Day 402: New Vision, Classic System

Vision Sunday is a big deal for the church. Every year Vision Sunday shares with the congregation the vision that the church wants to carry for the year, and it tends to be an amazing experience. This year, the theme was the church as a tapestry and a scarlet thread as the blood of Christ. My favorite part is the video presentation; they do such a great job in expressing the heart of the vision, and it definitely leaves me inspired about my filmmaking. I found this year's Vision Sunday to be a real empowering time; Robert Fergusson's message on the costs of living as a Christ follower opened my eyes. The main point that got me was the cost of leaving; he was speaking about how whenever we move to a new and different place, we have to leave some things behind. This whole college thing came with the cost of leaving my family, my friends, and the world I was so used to; I've lived in San Francisco almost my whole life, and living in Sydney never crossed my mind. It's amazing how God works; but then again, I'd rather have Him guiding me through all this than trying to do it myself. Just saying...

God bless,
Steven

Day 401: A Record 85 Years In the Making

So today was recorded as the hottest day Sydney's had in over 85 years; wanna know how hot? Try 108º F. Even the shade wasn't enough to cool you down!! The summer weather's biggest weapon is the humidity; sure the sun is hot, but the thick humidity and warm winds can really hold you down. So how did I manage to live through this day? By going outside only once! Thank God for whoever he gave the idea of air conditioning; it was the hero of the day. On a lesser note, the flat is looking a bit cleaner now that the guys that lived here previously have more of their stuff moved out; now we can start rearranging the place for better convenience.

God bless
Steven

Day 400: The New Guys

This morning with TV, we were a bit shorthanded. We had 5 people for a 9 person task, so we were a little worried about the situation. However, we got the surprise of new recruits; two of the new semester students, and a friend from my intake; it was my first time seriously training people, so it was interesting and fun. Intensives are just amazing still; I'm really looking forward to next week's. Chapel was intense; there were a couple technical difficulties in the studio, but our awesome team pulled it together to make it work. Right after chapel, I met with a few of the college creative "big guns" about plans for bringing more creative media into college life; let's just say I have a lot of work coming up very soon. In the evening, I got to help out with Wildlife TV; usually whenever I serve as a camera operator, I don a ninja outfit to blend in the darkness (as well as have some fun while it's happening). Sure, I got a lot of weird and humorous looks from people, but the fact of the matter is this is what youth is all about: being fun, creative, and giving the youth of Australia an awesome environment to encounter God. How can it get any better? Maybe some more ninjas would be cool...

God bless,
Steven

Day 399: I Am Sisterhood, Again.

Sisterhood's back! One again I have been placed to help with TV, and I honestly can't wait to get started next week. Intensives are just awesome; couldn't be happier with the knowledge flowing with each session. Today was the longest day, since we ended at 5:30, but at least my evening was relaxing. I got to hang out with some great friends and try garlic salt; I pretty much dropped two chicken breasts on a grill pan, covered both sides with garlic salt, and prepped some rice to go with it. It's scary how I'm getting better at this with practice. If only my mom could see this...

God bless,
Steven

Day 398: Passing the Torch

Because of intensives, I get Mondays and Wednesdays off; I figured I could take advantage of this to just wind back and chill (literally due to the heat). The only thing that happened was that I was asked to help with Powerhouse again; just in case I didn't mention this at any point, I informed my superiors that I couldn't continue helping with Powerhouse this year because of my new responsibilities with college. However, my replacement needed training, so I pretty much had to save the events department this evening. Seeing all the new students visiting PH made me look back at how I came to find PH as not the place for me; I just couldn't find it personally enjoyable. I don't know what it was, but for me, I didn't enjoy being there. Serving there was much better, but I'm just relieved that I don't have to be there any more. Then again, they might need my training services next week...

God bless,
Steven

Day 397: Team Leadership, Part 1

Intensives began today. Last year it wasn't the most memorable parts of my HILC experience, but they're there for good reason. This year, I wasn't too sure of what to expect; it could go in so many directions. For the sake of time, I'll just say that the intensives were awesome, and it's looking to be one of the best parts this time around. I will also mention that chapel was epic; every team was on target, and it made us super excited for what comes next.

God bless,
Steven

Day 396: Core Teams Rule

Today was the first day off of the college semester, and for the remainder of the semester, Mondays will be my day off instead of Wednesdays. Wednesday had the advantage of being a halftime break for the week, but Mondays have the advantage of being a three day weekend (win-win situations). The best part of today was the chapel core team meeting. Here's the roster:

Sean AKA "Toast" is our second in command overseeing all of chapel
Lazaro (my old roommate) and Aaron are overseeing the musicians for chapel
Jared and Joelle are in charge of the backup vocalists for chapel
Liz oversees the worship leaders for chapel
Anja is in charge of the events/stage managing side of chapel
Yana (our only core team member from first year) will be overseeing the choir
Leon will be in charge of items, which are special performances
and lastly, Josh and I are heading the TV department (and myself with videos)

This team together could very well be unstoppable; we're all full of energy and ideas to make this semester more than awesome. I don't doubt at all that it'll be exactly that.

God bless,
Steven