challenge now is to update our facilities. With God's help we are eager to get started!
One last piece of news - I plan to take another mission trip to Hong Kong this April and have shared with the students what it will involve - next week I'll announce the team! Exciting times ahead for us all.
Now over to Colton:

Hello Everyone,
First off, we all had our first taste of the community this week through participating in local ministries. The one I am a part of is an after-school program for children in primary school. They call it Fun House, and boy is it ever fun (and a little bit wild). We get children with heaps of energy, and we get the chance to work in their lives, even if it is for just 2 hours a week.
As Woodsey said, we also had a crazy success in our art auction Sunday night. To think that we raised all the money for the guitar in one night just blows my mind. It is great to see God work in unexpected ways. Here is a picture of the highest priced piece that went for $400, purchased by our very own Brendan Johnson.
The sun is shining once again today! (it seems to always shine on work day) and that means one thing: perfect time to go to the beach. 3 of the 4 family groups are headed off to the sand and surf today for an evening of relaxation and a delicious BBQ. It will be my first time to the beach in Australia and I can’t wait to get there.
God Bless and have a great week!
STEVE aka WOODSEY & COLTON
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