Life

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged. Bible studies, school excursions, preaching, pathfinders, youth rallies, elder’s meetings, evangelistic series have for sure kept me busy. When I am not working on a chapel talk or sermon or in a Bible study or planning something I am getting kid’s shoes off the roof, jamming with the some of the high school kids in their music class, learning how to play touch (a version of football that is really fun!), filming for a music video that the kids are doing for class, going bowling (Man, I wish I could have gone bowling for PE when I was in high school!), answering their questions (One primary students named Kayden is very proud of himself for coming up with spiritual questions and every so often will come up to me with a very serious look on his face, “Pastor Jeff, ...?" Kayden and I have a special handshake that he taught me. He makes sure to run up to me and do the special handshake with me even if I just saw him a few minutes ago=), writing the Chaplain’s Corner for the newsletter, hanging out with the kids in my office, or my favorite: playing “ship” with the kindergarten kids (I love those little kids. So simple. So fun. “Pastor Jeff, come play with us!” “Alright, if you insist”=)
I know, doesn’t sound like I do a lot of work, but as my chaplain used to say in high school, I am doing presence ministry! So many of these kids need that positive encouragement because they don’t receive any of it at home and I hope and pray that these kids will somehow see in me Jesus. At times it can be frustrating because I wonder if I can do any more. Should I be starting up a new program or some new creative way to do chapels? I am always asking myself these questions. A few weeks ago I was very tired and came home and was super frustrated. I just sat on the couch for a while and thought of my busyness and while I had heaps to do I wondered if I was accomplishing anything, wondering if I should be doing more, wondering if I was making a difference. I went to bed early that night and was about to skip my habit of getting on my knees before I got into bed because I knew that if I prayed God would give me encouragement and I was halfway enjoying my pity party. But I am glad I decided not to skip prayer that evening because the minute I said “Jesus I need you!” I started feeling peace and my discouragement turning into joy. And as I got off my knees that night I praised God for making me realize that He truly is my strength! “He has given you a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind!”
So yes, I have had my downs but also I have had my ups as well. Just a few days ago was probably one of the best days ever and one of the biggest reasons was because I had a stellar breakfast!! I hadn’t gone grocery shopping for a few weeks prior to this killer breakfast and had been living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pasta, and cereal. I would go to the store to buy milk and bread and that is about it. However, I finally broke that trend last week and went grocery shopping and was super excited to have fresh veggies and fruit in my fridge! So back to my amazing day. I guess it wasn’t that great but I was excited because I had not had fruit in a while, but I had some cereal, some cantaloupe (which they call rockmelon by the way) and a piece of currant/sultana/cinnamon toast. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten so excited over some cantaloupe but it started off my day well=) And then I was really praising God because the next part of my day went smoother than expected. I had organized for our high school students to go over to Eastside Lutheran which is a similar, small Christian school for a combined chapel service and I was not too sure how it would go. But the kids interacted with eachother, the song service went better than expecited and the whole program was very positive. It was good for the kids to see how another school runs and to jus talk to other kids outside of their own circles. Praise God=)
Another up: I had the opportunity to go backpacking with Mr. Norman (the principal) and his wife at Cradle Mountain which is in the northwest corner of Tasmania. We had Thursday and Friday off from school about a month ago and Mr. Norman invited me to go backpacking for the weekend. I had to preach on Sabbath at the Glen Huon church but I decided to at least backpack in with them and spend Thursday night, do some hiking on Friday and then hike back out. Cradle Mountain is one of the most beautiful places I have been. There are so many lakes in the area, the views are fantastic, and there was still a little snow on the peaks. I was just glad to get away from everything and get outdoors! The whole trip was seriously a big blessing and I praise God for that “up” moment.
I praise God that now every lunch period is filled with a Bible study! A couple of them are serious and actually want to learn and it is hard to tell with the others. I study with three people on Tuesday and I wonder every week what I will study with them. They have a very limited understanding of spiritual things and I have never had to explain some of the things I am explaining to them. But I do appreciate the challenge and I also appreciate their honesty. Sometimes I wonder if they actually care. I can say the Bible says this and this is why the Bible is legit and this is what God did for you and this is how you should respond and they will go “So?” Some of them just don’t care, but who am I to judge? They are at least there and want to come back. And perhaps deep down the desire is there. And I take heart in the fact that perhaps some years down the road when they are at a spot in their life where they don’t know where to turn they will remember what they learned at Hilliard Christian School and turn to Jesus! The Holy Spirit will use it somehow=)
I am real excited about this Sunday, November 22 because I am running my first half marathon. A couple of months ago a doctor at the church I go to told me about this Point to Pinnacle race which goes up Mount Wellington. I considered it then but decided against it because I thought it would take up too much of my time. However about three weeks ago I had gained a little over 10 pounds and realized I needed to shed a few so I started running! Then I reasoned that since I was running anyway I might as well do this race and it might give me some more motivation. So I signed up for the race! The weather is supposed to be rainy and it is really cold up on the mountain but oh well=) It will be one of those ‘for the memories’ things.
All in all, I am doing well. I definitely miss home and friends but that is expected. I am continuing to learn the importance of studying God’s word and abiding in Him. I was going to put up lots of pictures but then my computer was not working. So I will try to put up a few next week. Cheers.

The Last Month and A Half

I am amazed at how fast times flies. So many things to write about and say! I guess I will just write about random things that have happened.

The second and third week of September were school holidays for the kids and during the first week of holiday I helped at Tween Camp. Tween Camp is up at Spring Beach which is on the coast and is about an hour and a half from where I live. Spring Breach is like Cohutta Springs. It is Tasmania's Adventist camp/retreat center. Tween camp is basically like summer camp except it is not summer. We had about 45 kids come and we run all sort of activities for them during the day and at night we have our evening program. I was in charge of the kayaks. We decided that a fun game to play on the dam (which was freezing by the way) was water polo. So we bought these float-able nets and a ball. The evening before the kids came I went down to the water and sent the nets up so everything would be ready. I woke up the next day and went down to the water and one of the nets was not floating anymore and kind of sitting halfway in the water! Some rabid creature had chewed all of the foam material that made it float. I asked someone what kind of monster lived in the dam/pond and they told me eels. Great I thought. I am going to be life guarding and kayaking in a pond full of eels and freezing water. Alas, no one was eaten though by killer eels which was a very positive thing.

On Friday we went down to the beach and the water was also freezing. You might be catching a common theme here: Tasmania is cold. I was sitting in my swim suit and shirt shivering on the rocks and Jack, the cameraman was coming around filming different people. Jack started filming me and I said some random statement about how water in America is not this cold. And then for the kids and for the camera I took off my shirt and start running toward the water at full speed thinking man it can't be that cold. As I am sprinting as fast as I can, I suddenly trip and fall flat on my face in about an inch of water. I had not seen a dip in the sand and basically ate it hardcore. Everyone was like, is Jeff okay? And then when they saw me get up, they all started laughing. I am glad I could provide for a laugh=)

The next week I went hiking with Mr. Norman who is the principal at Hilliard Christian School where I am the chaplain. We drove down this road out in the middle of nowhere and then the road basically stopped and we hiked for a couple hours through the Australian bush until we reached the coast and it was absolutely amazing! These huge sea cliffs just drop right down to the ocean and you could see for miles up and down the coast. Really pretty. We hiked down to this spot called Shipstern's Bay which is supposedly a famous surfing spot. The waves were pretty calm when we were there but they can get up to 20 feet or so.

I recently moved as well. I had been staying with Pastor Deveron, the youth director, and his wife Sarah who is the PE/Art teacher at the school. This last week I moved into a flat all by my lonesome self over in New Town which is a suburb about 25 minutes from where I was living. At first, I was not too keen on the idea because Sarah is a really good cook and I enjoyed living with them. And then I heard that some guy recently got stabbed to death in New Town. Hmmm...
But then I warmed up to the idea because I can now invite people over for vespers/Bible studies/meals/etc. And I enjoy cooking for myself too. The apartment or flat does not have a drier, but I enjoy hanging my clothes up on the clothesline. Makes me feel domesticated and now I feel like I have been doing it all my life. My clothes are nice and crisp too. I think I am going to hang my clothes up on a line when I get back to the States.

They don't have graham crackers here by the way. I was looking for some the other day because I was going to teach the youth how to make Smores at a vespers/fire we had the other night. However, the grocery stores don't carry them. We used cookies instead. Not the same.

They call cookies "biscuits" and they call supper "tea". So if I said, "Going to have some people over for tea" it would not mean we are going to sit around the fire sipping lemon and iced tea, but rather we were going to eat dinner. But here, you could also have morning tea which is a morning snack and even afternoon tea which is a snack after lunch. But just tea is supper.

This week is Spiritual Emphasis Week at the school. I had a Spiritual Emphasis Week for the elementary kids a few weeks ago but this week it is for the high school kids. I am nervous. The kids come from a vast variety of spiritual backgrounds. Some are mature Christians. Others are just beginning in their faith. A lot may believe in God but don't care at all. And three or four are even professed atheists. What do you tell them? They have a hard time listening as well. I struggle speaking to people who don't at least show that they are listening. A lot of the kids in high school also have the "CKS" aka Cool Kid Syndrome. They act all tough, but you know they really aren't. I would really appreciate your prayers this week for these high school kids. Man, they come from such tough homes and messed up backgrounds. I would say at least 75% of the high school kids are not Adventist, let alone Christian! I just want them to know how much Jesus loves them and how He wants their hearts and how living for Jesus is not really a sacrifice at all but better than anything they have ever experienced. I want them to know that Jesus wants to be their best friend and that we have to spend time with Him daily to really get to know Him. I want them to know that you have to choose to be a follower of Jesus. You can't base your decisions or your relationship with God on feelings, but you have to trust what His Word says. I just want them to believe!

God is soo good though. I am learning a lot about Him, myself, and ministry. He has not yet failed me and I know He won't! I was encouraged by a promise this morning found in Psalm 27 "Wait on the Lord, Be of good courage, He will strengthen your heart, Wait I say on the Lord!" God is faithful and I am so glad that my weakness is His strength and that I can trust Him!

Lord, when I thought I could do everything, I could do nothing. How blessed is my lack of ability because it makes me find in you everything lacking in me.--Francois Fenelon

My trip to Tassie

The plane I rode over to Australia was this big ol' plane that had two stories, TVs on every seat,a little tooth brush and toothpaste, and the best part: socks to keep your feet warm. They hooked ya up. Every seat also had a little remote that could turn on the light above, call the airline stewardess, and the most useful part: a video game controller. If you turned this remote around, the back had controls to play video games with on the TV. Unfortunately I did not have a chance to play any video games which is too bad but thats all good because the guy next to me did. He was a strict orthodox Jew: beard, long sideburns, and a black and white suit. He was a nice guy. I had to put my bag in front of his jacket in that bin above our heads and he kindly told me that was alright. He watched documentaries most of the night, but at one point he started playing video games. This made me smile because it is not every day you see someone like that playing video games. Kind of made my day. Praise God, I made it safe all the way to Melbourne. Got through customs without a hitch, but then I forgot what airline I was flying into. So I kind of run around for a few minutes trying to figure out how I was getting down to Hobart, Tasmania. Eventually I found the right airline, got on the plane, and flew down to Hobart. Once I got there I was a little nervous because I realized I had completely forgotten to write down any contact information. I had no addresses, phone numbers, or anything. But no worries, because the Lord worked that one out too. Deveron, the youth director of the Tassie conference, was there with a sign and he was a super cool guy. He took me over the conference office where Flick, the secetary works. There are only three people that work at the conference office. The secetary, the youth director, and the president. Pretty small, but they are real cool people. I am looking forward to working with them. Pretty stoked about being here. Tasmania is beautiful. Green rolling hills, nice rivers, and some mountains in the distance. All in all I am super thankful to the Lord for getting me here safe.