Almost two
weeks ago teams for 2014 were announced.
I am excited to share that I’ll be returning to Sydney as part of the
Sydney CYS NET Team this year. I was surprised that I would be going back to a
location that I had previously served in, but am very aware that God does the
most random things in my life and they have the tendency to turn out pretty
amazing! I am excited that I get to journey through this year with five other
incredible young people. Paul is from Edmonton, Canada and is my co-team
leader. Josh is from Texas, USA. Sarah is from Brisbane. Steph is from the Gold
Coast and Nick is from Bendigo in my home diocese of Sandhurst. We’re a very
random bunch, but have spent the last two weeks getting to know each other.
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| #sydneycysnetteam2014 From left to right: Me, Steph, Sarah, Paul, Nick and Josh |
The day
after teams were announced we spent an afternoon in Noosa together. We ended up
going to the beach, climbing on some rocks and just sitting and talking. We’ve
been having a lot of fun, but have also started all our ministry training. We’ve
learnt how to give talks and share testimonies, lead games, and lead other
activities. There were a few days where we learnt a whole bunch of dramas and
skits. We also spent a few days learning about local ministry (as opposed to
the National Team’s ministry) and community living. We were very blessed to
have Bernard, the Director of Catholic Youth Services (CYS) in Sydney, visit us
for a couple of days and share with us some of the ministry we will be doing
this year. It has changed A LOT since I was on team in Sydney in 2012, so I am
very excited for a new and exciting year.
The last
three weeks have absolutely flown by and I have experienced many things - too
many to write about! The first week was spent as a retreat. This has been my
favourite part of training thus far. Each year I have been blessed with life
changing experiences during the first week of training. And this year did not
disappoint. I can’t put my finger on one particular moment, but continually
over the whole retreat my heart was changed. It was a time of surrender for me.
In fact the majority of training has been a time of surrender for me. I have
been able to let go a lot of things and have realised I have so much to give,
but in different ways than I ever thought I would. It has also been a time of
healing and God is drawing me ever closer to Himself - again, in ways I never
thought possible.
It has been
a time of learning. I have learnt new dramas and ministry tools, but have
learnt many new things about who I am. I have changed so much in the last
couple of years, and I have been learning to take myself out of the box I have put myself in for so long. Just because I use to do something or react in a
particular way doesn’t mean that’s how I am now. I have been reflecting a lot
on St Paul’s Letter to the Romans where he says “Do not be conformed to this
world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...” (Rom 12:4) I have
allowed God to change my heart and now in order to love Him with all my heart,
all my mind and all my soul, my mind needs to be transformed and renewed; just
as He has transformed and renewed my heart so much in the last two years. I
know that God has started to work in this area and I believe that He is going
to change me, and the way I think about things so much this year.
We’ve also
had a lot of fun on training. Each year there is a NET Training ‘Crazy
Olympics’. Some may argue that my only reason for coming back to do a third
year was claim victory in this glorious event. I would disagree, however, after
losing for two years in a row I was probably more hungry for victory than most.
It wasn’t enough winning the Spirit Award in 2012. I needed to go one better,
and in 2014 the dream team was assembled. We called ourselves the UrbanRoos! We
had a cheer that would even rival the Manchester United Football Club.
Competition was close. We won some events, but not others. We couldn’t even
crawl to the finish line of the ‘Caterpillar Race’, but had a major comeback in
the ‘Banana Relay’, and eventually won, claiming our prize of victory! Really,
there’s never a dull day on training!
Look out Sydney, we'll be there before you know it! And I can't wait!
