I can’t believe we’ve been in Sydney for four weeks already! Time has flown and it has been a great start to what looks like being an absolutely incredible year!
We were welcomed to Sydney by Bernard and Emma from Catholic Youth Services and driven to our home we unpacked and got ourselves settled. The feeling of being back in Sydney was surreal; so much was the same, but so much had changed. We were straight into ministry with City Silence the very next day and then an encounter day on the Friday. Sydney is a big city. Schools are big and year levels are big, at least for a six person NET Team! Our first encounter day was attended by 160 year 10 students. Whether we liked it or not, the training wheels were off. It was a great day and we learned a lot about our ministry and working together as a team. In some ways it felt like we were learning to fly because we’d been pushed out of the nest! But the biggest thing I remember about this day was being greeted, by name, by a student who I had ministered to on my first year of NET. We often give so much to God and do what He asks of us, but don’t often get to see the fruits of our labour, which is ultimately God’s work any way! But it was a blessing to see the faith, alive and vibrant, in a young person and know that you helped in some way.
We’ve done seven encounter days already, ministering to almost a thousand young people. I’ve had the privilege of sharing a couple of talks and leading one encounter day. A highlight would have to be driving six hours to a campsite near Gunnedah for a day. It was a very short visit, but one well worth it! On our way we had dinner in Singleton; where the World’s Largest Sun Dial calls home, encountered some wildlife on the country roads late at night and visited the Big Golden Guitar in Tamworth! Another highlight would be on another encounter day getting to pray individually with all the students in my small group, and then to my surprise one of the students praying for me. It was a beautiful moment and one I want forget any time soon.
We were welcomed to Sydney by Bernard and Emma from Catholic Youth Services and driven to our home we unpacked and got ourselves settled. The feeling of being back in Sydney was surreal; so much was the same, but so much had changed. We were straight into ministry with City Silence the very next day and then an encounter day on the Friday. Sydney is a big city. Schools are big and year levels are big, at least for a six person NET Team! Our first encounter day was attended by 160 year 10 students. Whether we liked it or not, the training wheels were off. It was a great day and we learned a lot about our ministry and working together as a team. In some ways it felt like we were learning to fly because we’d been pushed out of the nest! But the biggest thing I remember about this day was being greeted, by name, by a student who I had ministered to on my first year of NET. We often give so much to God and do what He asks of us, but don’t often get to see the fruits of our labour, which is ultimately God’s work any way! But it was a blessing to see the faith, alive and vibrant, in a young person and know that you helped in some way.
We’ve done seven encounter days already, ministering to almost a thousand young people. I’ve had the privilege of sharing a couple of talks and leading one encounter day. A highlight would have to be driving six hours to a campsite near Gunnedah for a day. It was a very short visit, but one well worth it! On our way we had dinner in Singleton; where the World’s Largest Sun Dial calls home, encountered some wildlife on the country roads late at night and visited the Big Golden Guitar in Tamworth! Another highlight would be on another encounter day getting to pray individually with all the students in my small group, and then to my surprise one of the students praying for me. It was a beautiful moment and one I want forget any time soon.
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| At the Big Golden Guitar in Tamworth |
We are kept busy with lots of other ministry. Catholic Youth Services held a welcome BBQ for us and have been keeping us on our toes with regular events. Each week we go to City Silence at St Mary’s Cathedral. Young people from across Sydney gather together for an hour of adoration and then head out for dinner. After going to Six30 Holy Hour regularly, it is like having a little bit of Melbourne with me! And on Wednesday nights we’ve started back up Chill ‘n’ Chat. My team in 2012 kicked off the first ever Chill ‘n’ Chat, last year’s team kept it going, making it bigger and better, and this year we get to continue this great event, starting with a Lenten program. We’ve also begun planning for the Catholic Youth Services Camp next month which is something I am looking forward to.
We’ve also been exploring, heading into Darling Harbour one night for Team Time. Team Time is one of my favourite times of the week. We stop doing ministry, preparing for ministry, or any of the other tasks we need to get done, and spend a couple of hours hanging out as a team. Other than heading into Darling Harbour, we have played many a game of Articulate – which is my favourite board game, and in honour of St Patrick’s Day (and Sarah’s Irish heritage!) we held our own St Patrick’s Day Parade as we were unable to get into the city for the Sydney Parade! This is by far one of the funniest nights we have had. Instructions were to make a float/dress up in something related to St Patrick’s Day. These instructions were interpreted in many different ways. Nick dressed as ‘Irish Man: Ireland’s first ever superhero’. Sarah dressed as ‘The Girl From Belfast’. Steph as an Irish gypsy. Josh decorated his skateboard and wrote some spoken word. I don’t know what Paul dressed as, but there was a lot of green! And I dressed as a rainbow with a pot of gold! (I unfortunately lost my laptop charger, so I can't get photos off my camera at the moment to show any pictures from this great night.)
We’ve also been exploring, heading into Darling Harbour one night for Team Time. Team Time is one of my favourite times of the week. We stop doing ministry, preparing for ministry, or any of the other tasks we need to get done, and spend a couple of hours hanging out as a team. Other than heading into Darling Harbour, we have played many a game of Articulate – which is my favourite board game, and in honour of St Patrick’s Day (and Sarah’s Irish heritage!) we held our own St Patrick’s Day Parade as we were unable to get into the city for the Sydney Parade! This is by far one of the funniest nights we have had. Instructions were to make a float/dress up in something related to St Patrick’s Day. These instructions were interpreted in many different ways. Nick dressed as ‘Irish Man: Ireland’s first ever superhero’. Sarah dressed as ‘The Girl From Belfast’. Steph as an Irish gypsy. Josh decorated his skateboard and wrote some spoken word. I don’t know what Paul dressed as, but there was a lot of green! And I dressed as a rainbow with a pot of gold! (I unfortunately lost my laptop charger, so I can't get photos off my camera at the moment to show any pictures from this great night.)
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| Us at Darling Harbour |
We’ve got lots on over the next few weeks. More encounter days! More City Silence! More Chill ‘n’ Chat! Starting to minister at a couple of universities! And a whole bunch of other random stuff, including having our supervisors visit is in a couple of weeks! I'm sure time is going to fly, but I'm looking forward to what is next.
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