Day 211: Intense..

Quick one today: classes, intensives, chapel, and a late night trying to find a place to use the internet so I can type this (since my place's internet is down until tomorrow). God is awesome, and I can't wait to hear more from Him.

God bless,
Steven

Day 210: So I'm 19 now....

It's amazing to think that 19 years ago, I entered this world. It's been quite the journey, and now that I'm a year older, I have more to be thankful for. Just being here has been something to be grateful for. Everything I have learned and experienced has made me a stronger person. Every interaction with one of the leaders has given me inspiration to seek more. Every new friendship has helped me grow in several aspects of my life. Every God encounter has shown me how much more I need to trust in Him. This day gave me a little bit of everything. I had so many great people wish me a happy birthday (the entire first year worship students even sang with harmonies). I had encouragement come from my teachers, which was very nice. I got to hear from my favorite teacher, Robert Fergusson, and was completely impacted by his words. God, above else, was gracious enough to give me another year to look back on. A year full of incredible memories. A year full of hardships and rejoicing. A year of significance. May God be glorified through my life as His son, and may this new year be heaps better than the last.

God bless,
Steven

Day 209: One Full Day (sorta)

Today was pretty good. I woke up a bit later than usual, but that wasn't a problem for me. I read some major bible, and it was very good; I'm going through Isaiah right now, and seeing the prophecies against the nations is very interesting. After that, I was working on a couple videos; unfortunately, my newest video blog and Youtube are not cooperating at all, so I have to find some way to get it on there for everyone. However, I did get to upload a teaser trailer for a mini-series about my flat/flatmates and our antics. I think it should be very entertaining! Since I had no plans until Powerhouse, I decided to multitask by attempting to finish my assessment, uploading that video, and eating some cereal. It was rather fun, really. Then it came time for Powerhouse, which went awesome. Since we have a whole new intake of students, some of them came right into the group and are currently training in hosting, info desk, production, and venue set up. It's so cool to see new people helping us out; not to mention the great team that I've been able to serve with the past few months. I especially enjoyed working with Ben and Aaron and helping with the packdown of the auditorium; hopefully we'll get a couple more guys to help us out with that.

It's a little weird to think that in less than ten minutes (as I'm typing), it'll be my Australian birthday. Man, 18 years have passed by. 18 years filled with every emotion possible. 18 years of God's blessing over my life. He's carried me this far, and I'm so grateful He did. I couldn't have gone this far into my life without Him, as well as everyone He's placed in my life. So thanks God. Thanks for everything You are and continue to be. Even though I can't give back to You enough, I'll do the best I can with my life in Your service.

God bless,
Steven

Day 208: New semester, new opportunities

Today was the beginning of my second semester. It sure was a good day. I came in at 7:20 to help the TV crew with chapel today; I have to say, I'm excited about being part of this group. They have so much fun while serving, and it's a lot of fun. After the lengthy rehearsal, it was time for the first intensive course of the semester: Teamwork. This week and next week will be focusing on the values, benefits, and Biblical foundations of what makes teamwork, so it should be loads of fun. Throughout the day, we got to hear from Katie, Catrina, and Anita; you gotta love a full day of classes with all female teachers, right? They are so full of wisdom, it's awesome! Chapel was great too; the team put together an opener using a song from this guy called Jonsi, and it was fun to watch. We got to hear some great praise reports, and we're believing for a lot more to come.
After the final intensive class, I stayed behind to help set up for the Sisterhood United night; basically, it's Sisterhood times two and on a Tuesday night instead of a Thursday morning. It was cool to help out, and to see the new guys help out too. After that, I came here and ended up visiting Donny's connect group. It was cool, since it was bunch of "big guns" like Anders, Kurt, Felipe, Logan, Georg, and Damien. Then it was going to a few different places like Cacho's, my place, and back to Cacho's to watch Nacho Libre. Amazing movie, if I say so myself. Now it is time for me to go to sleep, so I shall see you tomorrow.

God bless,
Steven

Day 207: Welcome Back, Cap'n

Today was quite the eventful day. I woke up a bit later than normal, so I was just hanging out with my Irish friend, Andrew for a bit. My roommate Lazaro came back and had a question for me; I didn't know what to expect, so I kept my ears open. He told me about an opportunity for what I'd be serving in for chapels: overseeing part of the TV/Video team. I guess all this filming I've been doing has spread around enough to get the attention of one of my teachers, and now I have this chance to form a team and work on videos just for chapel. I don't know what to feel about this, other than excitement. I feel so privileged that they would be interested in using me, you know? That set me up for the rest of the day. I went to the Post Office with Donny and Cacho to help our new friend/fellow student Joel pick up a box sent by his family, and then we went to the city to help Donny find some places to hand out resumes. During our city trip, we stumbled upon what is now the greatest discovery we've found this whole year: a little store called Sugar Fix. What is so special about this store, you ask? It's nothing but imported goods, including American chocolates, pastries, cereals, sauces, and drinks. We left with a box of Cap'n Crunch and Reeses creamy peanut butter; I think we'll be making many, many more trips there in the near future. After that, we came back home and watched this movie called Strange Wilderness; definitely a movie that's fine for watching once. No more. I also got to hang out with some good friends, which was nice like it always is. Today, I feel that even though it's the last day of break, this new semester is going to help shape me into someone better capable of being the leader I'm called to be.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. The only thing that didn't go well today was trying to upload the new vlog; for some reason, Youtube uploads the video twice and sticks them together into one super long video. Since the limit is 10 minutes, it obviously rejected the video. Lame sauce; this means I have to completely re-do the whole vlog and attempt to upload it again. Oh well...

Day 206: Christmas In July

That's right. Since we're in the Australian winter, July 25th replaces December 25th as the proper Christmas (since the real Christmas out here is blazing hot). So it wasn't surprising to see people in a Christmas spirit. I woke up nice and early for choir and served in the 8 and 10 a.m. We had such a great time, since the stage was re-arranged and we are now in the very center of the stage. Apparently, the choir was supposed to acknowledge birthdays after the 8 a.m. (including mine), but since I voluntarily went to get a couple friends coffee I ended up missing it. But I'm okay with that. It's all good! The afternoon was made up of chilling with the flatmates, listening to music, and watching Josh go through the final battle in Kingdom Hearts 2. Alright, confession time: the ending of this game was SO epic and SO good, it actually made me tear up. You know those movies that have the dramatic emotion to do that to you, Like Seven Pounds, the Notebook, Titanic, Monsters Inc., and Up? Well, Kingdom Hearts has those moments as well, as pathetic as that sounds. It's the truth. Like when the main best friends return to their long lost home, the main girl is there waiting for them; that part, cool. Then Donald, Goofy, and Mickey show up, also waiting to greet them. Tear. Then Sora, the main character, opens his hand to show the little charm that the girl gave to him in the first game. Tear again. Then he says, "We-we're back." Another tear. She follows up by saying, "You're home.", and therefore ending the game. Like seriously, wow. If you saw it, fully understanding everything they went through leading up to that moment, you would probably tear up as well. I give major props to the guys that wrote the storyline to these games; they are genius. Anyways, Robert Fergusson gave an amazing message on the future; the point that really spoke to me was when he said, "every moment you worry about the future is a moment of God's grace that you lose." Have you ever looked at worry that way? I sure hadn't. But I feel inspired now. Afterwards, a massive group of people went to the Christmas in July party; let's just say, that's the most crowded room I've been in this whole year. It was a lot of fun, but I need a break from being in a room with THAT many people. Tomorrow is the last day of break. Let's hope it's a good one.

God bless,
Steven

Day 205: Film A La Fontaine

Today was a movie day. Not watching movies, but making them. It's like God's unraveling this hidden passion that birthed a couple years back with a small little school project called the Poly Chronicles (and later, another small project called New Life Academy). As most of you know, I've made a video accompaniment to this written blog on my Youtube channel; as the year has progressed, you'll notice I've been getting better with my editing, filming, and overall presentation. I'm even branching out to other videos now! Today resulted in two small video projects that I absolutely adore. The first one started around 6:30, because me, Donny, and Alison went to the airport to pick up our good friend Andrew. I decided to take Flipper, my camera, along for the ride, and as we were on our way, I got the idea of making a fake movie trailer about his coming back. So sure enough when we came back, I went straight to work, since I had a lot of free time before Street Teams. After Street Teams (which went excellent, by the way. I had a battle of Biblical proportions with a balcony completely renovated with bird poop, and it was awesome), I came home and finished up the project (which you can now see on Facebook, if you don't mind watching a random video or anything). I had a blast making it, and Andrew had a blast watching it; I'm so glad it turned out great! I spent the afternoon hanging out with the boys (and one Miss Brittany Laine) chowing down on some hot wings, carrot AND cheesecake, and watching the guys play basketball and soccer on the Xbox. In the evening I was randomly asked by my roommate, Laz, if I was interested in going to Mad Mex, the prime spot for a piece of home, with a group of friends. I agreed, and I also agreed to take my camera along just in case. The walk there, the dinner, and the walk back resulted in another fake movie trailer, which I just finished except for one other part. I find it awesome that even though I didn't go to art college as my original dream, God still finds a way to let me use my heart for the arts while pursuing Him; and that's wassup.

God bless,
Steven

Day 204: Out n' About

I realize I spent a good majority of the day outside. In the morning I was supposed to go to the Post Office to pick up a package for the flat, but I ended up waking up a bit later than expected. So I went with Donny to Bondi Junction to help him see if he could get a job at EB Games, since he's been looking into that opportunity for a while. Unfortunately, there weren't any positions available, but the manager took his resume just in case something opens up, which was cool of him. I accidentally found a Borders (which I didn't know was in this country?!) and we ended up catching up with our inner Marvellite. After a good lunch at Oporto, we came back here to Flat 223 (which I want to start making a mini series/mockumentary of) where we were hanging out for a bit until we went upstairs to play some video games. After a couple hours of that, we came back to 223 to listen to the new Ivoryline album, Vessels; EPIC ALBUM!!!!!! This was a good day, despite a few setbacks.

God bless,
Steven

Day 203: It's A Good Day To Live, Man!

So today was amazing. It probably had to do with the extensive reading of the Word in the morning or something. So I was planning on going with Donny to EB Games to see if he could get his job (because he's believing in God providing a job there for him), but due to there being open positions available in other stores, we ended up just hanging around here. However, the early afternoon didn't go without happiness, because Donny and I went on an ultimate Coles shopping spree. I decided to help my boys in Flat 223 by stocking up our shelves with food, so we went through the entire store getting stuff we needed and other extras to last the next few weeks. Donny was telling me that today was the first time the shelves have been full since a very long time; it's a good thing this smart money-manager from San Francisco moved in! AND WE GOT A RICE COOKER FOR $25; That alone made this day awesome. My mom sure would be proud. If there's anyone that made the rice cooker magical, it's my mom; I miss her cooking a lot, but today showed that I gotta practice being my own chef more often (because frankly, Hungry Jack's, Chickens Plus, and Thai food won't satisfy the soul forever..) In the later afternoon, I was just hanging out with Donny, Laz, and Tory and playing some Kingdom Hearts 2; ah, the memories of being in front of my tv for hours at a time... good times..
In the evening, we had our first Team Night in a while; it was awesome, since we have all these new students here. It's so weird seeing them, because six months ago, I was in their position; but it's cool, because now I can be to them what a lot of students weren't to me unfortunately... like I said, Team Night was awesome; they went to go watch Inception, but I decided to stay behind and help the packdown team clean up the church. Now, I'm back in Flat 223 after catching up with my old flatmate Anders at his new place. God is good, and His mercy endures always.

God bless,
Steven

Day 202: Let's Set Sail

Today was awesome!!! I woke up bright and early at 11:39 a.m.(due to going to sleep at 3 a.m.),and it was a bittersweet moment knowing that I slept the morning away. Then I was hanging out with Donny and Andrew before I Skyped with my parents;it's so nice to Skype with them. It was a good chat, catching up with them and setting the day for my return to America for Christmas. I realize that it's gonna come a lot faster than I think. It feels like a long time away, but it'll be tomorrow before I know it; that's just how time works, I guess. In the evening I served at Powerhouse; it was a blast! The hospitality team made some amazing nachos, the events team rocked the house, worship was amazing, and United had a panel interview on their tour that ended recently. Plus, we introduced all the new students to Powerhouse and showing them opportunities to serve in it. Hopefully we see some people come aboard. So I have no idea what's going on tomorrow, but all I know is I'm either going to school, or I'm not. I'll figure it out in the morning.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. the title is in honor of the band Set Sail, made up of current and former Hillsong college students, and they just recently announced the releasing of an album they've been working on. These guys are incredible; if I get a chance to show people from back home their music, I will.

Day 201: Eh, I'm lazy.

So I had plans to spend the day in the city just to chill with some good friends, but due to unusual circumstances, I ended up not going at all. My day consisted of checking printer cartridges with Donny, listening to music in the living room, hanging out at our upstairs neighbors while playing video games, catching up a little bit on my Bible reading, getting some Thai soup to clear the sinuses, and making a super late Hungry Jack's run while talking with Donny about home. It was a good day, despite things not going according to plan. It reminds me of how sometimes God prepares things that are not what we have in mind for our future. I've had plenty of those experiences.

God bless,
Steven

Day 200: To See It Through

Today was quite interesting. Almost the entire day was nothing but working on Mia's video; it's been a long 3 days of nonstop filming/editing. Mostly editing. It's like I've become "the video guy", it's so cool!! However, it didn't come without problems; for the longest time, there was an issue with the audio every time I burned it onto a disc. The picture was fine, but the audio was WAY off; that happening 3 times with a 2-3 hour wait period in between made it very frustrating at times. I unfortunately had to cut some things in order for the video to work, but either way, I'm glad with how it turned out. It's definitely my best work, mainly because it's the longest video I've made (won't be able to top this one for a long time). Looking back at this whole project, it's made me see the kind of devotion I need more of in other areas of my life. Have you ever felt like you were more committed to parts of your life instead of your life as a whole? I feel that way sometimes; it's never a happy thought. If there's one thing I dislike the most, it's the concept of laziness. It's almost like we can't help but be lazy sometimes, even when we know we shouldn't be. I want to work more on being more productive instead of being lazy, because I just don't like having so much of that in me. God didn't put us on this earth to be a bunch of lazy bums, so I encourage you to engage with the parts of your life you're not as devoted to.

God bless,
Steven

Day 199: All I Need

Sundays. How I love Sundays. There's something about Sundays that I just love. Choir was interesting; during rehearsal the fire alarm went off and almost had us evacuate. Fortunately, the fire brigade came just in time to keep the service on schedule, so we went through the service just fine. My voice wasn't feeling so well, so I couldn't sing to my fullest, but thankfully God doesn't measure us by our voice, but by our heart, right? Robert Fergusson gave a fantastic message on labeling people and how we should practice fully knowing others before we automatically label them. I love it when Robert speaks; he radiates wisdom! After that, I headed straight back to my place to start completing the video for my friend Mia; it was hours and hours of importing videos onto iMovie, editing, adding intros and music, and replaying the entire thing like 10 times. It was so much fun! So far, this video is 42 minutes long; definitely the longest project I've ever worked on. After doing all I could, I went to evening church, where Joel A'Bell talked about living "above average". It was a great time, and I can't wait to start this week off living above the average. Right now, I'm with a group of friends that felt like watching a movie; you gotta love college brothers and sisters when they're all together!

God bless,
Steven

P.S. I must admit I am now a OneRepublic fan; I got some confirmations from a lot of trustworthy friends that the members are Christian, so I'm giving them a listen. So far, I'd say this is one super talented band; major props!

Day 198: Mildew-y Fresh?

Today was bittersweet, or as a friend puts it, mildew-y fresh. In the morning, it was the bitter part: the closing day for Andre Hagen's House of Pancakes. It was a bring-your-own-topping contest, and there were some pretty good entries. May I just say that it was such a good way to start the morning; I'm gonna miss Andre's pancakes. I'm gonna miss Andre, period; his piano, Mac, and general wisdom couldn't ever be replaced. Street Teams this morning was great; it's been a while since Street Teams, and I sure have missed it. It was a good few encounters we had today; we cleaned 2 places, and we caught up with our dear friend Alex who's gradually overcoming all of his addictions. The first time I saw Alex, he was so depressed and hopeless; now, he has a smile on his face and hope in his heart. The only thing between him and absolute freedom is his smoking addiction, which he is working on overcoming; that gave me inspiration to examine the things I could work towards this semester. We also had a small battle with a balcony that is barely surviving attacks from pigeons; it's gonna take a lot of work to get that balcony looking decent, but I think it's possible. After Street Teams, I went to my friend Nicole's place to help start the farewell video for our friend Mia who is leaving in less than 3 days. Basically for the past 3 weeks, we have been asking people to give a small (or medium sized) message for her to add to this big project, and today was my first interaction with all the footage. In total, the footage was 43 minutes long, but fortunately since I'm not posting this on Youtube, I can make it as long as it needs to be. I still have a bit to work on and film, so hopefully we will have it finished by tomorrow night. All the other parts of my day consisted of hanging out with my flatmates/friends, so other than the final pancakes morning, the rest of the day was sweet.

God bless,
Steven

Day 197: Dreaming Out Loud

Today was both eventful and uneventful. I know that sounds weird, but it's what happened. The morning was very slow, very quiet, but good. The afternoon went quite well too; I got to help one of the new guys learn about BPay and how it works. I also did some catching up with people through both the internet and in person. I got called to help with events for the United Night; that was one hectic time. Lots of teenagers/young adults, and lots of new students; not to mention the new Hillsong Youth term project (they call it TP's for short):

I love these things. They're just like Extended Plays (EPs) but with Bible study stuff included. All for $2. What a steal, as Mr. Mateyka puts it. I got things to do tomorrow, so I shall see you later!

God bless,
Steven

Day 196: A Piece of Home (and Hope)

So today was a very vacation-ey day. I loved it! I got woken up by my old flatmate Anders's girlfriend, Caroline (via phone call) to ask if I could help with getting some new students on a bus to Eastgardens. It was fun; I got to get to know some other new students, and I'm pretty excited at how amazing this new intake is. After that I helped Donny move a couple refrigerators to some flats (which made me think of my dad and what he does at work every day. A couple refrigerators doesn't compare to what he does so that I can stay here, though.) During that time, we were invited by my friend Celeste to go to the city so a couple new students could do some shopping. I also made it an opportunity to visit the one legitimate Spanish-style restaurant in Sydney: Mad Mex. Obviously, it's Mexican, but regardless, it was just like the kind of stuff I would get back home: a carne asada burrito with tomatillo, guacamole, and garlic, as well as a bottle of good ol' Jarritos. That was one heavenly lunch. No doubt. We went through several stores, just looking around; all the more proof that I won't EVER buy clothes here. It is just way too expensive; I don't need to pay something like $300 for a jacket. No way. Anyways, I also got to hang out with our Northern Irish visitor, Andrew, who is an absolute genius. We were ghosting people, doing fake parkour, and just cracking jokes like nobody's business. In the evening I was hanging out with some friends from the downstairs level watching Tommy Boy; very funny movie I'll say. Overall, I would say this movie was so good. Can't wait for tomorrow!

God bless,
Steven

Day 195: The House You're Building

So today was a full rest/socializing day. I was supposed to clean my old flat's balcony, but the progress I made was buying cleaning supplies for it. I just felt like resting; my body has been feeling exhausted, like as if I'm still regaining energy from conference. But I got to spend a lot of time with my flatmates, which was awesome; I feel very much at home when I'm hanging out with these guys. I also went with some friends to play a little friendly game of basketball; dad, just so you know, I did a pretty good job! I scored a lot more times than I expected, and I was the most surprised haha. A little while after that, it was off to the going away party for 4 of our dear friends; it's sad to think about it, but at the same time it's cool to see them moving on to their futures. A good number of our students left for their homes today; it won't be the same without them, but then again they are needed wherever they are headed. Right now, I got back from hanging out with a few other friends just chatting and playing guitar and messing around with my "perfect pitch". I'm really tired, so I'm going to sleep.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. Audrey Assad's new album, The House You're Building, is a phenomenal piece of art and poetry. Just wanted to throw that out there..

Day 194: Organization

Today was exactly what a vacation consists of: REST. and it was a good rest indeed. I spent the morning just settling down in my new flat, hanging out with the guys. I gotta say, it's cool to be living with such amazing men of God. The highlight of the day was finally making contact with my loved ones from back home. It still sucks that my family's camera doesn't work, but luckily I am someone of patience. Then it was off to my old place, where I attempted to clean our balcony. I'm not done, but hopefully I can get most of it done tomorrow. It feels so weird seeing other people's stuff where my things used to be, but at the same time I'm excited that new people can experience the awesomeness that is 272/8 Lachlan St. After a little cleaning there, I went back to my place and got to chat with Hannah. I am so glad that we got to talk, especially since she recently joined the Mac family!! So now she doesn't have to keep asking her sister to borrow her computer, which is much more convenient for the both of us. Pretty much the rest of the day was more resting and watching the movie Daybreakers with some friends. If you haven't seen it, just so you know it's a REAL vampire movie. Lots of violence, blood, severing of body parts, and more blood. Crazy, but it was exactly what I expected: a REAL vampire movie.

God bless,
Steven

Day 193: The New Guys

Today was the beginning of a new era: the coming of new students. As a new semester approaches, people dear to us are leaving, but others are preparing to start their Hillsong legacy. I was part of the welcoming committee, introducing ourselves to them, talking about the college, showing them around the church, and taking them to their new homes. One thing that surprised me was how many Californians are coming this semester; it was AWESOME!!! It's gonna feel much more like home now that there are more people from my home state. I got to help a few guys out getting settled into the Hillsong college life, which was something I'm grateful that happened to me. My friend Aaron was the guy that helped me out, and I'm glad to have done the same for these new people. We have a lot of worship students with this intake, which is both good and bad; we could use some more pastoral students, I think. Anyways, this break is going well so far; can't wait for the second semester to begin!!!

God bless,
Steven

Day 192: Forgiveness

This morning, Ed Young talked about what he called "the real 'F' word": forgiveness. He spoke on how it's hard for us to get our full potential when there is un-forgiveness in our lives. It made me think about a lot of things from years back, and how I needed to forgive a lot of people for things they did to me. It's crazy how forgiving someone can be the hardest thing to do; I struggle with it a bit. I just really need some prayer right now... I'm stuck in a bad situation, and I just need God's wisdom to get through this.

God bless,
Steven

Day 191: Coming This Winter

So today marked the beginning of the mid-semester break; 2 weeks stand between me and the start of my second semester. It's so weird to see it that way... wow, God's led me through 5 months in Australia. It's the farthest I've ever been from home. It's the longest I've ever been from home. And it's also the most impacting experience that God has carried me through. He's been so good to me, more good than I have been to Him. That's what I love most about God; no matter how committed or not committed I may be, He remains faithful and forgiving.

Today started at a rather random time: noon. Thanks to my internal clock, I woke up at 8, but I felt like staying asleep. So I ended up staying asleep until then. That was fine with me! An hour later, I went over to Andre's flat for pancakes; it was moved to then because of the exhaustion that was Hillsong Conference. It was great to see more people come over and be a part of the experience too; it was so much fun. Then it was chilling with my new flatmates, who will be featured on a vlog at some point (I have 3 ready to upload, but all I need is time). We were just chatting and looking up random stuff on the interweb; the first time we've really been able to sit down and relax together. Then it was off to evening church, where we got to hear from Andy Stanley. Andy is the son of Dr. Charles Stanley, a big name on the Christian radio station KFAX 1100 back home; he currently pastors a church in Florida, and he's an incredible speaker. To put it in Brian Houston's words, "every time Andy speaks, it's like I get a shot between the eyes of conviction." He knows what's up, and his relaxed but firm style of preaching grabs your attention, keeps it, and makes you think deep down of yourself. It's amazing! After that, I visited my friend Mia's going away party, since she is moving on from the Hillsong season of her life. It was literally a "ghetto fabulous goodbye", since friends came dressed like gangsters. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm not. I was definitely the whitest-looking guy there, but that's okay with me; I'm not ghetto in ANY sense of the word. My day is far from over, because I'm hanging out with Donny and Andrew right now. Andrew is heading back to the US for the break, so we're hanging out while he's still here. Sunday is going so good so far.

God bless,
Steven

Day 190: End of a Semester

So yesterday was the last day of Hillsong Conference 2010. Boy, what a day that was. The refresh team went all out on the arena, cleaning everything from toilets to coffee spills to vomit... yes, vomit.. but that's okay! I had a great time working with my team, and I'm sure we'll be in touch much more this coming semester. I will say that it wasn't until yesterday that I felt the exhaustion from the other 4 days. Monday through Thursday, it didn't feel as tiring, but Friday was tough. Halfway through the day I was kind of ready to go to sleep, but I had to keep going. So I did. And it was a lot of fun. The evening was the challenge; after the last rally, we had bump out, which was basically clearing out the arena in one night. I was put in charge of the vacuuming team, which was fun despite having a few vacuums that didn't work. We were there until around 1 a.m., hence my not really putting details and posting this so late. And I'm officially a second semester student now!!!

God bless,
Steven

Day 189: The Bishop Is Back, Baby!

Today was very good. It started off right: cleaning an entire bathroom hit with 3 clogged toilets. It was quite the experience, one that I sure won't forget anytime soon.I would go into details, but you really don't need to know what I witnessed today. Moving on...
My team has continued to blow me away with their hard work and strong spirits. It gives me encouragement and motivation to keep going, and apparently I do the same for them. We did a lot of floor cleaning, garbage bag replacing, toilet paper/hand towel replacing, and mopping, and very moment of it was fun. There's just something about having a great Refresh team; not to mention we get a lot of encouragement from the people around us that see what we do. God uses even the smallest of jobs to make a difference!
The definite highlight was hearing from T.D. Jakes tonight; that is one massively spiritual source of power and wisdom. Everyone was going nuts in the auditorium, going off of the energy he was giving. It was a powerful message on not defining your life on the bad circumstances, but rather through what you have left after the storm and going through times of "correction". That alone was refreshing to me! I felt so privileged to be a part of this conference at that moment, and even though I'm so tired right now, I know that through God I will have the strength to finish this conference. Keep praying that God will do mighty things on this last night coming up. Wow, only one day left. That was slow AND quick at the same time.

God bless,
Steven

Day 188: The Halfway Point

So yesterday evening we found out that we didn't have internet, hence my not posting anything about Wednesday's stuff. But here I am making up for it.

Refresh is an amazing team. We were sent everywhere, and we still got the jobs done so well. I'm proud of my team and what we've been able to accomplish together. It's been tiring, but God is our strength through all of this. There was a lot of funny moments throughout this day, and that's what keeps us energized: fellowship wrapped in humor. It's such an epic experience being a small part of this life-changing conference. Every speaker is filled with wisdom. Every worship leader carries the spirit of the house when they are on stage. And the volunteers are the glue to keeping things together behind the scenes. During the evening rally, my team was supposed to clean these two broken plates that the two Joels dropped on stage; it was a weird feeling being on a stage surrounded by thousands of people. But hey, at least I can say that for a small moment, I shared the stage with Brian Houston and Israel Houghton! Anyways, this day was good; plus, we finished earlier, giving us a chance to get some early sleep. That I appreciated most, because everyone's been working so hard. I'm gonna feel it during break, but it will be a good feeling.

God bless,
Steven

Day 187: "... for it is Christ that you serve."

Conference has officially gone into hyperdrive. Thousands and thousands of people. Everywhere. It's quite a sight to see. And here I am, going all over the backstage areas with garbage bags, gloves, toilet paper, hand towels, mops, vacuums, and a radio. Refresh is definitely a fun team to be part of; I'm loving working alongside awesome people. If it wasn't for the awesome people, this job wouldn't be as entertaining. My day summed up was cleaning garbage, vacuuming giant rooms and staircases, keeping bathrooms clean, and helping out other teams that were short on volunteers. There were fast-paced and slow, relaxing moments, but overall it was such a good day. I would have to say the best part was hearing Ed Young give an epic message on evangelism. He gave the analogy of a lifesaver ring; God gave us a lifesaver to grab onto so that we could be brought onto the houseboat with Him. He had 3 specific points (that all rhymed): The ring is the thing, hope is in the rope, and pull to make the house full. Basically, a church shouldn't be the kind of "houseboat" that just sits around, not doing anything to reach out to others. Instead, it should be going out to drowning people and throwing the lifesaver to them. It was such a powerful message (and so was his intro rap. Yes, Ed Young made a rap song based on the spirit of Hillsong; and it's easily a top hit.) I'm so tired, so I'm going to sleep; halfway point is already tomorrow. So soon? Yup.

God bless,
Steven

Day 186: The Opening of Opportunity

Hillsong Conference started today. Wow. All the past several weeks have been hyping and prepping for this week, and suddenly it's upon us. I always knew that it was going to be amazing; this first day passed my expectations by the half-point. So This week I'm serving in two areas: leading a small Refresh team in the backstage areas (yes, I cleaned rooms set aside for all the big guns of the church. No, I didn't take pictures) and in the evening I help with the New Christians team.

Refresh is awesome. I have an awesome team. We had an awesome time. It was an awesome first day of getting to know our level and our equipment. It was a day of unclogging toilets, emptying and replacing garbage bags, picking up random pieces of stuff, and vacuuming the kids area. All this, and getting to know some college people that I didn't really talk to as much before. I felt very proud of what we got to do today; everyone was encouraging us as we did our jobs. Everyone worked so hard to make this day a success, and I know that we accomplished that. New Christians wasn't as energizing, but it was still good. Hillsong is really good at creating atmospheres of worship and connection with God; I feel like no matter what they do, God gets all the honor and glory. Standing in a room with thousands of people makes you feel part of something epic; Hillsong conference is just that. I could go into more detail, but I have a 6:30 call time. For the rest of the week. So I need to go to sleep. Now. Good night.

God bless,
Steven

Day 185: It's A Good Day To Be American

Independence Day. I never would have thought that I would enjoy it so much. But I did.
It started this morning. Choir, as always, was awesome; halfway through worship, I noticed that my index finger was feeling a bit painful for some reason. I then concluded that I was feeling after-effects of a fracture I received during bump in (it was also the first time I noticed the fracture). After hearing an amazing message from Pastor Judah Smith, I asked for prayer over the finger during choir debrief (since I have to play bass tomorrow for the Spanish band). You wanna hear the good news? In less than 12 hours, my finger was back to normal without any pain!!! I love God's healing power; it's such a relief now that I'm not in pain anymore.

The afternoon was absolutely mind-blowing fun. I went with my new flatmate Donny to our friend Andrew's place, since it was the location of the big July 4th party. I helped our Canadian friend Brittany build a cake homage to the US flag (yes, a Canadian made a cake of the US flag; and it was awesome). Then we had well around 25 people that joined in on the celebration (some of them not being American, but honorary Americans); it was a ton of fun. I got the idea beforehand to make a video out of this event; and I had the bright idea to base it on the testimonials from Hillsong. It was probably the best time I had editing, because I was going all out to make it awesome. And it's awesome; to see for yourself, check out my video channel and see it in all it's glory. It's hands down my greatest video yet. I also had a blast hanging out with friends; I love this college because of the friendships I have here. I just know this next semester is going to be the bomb. I can also say that I am officially moved in; my bed is in the new flat, so I sleep here now. These guys are awesome; it's gonna be good, I just know it.

Conference starts tomorrow!!!!! I need sleep!!!!!

God bless,
Steven

Day 184: Moving On Up

So today was awesome. After a visit to Hagen's House of Pancakes (which was amazing, as always), it was Street Teams time! This morning was crucial because we HAD to get the windows cleaned for a Russian lady in our tower. It took a very long time, but we eventually finished the job and made her very happy, so it was great to be a part of that. I love being part of Street Teams; it's just the atmosphere that brings the sense of home that I love most. I'm very excited about staying on the team next semester. The majority of the day was moving; I thought it was going to take a long time, but I ended up getting a lot of my stuff into the new flat. All I have left is some small things, my bed, and then I am finished! It's funny that I took a break from my moving by helping my friend Lauren move a couch and TV to her new flat; I ended up carrying things heavier than anything I carried into my own place. It was a good afternoon, and the evening only made it better. Saturday night church was epic; worship was epic, and so was the message. It was the first time in a long time that I've had the privilege of hearing Aslan himself, Robert Fergusson, so naturally when I heard he was giving the Word I was more than excited. Apparently, Judah Smith (OH MY WORD, HE'S HERE!!!) was supposed to give the message tonight, but for some reason it was Aslan that did it; I'm not upset though, because Robert gave a powerful message on the language of Heaven. In his opinion, he sees the language of Heaven in one word: COME. He talked about how God encourages throughout the Bible for us to come to Him, to a higher place, by simply asking us. It's up to us to answer in faith and enthusiasm. It was awesome. Right now, I am in my soon-to-be flat, and I'm gonna go to sleep very soon. Here. It should be interesting.

God bless,
Steven

Day 183: What about second lunch?

Today was Hillsong Conference bump-in day. All the men (and some ladies) from both campuses gathered at the humongous ACER Arena to help the staff set up the venue; let's just say that it was a very productive, tiring, and fun experience. I was a volunteer for Hillsong Conference 2 years ago, and judging by what went on today, I can only imagine that this one will be so much better. And that's a lot for me to say, because the '08 conference was epic. Fortunately, we will be blessed to hear from speakers like Ed Young, Andy Stanley, Judah Smith, and of course the ever so powerful Bishop T.D. Jakes!! I'm so excited. The team I was a part of for today did a lot of heavy lifting basically: drapes to cover the top TOP rows of the main arena, approx. 650 chairs into one of the Kidsong areas, and tables that went just about everywhere. I got to spend a lot of time with my friend Manuel, since he was the only other guy from City campus with me. I don't see him as much because he's a pastoral student, and I'm a worship student. we just don't have the same classes. But it was a good time; I'm so looking forward to being part of the Refresh team. There's a lot going into this conference, so I ask you to please pray over this conference. Thousands of people are coming, representing nations from all over the world. This is THE biggest event in all of Australia. And God is about to do something incredible in this country.

God bless,
Steven

Day 182: YayYEAY!!

Today was a full day of work. The morning was all Sisterhood, and it was awesome as usual. I can't picture myself getting tired of being part of logistics and serving water; it's so good. Misterhood was... interesting.. because we had arm wrestling. Let's just say it was very full of guy energy.. anyways, after that I had Spanish band practice. That was so much fun; I can't wait to play these songs at conference. I'm just hoping the bruises on my fingers will heal by then. Then I had a small break before the college headed out to the Hills campus for conference training. It was a great night; it was nice to just hang out with some of my good friends. the refresh team that I'm part of for conference is one of the best; I just know it's gonna be a good week to live.
Sorry for this very small, summarized blog, but I need to go to sleep asap because I have a full day tomorrow that involves a LOT of heavy lifting.

God bless,
Steven