Day 120: Give and RECEIVE

Today was awesome. Period.


































Just kidding, I'll explain:
In the morning (which, by the way is an awesome Paper Route song) we had Old Testament with Catrina; today's class was a bit different. She had us give an artistic take on the minor prophets (Hosea, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi); everyone pretty much had a blast acting, singing, and laughing our way through our renditions of the books of the Bible. We needed something like that. Afterwards there was chapel, which ended up being more worshipful than expected (but then again, how could it not when you sing With Everything?) we didn't have a message since some of our students and staff were kicking off the Online Open Day at noon. So after having lunch with my awesome Australian friend, Jake, I returned to school for our Personal Leadership Tutorial. We talked mainly about conflicts, physical ones and internal ones. It ended up being quite a deep time where we just connected with each other; that in itself was awesome. I didn't have much time after since we had a band practice for an hour; the thing about our recent practices is we haven't had a single practice with the whole band present. That's not a good thing... but fortunately today we had (almost) all the musos present (musos is the Aussie slang for musicians). We had some amazing progress on the song, and I'm feeling super excited about our performance now. Our guitarist, Michael, did a fantastic job as Music Director; he's gonna own it on Performance Day 2. The only other things accomplished was successfully making spaghetti for the 2nd time (it's amazing how good spaghetti tastes with bacon; Y to the UM!) and I got some work done on my computer. Tomorrow morning is my shift for the Online Open Day, so I'm planning on getting some well needed sleep!

God bless,
Steven

Day 119: The Fellowship of the Blessing

Today in review was sweet. Sisterhood started our morning right: head on serving and placing value on the women of Sydney/Hillsong. I got some pretty good feedback on my waterboy service (I am the unofficial waterboy, as people have appropriately titled it) and I got to help out with head count (basically counting how many people were there). Afterwards I felt like treating myself to a nice, huge Subway sandwich with DOUBLE meat; and it was awesome. I don't regret doing that, that's for sure! I had a pretty big gap of time between Sisterhood and Old Testament tutorial, but I couldn't really figure out what to do. After a fun tutorial class, I got to hang out a bit with Rafael, our Brazilian guitarist; it's cool to hang out with him when he's around. He's been absent almost all week, but he explained that he and his wife were both sick over the weekend. So then we had a band practice with less than half the band; but we got some good progress. Our original MD, Pamela, had to step down because she felt she couldn't fully commit to being the MD since she recently got a job (as grateful as we are for God providing her with a way to stay in the college) so our new MD is our fellow Texan, Michael. He's one of those quiet guys, but I'm sure we'll hear more from him now that we're taking his orders. In the evening, we had Team Night, but it was very different than usual. In the regular Team Night, we have worship and a message, but today our leader Gabe decided to try something to bless our other ministry, CityCare. So last week, he made an announcement that he wanted everyone to come with a bag full of non-perishable foods to give to CityCare, because the winter season is the hardest of times since that's when food is most needed. We gave well over 400 items to help ease the coming winter outpour of needy people. This was pretty much my day; not much that happened, but what did happen was incredible enough to make the day worth living.

God bless,
Steven

Day 118: Music Edumacation

So today was a day off. As is every Wednesday. How awesome. Today I noticed revolved around music to some extent; in the morning I was doing some research on Carlos Whittaker and Ayiesha Woods, and I concluded that they would make excellent additions to my plethora of diverse, inspirational music. That about took up my morning; I'll admit, I was a bit lazy to get outside, but I'm okay still. In the afternoon I had a band meeting with Jen, one of our lead vocalists for our next performance. Our current MD, Pamela, has been very busy and unable to really lead this group into getting this song down, so Jen and I have been working together to keep it going even just a little bit. We have a couple ideas in mind that should come in handy for tomorrow's practice. Afterwards, I ended up giving her my "Music Education on Christian-Based Bands You Should Know And Probably Would Like" course; it turned out quite well. She is now a fellow fan of Paper Route, Paper Tongues, and the one and only B.Reith! Ah, the joys of spreading good cheer through my favorite language: music. It was awesome. After a hearty dinner (Hungry Jack's Ultimate Double Angus, which was inspired by Iron Man 2 AND brought back memories of home), I went to Powerhouse a bit early to help set up. I don't know why I have more fun serving at Powerhouse than I do attending, but I just do; it's weird... anyways, the only bad thing that happened today was saying bye to my friend and fellow Californian Johnny Alvarez. We found out this past Sunday that he was planning on leaving Hillsong tomorrow morning, and I found out today that it's because he just didn't really feel right being here. He's going to be heading back to Benny Hinn's ministry college (at least that's what I think it's referred to as. Probably not even close), and he will be greatly missed. He was one of the truly prophetic students here; definitely an inspiration to me. Johnny, you'll be missed over here man; we'll miss you bro! Well I need sleep or else I won't be able to get up for Sisterhood!

God bless,
Steven

Day 117: My Awakening

Revelation. It's amazing when you receive it. God has some good ways of getting your attention. Today, my eyes were open to something new, yet something old at the same time. For years after my depression I wanted to get back to a level of contentment in life I had before things went downward spiral. I wanted so much to have it the way it was, but today I was given a quite obvious revelation, but in a way that I needed to hear it. I like it the way Dr. Dave Martin put it: "The rest of your life is the best of your life." Today I actually soaked that in; I feel kind of weird about that. Today was a good day, don't get me wrong; but the revelation took the biggest impact. Where I thought I was trying to think of others before myself, I realized it was actually the other way around; I felt that what I had was going well, but I was completely wrong. Basically, I have a LOT to work on; prayer that I learn to lead myself before I try to lead others would be appreciated. God's performing heart surgery on me right now;I just hope I make it out alive and well.

God bless,
Steven

Day 116: Oh, Happy Break

So today was a public holiday; and because it was a public holiday we got the day off. PRAISE THE LORD. So I got to sleep in and get a couple hours of sleep back from the weekend, which felt so refreshing (and yet I'm waking up early again for front of house service in chapel). I spent most of the afternoon uploading videos from The Box and updating some things on (Mac)ca, my laptop. The big, BIG highlight today was getting my last song for Here and Alive half finished; I got to record all the music, and all that's left is to work on the vocals. For this song, called Strength of Your Grace, I originally had an idea that was reflective of a worship song, BUT it dawned on me that I could take this song in a different direction. Because I have a new inspiration for my second song, Love You Still, based off of the band Falling Up's amazing piano lines, I couldn't help but look to another band for inspiration. As you may know, I have become a devout fan of the band Paper Route, because I am captivated by their music. One particular song I've enjoyed is Dance On Our Graves, which is the main Christian-based song on the album; it's eerie and simple piano line was something I've been drawn to lately. When I figured out how to play it, I decided to experiment by using different notes but keeping the similar style. What I came up with is now the music for Strength of Your Grace. So after I work on the vocals (which includes re-writing the song altogether) I will have 6 of the 7 songs for the EP finished! Then it's on to the re-do of Love You Still. I have to give the credit to God, because I prayed before I really started for Him to give me patience and diligence to get what I wanted out of the playing time. He didn't disappoint. So thank you God for answering my tiny little prayer =)

God bless,
Steven

P.S. If you didn't check already, I have a new song posted on my Facebook page for That One Dude: my cover of Starfield's I Will Go. Hope you enjoy it!

Day 115: He hears you

Today I want to share the message Pastor Joel A'Bell preached on in the evening service.

Psalms 34:15 says "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry." There's a lot of Christians that believe that when they pray, they think that God might not hear them. But that scripture should be enough evidence that He hears you. In Matthew 27:46, Jesus speaks out, saying "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? (which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)" Normally when I read this verse, what came across to me was that Jesus was just speaking out as if He thought God truly was forsaking Him; in all honesty, that's what I thought. Now I know for sure I was just dumb for thinking that. Allow me to explain: God clearly said in Scripture that He doesn't forsake Himself; Jesus wasn't doubting His Father at all. In fact I want YOU, the person reading this, to find a Bible and take a look at Psalms 22. I want you to read through it, and don't read further from here until you've read the whole thing, okay? Go. Seriously, read it. Now. Just do it.


So did you read it? What do you think about that?

How amazing is that?

Even at the point of His death, Jesus spoke the Word to the people observing. Now why would that be significant? Because, as you may know, people back then didn't have chapters and verses in their Bibles. Pretty much what they would do is use the first verse of a passage to determine what it was and where it was; people memorized Scripture because the only access to Scripture was at the synagogue. So for Jesus to quote the very first verse of Psalms 22, the people then understood what was going on; especially the Pharisees. These guys studied the Bible. That was their responsibility as the religious authority of the land. I wonder how they felt when they thought of Psalms 22 as Jesus was hanging on that cross. So when you put it together, Jesus wasn't doubting God; He was just revealing the fulfillment of prophecy to those watching. That gives the perfect explanation as to why the soldier said, "Surely this was the Son of God." Wow.. Selah.

Do you ever feel like God doesn't listen to your prayers? That no matter what you do, that He doesn't really respond? Well, I wish to encourage you that He does listen. "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers them from them all." - Psalms 34:17-19. I feel this Scripture was specially intended for the Garcia family; so if you're reading this Garcias, focus on these verses. God is here, and He isn't going anywhere. I know it's tough since you lost someone dear to your heart, but the way I've learned to see it is that God needed her beside Him in the Heavens. You can rejoice that she is in her true home. Just watch over each other; the family is one of the most powerful strengths in the world. God doesn't want to see a family divided; He wants to be the very glue that keeps you all together. Be strong, and do not be discouraged for too long. The Lord is with you wherever you go.

God is amazing; that's what I got out of today. Need I say more? I don't think so.

God bless,
Steven

Day 114: Quick, simple layout

Morning: Street Teams, which was great; got more good feedback on my Russian!
Afternoon: relaxed in the courtyard while working on my assessment and hanging out with my fellow Street Team friend Christina
Later afternoon: Visited Christina's flat to just hang out with her and Dana, my other awesome Street Team friend. Gave them a Christian music session, introducing them to awesome bands that love the Lord (Yay for new House of Heroes fans!)
Evening: Watching a couple movies with Christian and Dana; very nice to socialize with friends all day instead of staying home.

I know this one's shorter than usual, but it was a blessed day nonetheless. God is so good to me, what else can I say?

God bless,
Steven

Day 113: One Step Ahead Of Me

Today was VERY good; I'm so filled with joy because of how my day went. It started bright and early with choir; I can't help but love every time I get to be part of chapel, whether it's on choir or front of house. After a quick rehearsal, we had Old Testament with Catrina, the master of Bible study. We took a look at the prophets, which was sweet to focus on. It's amazing how God used so many people to keep his people close to Him; but more importantly, whenever His people messed up, He always found it in His heart to love them anyway. That's why I'm always in awe of Him, because I mess up a LOT, but He never hesitates to pick me up and carry me through my hard seasons. I couldn't think of a better way to start the morning.

Then it was time for chapel. The choir was pumped and ready, but due to some mishaps with the musos, the first song got all jumbled and confused some people. But we continued, and God's presence blessed the auditorium. We also participated in an item: Kirk Franklin's Imagine Me. We got the whole college standing and worshipping by the time the song was nearing the end, which was exactly what we were aiming to do. Catrina returned to speak about freedom and how it's already been claimed for us. When you think about it, the Israelites and our current Christian generation have a lot in common, hey? Many of us are wandering in a desert, unsure of where we're going and insecure about trusting our future to God. Others of us haven't even left our Egypt yet; we're just sitting comfortably in an environment that doesn't benefit us in any way, but because it's simple and easy we stay. Then there's those of us that stand with confidence, ready to take hold of our Promised Land. Now ask yourself, where are you? Are you in the desert, at the edge of the Promised Land, or are you still stuck in Egypt? Some food for thought for you =)

After an excellent chapel, we headed straight for online open day training; since the college online open day is next week, we needed some hands on training on how we're supposed to use the programs to chat with people from around the world. By the way, if YOU know anyone that would be interested in learning about Hillsong International Leadership College, tell them to go to hillsongcollege.com/open and talk with staff and students about the Hillsong college experience. I'm very excited about it!

20 minutes later, it was time for the Personal Leadership tutorial class. Today we talked about finances and conflict resolution studies; Anita does such an excellent job at explaining how all that stuff is easy to manage. After some awesome group activities, we got to bless our good friend Cory with a card and some money (since he's extremely short on cash right now) The best part was seeing him walk back to his flat with hands full of groceries; God blesses those who love him, and He used my group to bless a guy that's hardcore for God.

The rest of the day was hanging out with Becca and Joe; very good friends that I'm grateful to have. Now it's off to enjoy the rest of my evening until tomorrow!

God bless,
Steven

Day 112: "I wish you would listen"

Today was, as usual, a good day. The morning started with Sisterhood, which is always a highlight of the week (I can't help but look forward to it). The absolute BEST part was seeing my friend Maria from the Towers; she cancelled an doctor's appointment to come to Sisterhood. That totally made my day worth it; she had a great time, connected with lots of other ladies, and she says she want to come back every Thursday! I got back to my water-serving duties, which went great, AND I got to avoid being involved in one-sock wrestling during "Misterhood". Seriously, you wouldn't want to get involved with a bunch of guys wrestling with no shirts, trying to get the opponent's sock off his foot, would you? Exactly. Afterwards, I got to hang out with my fellow Hispanic brother, Donny, and went to a nearby restaurant just to chat. Donny is one of the few super close friends I have here; I'm sure I'll make more super close friends, but for now he's one of the top. Then, I went to the Old Testament Tutorial, which was pretty good; we talked about Moses being shown the Promised Land and being buried by God. It's amazing how God set all that up.. well, my afternoon was a bit boring but the evening made up for it. We had Master Classes, which is basically chances for us to get hands-on training for our specific areas of expertise. The best part was that I got to get some training on how Logic Pro works, which was SWEET!!! Since that's the standard program the church uses to come up with all the sounds used for worship (it's the STANDARD. The REGULAR. Man...) it just blew me away. I can't wait to get my hands on some Logic usage here at college. Right after the class there was Team Night; we got to hear from Dean, one of the worship leaders here at City. He's actually a very good speaker, despite his chill personality. We also heard some updates on Hillsong United's tour of the US of A. So if you haven't heard, the concert in Chicago not only drew a record breaking crowd at the Sears Centre Arena (over 11,000 people under one roof), but was also given the keys to the city by the mayor, was commemorated with what will now be Hillsong United Day on April 17th in the city, AND got a street (temporarily) named after them: Hillsong UNITED boulevard. God's doing some awesome stuff out there! And I just finished up a couple little things for tomorrow, so with that I shall go to sleep because I have an early morning ahead of me.

God bless,
Steven

Day 111: A Gradual Build to Contentment

So today was a blessing from one part to the next. First I got to sleep in (okay, so 8:30 to me is sleeping, that's pretty late for me..) and that felt fantastic. I've lost quite a bit of hours of sleep over the past week so it was nice to get some of it back. The morning was pretty much resting the bruised finger and my back. In the afternoon, I met with my friend Becca to discuss our next performance; since she plays the flute it's crucial for us to find a way to get that instrument into the song. We got some very good progress, and I got to do some Jesus music education (basically, I went through almost half my iTunes library introducing and re-introducing her to some great Christian bands). That reinvigorated my energy, which was perfectly timed before Powerhouse. I got to hang out with my good friend Will for a while, and then it was off to my call of duty. Being on the hosting team is a lot of fun; I get some pretty good insight on the behind the scenes stuff that happen here at Hillsong. I helped one of the leaders with counting the offering, but the coin counter machine got messed up. You know what that means, right? We had to count all the coins by hand; and there were a few hundred.. more than what I would normally be comfortable with. But it was a fun experience, and I'm getting more and more settled in working with the church. Overall, this day was good; praise be to God for giving me a good day.

God bless,
Steven

Day 110: Outside the Box

Today was pretty good overall. We had a morning session on Personal Leadership, specifically on optimizing our time. It was great insight. Later, we had chapel, and since I was rostered on Front of House, I had work to do. I got to work primary communications, which was super cool. The afternoon was pretty much talking with my family; that's when the negative energy made it's move. Since tonight was the Box, I was planning on practicing to make sure I had the song down, but when I was talking with my family, I accidentally slammed the door on my finger; it completely destroyed my ability to play normally. After the good talk, I spent the next 2 hours trying to find some way to play with the other 4 fingers, but it proved to be way too hard; as you could imagine, I was devastated. I was stuck in a hard place, and the only thing I felt I could do was pray over it; I prayed in complete confidence that God would heal, if not ease the pain. Even my flatmates prayed over the situation after I explained it to them. When I got there, I was filled with worry and doubt; yet throughout the afternoon, I just kept saying to myself, "this performance, this opportunity is NOT about me, but about He who brought me here." I wanted to make sure that my mind would be in the right place, whether or not my prayer would be answered. Then the time finally came for my part; I was opening the student section after our special guests, Chasing Bailey, opened the event. When I think about it, it was a combination of pressure, lack of complete confidence in myself, AND not praying before the actual song that I feel messed me up big time. I feel embarrassed thinking about the performance; when I messed up, I messed up BIG. Whether it was the microphone not working through the first verse, my voice losing it's strength halfway through the chorus, or the fact that my finger's nerve endings were numb, I just felt horrible when the song was over. I gave it my best, but it wasn't enough to really salvage it, and compared to how amazing the other bands were, I just feel like it was an extremely forgettable set. One thing I do praise God for is that He did answer the prayer: from the beginning to the end of the song, the pain was light enough for me to play with it. If anything, that's what made the disaster of my performance worth it; that even at my lowest point, He proved Himself faithful to his promises. He also used a few people to reassure me that it's okay; obviously, everyone makes mistakes. It just sucks that of all days for me to mess up, it had to be my very first real performance outside of high school. But I'm at peace with it; I'm still disappointed about how I did, but I gave it my all for God. That's what I can proudly say.

God bless,
Steven

Day 109: A Semi-fresh Perspective

So today was pretty much all about music; from the classes to making CDs to working on my own. We had a morning lecture with Mrs. Mary Capper, who gave us a most excellent talk about how we should be as part of the church by comparing it to a series of videos with orchestra conductors. She also introduced the class to (or those that didn't know of) Barcelona, by showing a Youtube video of Japan's huge aquarium put to a Barcelona song. Apparently, a lot of people liked it, so I'm making a bunch of CDs for them haha. We also worked on choosing our song for the 2nd Performance Day, which became much more difficult since the songlist was enlarged. After much discussion, we ended up with the exact same song w picked in the first place: Fix You, by Coldplay. However, our teacher Hannah told us that she felt the song seems too easy to go with a similar formula, and she encouraged us to really go for changing the style completely. Thanks to our Swiss friend Rebecca, we chose to go folk acoustic with the song, which should be interesting and fun. We're going with Jon Foreman and Ruth's cover of the song as reference to how we'll be doing it. After that, it was off to Eastgardens to pick up the English-Russian dictionary!! I'm going to be studying this whenever I can; it should be lots of fun. When I got back, I just uploaded my last Performance Day video (finally...) and reorganized my half-room. Even though today didn't have too much going on, I felt it was a good day. Sometimes, it's those kind of days that really just make you smile.

God bless,
Steven

Day 108: Above the Norm

Today was awesome. I got to get a couple extra hours of sleep since my call time for choir was 9 (I've had several late nights over the week) Choir was the ultimate experience this morning; we were all out in praising God, and it was such a great time focusing on the Lord. When you're on the platform worshipping alongside amazing men and women of God, it feels like home; I feel most comfortable during worship.

In fact, if and when I return to the States, I want to bring the spirit of worship to San Francisco Christian School. I feel so drawn to go back there and help; the music department played such a massive role in my being here at Hillsong, and I really want to give back. An idea I have in mind is rebooting the Band class; I've been thinking of how my experiences here could help to get students interested in being part of the band. I have ideas on things that could be done for the programs a well as chapel, like forming a student-led worship group. My high school is precious to me, and I really feel in my heart that my future could potentially lead me there. For now, it will be kept in deep prayer and meditation.

We got to hear an epic message from Pastor Brian Houston on a joyful spirit; it truly was a blessing to hear about how laughter is good like a medicine. That's why I've been watching my favorite comedians every now and then on Youtube; whenever I feel just a bit off, getting some good laughs takes care of that for me. I also heard that a solid laugh (the ones you can feel in your stomach area) can be the equivalent to 3 minutes of aerobic exercise; WOW!! So basically, a good workout is to laugh! The morning was simply excellent; not much else to describe it. In the afternoon, I got to stop by Shane's place, where he helped tremendously by giving me tips on this new software I got to potentially work on designs for Threadless (I know it's not the absolute best choice, but for what I could get I think it's worth a couple tries!) After that it was practicing for the Box and some video editing. My day, short but satisfactory, and a blessing from the Lord.

God bless,
Steven

Day 107: God's moving

Today was incredible; or at least the morning was enough to complete my day.

In the morning, I went with my roommate Tyson to one of our friend's flat for a pancake breakfast; apparently, this is something that happens frequently. Andre made some awesome marble and kinder chocolate pancakes; I can still taste them now..... and there's also a food challenge: as many as possible. The current record is 6, courtesy of Aaron, the very first friend I made here. I kind of want to beat it =) but I'd have to train my stomach for something like that. Anyways, the part that made my day was Street Teams (as it always is); so today was the kind of Street Teams day I look forward to. I got to clean an apartment (first time in 2 months) which was loads of fun, and we got to visit our dear friend Maria, who's still very worried about her sister that's in jail. SO if you could, please pray for the Ayala family, especially Soledad, who is the sister that was put in jail. This family is one of believers, so they've been trusting in God through this season, but that doesn't mean they have to do it alone; I would appreciate the assistance. The part that really got me was when Maria said that she was waiting for us to come; we've impacted her so much in the past 4 weeks that she always looks forward to our visits. She was practically crying the entire time because she was happy that we came to see her; I even got to write her some Scripture in Spanish so she could put it in a place she sees frequently. We've learned that speaking out Scripture is just as powerful (if not, much more) as a personal prayer, so the verse (Isaiah 61:1) was chosen so she could read it and believe that her sister would be freed from jail. It was a God moment, and I'm so happy I was there to see it.

It's a sad thing to see that sometimes we are the only interaction some people have during the week; even though several of them have outside family, they almost never get visits from loved ones. It breaks my heart so see such a massive need just 2 blocks away from church; there's a huge need for spiritual breakthrough in the Waterloo towers, and the little that we do is helping us get closer to a profound connection. Recently, we found out that one of our church members work for the Department of Housing, which is basically the maintaining of safety and good sanitation in the towers. She will be helping get the reports that come from there addressed quicker, which will be of great service to the tenants. God is just preparing the way for the Holy Spirit to flow through the floors and hallways of these buildings; I believe that with all my heart.

As for the rest of the day, it was just going off the energy that I received from Street Teams: having lunch with some great friends and fellow Street Team workers, hanging out at another flat while watching them play Halo ODST and sharing laughs over some awesome Youtube videos, and evening church. It's amazing how one simple moment could set up your day with joy. Man, God is so good. Surely as the air I breathe, surely as the morning lifts the sun, and surely as He hears my prayers, He is here.

God bless,
Steven

Day 106: "The Force will be with you. Always."

Today was pretty good. We started with Old Testament, which is always entertaining. We took a look at some critical points in Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, as well as the stories of David and Solomon. After that class, it was chapel, and as always chapel rocks. Duncan gave the word on taking action powered by faith, which is something I haven't quite touched on as much. To no surprise, most of the students went to the Subway that just opened today for lunch, but I went to good ol' Charcoal to pay a visit to Izzat; I was craving a kebab. He even put my drink free of charge; how's that for favor of the Lord?? Once that kebab was traveling down the digestive system, it was time for Personal Leadership tutorial with Anita; I really love this class. It's so much, and it's very engaging; we don't just listen to a lesson, we get involved and discuss all kinds of things. It's so good (a lot of people say, 'it's the bayst' for some reason..). Lauren teared up when she found out we not only made a card for her AND her mom but also ordered flowers to be sent to her mom. It's those kinds of things that can make a day worth it. When I got back here, it was mainly resting a bit until I went out to Moore Park to make my last contribution to the NLA movie; unfortunately it took too long of a while to find words I liked, and I missed out on getting the full sunset. I got some of it, but not as much as I would have hoped. The point of the matter really is that it's finished, edited, and now in the hands of Kazemi, who will then make this masterpiece a reality. Then it was uploading a couple more videos from Performance Day; I've been getting a lot of good feedback on them, which is just great. I tell you, Flipper is one awesome camera. Very pleased that I got it. I have 3 left until they're all uploaded, THEN I have to think about the ones from the Box coming up on Tuesday. It should be good.

God bless,
Steven

Day 105: Training Day

Sisterhood tends to be a massive highlight of the week; just being in an environment where you can serve always brightens my day. My original plan was to be the "waterboy" again, but as I was doing that, my friend and Head Student Ben Cotton came up to me and said "Come with me, you're being promoted." So I got sent to the coffee station... don't worry I didn't make anything (I would NOT have enjoyed last minute training on how to make lattes and mochas..) I was put in charge of the register/orders, and I gotta say it was pretty fun! For the Misterhood meeting, we got to hear from our fellow student, Jared, who gave an absolutely powerful story of his testimony that captivated all of us. We have some extremely incredible friends here in college; stuff like that makes me feel more privileged to be here. Afterwards, I got a little break before the Old Testament tutorial; we spoke on covenants and what it meant in the Bible as well as for us today. From there it was another break period until the piano workshop at 5:30; we practiced with Towards You and Awakening. Even though I had a general idea of how the keys worked in those songs, seeing it being played from the people that are on the worship team regularly showed me that with Hillsong, playing by ear won't always be a lifesaver. I had loads of fun, though, don't get me wrong. I also got to work on a card for one of the girls in my Personal Leadership Tutorial; what do you think?

The thing behind this particular design is that there are actually 2 cards here: one is for Lauren, who is here, and her mom, who is back in the States battling numerous illnesses. I made these cards so that they wouldn't be complete without the other, representing the bond that Lauren has with her mom. I thought that concept was cool. I also got to upload 2 more videos from Performance Day; I think I have like 5 left until all the performances are uploaded. So please be patient with me as I'm putting them online.

God bless,
Steven

Day 104: Talent Opportunities

Since today was my day off, not very much happened, but what DID do was very cool. The morning started with a little meeting with the band; we've been discussing plans for our next performance, like who would be singing and when we could rehearse. I then spent the majority of the afternoon trying to upload as many of the Performance Day videos as possible; I could only get 3 today. So the grand total of my progress is 4 out of 10 videos fully uploaded onto Youtube and shared on Facebook. Lots of work to do (not to mention I have vlog number 5 AND a brand new music video waiting to be released). I was also able to chat with Hannah for a little bit; it's nice to see she's doing okay. Always puts a brighter spin to the day! In the evening there was an audition time for the Box, which is a small event that gives us students the chance to showcase each other's abilities; we could either do a solo item or one with a partial/full band. I feel that my audition went alright; I'm not necessarily 100% confident I did my BEST, but it did get the attention of the "judges". Then it was Powerhouse night; this time ended up being much different. Last week, one of the Venue Control guys noticed that I was helping my good friend Will and asked if I was interested in being part of the Hosting team; it turns out they needed some extra hands for the Hosting team, so being given the opportunities I jumped at it. Basically all I did was greet people, take a count of how many people were there, involvement in the offering, and counting the offering after the service was done. Overall, it was a new and exciting experience. Today was quite good; to God be the glory for that.

God bless,
Steven

Day 103: Leaders, Vision, and Blessing

Today started earlier than I normally would have enjoyed, the reason being that I was rostered on Front of House Assistant for chapel. In the first class, we were privileged to hear from Dr. Dave Martin, a very VERY cool guy from Mississippi; he talked with us on goal setting, and it was a great talk. I feel pretty confident in my goals now thanks to Dave! After that sweet class, we had chapel; for the first time, I actually got to do something with production. I was scared out of my mind at first, but then I was pretty happy that I didn't ruin anything. YESsssss. It was also great to see and hear firsthand how the stage managing works; it's a much more complicated thing than one would regularly assume. I have a greater appreciation for production stuff now, let's just leave it at that! My afternoon was basically chatting with the family; that's all I needed to have a good afternoon. The evening was summed up in 3 words: Leadership Vision Night. And it was epic. Pastor Brian decided that we should watch the Vision Sunday presentation to remind ourselves what we're trying to accomplish; I think it was a great choice. He also gave some details on Hillsong New York: the leaders set to spearhead the prepping and starting of the church have been chosen, and there have been tiny advance towards it. To put it nice and simple, it's gonna take a while to get this church running in full force, but in the end it will bless a LOT of people. LVN never ceases to amaze, and I hope there will be more during the year.

The real treat to today was on the way back from LVN. It turns out I am amongst legends: my friend Lauren, who is in the same Music Excellence class as myself, has many friends who happen to be in bands I know and listen to. It turns out that the boys of Nevertheless (may they continue to rest in peace) are frequent church-goers at her particular church (I may even get to have lunch with her and AJ from the band when he comes to visit Australia!!!), she has friendships with band members from groups like Oh, Sleeper, Before There Was Rosalyn, and The Chariot, AND she is actually related to none other than Jaci Velasquez!! What a set of credentials THAT is!!! I also got to hear from another good friend, Riley, who told me about how he played on stage with Philmont and Our Heart's Hero and has met all kinds of worship legends like Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, DC Talk, and even Petra!!!!! Plus, my OTHER Texan friend, Jarryd, is friends with one of the members of Impending Doom, which when you look at all this just goes to show that there are highly favored people in my midst. Today, all in all, was an absolute blessing; and to put it in Dr. Dave's words: "the rest of your life will be the best of your life."

God bless,
Steven

Day 102: He Makes Me Brave

Today was the absolute best way to start the week off: Performance Day. After weeks of rehearsing, brainstorming, and listening to a song enough to be extremely bored of it, we were finally able to present our product of labor to the rest of our classes; every group brought their own special spins and showcased some incredible talent we have here in our midst. Fortunately for all of you, I was able to (almost) fully record every single performance, so I will gradually post them as I get time to do so. I give major props to all the teams for all the hard work that was put into it; this is one of the reasons I feel God sent me here: to train my talents for 100% ministry. I love it; I wish we could have this class more than once a week (BUT I do appreciate every other class since they all help me develop spiritual strength) It took around 4 hours for all the performances to finish, but we felt like we could have gone all day! It was so good; can't wait for round 2 coming up in May!! Moving on, I had a good talk with my dad; as some of you may know, my other grandpa passed away a couple nights ago. It's amazing how quick life just goes away; it's one of those things that can really make you think about yourself and the "what if"s. But my dad is okay, and for that I am okay as well. One thing I'll always remember from my grandpa is that every time he saw me (even during the later years when blindness became an obstacle), he was happy to see me, and I was happy to see him. The warmth in my heart comes from knowing that he has no need to worry about sickness anymore. Other than that news, my day was one I'd love to rewind and play through again and again; I even made what I think of as my absolute best vlog yet!! It's like the more I make them, the better I am at putting them together. On a smaller note, I am fascinated by Man Vs. Wild; that Bear Grylls is a savage! Hope you had as good of a day as I did!

God bless,
Steven

Day 101: Hosanna

God. The one true source of life. What could I possibly say about Him? When I think about it, there isn't much my heart can express, since He's far, FAR beyond our imagination. Today was a roller-coaster of a day; super big high, and a pretty big low. A lot has been on my mind lately, especially when thinking about what's next in life for me when this season comes to a close. I have a few solid ideas that I personally think could be God's will, but I won't know until He reveals it. Of course, while there are dreams and hopes of the future, there are also concerns that come with it. I've always been somewhat insecure of myself throughout my life, whether by being intimidated by someone else or just feeling like what I was doing just wasn't enough. I looked back to those 3 years of my life that were my absolute lowest; depression can be a real bummer when you can't see past the hard times. Then again, we're not supposed to be able to see what will happen next, since that's God's skill and not our own. I examine those years in my head and always wonder "What if I looked to God sooner?" Would my life be in better shape? Would I be just as content in the deepest recesses of my heart like I am in external, everyday things? Could I have been better prepared for the enemy's attacks against my life? Could there have been bigger opportunities in my midst if I had just obeyed Him all along? Most of the time when I ask these questions, I get a sense of guilt; I end up feeling horrible for almost completely throwing those years away, as well as my selfish, prideful attempts to find some form of happiness. It was tough; really tough. In the end, I am grateful that God continues to remain faithful to His word; He got me out of that mess, and even though that mess rises against me time and time again, I know that in Him I am capable of standing firm. God used the inspirational Robert Fergusson to speak into my life tonight, and I'm happy He did. I was feeling kind of down when reminiscing on what I would resort to back in the day, but God's words spoken through Hillsong's Aslan lifted me up at that critical time. I felt a burden on my shoulders roll off my back, and I felt a greater sense of joy that I've been earnestly seeking ever since I got here. Have you ever felt like there was something in the way between you and God? Like an obstacle of any form that was stopping you from completely surrendering to His plan and purpose? Well, let me tell you something: the great I Am is here. He is for you, He is beside you, and He loves you. It's through Him we live and breathe, it's through Him we have fellowship with our Creator, and it's through Him we are free from sin's grip. Don't let the things of this world put you down; you have a force on your side that is high and above anything this world can and does throw at you. Be strong, be courageous. Hosanna means "Lord, have mercy on us"; that was my prayer tonight. I needed mercy from God for all the slacking I've done over the years in terms of my relationship with Him. The good news is He gave it to me; it was always there, waiting for me to call on it. He is waiting for you to call on Him when you need support; don't leave Him hanging.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. I would have explained what happened today, but God is more than worthy of having a blog in honor of Him.

Day 100: Whoa, that was fast!

Can you believe it's already been 100 days into the year? It's amazing how quick time can go; I feel like it was barely a week ago since I even arrived into the country! A lot has happened so far into the journey, and I've received what I expected to receive in the 2 years here and more, just in these past several weeks. That just goes to show "what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived-these things God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9) It's an understatement to say I've been blessed; it's WAY more than that.

The morning started with awesomeness; I mean Street Teams, of course! So today, we were short quite a bit of people, so with Tower 1 we only had one full group of 4 to go through the 16-floor building. Fortunately, a veteran Street Teams volunteer by the name Allan came to join us, so I went with him. We didn't clean anything, but we had a couple deep and meaningful conversations with people. We were talking with Maria, a sweet Russian lady who was the first person I met in the Towers during my time here, and I got to try out my Russian with her. She said that it was good, especially my pronunciation of the words (that alone made my day). It was weird having just 2 guys knocking on doors, but it was a cool experience, and Allan even had me carry the leader's clipboard since I was familiar with most of the people there. After that wonderful morning, I was originally going to meet with the band to go over our performance at least one more time, but unfortunately it had to be postponed due to multiple scheduling conflicts. So I took the opportunity to go back to Eastgardens Shopping Center to try and find an English-Russian dictionary. The only things they had were DVD volumes, which was something I wouldn't want to use. So I just ordered a small, inexpensive pocket dictionary that should come in the mail within the next week. I came back to the Meritons around 3, where we had the band meeting; we discussed mainly the staging for the performance day as well as the next song for our second performance. we decided on Fix You by Coldplay, since that song has the potential to go in any direction we're curious to try out. Then it was time for evening church, with a guest speaker, Rick Godwin. Mr. Godwin spoke on the great "I Am" and how we should figure out who we are and take it into account with our daily lives. It was very inspiring. The after-church celebration in the garage (to my absolute joy and surprise) was Mexican themed. The reason I was excited about it was because I was able to eat some legitimate Hispanic food again for the first time since I was in the States: tacos. Ah...... delicious tacos... anyways, today was fantastic. Still in shock that it's the 100th day of the year so soon, but fantastic nonetheless.

God bless,
Steven

Day 99: Moving Forward and Looking Back

Today, as the title suggests, was a reflective day as well as an inspiring day. It started early (5:30 to be exact) because I was rostered for choir this morning at 6:30. After the rehearsal, we had Old Testament with Katy; she's one of THE best communicators in the City campus, I think. She just has this ability to really connect with each of us (not to mention she's an American with a hint of the Aussie accent). We talked about the development of worship throughout ancient Israel; a very educating and impacting lesson it was. It made me want to worship, which made it the perfect setup for chapel. I have to say that choir during chapel can be one of the absolute best experiences during the whole week. Since it's all college students, we can go crazy if we like, and we sure did. For example, we have a song from the A_Cross//The_Earth album called Yours Forever that has a part involving everyone freezing in place while the guitarists do solos. We were being told by our awesome choir directors to try and be exaggerated in our freeze positions, so I brought up YMCA for some reason. Everyone liked it so much, that's what we ended up doing! So during the freeze time, the choir made 2 rows of people forming the YMCA sign, and the second was us forming the word LOVE. It was a blast; I can't wait to do it again. We got to hear from guest speakers that run Operation Mobilization, an organization that started here in Australia and is now in 110 countries helping spread the Gospel however possible. They gave incredible testimonies from experiences in Burma, Malaysia, Turkey, and India; after each story we would pray for each country. It was a fantastic morning, no doubt. The afternoon was made up mostly of the Personal Leadership tutorial class, which is one of my favorite courses of the week. We spoke mainly on assessment things, which was actually very helpful; we even got a visit from the campus superintendent, Mark Hopkins. He is just filled with wisdom, I tell you; he just has this joyful atmosphere around him, it's awesome. When that class was finished I also finally got the DVD series I've been waiting on for weeks now: Robert Fergusson's My Patmos.com, a series on revelation. I'm sending this series to my family as soon as possible (maybe after I watch it first haha). The rest of the day was just relaxing and working on other small things; nothing as significant as the previous activities. I am very thankful to the Lord that He has blessed me with the privilege of being here; it's taught me so much on life and what I can do for the future. Can't wait to start the weekend.

God bless,
Steven

Day 98: Back In Action

Well, the break is over; it's back to college life! It started off right, with Sisterhood; I love being able to serve. It's awesome being the unofficial "water boy"; I get a lot of good feedback, which means I'm doing the job right. After that wonderful morning, I got to rest before the Old Testament tutorial which was great. We talked about God's covenants with Abraham; it's incredible how after all these years God's promise is strong and still at work. Bill Knock, our teacher, is a pretty chill guy. His method of teaching is very laid back, which makes the class not hard at all. When that class was done, it was more break time before Team Night, which we joined with Hills. Man, it was a great night, despite the sudden rain; we got to hear from Darlene! Being in the same room as her puts you at ease for some reason; I don't know why, but I feel the presence of God amplified when she is around. I also got to hang out with more friends today; it's nice to be able to socialize when you haven't really seen anyone for a few days. Well I gotta get up early for choir tomorrow, so later!

God bless,
Steven

Day 97: Easter Break's Over

Today started with an invitation: my roommate Tyson asked if I wanted to join him in going to the East Gardens, a shopping center not too far from the Meritons. He made like 20 copies of his resume to pass out to stores that got his attention, and he didn't want to go by himself. So we got on the bus and headed down there. He was preferring clothing stores, since having a job at a clothing store would mean discounts on expensive stuff (which, in Australia, is EVERYTHING). Seriously, the prices were so high, I laughed at it; would you buy a leather jacket for $350? I wouldn't!! Unfortunately, several of the stores would only accept online applications, so he handed out like 12 resumes. I also decided if I were to work anywhere here in Australia, my first choice would be JB Hi-FI (which is basically Australia's Best Buy). It's full of technology that I know and love, and there's one just up the street from here, which would mean I wouldn't have to pay for travel (unlike the Apple store....). So I have decided that I will attempt to construct a resume and see if JB Hi-Fi is taking any applications (Besides, discounts would be sweet too 8D) Overall, it was cool to hang out with Tyson, since he tends to be out doing God knows what most of the time. The afternoon was just relaxing, as well as cooking up some dinner which was the best dinner I've prepared so far (after all, perfect practice makes perfect). Tonight, it was Powerhouse, but I didn't really partake in it. I was serving most of the time, which was a lot of fun; I just feel more comfortable serving in Powerhouse than sitting in it. I always feel kind of lonely in Powerhouse now that I think about it; but because the leaders noticed how I was serving, they offered to sign me on the team for Wednesdays. Pretty cool, I think. Tomorrow is Sisterhood; very excited about that! It'll be good to get right back in action, that's for sure.

God bless,
Steven

P.S.: To mom, dad, Mandy, Sausage, and Albert: I miss and love you very much!

Day 96: "A True Hero"

Today was made up of resting. Lots of it. Even though I tend to have much more free time than originally thought, it's nice to have the opportunities to relax after busy days like Easter. I got to chat with my parents which was neat (unfortunately my sister couldn't talk because she was taking my little one Albert to the pet hospital) My dad got me completely by surprise by telling me about these shirts he made with the Here and Alive logo (Hannah even modeled it for me) That was something I never would have expected, but it was a great surprise. After the chats, my roommate Tyson had me help with this barbecue he got; we officially have the sweetest balcony thanks to the personal couch and barbecue! He got to road test it for his Connect Group guys, and since there was a bit too much meat, he had me join in on the feast. That barbecue works wonders, I tell you. They even watched Hercules, which brought back memories of those growing up days long ago. I remember the very first time I saw even a minute of Hercules was at Kaiser Permanente at South San Francisco when I was around 5; it's a random memory, but it just stayed there to this day. That then made me remember how my mom was always there for me when I got sick; whether it was asthma or a simple cough, my mom was always there with care, love, and the right medicine to cheer me up. The whole time I've been here down under, I haven't gotten even a slight hint of sickness, which is SWEET 8) in Jesus' name, I will be far from sickness all year! God is good. He's my provider, He's my protector, and He's my loving Father. What more could I ask for but to have my Creator at my side?

God bless,
Steven

Day 95: Starting Easter Break

Today was quite entertaining. I woke up around 8 a.m. to get ready for the day. The only awkward thing was that there was some guy I'd never seen before sleeping on the couch................. fortunately, my flatmate Erik explained that he was a friend from the Hills campus that was hanging out here for the day. I'm still weirded out by it though.. anyways, the morning couldn't have been better. We had a scavenger hunt with college people, and it awesome. We spent 2 hours just taking pictures and videos of us doing tons of random, funny, and scary things (it certainly tested my limits; that's all I'm saying on that.) IT was lots of fun, and I got to make a couple new friends too, which was a bonus. After that awesome morning, I went back to the flat and got to work on editing my next vlog. However, it was cut short due to an addressed need to help the guys do some cleaning. So we all worked together, doing things like vacuuming, dusting, mopping, and taking out the trash. When that was all finished, I went back to editing, and I pretty much finished it all up (I'm quite proud of this one too) In all honesty, it was very nice of the school to give us 3 days off; I would be much more tired if we had classes today. The rest of the day was simply relaxing, and I love it! Tomorrow won't be as active, but I'm sure I can find something to do.

God bless,
Steven

Day 94: Resurrection Sunday

Ah, the celebration of our Lord and Savior's victory over death; that alone made this day awesome. Of course, there is much more to add to what made this day something to remember.

The morning started just like Friday: waking up early to get started on venue safety. The morning shift with Cubbyhouse is always interesting; seeing half the kids playing and the other half crying for their parents is quite the mix of noise that come out from the place. It was a cool experience though, I will say that. After the morning services were finished, I decided to join some other guys that were going to stay for another hour to do an extra shift until the guys from the Hills campus came to replace us. So we did our jobs until those guys showed up; it was cool to see my former venue safety leader Asla (Yes, I know. Almost like Aslan.) and a few other guys I worked with with during Colour. When we were replaced, Aaron, Michel, Henrik, and I went to Darling Harbour to get some lunch and hang out until we had to go back. We had some Subway sandwiches and some 50 cent ice cream cones from Maccas (McDonald's in Aussie slang) and walked around the harbour a bit. There was some kind of festival going on, so there were quite a bit of street performers throughout the area. After hanging out there, we returned to the SEC, when the Exchange film and art festival was just starting. There were lots of great stuff, all submitted from the various Hillsong campuses, including South Africa and Kiev. When it came time to return to our venue safety jobs, we had very small shifts since there were so many of us on the team now that the Hills campus people joined our group. Fortunately, because of that I got to sit in the final service, which ended up being one of the best parts of the day. They showcased some more of the films, which all were great (one particular short film focused on a man's companion dog being put to sleep put me to flooding tears; I couldn't help but think of my little boys back home. Sausage and Albert, if you ever figure out how to read, know that I miss you two, and that I can't wait to see you in December!) There was also a special appearance from the 2009 winner of Australian Idol, Stan Walker, who is an amazing devout Christian. He's got an amazing voice, this guy. Overall, this service rocked (I would have captured it on film, but because it's a Sunday service, taking pictures and video recording is forbidden.) I will be focusing my next video blog on Easter, but unfortunately I couldn't get much on camera; hopefully, I can put together something informative and entertaining. Well, I am very, very, very, VERY tired and I need me some sleep. Plus I have lots to do these next few break days.

God bless,
Steven

Day 93: Saturday interlude

Today was a good day. It started off with the amazing Street Teams. Unfortunately due to some confusion over an email sent a few days ago, many of our team thought today's serving was optional, so we had a much smaller group today. We managed with the people that did come, but it would have been much more productive if everyone came. The feedback from Tower 1 was fantastic: we had very good conversations with some of the residents, made a new contact within the building, and we got to bless a couple people with some Easter chocolate! I also got to practice a tiny bit of my Russian, which was alright. I just need to work on learning more phrases and pronunciation. Before we knew it, we were pretty much finished. A great way to start the day off.

The afternoon was comprised of resting for tomorrow and doing some filming for the NLA series finale. The resting was good; I think I'll be able to make it through Resurrection Sunday alright, but we'll see. I also got to successfully make some scrambled eggs for dinner, which turned much better than I expected. After filling up on food, it was time for the 6 p.m. service at church.

Tonight was an Encounter service: completely dedicated to worship and prayer. We got to hear an encouraging word from "Sanga", one of THE best preachers here in Hillsong, and we had many prayer requests put out to pray over. It was amazing seeing the need of our congregation; so many hands were raised during the requests for salvation of family/loved ones, hard times, and reuniting with the Lord. God truly overflowed tonight, and I'm glad I got to witness it. We also got treated to some ethnic food after the service: Argentinian style sausages! Man, that stuff was the BOMB!!!

So as I'm here typing this update, I can keep one thing in mind: Easter is my new favorite holiday. When you really think about what this holiday represents and how it should be celebrated, I become more fascinated that after all these years, Jesus is still acknowledged and praised as the Son of God who rose from the dead for us. He died on the cross for mankind, who was unworthy of that sacrifice, in order to make them worth it. He shed blood and water so that we could have an intimate relationship with Him. That makes me appreciate Jesus even more.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. Happy Easter!!

Day 92: Good Friday yo.

Good Friday. What does that mean, exactly? What does it represent? Have you ever asked these questions? I sure haven't, but I will say I appreciate this day more because of what took place.

The morning had an early wake up call for me; 6 a.m., precisely. I went with my always crazy roommate Tyson to meet up with the Venue Safety crew, headed by our good friend Will. Since the buses were taking a bit too long, we decided to travel there ourselves, so we got on a public transport and headed straight for the Sydney Entertainment Center. We got assigned to our gates, got our radios, and began overseeing the venue right away. It felt just like yesterday, being at those gates during the Colour Conference; only this time, there were much more men than women walking in. Before the first service began, I was relocated to the Cubbyhouse section, which is the 1-2 year old's section. I have to say that was an interesting experience, especially seeing the crying that followed the child's separation from his parents. Some got over it, a couple didn't; but the ladies playing with the kids did a good job at keeping it all together and not in a mess. I got to step in the service for about a minute, and I noticed there weren't many people; but then I remembered it was a Friday, not a Sunday. So I stayed at the Cubbyhouse entrance for both services, checking passes, opening the gate, and even blowing bubbles! When the second service finished it became mayhem as all these parents came to pick up their children. When all was clear, we debriefed, turned in our radios, and were free to go. I decided to go back to the flat to get some rest (standing in one spot for a long time can really hurt after a while), and I did some research on a band called Paper Tongues. So apparently, this band is reportedly Christian, but I haven't seen enough evidence to back that, so I dug through the internet trying to find answers. I found that some of the lyrics do have a spiritual feel, just like the whole album has a positive message throughout. Even though it was produced by Randy Jackson (the judge from American Idol, for those of you who may not know), it actually is a very good set of music; but I haven't gotten the response from one of the Christian music sites I asked about Paper Tongues. So we'll see.

The best part of the evening was when Anders invited me to join him and some other guys for a Passover meal hosted by one of the church families. We had a wonderful time meeting new people and sharing in some great food. Then it came time for the actual Passover meal; this you'll be very interested in, so keep reading. There was these 2 people, a guy and girl, who spoke in detail of every step the Israelites took in their Passover feasts, and we would have small portions of food that represented that very process. It started with some parsley, which was dipped in salt water that represented the crossing of the Red Sea, as well as the tears that were shed during Israel's captivity. It was followed by a sip of a drink we would partake in 3 more times, each time representing something like sanctification, redemption, and praise. We had unleavened bread, but the cool part was that it was used as an illustration: there were 3 pieces. the bottom one symbolizing us and the earth, the top symbolizing Heaven, and the middle one symbolizing the mediator. After this explanation, the middle piece was wrapped in a white cloth and hidden for a child to find later on. We then had this collection of bitter herbs, representing the hardship Israel had during this time in Scripture; probably one of THE most dissatisfying foods I've ever had, but it was supposed to be that way. It was followed by a sweet set of herbs which would counteract that bitterness, representing freedom. We also had a part of a soft egg shell dipped in salt water representing the destruction of the Temple, as well as a bone of a lamb representing the sacrifice itself (which we didn't eat because there was only one; it was mainly an example). Then we had one of the kids there find the middle unleavened bread and bring it to the table; he found it awfully fast (because he CHEATED!!!! But I would have done the same, so..) we then had a piece of this bread that represented Jesus, our mediator between Heaven and Earth. The host family also gave some great points, my favorite being that even with this Old Testament sacrifice process, God was painting a picture of what was to take place in the future. One awesome example: after taking the Jesus bread, the napkin it was covered with was folded and placed down on the table. One of the men then began to explain that whenever the man of the house folded the napkin and left the table, it meant that the Passover feast wasn't over until he returned. You see the comparison?? When the tomb was open, the original cloth covering Jesus' body was folded and left there, showing that He rose again AND was to return to finish the job!!! Come on, that's awesome!! Again, the fact that this Old Testament practice shows God's plan being set out from the beginnings of time shows us how truly great God is. We finished with some prayer and worship. After some excellent dinner and dessert, we tried to go visit a birthday celebration going on at the beach, but because the amazing Passover meal went WAY overtime, we ended up missing it. But that's not such a bad thing, because it became an excellent bonding time with Danny and David, 2 of our European students from the U.K. and Germany, as well as Kurt, our Australian chauffeur. I gotta say it: IT WAS A GOOD FRIDAY!!!

God bless,
Steven

Day 91: "It's Buzz Lightyear!"

Today was a bit different in a good way.

Sisterhood started bright and early with some setting up for the ladies' morning. I, however, was not assigned to Logistics as usual, but to Kids; that certainly brought back memories of when I helped my sister Mandy run Sunday School. So after helping a few Logistics guys set up, we went to the kids area; these kids sure have fun here. At first I was getting accustomed to this new environment I entered, but it was only a matter of time until the inevitable: I became the target. We had this epic pillow fight, using the massive lounge pillows, some basic decoration pillows, and even some couch cushions! I gotta say, despite being surrounded by all these 3 to 5 year olds, I had a blast. The reason for the title of this particular entry is because we watched Toy Story 2; totally made it all worth it. I got to mentally relive the memories of when I was the age of these kids, being fascinated by Toy Story and how it inspired me to treat my toys with care (you should have seen how much I embraced my Beanie Babies after watching that movie.. yes, I did AND still own a vast collection of Beanie Babies. Don't judge, I love them dearly.) It was an awesome morning; after that it was a solid break until the Old Testament tutorial.

Today's class was treated to a viewing of a video discussing Noah's Ark and how it could be proven scientifically and based on natural evidence; and although this video was very dated, making the special effects, reenactments, and overall film quality kind of lame, it gave some pretty good insight on how this incredible story was laid out. We talked over it for a bit, and before we knew it, our class time was over. Then to enjoy my afternoon.

I got to talk with Hannah again which was nice; I feel very blessed to have people in my life that care about me (so if you're someone I share friendship, trust, and respect with, you're an amazing blessing in my life and I love you all like a fat kid loves chocolate cake). After that wonderful chat, I headed down to church again for the Team Night. Reuben Morgan sent us an email earlier in the week informing us that he wanted us to get a proper chance for having Communion (since most of us are on the stage serving as part of the worship team, we don't usually get to participate in taking Communion). So for Team Night, we had Communion, accompanied with some worship; it was a very nice time with God, and I feel more than ready to take on this weekend. After the Team Night was finished, I decided to stop by Coles and get some ingredients for an experimental breakfast I'm going to attempt to make sometime during the weekend (don't worry mom, thanks to your wisdom I know how to properly cook an egg) We'll see how that goes. Well, I better get to bed; tomorrow's going to be a long day, and I am going to need plenty of rest to take it on.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. the extra special thing that happened today was that I got to talk to none other than B.Reith!! I had a chat with him on Facebook, and it was so cool that he responded. Hopefully, I can become a legitimate friend with him; that'd be awesome. Be on the lookout for his new music video for "Antidote", coming soon!