Quick One Today

Just a quick blog today, need to get ready to leave, some of us are going to an RSL near the college for dinner. Although apprantly there are big delays on the trains...

I need to get better time management skills, I'm coping at the moment, but it wouldn't hurt to get better.

An example is me trying to rush to do a few things before I leave in half and hour...



By the way, no blog tomorrow, will be at college.

Kenya Believe It?

Some of the homework we were given after the Orientation House Party over the weekend was to read an information pack telling some of the details of the mission trip to Kenya, which take place for the last bit of June and most of July.

I have very mixed feelings about it. I'm excited, scared, interested and kind of overwhelmed all at the same time.

We'll get to do some pretty cool stuff, like do a gospel presentations in some schools, visit some orphanages, among many other things. Lots of opportunities to serve God and use our gifts he has given us in a completely different enviroment! We will also get to go to a youth group and some church services over there, it will be great to meet some people who believe the same thing we do who are on the opposite side of the world!

I've actually only ever been in NSW, the ACT, and Queensland when I was two. I've never been in a plane!


However despite all these cool things, I am quite scared and anxious about the whole thing. Being away from home for a month is more than double the length I've been away before (currently being the Katoomba Solid Rock Cafe mission coming in at 12 days).

And I will miss my church and all the people there very much - I feel so comfortable doing ministry there. Seeing everyone's smiles, talking and hanging out, doing music together, meeting with the purpose of hearing God's word together and encouraging one another. My church family.


But I guess that is even more of a reason to go - the challenge of trusting in God's strength alone, and not relying on my usual environment. The reality is that (unfortunately) I will need to leave Caringbah eventually in the future (though I'm hoping that its not for at least a few more years!). I guess this will be one step which will help when that day eventually comes.

Of course, I won't be going alone anyway - with all of Year 13 there I probably won't get too lonely! Probably just a bit homesick.


One of the things the info pack mentioned was the need to do a fundraiser event at church. Russell and I have had the idea of a fundraiser before, and after the new Gospel Chior meeting on Sunday (which from what I saw at the end, absolutely rocks!) a few of us were discussing the possibility of Youth Church holding a fundraiser in a form of a concert type thing using the gifts of people from YC. Maybe God has already been at work for this! Erin expressed some excitement for it tonight on MSN (happy birthday by the way!), so it seems like the idea has already picked up some momentum! Another info should be given out in a few weeks with more details about what the fundraiser should look like I think.


So yeah, those are some thoughts on Kenya floating in my head at the moment. For a look at another side of Kenya, check out this cartoon.

The Journal Begins

As part of Year 13, one of the things we have to do (or at least is strongly suggested that we do) is have a daily journal. While buying a book to write this journal did have some advantages, the blog seemed the better option for a few reasons:

* If I was writing it down, there's a good chance even I wouldn't be able to make out what the writing says.

* I think I'd probably find it harder to write to an audience of only me.

* Chances are I'd lose the journal at some point.


Blogging it also provides an easy way for people to find out what I'm getting up to at Year 13 if they are interested.


There are a lot of new things to get used to this year - one of them is finally accepting the need for a diary. School always tried to get us into the habbit of using our 'Homework Diaries' and even if I did try to use these as a means to remember what homework I had, having to actually get it out of my bag each time some new homework was given seemed much more effort than it was worth. I could usually remember what homework I had anyway, whether I did it or not was another matter entirely.

I've found that working at the church means that there is a need to remember when many different meetings are on, when you are giving talks at certain programs, times that certain things need to be done by, etc. Currently I have remembered everything but I know I won't be able to keep it up for long. So I'm getting a diary. A nice A4 one. If I can find a nice A4 one.


One of the things we are doing at Year 13 is a 'Bible in a Year' course, in which we read the bible cover-to-cover in the time that Year 13 lasts. This means about four chapters a day, with notes relevant to what we have read written by Don Carson. I'm loving it, I hadn't been too devoted to daily quiet times in recent weeks, and its great to have a system going that will keep me reading each day. I felt amazingly refreshed when we had our first quiet time on Saturday at the Year 13 Orientation House Party.

Don Carson's notes give great insight into what the bible is saying. On Sunday our reading included Genesis 5, which lists the family tree of Adam and Eve. There are many of these family trees in the bible, and I think most people would find it hard to find any relevance in them at all.

Not Don Carson.

Good ol' Don pointed out the repitition of 'and then he died' throughout the chapter. While each man did live a very long time compared to today, it still always ended in their death. This is a problem that wouldn't have happened at all if human kind didn't sin. Yet the eight people who have 'and then he died' following their names make it all to clear that the problem is very real.

However, there is one exception, and it is very easy to just skip over it like I had. 'Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.' (Verse 24) Even this early in the bible God displays his grace in saving someone from death.