Eureka

Y-E-S to V-B-S! Yesterday was our first full day to work in the church office. We spent most of the morning and afternoon cutting out leaflets for our upcoming Basketball outreach and Holiday Bible Club (which is known as VBS to many of you). These events aren't until July, but they'll be here before we know it, and we want to get this info in the schools before the kids get out for their winter break. I'm really excited that the church is doing the Big Apple Adventure, since I already know a little bit about the theme.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.~2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I was reminded of this passage after visiting a church member named Harry yesterday who is battling with cancer. Through all of this, Harry hasn't lost his humor or faith. Harry reminded us that our strength and our joy should always come from the Lord and not our circumstances.


Tuesdays will typically be our day off during the week, so today we ventured into the big city of Melbourne. We took the train into the city and enjoyed a beautiful ride on this last day of Autumn. I loved spending the day roaming through the streets of Melbourne and seeing the city from the Eureka Skydeck. The Eureka Tower is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere reaching 91 stories high.  To make the day even better the sky was clear and the sun was shining for the 2nd day in row, which is very rare during the colder months in Melbourne and Pakenham.

Standing on the 88th floor of the skydeck we were able to see the bay and the entire city of Melbourne.

What's retro?

Saturday was a relaxing day off. Peter and Julie took Austin and I on a ride in the hills. We were able to visit the Puffing Billy steam train. The steam train is one of the oldest in Australia, it was built in 1901.   Even though the winter sky was gray, the hills covering the background were a beautiful site.

The train conductor gave Austin and I a short overview of the train and how they keep it running.

We enjoyed a delicious Devonshire tea at a nearby cafe, to warm up.

Since my basketball skills are lacking and we'll be helping with a basketball outreach Tim and I went for a little" training" at a local gym. Some church members showed up as well and I got schooled in basketball by a 6 year old. I'm going to need to make a lot of improvements by July.

Today was our first sunday at Pakenham Baptist and I'm not sure the last time I met so many people at once. The Aussie's are so hospitable and welcoming.  I had the chance to sit in on one of the children's sunday school classes that I'll be helping teach in the future. I'm so excited to finally be at the church and getting to know the people here. We also attended the Retro Service at the church tonight, we weren't really sure what retro meant, but after arriving we shortly realized we were a few of the only people under the age of 80. It was an interesting service to attend and I was able to meet even more friendly Aussies!

Wonder Woman

Cold spaghetti for breakfast? Yep, that's the Aussie way, served on toast. We returned to the primary school today to help with the Brekkie club. About 30 kids showed up to receive a free breakfast. Many of these students are from low income families, so its a true blessing that the school allows us to come in and do this breakfast club for them. I had so much fun getting to talk to the kids and of course getting made fun of for my accent once again.

We were able to experience our first night with the youth group in true super hero fashion. The youth group meets every Friday night and tonight's theme was Super Heroes. A last minute run to a fabric/costume store turned into a makeshift Wonder Woman costume. Austin lead devo tonight on Daniel 3 and did a great job might I add for last minute notification about the devo. I can't wait to get to know the youth even more, but for now its nice to be able to just put names to faces.

Captain America, Captain Australia, and the Unknown Super Heroes

Tomorrow we have the day off, so I think we will be getting to rest a little and then doing a tad bit of site seeing.

No More Planes

I've now been in Australia for four days and my body is finally adjusted to its new time clock. Austin (my partner for the summer) and I landed yesterday afternoon in Melbourne and drove to Pakenham. It was bittersweet to separate from our team and head to our different assignments. But thank God, we won't have to be on another airplane for two months!

Leaving Sydney, heading our separate ways!

The young adult bible study group made sure to give us  a little quiz on Aussie words when we arrived last night and I was of course asked over and over again to speak with my lovely southern draw.

Our morning was spent at Pakenham Primary School, which I absolutely loved. I was so intrigued to see how the school systems work over here and it was great to have the opportunity to get information from many of the teachers. Every Thursday we will work with a Physical Education Program at the school teaching students how to ride bikes, as well as teaching them common social skills. Our goal is to build relationships with the students and teachers, which will hopefully draw them into our Holiday Bible School at the beginning of July.

Kangaroo sitings!!

Tea is Dinner?

Here goes my first blogging experience!

After over 24 hours of travel our entire team of thirteen has finally made it to Sydney, Australia. We've completed our orientation now at the wonderful Camp Kiah Ridge. I've found out some pretty interesting things about Australia, like Tea actually means dinner and Supper means a late night tea and biscuit and breakfast is most commonly referred to as Brekkie. I'm trying my best to catch on to the lingo.

We went on an excursion yesterday afternoon to Wollongong Beach. It was really cool to see the Pacific Ocean from Australia. It's winter, so it we weren't able to get in the ocean, but we definitely still had fun climbing rocks near a light house.

       One of many attempts at a jumping pic with wonderful new friends (Gabe, Austin, and Sarah)!


We're 15 hours ahead of most of you and jet lag took a tole on me. My body may be in Australia, but my time clock was definitely still in the US. Jet lag has finally wore off after two days and I am now ready for our last trek of the trip to Pakenham today.