Day 181: Just a Little More

Today was another day of conference training. We got to hear from Dave Davis and Andreas Evermyr, two of the coolest people here in college. They talked with us on policies, procedures, communicating with people from other nations, and self-awareness. It was some good encouragement for us as the big conference is getting closer and closer. This pretty much summed up my morning and most of my afternoon; I would have gone to help Street Teams with painting the PCYC, but I didn't get a chance to head out there. Hopefully I can help finish the job tomorrow. After the training, I had a small break before Powerhouse, so I took the opportunity to move one of my suitcases to my new flat (I will be documenting the whole moving thing; it should be fun). Then it was a full evening of Powerhouse; it was good, but it left me really exhausted afterwards. I got to help my leader Valerie with taking some of the responsibilities off her hands. Just give me a few weeks, and I should be ready to take bigger responsibilities. Looking at my flat right now... it's very empty.

It's cool to know that all four of us are going to different places; we can bless and be blessed by others! God's doing mighty things here; can't wait to take this conference head on!!

God bless,
Steven

Day 180: Tomorrow's Just Another Day

May I say that today was awesome. Today marked the last chapel of the semester; the very last for those students that are leaving. Just the thought that we're losing some incredible people is tough to deal with, but the fact that we're getting a bunch of new people within the next couple weeks is awesome! So this morning I helped with front of house, and that was so much fun; it was a nice way to help out for the last chapel. The one thing that practically made my day was hearing my friend Andre's original song; he was supposed to do it as an item for chapel, but chapel was so God-breathed that we went way overtime. But I'm so glad I got to hear it; he pretty much showed why Apple products are amazing. Basically his setup was a stool on a moving platform, as well as one of our silver tables. On the table was his instruments: a drum beat and synth loop put together on Logic Pro, a Korg mini keyboard that he used for some extra synth, as well as a robot sound app on his iPad (yes, he got blessed with an iPad some weeks back, and he is rocking that thing!). All those things put together resulted in an Owl City-style song, but still amazing beyond reason. I give major props to Andre; he's one of the best Mac junkies I know! Straight after chapel, I had conference training; lots of conference training. It was good stuff; we got to hear from a couple of the 3rd year students, who taught us about feelings we may experience during conference and values/focus. It was a great time to connect with some of my fellow worship students that I don't usually hang out with, so it was definitely good in that way. It feels like the closer we get to the conference, the more excitement flows through these veins. I seriously can't wait for it to be here. After the training, I was asked by my intensives specialist, Gary, if I was interested in helping him out with some Street Teams work. I was definitely up for some blessing work, so I met with him right after. We visited the local Salvation Army, where we gave out some hygiene packs for the homeless that were staying there. It was awesome!! I love it when I see a Salvation Army that's serious about sharing the love of Christ straight up. These people are the real deal, and it's such a blessing to partner with them. The rest of my day has been packing my clothes, throwing away clutter, and hanging out with my flatmates. I hope I never have to see Anders in a dress again. Ever.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. The new Future of Forestry EP, Travel III, is AWESOME!!!!! Check it out yo!

Day 179: Muevete, hombre!! (Move, Man!!)

Today was very interesting. It started a bit later, which was AWESOME (well, to me 8 is later.) At 9, I had practice with the guys: Donny, Simri, and Lazaro. We worked on our Spanish songs for Hillsong Conference today, and I have to say I haven't been prouder to be Hispanic (I mean that as in while I've been in Australia). We had so much fun; we're going from La Bamba to Spanish worship to even mariachi style music (that's going to be the funniest thing I've EVER done, for sure). I'm even gonna wear a sombrero the day of the performance, but I'm making a Nicaragua-styled thingy to go around it to represent my family's country. You gotta respect your cultural backgrounds, you know? After that awesome morning, I had lunch with Donny at our favorite Thai restaurant, Doytao. It was cool catching up with him, since everyone's had a super busy past week. Then I came home to pack some stuff, upload the last performance video, and get some nice personal time. I did a lot of catching up on my Bible reading, since I missed out on a few days. It was good, because God really put some impacting stuff out there for me to find. I love it when you read similar verses, but you get a new view on it like every time you read it. That's the life manual for you! Well, I gotta go; I need some sleep before I wake up early for front of house rehearsal tomorrow.

God bless,
Steven

Day 178: My Heart For This House; a reflection

Have you ever been in the place where you felt that God was compelling you to give something important? Something that was like seriously almost a part of you? Well, I want to reflect on my thoughts from today's subject: the Heart For the House Offering. On Tuesday, I gave a certain amount of money for this offering. A certain amount that I had set aside. A certain amount that I was intending on using for something else. A certain amount that I realized would be better off for the purpose of the Kingdom instead of the purpose of myself. A couple days before, my parents told me that we had the money for my second semester; this was something that left my mind during this offering time. However, a couple days after, I checked by bank account to see if the money I pledged had been received; sure enough it was. Then I checked my college info page, the College Portal. For the past month and a half, whenever I logged in, it would take me to a page that said I had yet to pay for my second semester; although I wasn't completely afraid of this, there was still a part of me that was worried that the money wouldn't come. My parents have been sacrificing so much of themselves so that I could stay fed, secure, and supported. I can't help but see God working through them; they have been my greatest inspirations, and to this day it hasn't changed. A couple days ago, I checked the portal to find that I no longer had fees to pay. My second semester, sure enough, was no longer a concern of money. God fulfilled His promise that all things would work for good to those that love Him and are called to His purpose. And I love my Father very much; I couldn't have gone this far without Him. There were so many times where I could have given up, but He picked me up and gave me a PUSH. I stick to the P.U.S.H. method: Pray Until Something Happens; I realize that in just a couple weeks a fourth of my journey will be complete. One semester will be gone, and only three will remain. I've given a lot of myself this semester, and I only expect that I will be giving so much more.

So back to the Heart For the House. Pastor Brian gave a message on why we give. It was a good message, and so was the special video they played. I can only imagine what this offering will do to make an impact on the ministries that have been focused on. I gave a mere $260, and found that the $2600 I needed to pay for my studies was taken care of. Do you see that? I just noticed today that what I gave was a tenth of what I needed to stay here. What I had seen as a small amount eventually led to being the blessing of provision. God has blessed my family, and He has blessed me. If there's one thing I got from today, it is this: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Today, I stand with an increased faith. Today, I no longer fear reality, but I fear One whose reality is my hope and inspiration to live a life that is greater than myself. Today, I declare that I serve a mighty God, and my heart is for His house.

God bless,
Steven

Day 177: I Need Me Some Rest

Have you ever been in a situation where the relationship between you and someone else was at risk? Where because of a slight misunderstanding the mindset of a friend was at the point of completely changing? Well, I can now say that I've been in that situation.

My day started off well: pancakes at Andre's, and then Street Teams. It's a really good combo, especially when you end up hosting a pancake breakfast feed for the people you visit every Saturday. It was awesome; we had lots of fun inviting and serving people, but the debrief brought the bad news. We had received word that one of the residents was very upset that we didn't follow up on cleaning her windows, and since I knew exactly who it was, it got my immediate attention. She was one of the Russian ladies I was developing a friendship with, and I wasn't going to let a communication error stop our opportunities to reach out to her. So I went with one of the leaders to her flat to apologize and to let her know that we were going to definitely get those windows taken care of. It took a while to explain everything, but she eventually understood and we set up a specific time to come by next Saturday. I was very worried inside though; I couldn't imagine the thought of losing contact with one of our good friends. I'm just relieved that it's taken care of. The rest of the day was exactly as the title implies: resting. And now I'm going to do some more.

God bless,
Steven

Day 176: More Than My Own

I've spent the past few minutes of this day thinking about strength. I looked up definitions of strength in my trusty Macbook dictionary, and I found 2 different definitions of strength. One is physical, where it says strength is "A state of being strong, or having physical power and energy." The mindset of today's men think of strength as something you work on for work and/or appearance. Guys go to the gym or work out on their own time to build up their physical strength because they want to be strong and fit. They want to have enough muscle to be all-purpose strong guys, basically. I see guys here at college that go to the gym up to 3 and even 4 times a week, investing up to 2 hours into working out to reach their intended goals. My flatmates will either go to the gym, take a run around the area, swim, or even just do the simple exercises here in the flat. Being in a college like this kind of demands a building of strength (because to put it straight, there are very few things in Hillsong church that are easy to carry). However, the other definition of strength caught my attention: "The emotional or mental qualities necessary in dealing with situations or events that are distressing or difficult." Think about it. Even the Apple dictionary acknowledges that strength is more than our physical capacity, it's also a component to our inner capacity. We don't just exercise our bodies; we exercise our minds, heart, and spirit. And what better way to exercise inner strength than being with God? He's our Creator. He's the guy we look to for every question and request we have. I've been trying to exercise my spiritual self, but lately it's been hard to find some time alone to work on it. I can talk with God for brief moments throughout the day, which for me is good, but at the same time I can't help but feel guilty that I can't get as much time as I would like. Today, for example, pretty much the entire day was working until the late afternoon, and then I was occupied with other things. I know I could do better with managing my time, but being in the middle of Hillsong's busiest, most crucial season makes it more difficult. I just want you, the followers of this blog, to keep me in prayer that I can work on my spiritual strength by making time to have with God. I know I'm gonna need it.

God bless,
Steven

Day 175: La Bamba

Here's the thing: when it comes to intensives training, the name says it all. Intense. Training. Yesterday I got 7 hours of service out of 30 I need to have by next week, and today I added another 5. The day started off with Sisterhood, which was good. Misterhood, however, was just madness. We had indoor soccer, and may I just say these are the times when you get to see the crazy side of Hillsong church. It was fun, entertaining, and downright hilarious. To have team names like Curry & Crumpets, Team Jolly, Ghana's Pride, Team Awesome (really guys, that's the best you could do?), and Baguette Ready, just brought out the laughs so much. I'm kinda hoping we do that again!
My afternoon is what named my blog entry for today: practice for the Spanish band. Yes, Hillsong requested City Campus to form a Spanish group to perform on one of the nights at Hillsong Conference, and we have a really good group. I am the bass player, since we have two guys that play Spanish-style piano better than I do, and I am loving it! We practiced 3 out of 15 songs we have to learn by the time of the conference so as you can imagine, we have a lot of pressure over our heads. Fortunately, we received the wonderful info that since we're performing in a different language, that our practice time counts with service hours! So basically when I'm practicing for the Spanish band, it counts towards the 30 hours of service required by next week; awesome! It's going to be such a fun time, I just know it. I had a couple hours of rest time before I headed back to church to help out with Streetbeat, the homeless ministry. It felt so good to be doing something that reflected home; being in a City Impact environment made it much more comfortable for me. Not to mention the Australian people are much more receiving than San Francisco people (no offense to the homeless back home though!) Plus, it was time that I got to serve alongside my roommate, Tyson; he's one of the driving forces of this ministry, so I give him big props for keeping it active. Altogther, I now have 12 hours of service out of 30; so hopefully by tomorrow, I'll have my targeted amount for this week. Praise God!!

God bless,
Steven

Day 174: Intense beginning

Today was all work. Some play. Almost no rest. It started with fieldwork intensive training, which was pretty fun. I did some cleaning of lawnmowers (which I can proudly say I have officially interacted with for the first time today), and then I was sent to update my specialist's address book to add all the volunteer's contact information to his database. I had an hour break, which I used to have a quick Skype chat with my parents. It sucks that the closer we get to the conference, the harder it is to stay in solid communication with loved ones back home. After my break, I went right back into work, packing up "street swags" (basically sleeping bags/backpacks and visiting the Towers to finish off. Our time in the Towers was awesome; I love seeing the beloved people of this place. Some people are saying hi to me by name now. By NAME. God is so good! I would have loved a break somewhere after that, but alas I couldn't because I had to help the Powerhouse crew set up. It was quite a bit of work, but it was fun too. Powerhouse in it's entirety was awesome, actually. I just loving serving; it's such an energy booster, despite it being exhausting. God was just very protective of me today; it gave me a sense of confidence in myself, as well as a peace of heart. I feel so tired, but seeing why I'm tired makes that okay with me.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. as for my hours of service, today I served around 7 out of the 30 I'm supposed to have by the end of next week. Oh yeah!

Day 173: A Mega Prayer Day

Today marked a special occasion. It was not only the Mega Prayer Night at the Hills campus, but it was also the time for us college students to give our pledges for the Heart For the House offering. I spent the whole morning just thinking about why I was giving this particular amount. Within a couple months of my being here, my iPod Touch was stolen during a Sisterhood morning; as you can imagine, I was devastated. I invested a lot of time, money, and more time to make it MY iPod; so naturally when it was nowhere to be found, I was pretty upset. In the end, that ended up being just what I needed to actually BE a part of this college; I spent the first few weeks immersed in it because I was too shy/nervous to talk to other people. I felt out of place, and my iPod was a means of escape for me. After that, I decided to set aside some money every month that would go towards the eventual purchase of a newer, better one. However, I felt that God's been trying to get me to reestablish my priorities of life, and I knew that music was pretty up there on the list. So after a lot of prayer and meditation, I decided that the money I had saved up would go to a much better cause if I gave it as my Heart For the House pledge (you don't need to know the amount; it's between me and God). So I gave the iPod money for the cause of the church; I can only pray that someone will be blessed by it.
The rest of the day was awesome. We had a special worship time that will actually be used to show people interested in the college what it's like to be here. We had a farewell prayer time for the students that are leaving. We had conference training and a taste of what to expect for Hillsong Conference. I had a very nice dinner time hanging out with Donny, Andrew, and other friends. Mega Prayer Night was EPIC; a lot of worship, and of course, MEGA prayer. It was a powerful time of encounter with God and His powerful presence. I'm still feeling it now! It was such a good day; can't wait for tomorrow!!

Day 172: Not quite intense

So today was supposed to be a full day of intensive training, but because of a simple miscommunication, it ended up not happening at all. So I ended up sleeping some extra hours (which was great, considering I had a full weekend), and catching up on other priorities. I spent a good while working on my music; funny thing is I didn't get much done. Then it was organizing stuff for the big move coming up within the next 2 weeks; I have a lot of stuff I need to get together so I can knock out this move in one day.

However, I wanted to share verses I just read that's really sticking out to me. Proverbs 20:5 says "The purposes of the human heart are deep waters, but those who have insight draw them out." I've been thinking about it. How many times have I tried to find my purpose in life on my own strength? And when have I been successful at getting something out of it? Not many times. In fact, not at all. Ever. God's ways are higher than ours, after all. We can't ever really figure out what our purpose is. In a relationship with God, He unveils more of our purpose as we go further down life's road and staying close to Him. Life's road has a lot of stuff in it: detours, speed bumps, cliffs, lookouts, mud patches, etc. It's unpredictable because we can't see the entire road ahead of us. That's why we need God right beside us; by putting faith and trust in Him, He guides us through these obstacles so we can get through it safely. It won't always be a painless safety, but the fact that it's safety period is enough for me. This verse compares the purposes of our hearts like deep waters, and it's similar to this road analogy when it comes to trying to figure it out on our own: it gets darker the further you go in, there's more pressure, and if you're not too careful, your life gets put at risk. Insight, which is the ability to completely and accurately understand something, is what makes the deep waters clearer and easier to be immersed in, and the only way we can get it is with trust in God. Selah..

Another verse that stuck out to me was verse 10: "Differing weights and differing measures-the Lord detests them both." Is it safe to say we all have our moments where we compare ourselves to other people? I know it's true with me. There are quite a bit of times that I've felt inferior by observing the skill and strength other college students have, including the opportunities, talents, and insight they have; and through all this, I forget the truth He established. I was made as an individual. One with talents, opportunities, and insight that no one else has. I have a personality and character that no one else has. I have a connection with God that no one else has with Him. We are all made in His image, but despite that we are all unique in our own right. I like the way Dr. Dave Martin put it: "You were born an original; don't die a copy."

I leave you with that.

God bless,
Steven

Day 171: Your words = life/death

Every time I've heard a word from God, it becomes something I cherish dearly. It's happened only a few times, but they have also been amongst the greatest moments of my life. Today I was reading the Bible on the morning, and I noticed a similar theme throughout my reading: a mouth of wisdom and honesty. It made me think about what I say and how I say it; it's amazing what you see in yourself when you simply reflect. Sometimes, you like what you see, and other times you get horrified by it. In a way, I've always been conscious of what I say, but like every other person in the world, I've had my fair share of moments where I said something that shouldn't have been said. It's a lesson that we tend to forget. One that we should always consider, yet one that can be forgotten in an instant. I think of Proverbs 15:1, where it says a soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger; if we don't watch what we say, we can really cause trouble.

I just felt like throwing that out there.

Well my day was awesome: Sunday morning choir, hanging out with my future flatmates and my current flatmates, editing/uploading a video, evening church, listening to our special guest speaker John Cameron from New Zealand, and resting for the fieldwork intensive training that will begin tomorrow. Keep me in prayer!

God bless,
Steven

Day 170: Silliness In Sydney

I love it when the weekend is loaded with fun, amazing activities. After having such a busy week, it was nice to have a day where I could do thing without pressure of assignments in the back of your mind. I watched the USA/Slovenia game very early in the morning, and I have to give major props to the guys for making an epic comeback to tie the game. After getting some hours of sleep, I woke up and got ready to head to Hagen's House of Pancakes; today he made caramel crunch and malt chocolate pancakes that tasted like they were anointed with oil. Then I had Street Teams, which was SO good today; I got to "MC" by giving the announcements, my group had a great time chatting with the people of the Towers and cleaning their homes, and a Russian couple was so kind enough to give us Tim Tams for our service. I love the Russians now; they're all such wonderful people to be around. The main highlight was seeing Maria again; it's been a very long time since we've seen her, and we've been a bit worried. She talked about how her visit to Sisterhood was unusual since a woman she tried to talk with wasn't very receiving. It was sad to hear, since we've been trying to make a connection with her; hopefully we can get more opportunities to keep in touch with her. After our debrief, I went to the city with Andrew and Donny to help Andrew get some not so expensive jeans for his trip back home in between semesters. It was a good time, since they're two of my best buddies out here. When I got back, it was some web surfing, chatting with Hannah for a little while, and resting from the lack of enough sleep. I also got to do some video editing, which was a lot of fun. Basically, to make up for the lack of vlogs over the past several weeks, I am making not one, but 3 video blogs, which will be released hopefully before Hillsong Conference. Well, I shall update you on tomorrow when tomorrow comes!

God bless,
Steven

Day 169: Go Gospel!

Today = one of the best of the semester.

It started early with chapel rehearsal. Today was a complete turnaround, since we went gospel with our praise and worship. It was so much fun; it was the first time I sang You are Good, Friend of God, and You Deserve the Glory in a LONG time. Chapel was just amazing; it was one of the best of the whole semester, if not THE best. Another highlight was finishing classes; we no longer have classes, but we do have training for conference in the next two weeks. Old Testament Intro was an absolute delight to be a part of; I feel so empowered to get more in depth with the Old Testament and what it offers. Personal Leadership Tutorial was another class I'll miss, since that was the main reason I reignited my passion for drawing. I drew the last 4 cards yesterday and today, and our encouragement group finished with a bang. Here's a couple:


We gave Oreos to the remaining classmates, and we gave flowers and a card signed by everyone in our tutorial group to our tutorial leader, Anita. It was an awesome way to finish off the day, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year. But I will say that it did have it's hard points; one was during the end of chapel, when we prayed over everyone that is leaving after the semester is done. We're losing a LOT of amazing people; like, it won't be the same without having those people around. The rest of the day was relaxing at my place and chilling at my future flat. After nachos, sharing music, and playing around with music, I would say exactly what I said in the above statement: Today = one of the best of the semester.

God bless,
Steven

Day 168: Feels like yesteryear

So today was the continuation of classes ending. After an amazing Sisterhood morning which included a powerful message from our awesome Italian preacher Antonio, we had our last Old Testament Tutorial class. This time, we had Matt Capper as our teacher, and he did a great job at making the class entertaining. One specific thing I want to point out is that the bass guitar that was so generously given to me has turned out to be a massive blessing. And I'm not saying just to me; but to a couple others. A couple people have shared usage of this guitar (don't worry mom, they are trustworthy people that know what they're doing, and they ALWAYS give it back), and it's helped me a lot with practicing. I might actually switch my major to bass, since I heard there's a big need for more bass players. My afternoon consisted of working on cards for tomorrow (I'm still working on them now) and attempting to have a conversation with Hannah. For some reason, our talks have been completely cut off, and we can't receive messages from each other anymore... oh well...

Team Night was so good tonight; Gabe Kelly gave a great word on loving God with all that we are, and the piano workshop afterwards wasn't half bad either. It's hard to believe that in 3 weeks, I'm gonna be on overdrive at Hillsong Conference, working away to help make it the best experience for our guests from around the world. It's gonna be good; I need to start resting now.

God bless,
Steven

Day 167: A Very Good Day

This is all I have to say about today: God is SOOOOOO good.

A Happy Birthday to my dad.

Finishing my LAST assessment of the semester.

Serving at Powerhouse.

Booyah; God remains faithful to His people, and I'm so grateful for that.

Not to mention I got such great spiritual food from the Word today, since I got to catch up on my reading.

A special thanks to you, the reader, for showing interest in my life and this present season; may you be blessed in all that you do.

God bless,
Steven

Day 166: Business and Birthdays

Today was awesome. Just awesome.

This morning marked the final Personal Leadership lecture class of the semester, and it was a bittersweet moment. I'll miss Duncan's intellectual wisdom; yes, I'll have him as a teacher next semester, but this class was so good. Chapel was also amazing; I was so excited to see my good friends and fellow first semester students Donny, (B)ryan, and Jennifer leading worship today. Just goes to show we have amazing people of God in our midst. Instead of a word, we had a sort of panel consisting of 2nd and 3rd year students, as well as Katie Peters, that answered questions submitted by us college students. It was informative and fun, so I'm glad that we got to do that. In the afternoon, I was hard at work putting together my dad's birthday video; I have to say I'm getting better at sitting in the director's chair! I also worked on finishing my last assessment of the semester, and I'm pretty close to having it all set. I just have to go to the school and take care of some papers that have yet to be signed. However, the evening was loads of fun, because I went with several amazing friends to celebrate our friend Lauren's 21st birthday. We went to Pancakes On the Rocks (her first time) and feasted IHOP style (that means breakfast for dinner). I also got to connect with two Jonathans: One 3rd year from Brazil, and the other 2nd year (nicknamed "J-Brew") from South Carolina. That was cool, considering I've never had a real conversation with them. We had a great time with dinner, and it was so good to just hang out with such goo friends that I've made over this semester. They're one of the reasons I get encouraged to push forward on this journey. Lord, please bless all the friends I have throughout the world; thank You that I don't have to do life by myself.

God bless,
Steven

Day 165: The Blue Mountains

Today can be described in one word: EPIC. It started at an ungodly hour of 5:30 a.m.; the reason being that my friend Lazaro had me stay at his place so he could wake me up (last time I tried to go my alarm didn't wake me up, so I kinda missed the chance..) So around 6:40 we headed to Central Station to take a 2 hour train ride to a town called Katoomba, where the Blue Mountains reside. I have to tell you, this place is absolutely amazing. Like, as in I've never seen a place quite like this (other than Avatar haha). It's definitely become one of my favorite places in the world, and I can't wait for the next chance to go back. Everything about it was what I expected it to be: nature at it's most beautiful. From the trees, to the waterfalls, to the massive cliffs; this land is God's creation in it's finest. I feel so privileged to be in a world that He made, to see some of the most magnificent sites in the world. Fortunately, I got to get a lot of it on camera, so it will most definitely be put into a video blog. It's kind of funny seeing that this whole place reminded me of Avatar, and that just so happens to be the movie I'm watching right now! All in all, this was an epic day. Thank God for days off.

God bless,
Steven

Day 164: Hwell, it's hwinter

Sundays. The absolute best. I love being a part of choir in the morning; singing praises to God, serving alongside amazing people, and getting fed spiritually and physically (the BONUS!). Donna Crouch gave a great message on loving loud, talking about Rahab and her faith that saved her and her family, and also got her a spot on the Jesus' ancestor list. I spent the rest of the day socializing with a lot of people. After choir it was with my good friend Rafael. Then it was hanging out at Donny's with him, Josh, and Celeste (we pretty much had a video game afternoon, since it's all we talked about and did.) In the evening, it was socializing with a LOT of people, as well as chilling with my friend Cory, whose birthday is today (now there's only 2 people I know that have yet to turn 19. I'm one of them.) I really got to see what real, legitimate friends I have here; the good thing is I have a LOT of them. Thanks be to God for not having to do this journey completely alone. I am currently staying at Donny's place, because I am going on a little trip tomorrow. Plus, I can get an idea of what it will feel like living here, since I may potentially move into this flat. We'll see; it's all on God's timing.

God bless,
Steven

Day 163: Green Machine

Saturday. I like Saturday. For many reasons. It's one of those things I look forward to because of the kind of things I get to do. First, there was breakfast at Andre's; he created these double chocolate chip pancakes that were without a doubt heavenly. I'm gonna miss him and his pancakes when he leaves after Hillsong Conference. After that, it was time for Street Teams, which was THE highlight of the day. We had lots of good talks with people, we did some cleaning and pretty much got lunch from a sweet Russian couple, and I got some more inspiration to get this Russian speaking thing down. God is doing some amazing things with Street Teams, and I'm glad I chose this ministry for my intensive training. In the afternoon, I got to get some rest since I didn't have much sleep last night. In the evening, all I basically did was help a friend move a new couch into their place and watching a movie with other friends. I feel kind of weird having condensed this blog to such a small size, but that's pretty much the day. Thanks for a good day, God!

God bless,
Steven

Day 162: Short and To the Point

This was my day in a nutshell (because I just really need some sleep):
Woke up
Went to Old Testament; good time, and good teaching as always
Chapel=amazing, thanks to Jill and Chrishan
Break before Personal Leadership
PL tutorial (another awesome class)
Communication in Ministry (the cards were an absolute success!!)
Came home and got some rest back
Watched most of Space Jam with Anders and his girlfriend
Met with Donny, Celeste, and Becca to go watch the first World Cup game at Darling Harbour
45 minute walk, well worth it
Got me some Oporto (God, bless the Oporto business; they deserve it ;D )
Watched the opening ceremony (R. Kelly? Really?)
Came back here
Going to sleep. Now.

God bless,
Steven

Day 161: The Stuff of Legends, Mate

So today was pretty, pretty good. Sisterhood made my morning, as always. Lots of fun setting up, serving water, and being in Misterhood; what a blessing!! I had a pretty good break in between that and my Old Testament tutorial: mainly just chilling, checking email, and getting lunch. Old Testament was a bittersweet time; it was a very good class, but we found out that it was our last one with Bill. I really like Bill as a teacher; I'll sure miss him. I had another good break in between that and master classes, so I just went back to my place and relaxed some more.
Master classes are pretty cool I reckon. I went to the bass one since my friend Jarryd mentioned he tends to be alone in master classes. It was a lot of fun; I learned some new stuff about the bass and what it contributes to the music. I feel like I might switch my major next semester to bass guitar; that way I can learn more and improve my skill. Team Night was good too; worship was amazing, and we got to hear from Sarah Morgan.
However, what made the day was what I just got back from. So there's this group of guys that have been doing these ridiculous challenges involving random foods, and today definitely topped their list of crazy antics. We took a visit to Maccas (McDonald's) for this challenge: they were supposed to eat a family dinner box by themselves and run back to the Meriton apartments. First one to win got prize money. So this is pretty much what summed up the challenge:
A Maccas family dinner box includes -
1. 2 Big Macs
2. 2 small cheeseburgers
3. 6 piece nuggets
4. 2 sets of fries
5. 2 small drinks and 2 medium drinks
so each guy had to eat ALL this AND run back to the Meritons. Needless to say it was very entertaining. We had people taking pictures and recording video to document this glorious event (which will be posted on Facebook no doubt) and I can actually say I'm proud of their accomplishment. Joel Berge of Norway (who actually set up this whole thing, including talking to the manager of the Maccas restaurant) took the victory, all while wearing a hot pink Hello Kitty pajama suit (complete with a hood showcasing Hello Kitty's face and even a bunny tail). These guys are nuts, but they have been immortalized for their efforts. good job, you bunch of crazy people!

God is good, so may He bless you mucho,
Steven

Day 160: These hands are Yours

Today was my day off. One that was well needed. I got to sleep in for the first time in about 2 weeks; and it felt awesome. I'm looking forward to the break after conference, because I KNOW it's gonna be a tough week. The morning was just waking up, eating breakfast, and waiting to talk with my family. Unfortunately, today's chat was ruined by a camera malfunction (I still don't know what went wrong), so I was pretty much invisible. But I will say, it was a good talk nonetheless; my dad shared a lot of wisdom with me, and I felt much better after that conversation. Afterwards, I started working on a card for Choi, my favorite Korean here. Since I never really got much information about him, I just decided to go with an awesomeness theme. I still have 2 other ones to do before Friday, but it was VERY good of me to start this one today; otherwise I would up really late tomorrow night working on all 3. At around 6:10, I left for Powerhouse; I was going to get a first-hand training session on being a part of the events team, which is basically what I've been doing for the past two months. It seems like a lot of work, but I'm sure with a lot of practice I'll get it down. Powerhouse was pretty good tonight; and I mean that in the sense of serving in it. I missed out on the message, but that's fine. I enjoyed the night either way. I just got back from helping out with pack-down, and I am SO tired right now (well that, and I'm doing pushups, while trying to type in this blog and get my feed form the Word at the same time) However, I did do something before all that. My dad challenged me to do something; something very random, but it's an important something that relates to the time that I was literally lifted up and anointed a very long time ago. MY dad told me of when we were in Phoenix, Arizona, and how when Pastor Tommy Barnett would pray using anointing oil, he wouldn't just do the regular small drops on the forehead. Instead, he would put his hands into a bowl of this oil, and touch the forehead and hands in prayer over that person. My parents were among those people, and when I was lifted up symbolically by Pastor Barnett's son, my dad told me that it was as if I was sealed into His service. But then he told me that it was time for ME to do the sealing. So I got some good ol' canola oil, spread it across my hands, and lifted them up to God. I told Him that these hands of mine were to be sealed in His service; that through my hands the Kingdom would be advanced. That His work and calling on my life would be accomplished in me. It was a very lifting moment. One that I don't think I'll forget anytime soon. So with that, I must leave you now to get some rest since I have early morning logistics work tomorrow morning!

God bless,
Steven

Day 159: Happily After Ever

Today started with chapel rehearsal, which was awesome; I got to do sound check and a couple other extra things, and it was pretty cool. Then, I had like an hour in between that and my Personal Leadership class, so I went back home and got ready/ate breakfast. The class was awesome; Duncan spoke more in depth on relationships, which got everyone's attention. Duncan has a knack for making you think really deep on your view on things; sometimes to the point of completely wrecking the way you saw things before. It's so cool! After that, it was chapel; and chapel, as always, was epic. Worship was spot on, prayers were strong and passionate, and Katy gave an awesome message on the cycles of futility and progress. In the afternoon I was supposed to go work with the songwriting group, but it ended up getting cancelled as I was on my way there. So... I spent the afternoon resting and talking with Hannah for a while. Around 6:30 I headed to Coles to get some noodles for Connect Group; I was requested to be the sous chef for Georg as he was making spaghetti. It was SOOOOOOOOO awkward cutting a green pepper, but on the other hand using the Norwegian spaghetti noodle cooking technique was loads of fun. We got to chat with Sean and Bruno, which was neat; we just talked about the Heart For the House offering coming up and stuff. Right after, I was invited to watch a movie with some good friends; so I came by and we watched Fireproof (since Bethany hadn't seen it yet!) It was nice to see that movie again; sure gave me a reminder of the kind of character I want to have later on in life. It was a good day; now to get some sleep, and hopefully I can SLEEP IN!!

God bless,
Steven

Day 158: A Toast To Change

So today was a bittersweet one; it was the last "music class day". Pretty much what's happening is we don't have any more Music Excellence or Worship Band classes, because next week is a public holiday and the following two weeks is Fieldwork Intensives. THEN it's Hillsong Conference; and before I know it, a fourth of my journey will be done.. wow, that was fast.. So the morning started with a hangout style lecture with Mary Capper. She set up the 2nd auditorium like a lounge and she then told us that we were going to have a toast for change. we then watched a clip from Freedom Writers, where the teacher introduced the "Toast To Change" to her students; pretty much, we were going to mimic that part of the movie, but with our personal experiences. It was a sweet time, and I feel a lot more confident about next semester. For the Worship Band, we had great time just jamming as a band and playing around with the awesome Jam HUB. We shared favorite and not so favorite moments of the semester, and I feel like we all bonded a little more. We had to miss out on the Music Excellence tutorial because of Master Classes happening on Thursday, but it's fine I guess. The afternoon consisted of me working on stuff on my computer and having an extended devotion time to cover what I missed over the weekend; that ended up being THE best thing I did today, because I got a lot out of Scripture today. I felt refreshed after that, and it made the rest of the day awesome. I got to hear my flatmate Erik speak his message for his assessment, and he did a great job; he's just the kind of guy I'd like to be similar to by my second year, hands down. God's just been really blessing me on overload lately, and I can't help but enjoy every moment of it. Tomorrow should be good 8)

God bless,
Steven

Day 157: I Will Believe

Today was amazing; God totally blessed it, and I'm so happy. Sunday morning church was awesome; choir as always was phenomenal, and the sermon from Jerry Savelle reminded me of SFC; he has that SFC feel to him, it's pretty cool. After the service, I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon working on assessments; I do have to admit I procrastinated a bit. I watched Tyson's bootleg of Alice In Wonderland with him; first time I ever watched it! I have to say, it definitely says Tim Burton ALL over it, but I still enjoyed it; he's an artist among artists. To sum up what I accomplished, turned in 3 assessments, played some Mario Party, found out the game just doesn't like me so it kept putting me in the gutter, and went to the evening service and heard a powerful message from "Sanga". It was blessed; don't need to say more.

God bless,
Steven

Day 156: Destiny...

So today was another amazing day. As every Saturday morning now starts, I woke up early to head over for breakfast at Hagen's Pancake Flat (it's not really called that, but it should be). The always faithful Nowregian Andre wowed us yet again with hearty servings of caramel chocolate and caramel coconut pancakes; if you've never heard of coconut fused with pancake, I can honestly say it's a happy accident. Straight after, it was time for Street Teams, which went very well. I had a blast hanging out with Yelena and Boris, one of the most adorable Russian couples in the Towers; they totally exemplify the kind of love I want to share with that special someone someday. Another great couple is Ludmilla and her husband, Illyat. She was rearranging some stuff while he went out to buy the groceries; how awesome is that? They're well into their 70s, but as active as anyone else! I left inspired this morning; I also left with a challenge for next week: I'm supposed to recite the entire Russian alphabet to one of the Russian ladies that agreed to help me and Rebecca learn how to speak Russian. I find it amazing how God works. I remember when my dad told me about how a long time ago he was sent to Moscow for training. I could only imagine how it must have been for him being in a foreign country learning new things. Yet here I am, away in a (kind of) foreign country and learning the Russian language to communicate with them! It's like on of those full circles; how cool! This is a tough language to learn, but with God's help, I'll get it down. Anyways, the afternoon was pretty much relaxing, getting some rest, and working on assessments. In the evening I got invited to hang out with my connect group leader, Georg (yes, it's spelled like that), and a few visiting friends from Powerhouse. We watched Prince of Persia, which I must say was most impressive. I give it a 9 out of 10; probably some of the best acting I've seen from Jake Gyllenhall. So if you haven't seen it, go check it out! Sunday's coming; can't wait!!

God bless,
Steven

Day 155: "Live Long, and Prosper"

So today was most excellent. It started off bright and early for chapel rehearsal, which went great. We had tons of energy while playing through; so much that we were constantly asked to keep the noise down! After that great start of the day, we had Old Testament with Catrina, where we spoke on books like Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs), Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and a little bit of Job. Catrina's an very good speaker; she knows how to entertain AND educate, which is sweet. Chapel, which followed a little while after, was amazing; worship was absolutely epic, and so was the word from April Miller. She spoke on times when things don't go our way, using her own life experiences as an example; it was very fun and inspiring. Afterwards I got to have a quick lunch break with my good friend Jake; since I don't see him as much, we tend to hang out when we can, so it's cool. Personal Leadership was also amazing; we spoke on relational leadership and how having bonding helps build stronger, more dependable relationships with people, especially those closest to you. We also got to finish our impromptu speeches, which was awesome because we got to hear solid messages while getting to know each other through random stories. For the Happy Makers blessing, we chose 3 people: Jen, a fellow Californian, Joe, one of the absolute best influences in my intake, and Nadine, our Swiss pastoral friend. Last night I worked furiously on making 3 cards, and I was successful; like I've said before, I love the Personal Leadership tutorial. The rest of the day was slightly working on some final assessment work and hanging out with a few friends to watch Star Trek (definitely one of the best movies of last year); I felt that was a nice way to finish this wonderful day.
Today also marked the beginning of new rain; both physical AND spiritual. Physically, it was just pouring down like nobody's business. Spiritually, it was a very inspiring and refreshing day. God is so good; I owe Him a lot of credit for how my life has been blessed with joy and peace over the past few days. Tomorrow is going to be just as good; if not even more.

God bless,
Steven

Day 154: Confidence In Store

So today was very interesting. Last night I finally received the courage to confront a personal issue of mine, consulting with God about it. Today seemed like it was set up to encourage me that He listened and is preparing to get me to where I want to be. Sisterhood started the morning off; I did a little bit of Logistics work, and then it was off to my Random Acts of Kindness service. However, when I was trying to get cups for the water cooler, I got a phone call from my songwriting leader, Luke. He was leading worship for Misterhood and asked me if I was cool with playing the piano for worship.....

WWWWWWHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I was in complete shock; so far, the only first year, first semester students that have played are ones that are total experts with piano. So for him to ask me was something I would never have expected; I couldn't help but say yes! So I went upstairs and did a quick practice with him and Patrick; the songs were Open My Eyes (which will be on the new album, coming June 29th I think), You Hold Me Now (from the last album), and From the Inside Out (A United classic). Thank God I knew one of them by heart; the first two, not so much, considering I've never EVER played them before. I also thank God for having given me what everyone calls a "perfect pitch", where I can figure out notes by listening to it; if it wasn't for that, I'd be in a unusual situation. So the worship went really well; I had lots of fun being a part of it, and if it's God's will to give me another shot, then great! If not, then that's more than fine too; 'cause then I could receive! After an encouraging word from one of our pastoral students, I stuck around before helping with packdown; then it was off for lunch before my Old Testament tutorial. Since my good friend Izzaat made a special deal for pizza: a regular for $9 (normally for $10. Nothing wrong with a dollar discount) and two for $15 (a $5 discount, which seemed like a better idea.) So I went with the 2 pizzas; one for myself, and one for my flatmates. After that wonderful lunch, I went to the Old Testament class, where we focused on Rehoboam in 2 Chronicles 10-12; it was a pretty good class, despite the fact that me and Joe were the only guys there today.... anyways, I got back and got to talk with Hannah for a bit before I went to the chapel workshop; it's nice to be able to talk with her when I can. Since there wasn't a piano workshop today, I visited the bass one; these guys are absolute legends when it comes to the bass, and it makes me want to learn more. So Kristian gave me a scale warmup to help practice using just my fingers instead of going all over the place on the stings; it was very helpful, and I think with enough practice, I can find more practical ways to play. Less than a half hour later, we had Team Night, which was amazing. God is just so good, and He shows it so much. I felt that today was the beginning of something new: something that is sure to change my life for the better. I can't wait to see where it will go from here.

God bless,
Steven

Day 153: Thanks be to Him

God,
I just want to say thanks. Thanks for Your love that never decreases with every day that passes; that no matter how many times I might make a mistake or disobey Your commands, You continue to love me. Thanks for being the one, true example of what love is. Thanks for the day; from the rising of the sun, to it's coming down, Your name is to be praised. Thank You for a wonderful family; one that supports, provides, and prays for me constantly as I'm going farther into this journey. Thank You for my daily necessities that are provided: a roof over my head, a bed to sleep on, clothes to keep me warm as this winter season is here, technology like my phone and laptop(s) to keep in contact with my spiritual family on the other side of the world, for food on my table, and for Your Word that is always available to me when I need it. Thanks for giving me this day to relax and rest from the world, and thanks for the relaxation days that are yet to come. Thanks for keeping me warm, fed, and pressing forward regardless of circumstances around me. Thank You for my ability to worship and pray; without it, I would be much less secure in myself. Thanks for places like Hillsong church, where You are put above all else. Thanks for Your promises, which will always prevail. Thank You for being You; I'd be completely lost without You here by my side.


God bless you,
Steven

Day 152: Stepping Up

Today was quite the day. It started with some TV training; I got to observe as Josh Reece worked to big camera. I even got to try it out myself; it was a lot of fun. Working these cameras is like playing a game; it requires a lot of focus, but it's always fun. I sure hope I get another shot at it. After Personal Leadership, I was supposed to keep observing how to work the camera during chapel and maybe use one of the cameras. However, I ended up using the camera for the second half of the chapel; it was a bit scary, but in the end it was loads of fun. I had just a little bit of free time before I went to Luke's house for the songwriting group; basically we have 5 weeks to write and put together a song, and we can all meet on Tuesday afternoons since our classes finish with chapel. We spent about 2 hours trying to come up with ideas, but we didn't really get much out there. It's a completely different experience when you're writing songs with other people, so it should be fun when we have something. Afterwards, it was just relaxing and hanging out with the flatmates, as well as uploading another one of the Performance Day videos. I think it's a successful day; tomorrow should be a nice break from waking up early every morning!

God bless,
Steven