Dear Wifi...

Dear Wifi.... it's SO nice to have you back again. The last host home I was staying in had no wifi, so here are (essentially) summaries and thoughts of what we've been up to for the last week or so. I apologize as there are no exciting pictures and few funny stories, but all this just needs to be posted. I'm getting too far behind!!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Welcome to Sydney! We flew into Sydney this morning with problems, which was a blessing – as of 3 this afternoon, all flights are grounded due to the ash cloud from the volcanic eruption in Fiji. Lisa had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for later this afternoon and was going to fly in tonight; if they had not canceled her appointment, Lisa would be stranded in Melbourne. God is good!

Saying goodbye to everyone at the church this morning was hard. I’m going to miss Saralisa and Zoe! The flight was quick; once we landed, Danny picked us up from the airport with the smallest bus ever crowded with all our luggage. We drove to Pizza Hut for lunch, which turned out to be just a take-away place, so we ate on the side of the hill next to the parking lot. Then we drove to Tracy’s house, which was amazing. God is working! She has just enough space to house the nine boys upstairs and six girls downstairs. The other five of us – Ali, Lisa, Debby, Brittany, and I are staying at her friend Leslie’s house. We just hung out at Tracy’s house all afternoon and watched Tyler Perry movies and Harry Potter amidst gummy candies and a delicious dinner of curried chicken and rice, and bolognaise. The rest of the group went to an indoor soccer game, but we went to Leslie’s house and drank coffee and hung out for a little while; Ali and I are planning on watching a movie and eating Tim Tams all night long. Tomorrow is a sightseeing day; so excited!!!

Yesterday, our last day in Melbourne, was amazing. It was a little hectic at first, because Sarah and I woke up early to do our dirty laundry and it wouldn’t work correctly. The washer left soap on our clothes, and whatever we tried, our clothes refused to dry (We had stayed late at the Loftis’ house the night before singing Disney songs and playing Catchphrase, so we didn’t do our laundry Sunday night). But I still wanted to go out, so I did. AB was giving us a tour of the city. Jon, Darris, Charmaine, Aaron and I all piled into Hannah’s car and went drove to PT’s house. We met AB, exchanged Shaun for Jon, and walked to the train station to head into the city. We just ended up walking around all the high-end shops and eating Kababs – the most delicious lamb and veggie pita wraps with garlic butter sauce. They were AMAZING. We caught the train and made it back just in time to pack our luggage and get it to PT’s house on time. Then, Sarah and I made a good American dinner for our Aussie family – fried chicken, mac’n’cheese, corn, and biscuits and gravy. Somehow, it turned into a formal dinner with candles, low lighting, and non-alcoholic wine. I actually liked the wine, which worries me because I was counting on hating all alcoholic beverages. Oh well – I’ll figure that out later. But it was a lot of fun.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Today was a sight-seeing day. We walked along the Sydney Harbor Bridge and saw the opera house, which together took all day long. The most exciting part of the day was definitely getting stuck inside the bridge elevator with Brandon, Justin, Ali, Allie, Brittany, Wayne, Darris, Debby, Sarah, and Charmaine. It all started when Debby was talking about how she was afraid of elevators, and Justin decided to motion everyone to jump. Not everyone did, but it was enough to stop the elevator. We hung there for at least 45 minutes; meanwhile, Justin blamed the whole thing on Brandon and we watched the maintenance men and police scratch their heads below us. Once we got out, it was dinner time; Brandon, Lisa, Hope, Charmaine, and I got a half-chicken and chips (with chicken salt) to eat, and everything was delicious. Tomorrow is another sight-seeing day, but we sing at a nightclub at the end of day… good luck to us!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Back from the club! Today was an amazing day, but my feet hurt so bad. This morning Ali and I woke up bright and early to Debby’s cheerful greeting and went to the other house to eat breakfast. After downing a few pieces of raisin toast, we drove to the Blue Mountains. Although the top of the peaks were cold and windy, hiking warmed us up. We climbed down 800 of the steepest, curviest “steps” you have ever seen, walked 2km across the gap, and rode the world’s steepest incline train up the other side. We also may have taken a detour or two to climb some rocks. After a lunch of sandwiches, chips, and fruit up above the posh café that wouldn’t let us eat at their tables, we headed back to the house. Then we crashed for a few hours and watched Friends while drinking coffee and eating biscuits (the Aussie term for cookies). Then our night began. We got ready for the club, ate leftover ziti from Tuesday night, and hopped into the bus. After an hour drive, we arrived at the club – and it was classy, not trashy. We set up our mics and instruments, hung around for a while, sound checked, and then picked up lattes and kababs at the mall across the street. Justin, Aaron, Hope and I split a box of mini cinnamon doughnuts too, and they were delicious. We crossed back over to the club at nine, and our set began at 9:30. Meanwhile, we danced – Allie was tearing up the dance floor. I’d say they also enjoyed our music – I know we had fun. The soprano section was barely audible, as usual, but no biggie. Then we danced, danced, sat, and danced some more. Even Taylor and Aaron got on the floor. Right now, I’m exhausted – but it was a fun night. Who says you can’t go to a club and enjoy yourself without alcohol? It’s totally possible.

Friday, June 24, 2011

BEST DAY EVER. Ali and I decided that the last 24 hours have been the best. This morning, we sang at an all-girls school as a part of their multi-cultural celebration week. It was sort of a talent show where the girls sang and danced – a few did an African dance, and a girl from Iran did a dance with a bangles around her waist. Another group sang a Maroon 5 song, and another Bruno Mars. We started off with Whip My Hair, and then sang a few more of our songs. They were screaming the entire time – and we had been afraid they were going to boo us! (We heard them boo a girl earlier when she was rehearsing.) To quote Taylor, “I recognize that OneVoice is supposed to be a ministry… but today has just made me feel like a rock star.” They loved us – we hung out afterwards and gave out high fives and t-shirts. We danced around with them a little bit, and got to enjoy “multicultural” food that they had prepared. All those girls were such a blessing to us, and I pray that we blessed them as well. We went back to Tracy’s house – and slept the entire way there. After enjoying coffee, an apple, and some biscuits… it was off to our next gig.

So tonight. AHHH. We were invited to sing at Hillsong’s youth service out in the Hills! We were singing one song for the senior high group, right after the offertory. We arrived as their band was finishing their sound check; they sounded just like the Hillsong CD. A little intimidated, we took the stage for our sound check; it was a little rough at first. After the fastest McDonald’s break ever, we checked again; it was a little better. Then the service began, and it was incredible. Loud, energetic, and wonderful. Then it was our turn to sing; we went up on the stage and sang Sold Out. And then what happened? The kids started chanting “USA! USA!” …and we sang You Are Good. The energy was incredible; we were all jumping around and having a great time. Then at the end, they asked us to come up again! And we got to sing Take It All – a Hillsong song – WITH Hillsong! And then we closed the service out with Call to the Nations. Charmaine killed it, as she usually does – but this time, she killed it at Hillsong. We spent the next half hour talking to some of the youth, convinced that this had been the best night EVER. And then we got on the bus… and discovered that they loved us even more than we thought. Justin told us that the youth pastor told him that (a long shot, but still) he would ask if we could sing… AT the conference!! He also gave us an open invitation to sing at Hillsong wherever whenever, and told us that the youth hadn’t responded that way since Israel Houghton had visited Hillsong! Ali and I are convinced that Jesus did a little something to the sound waves in between the speakers and the audience, because we couldn’t have been THAT good. But God is just that good. He is amazing, awesome, incredible, and is doing great things – especially on this week that we had nothing planned for. I guess that’s just how God works.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

We got to sleep in today – which was wonderful – and went over to Tracey’s house for breakfast at ten. After Justin’s fabulous pancakes and eggs, we had some team time. And we prayed and cried. It’s amazing how people so often complain about little things, or about their own lives, when in reality everyone is constantly dealing with pain. That’s just how life works; it’s just up to you to choose joy in every situation. That has been the theme of our trip – “press your joy button.”

Later that afternoon, we went shopping at the markets down in Sydney. Everything there was cheap, which is our favorite word. And there were at least five of us who bought more luggage in order to have enough space to bring everything home. I’m hoping my credit card bill isn’t TOO outrageous when I arrive back home…

After shopping, we had a late lunch of kebabs and pizza and then went to the grocery store. As usual, everyone headed straight for the Tim Tam aisle, and you could hear us from a mile away. The last event on our agenda was a concert at a church downtown. It was a warehouse church, small and plain, but full of energy and passion. We did a full concert set, and had an amazing time.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Oh, today!! Today was also amazing. I haven’t taken any pictures in two days – totally unlike me – but all we have done is concerts. We had two concerts today, both in very charismatic Polynesian churches. Darris called them the “black Christians of Australia.” A lot of the same people were at both concerts, and we hung out with them all afternoon. After the first concert, we just hung out in their “sanctuary” – both churches were just single rooms in industrial parks – and they were so wonderful. They fed us delicious food, and then we napped on the floor. They brought blankets and pillows and everything, and Wayne, Justin, and Darris spent the entire time playing soft gospel music on the keyboard. Then they fed us barbecue – so so good! At the second concert, we used choir mics, which was different. But once again, it was amazing. The Spirit led that entire service – a man was saved at the very beginning, which had Brittany’s praise legs going. Darris extended You Are Good to about twice its normal length, Lisa blew How He Loves out of the water, and Shaun SANG his part on Something About the Name. It was an amazing concert. We ate a quick dinner at Tracy’s, and now Ali and I are about to finish a movie before bed. Good day, good day.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Another sight-seeing day! Today, we took the ferry to the harbor and made three different stops. The ferry was nice – big, with cozy seats – or you could stand outside. First, we went to Manly Beach. It was by far the most beautiful beach I have ever seen; the water was so clear that you could see the shadows of the bubbles on the sand below. It looked like it had been poured out from God’s water bottle. Hope, Aaron, and I went to 7-11 and bought slushies and then ran onto the beach. There was about a quarter mile strip of shops that you had to walk through to get to the beach, but we went straight through to the water – and we were so glad. The three of us also found some amazing shells, and Hope and I are planning on making some of them into jewelry. They were everywhere! And then it was lunch time – the fish and chips that Aaron and I ate were the best fish and chips I’ve ever had. Hope ate a kebab from Manly Kebab, and “made friends” with the guys that she bought them from – i.e. they gave her a discount on cheese and sour cream for her kebab when she complained that it was extra. The seagulls around there were insane made them swarm around me by throwing crumbs at my feet. During lunch, Aaron figured out that they would jump if he pretended to throw a chip at them. He also found a pigeon who only had one foot and made a new friend.

After barely catching the ferry out of Manly Beach, we went to Luna Park. Luna Park is an old-fashioned carnival-like theme park, with a bunch of trippy painted clowns and colorful rides. It you’ve seen the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie where they go to Sydney, you’ve seen Luna Park. I didn’t ride anything, because just one ride costs a whopping $10, but Hope, Wayne, and I sat out by the water and chatted. Oh, and Wayne “braided” my hair. I’ll let you guess how that ended up. After Luna Park, we went to another wharf place and only stayed for a few minutes, but Hope and I found a sketchy restroom and then bought some delicious lattes. It was a good thing we had them, too, because we decided to stand outside on the next ferry. It was cold and windy, but the sunset was beautiful.

Straight from the ferry, we went to our Debby Dinner. Aka Dinner on the Prez, aka dinner on the board of trustees. I wish I could remember the name of the steakhouse we went to, because it was SO GOOD. I want to say Louie was in the name; and they had the coolest flame space heaters next to their outside tables. I had a New York strip with a potato and vegetable medley, and had both with sweet tomato chile sauce and Lisa’s lemon garlic cream sauce. It may have been the best steak I’ve ever eaten – and then Hope and I split crème brulee. And THEN we all went to the Chocolate Room on the way back to the bus – I didn’t get any, but they have THE best hot chocolate in the world. We decided we have to go back during the Hillsong conference.

And then, we were back at the house. We switch host homes tomorrow, which is sad – it’s been fun having almost everyone in the same house, and it’s honestly been nice not having the family around a whole lot because then we don’t bother them. And we’re not here much. But hey; things have to change sometime. I talked a lot with Lesley, our current host mom, a lot, and she’s really nice. But I could live without the ants in the bed.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Yesterday was Tuesday, and nothing too eventful happened – but we did leave Tracy’s house and move to our new host homes. It’s kind of nice not having 15 people all together in one house, but at the same time, it was fun being all together all the time. Allie, Lisa, and I are in the same host home now; the family we’re living with has four teenage daughters living at home. We watched Father of the Bride last night, and it was so much fun; we can already tell that it’s going to be awesome.

Today, we sang at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in downtown Sydney near Darling Harbour. We led the worship for St. Jude Anglican’s healing service, which is basically a prayer service where they worship, listen to a short message, and lay hands on people and pray. Most of the people in attendance looked like they had walked straight off the streets, and many were elderly; I met one lady who was 92 years old. All of them, however, seemed loving and enthusiastic about the Lord. We arrived at the church in the morning, and ended up doing nothing except climbing (technically illegally) into the bell tower – a very cool experience. The stairway leading up to it was TINY, and the spirals seemed to never end. 

Basically, we had the entire day to kill – we didn’t have to be back for sound check until 4:30 in the afternoon. Danny (our bus driver) took us to Darling Harbour, where there are lots of shops and a few museums. Aaron, Hope, and I just hung out in the mall all day – we read for a while, ate gelato, bought sweatshirts, and drank coffee. It was relaxing and fun. I already talked about the service, so I suppose I’m done talking about today… the only other thing that happened was that the church bought us pizza and we (like the vultures we are) scarfed it all down in about ten minutes.

So, we’re having a good time. Can’t believe it’s coming to an end soon! I’m intent on coming back here someday. But, it’ll be nice to home.

The Longest Australia Post Ever

The sad part about mission trips is that once exciting things start to happen, the time available to write about those events disappears. Since four days have gone by since I’ve written anything at all, and now six days have passed since I’ve posted, we’re going to resort to bullet points and photo captions to document experiences in no particular order. Enjoy!

First, I have to introduce you to my host family. Paul and Fiona have four kids – Tim is 17, Joel is 15, Keren is 13, and Alyssa is 10. Tim is a prankster, and always laughing; Joel is more quiet and is also a fantastic cook. Keren is sensible and girly, but her tomboy side shows itself every once in a while. Alyssa is so much fun – very generous and all-around cute. She reminds Sarah and I of Lucy from Chronicles of Narnia.

L to R: Tim, Keren, Alyssa, Fiona, Paul, and Sarah. Joel was working at the restaurant tonight.

I may have mentioned that food in Australia is expensive. Even though this is true, Sarah and I have discovered that it is often worth the money. The next several paragraphs are all about Australian food.. it pretty much puts America to shame. Paul and Fiona took us to a café for lunch earlier this week, and everything was delicious and surprisingly fancy. The table we sat at was outside, and would have been a little chilly had it not been for the heater suspended above our heads. This is a picture of our drinks… totally classy. Interesting fact - when you order coffee in Australia, you don't order just coffee. You choose between a latte, a cappuccino, etc; brewed coffee is not very popular.

Dampers. Dampers are rolls of dough that you wrap around a stick and hold over a campfire (or in our case, a woodstove) to bake it. After the bread is done, you put butter, honey, or jam into the hole where the stick was. Simple and delicious.

Believe it or not, pumpkin is a popular vegetable here in Australia, just like peppers, tomatoes, or zucchini. So far, my Aussie family has made pumpkin soup and a pasta with pumpkin sauce – similar in composition to a homemade marinara sauce. As Paul, my host dad, would say: “Scrumptious!”

Nomming my first Tim-Tam!!

Tim Tams: Australia’s Oreo. They’re chocolate covered “biscuits” (cookies) with a layer of chocolate fudge in the middle. Just like many Americans typically dunk our Oreos in milk, Aussies enjoy “snorting” Tim Tams. Just bite off two opposite corners and suck liquid through. I’ll let you imagine what happens next – it can get messy.

I’m considering moving to Australia for the carrot cake. It is extremely popular here, and is always SO GOOD.

Americans eat raisins; Australians eat raisins, sultanas and currents. All three are made from grapes, although my opinion is that raisins are the worst of the bunch. The other day, we were served muffins with sultanas inside. Yum.

McDonalds, called “Macky’s” by the locals, is so much classier than American McDonald’s. Just take a look. They also have food that American McDonald’s don’t have yet – like chicken McWings and McBites. Unfortunately, as I've said, food is expensive in Australia – it costs at least seven or eight dollars for even a small meal.

Aussie McDonalds

SO MUCH tea time. I'm pretty sure I have been on a constant caffeine high since arriving down under. We were offered tea and coffee three times on Monday - once at the school we sang at the the morning, once after lunch at the church, and once at the nursing home we visited later. I could get used to it.

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Now to talk about some of the other things we’ve done here in Australia. The Victoria markets in downtown Melbourne have EVERYTHING. You can find authentic (and not-so-authentic) boomerangs  and didgeridoos, homemade candy, t-shirts, jewelry, and even change purses made of kangaroo scrotum. No, I’m not kidding. They also have a section of fresh produce and a truck selling the most delicious hot jam doughnuts you have ever tasted.

Pucker your lips and give it a shot / Didgeri-didgeri-doo. For those of you didn’t catch the Cinderella reference and/or are unfamiliar with the didgeridoo, read on. A didgeridoo is an instrument fashioned from a tree branch with a tube in the middle that makes a low, mostly-singular-pitch drone sound when you vibrate your lips inside the hole. The tube in authentic didgeridoos is made by termites rather than with manmade tools, creating a more wholesome sound. Beginning players can only play a note for as long as they can hold their breath, but talented players who have been didgeridoo-ing for years have generally mastered the technique of circular breathing (in through the nose, out through the mouth) and can play one continuous tone. Aaron and Sarah both bought didgeridoos at the markets, and our host family owns one as well. It is harder to play than it looks; but hey – it’s fun.

Paul and Fiona took Sarah and I (along with Alyssa and her friend Trinity) to the Werribee Mansion. The mansion itself is an old, well, mansion decorated to its historical period and furnished just the way it was way back then. The grounds surrounding the mansion are beautiful; Paul and Fiona actually had their wedding there. After we went to the mansion, we went to a place called Serendip Sanctuary where Sarah and I saw our first kangaroo - exciting, even though it was from quite a distance. Little did we know that we would be hanging out with kangaroos later in the week...

The view from the top of Werribee Mansion

Allie and Ali’s host, Annisa, plays in a rec league for an Aussie sport called netball. Netball is essentially a cross between basketball and ultimate Frisbee; the goals are basketball hoops with no backboard, and you are not allowed to move while holding the ball. The players also wear short pleated skirts instead of shorts like an American basketball team would. Even though we weren’t sure of all the rules, we still had loads of fun cheering. GO PINK!

Have you ever felt like you’re living in a movie? The other night felt like that. The young adult ministry at Suburban is quite active, so we've made some good friends here in Melbourne. Five of us from the OneVoice group met a few of our Aussie friends and hung out in a jacuzzi on someone’s covered porch for a few hours. We almost froze when we got out, but the cold was so worth it. 

We sang at a nursing home earlier this week. I’m never quite sure what to do at nursing homes, because conversing with the elderly for long periods of time is not my cup of tea. I fumble through awkward silences and am never sure what to say, what they are saying, or how much of what I say they understand. But I LOVE singing for them. Most nursing home residents are familiar with old hymns – Darris sang a medley that totally blew me away – and any music coming out of our mouths brings a smile to their face. God always uses those situations to teach me that even little things can bring joy, despite initial discomfort.

Oh my goodness. Kangaroos. We went to a wildlife reserve to see some Australian animals – emus, koalas, wombats, kangaroos, and more. I expected a zoo setup, where the animals are behind a fence curled up sleeping as far away from the people zone as possible. This was not the case, particularly with the kangaroos. Kanga, Roo, and all their friends were roaming free around the park. You could pet them, feed them, and just hang out with them – which is exactly what we did.

Australian countryside is beautiful. The oldest boy in my host family, Tim, is on his way to receiving his pilot’s license. When we picked him up from the airfield one day this week, I could not believe how beautiful the sky looked. The sunset and the silhouettes of the trees looked like a screenshot straight out of Lion King.

Manual cars are popular here in Australia; I have met only a few who drive an automatic. One such car owner, Ab (one of the college students at Suburban Baptist) was kind enough to allow Aaron, Sarah, and I to drive his car and get “experience” driving on the left side of the road. Everything is mirrored, including the position of the windshield wipers and turn signal levers. Most roads have traffic circles instead of traffic lights or four-way stops, cutting down on traffic backups. Some Australian side streets also have “traffic islands,” arched medians which act as speed bumps by forcing you to drive in a tight curve. I’ll try to remember to take a picture of one.

Aaron driving Ab's car!

On Wednesday night, the OneVoice group helped out with Suburban Baptist’s childrens and youth programs. I was assigned to the kids, and had a blast. We played a game called “Indians-Tepees-Campfires” that involves teams of three and running in a circle. I was on Alyssa’s team, which was great fun. The OneVoicers who were there also led some songs – namely I Am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N, Father Abraham, and the Spongebob theme song. After that, we played an epic game in the gym (which doubles as their sanctuary); the lights were off and you had to crawl on the floor to retrieve items that got points for your team without being caught by the flashlights or hit with the huge glow-in-the-dark balls. Taylor, Wayne, and I all had sore knees and dusty clothes by the time it was over, but we had a good time. After that, the kids learned about the story of Noah over carrot sticks and cheese. They asked lots of good questions, and we all amazingly attentive. It was a good time.

Thursday afternoon, I went shopping at the High Point mall with Brittany, Charmaine, and our Aussie friend Natasha. One of the stores there is called Cotton On, where all their products – shirts, shoes, dresses, scarves, etc. – are all made of cotton. I found a jacket, which I’m quite excited about.

Thursday night, part of our group played basketball with some college students from the church hosting us. It was Olympic style – USA v. AU – and so much fun. It really reminded me of how much I miss playing. Some of the girls also played Pacman tag (line tag) on the other side of the gym; can we say flashbacks to fifth grade? Speaking of flashbacks to fifth grade, we had a few hours to kill and spent it playing on a playground by the beach area in South Werribee. Something about college students and playground equipment just clicks.

Friday was our day at the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is essentially a scenic route along the Australian coastline with stopping points to get out and walk around. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves; I have never seen scenery so beautiful.

Friday night, Sarah and I went out with Brandon and Wayne to downtown Melbourne. Our original intent was to go to a jazz festival Wayne had heard about, but it cost a whopping $22 to get into the club. Brandon’s plan B was sushi; I had never had it before, so I was excited! We found a Japanese café, split two rolls of sushi, and followed up with coffee and chai at Starbucks. We found our way back to the train station, and after a little exploring and a run-in with a homeless women, we hopped on the train back to Werribee. Our first night out on the town in a foreign country: success.

Today (Saturday), we sang at Werribee Plaza (a mall). We arrived and set up all our equipment, only to be told as soon as we were finished to move everything to a different part of the mall. As Charmaine and I said, flexibility… flexibility. Lots of people stopped to watch; we were there all day long and performed three sets of music. It was a good time.

The students at one of the schools we sang at made cards for us!! This is my favorite one.

Saturday night, Justin encouraged us all to stay at our host homes to hang out and minister. Sarah and I decided it was time to bring a little taste of America into our Aussie household, so we bought the ingredients to make s’mores and made them over the woodstove. Australian grocery stores do not carry graham crackers or Hershey bars, but we found substitutes that tasted pretty close! And what can I say – they loved them.

Time to wrap it up... we found out that we are officially singing at Hillsong church next week when we are in Sydney. We also found out that all nineteen of us will likely be staying in the same house, at least for a few days. This trip is flying by so fast, and so much happens every single day. We only have one more day in Melbourne, yet it feels like we just arrived. God has been doing great things; please pray for his continued protection and guidance!

To round it off, here’s some Aussie slang for you…

• University = Uni
• Hoodie = Jumper
• Gasoline = Petrol
• Take-out / to go (food) = Take-away
• Napkin = Serviette

Australia (part 2): Let the Singing Begin

Yesterday (Sunday) marked our first full day of concerts. The church we sang at in the morning took us over an hour to drive to, but you won't hear any complaints from us. Riding in Danny's bus is fun, and gives us time to talk, laugh, and sleep. We sang and led worship for about fifty minutes and preceded the pastor's message. He spoke from Matthew 6, where Jesus instructs his followers to do good deeds in secret in order to avoid approval from men. I think that was a good message for us to hear on the day of our first concert, because sometimes it is hard to remember that we sing for the Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that the glory we receive belongs to God and not to us. Praise Him!

After the service, we spent a long time drinking tea and coffee and chatting with the church members. One interesting aspect of the culture in Australia is that they eat - a lot. Sometimes they have breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, tea, and supper. We have been offered tea and coffee with treats alongside everywhere we have gone. But since their portions are smaller than ours, and their food is generally healthy, you won't find a huge number of overweight Australians. At the church yesterday afternoon, they served us Australian pizza - the pizzas are smaller, but they pile on the toppings. SO delicious.

To fill the hour and a half in between our concerts, we went to Chadstone Mall. It was by far the hugest mall I have ever been to; to get an idea, realize that Chadstone has multiple food courts. Hope, Taylor, Wayne, Aaron and I walked around together for a while, and found an Indonesian store that sold authentic clothes, jewelry, scarves, trinkets, and hand-carved furniture. While Hope and I were looking at jewelry, though, the boys wandered away - which would have been fine, except that neither Hope or I knew when and where we were supposed to meet to leave. Thankfully, we found a couple of our group members after wandering the mall for twenty minutes or so, and all was well. 

Our "back of the bus" group.. also mall buddies :)

Our last concert last night pushed our limits a little bit. The sanctuary was so small that we didn't use microphones, and our voices and bodies were already tired from the long day. Brandon had to dig up a 9V battery to power one of the few direct boxes we needed, and Aaron's keyboard stand arrived at the last possible moment. Nevertheless, God gave us the energy we needed to sing well. Despite a few notes that probably should have been much louder and chords that died away much before they were supposed to, we had a good time. Should I mention that the church was primarily an Indian church and served us the best Indian food we had ever had? Or that we met a two-year-old named Thomas who had been clapping along during the entire concert and wanted to show us his happy face, sad face, surprised face, thinking face, and cross face? Yes. It was a good time.

Australia (part 1): G'day, mate!

We have been in Australia for about forty hours now, and yes, someone has greeted me by saying
"G'day!" But I suppose I should back up to before we left America. The two days of training were intense. The weather was hot and muggy, the rehearsal hours exhausting. But those two days were precious; our group laughed and bonded over devotions and Chucks meals. The morning that we left, the ladies from Christian ministries served us a delicious brunch that we followed with a thank-you concert that drew over 100 people. After wrapping miles of microphone and instrument cables and loading our luggage in the trailer, we piled into vans and drove to the airport. We couldn't believe it; we were actually going.


The flight went on. And on. And on. I commented to Hope while we ate dinner in the Dayton airport about how strange it was to think that in 24 hours, we would STILL be en route to Melbourne. We were right; it was strange. First, we bombarded through several  unexpected obstacles. As soon as we entered the Dayton airport to check our bags and fly to Dallas, we were told that the 75 lb. weight limit for checked luggage was a myth; all of our bags could weigh no more than 50 lbs. Thus, the nineteen of us spent 30 minutes sitting on the floor next to the American Airlines desk exchanging belongings to fill the light suitcases and empty the heavy ones. Later, our 16 hour flight from Dallas to Brisbane was delayed 45 minutes because the bus transporting the flight crew to the airport broke down. No matter; we spent the time exploring the HUGE airport and drinking smoothies. The flight itself was LONG, but not awful. Brandon and I were in the same row with an empty seat in between us, which we used to stow our extra stuff. Since the flight was overnight, we slept for several hours and spent the remainder reading, talking, and watching movies. The food wasn’t half-bad either, although we all had swollen ankles by the time we disembarked. Which brings us to our next obstacle. Taylor and Brandon had been told in Dallas that they could not bring their guitars on board the plane, and were forced to gate-check their instruments. Upon our landing in Brisbane, however, the guitars did not arrive with the rest of our baggage at customs. After several discussions with airport personnel, no one seemed to know what had happened to the guitars. To complicate matters, our previous flight delay bumped us back onto the next flight into Melbourne with not enough seats for all 19 of us, splitting us up onto two separate flights. Thank God, we all landed in Melbourne safely (eventually), and so did the guitars.


So Australia. After over 24 hours of travel, we made it! Our bus driver, Danny, picked us up at the airport and took us to the Victorian Markets in downtown Melbourne for lunch. Then, we went to Suburban Church to meet our host families. Sarah and I are staying with Paul and Fiona, their four kids (the youngest is 10, oldest 17), a cat, and a guide-dog in training. The oldest three are camping for the weekend, although we did get to meet them today. After getting settled in at the house, Fiona served “authentic Australian fish and chips” before we drove back to Suburban for a family fun night. It reminded me of a church lock-in, partially because my body was telling me that it was six o’clock in the morning rather than eight o’clock in the evening. Justin, Darris, Shaun and I were all on the same team, and had a great time creating an impromptu Mexican hat dance, shooting plastic animals with “blowdarts,” and wrapping Shaun in toilet paper with the rest of our team. Our group was also asked to sing, which didn’t sound so pretty because we were all super tired and had no rehearsal to mix our sound. Hopefully, we didn’t drive anyone away with that particular performance; but it was fun nonetheless. Once the night was over, Sarah and I arrived back at the house around 9:30 and went straight to bed.


This morning, I woke up very stiff and sore, but surprisingly rested. Sarah and I both slept so soundly that the dog barking at 7:00 did not even cause us to stir. Fiona served sticky buns with currents for breakfast, and then Paul drove us to Suburban for our first rehearsal with our rental equipment. We were supposed to be finished by one in the afternoon, but due to some difficulties with our sound equipment, we didn’t start singing until then. However, as is the trend, everything worked out fine. The extra time gave us a chance to chat, take a few pictures, and enjoy relaxing. After rehearsal, Sarah and I went out to the Australian bush with Paul, Fiona, and their youngest daughter, Alyssa. The older three kids are on a camping trip out in the bush – similar to Boy and Girl Scouts – but today was Karen’s thirteenth birthday. We brought her a cake and walked around for a while looking at eucalyptus trees and talking to some of the camp workers. One young girl commented about my accent; it’s strange to be the one speaking with an accent. It is almost humbling in a way, because it reminds me that not everyone on earth is just like me.


We drove home, slowly to look for kangaroos lurking in the trees. (We didn’t find one yet; I’ll be sure to tell you at the first sighting.) Dinner was delicious; Fiona made corned beef and vegetables, but it tasted very different from the corned beef in America. Afterwards, we sat around chatting over fresh fruit and toffee ice cream before Sarah and I decided that it was bed time. Even though it is only a little after 9:30, we are exhausted and have to leave the house close to seven tomorrow morning. Sleep it is. Thanks for reading! Leave a comment :)


Random Australia fact #1: On the roads, Australia has “Give Way” signs instead of yield signs, and drivers “overtake” slow-moving cars rather than pass them.


Random Australia fact #2: Tipping only happens in Australian restaurants that are very fancy and extremely expensive, and only if the customer is feeling generous. That’s okay though, because servers make around $20/hr.


Random Australia fact #3: A chicken in Australia, particularly a hen, is called a “chook.”


Random Australia fact #4: In Australian homes, bathrooms and toilets are not the same thing. The toilet is called, well, a toilet, and is in a room separate from the shower and the sink.


Random Australia fact #5: Store-bought birthday cake is SO GOOD. Very unlike store-bought American cake...


That’s all for now. Goodnight, Australia. Good morning, America!

Australian Adventure: Anticipation

The time has come. Currently, I am sitting in Printy Hall on Cedarville's campus - my home for the next two days. I woke up at 3:30am this morning to fly from Richmond to Ohio, and despite my heavy eyes and aching body, my mind is alert with excited anticipation about the upcoming events. We start our training/rehearsals/"team bonding time" tonight, and go non-stop until we leave for the airport on Wednesday afternoon. Our total air time from Ohio to Australia totals about 24 hours, not including layovers or time zone changes. We will actually arrive at our first destination, Melbourne, at 9:20am Friday Australia time. Please pray that all our baggage arrives promptly, that our flights run on time, and that we transition smoothly without extreme jet lag.

How am I feeling about all of this?!? Like I said, I could not be more eager. At the same time, the excited butterflies in my stomach are accompanied by a few nervous butterflies. Everything will be new; international flights, living with a host family, giving ensemble concerts, and needing to know the music flawlessly. However, the experience of traveling in a different country, developing new close friendships, and watching God work in the hearts of people will undoubtedly create priceless memories and lessons learned. Until Aussie Land, everyone! Soli deo gloria.