SPRTE and a sewing machine

This blog is dedicated to Elsie... my most faithful blog follower.

SPRTE Canberra!!!
WOO! SPRTE (South Pacific Training Event) was very awesome. Because it was of the South Pacific... there were people from Vanuatu, PNG, NZ and Fiji (I hope I didn't forget a nation). Every night one group gave a presentation on student work in their country. They all sang and danced for us and it was very good. Aussies were totally put to shame for our lack of cultural song/dance... and also because of the cost (or lack of) we are willing to pay for the spread of the gospel. All the islanders told us stories of how they had been so affected by the cross of Christ that they were willing to go through sufferings (to the point of death) for the proclamation of the gospel... and we complain that we don't get funding from our student unions. So yes... they were all very encouraging. I also went to a Fijian sing-a-long where they taught us how to sing a song in Fijian and it sounded so beautiful.
Other highlights:
-taking a walk with the desire to get lost so that I could work my way back. I walked to Lake Burley Griffin by myself... no map or anything. I got there in speedy time... and made it back to uni via a different route. It's fun to go on walks without maps and just to wander around.
-Me, Kathy and Christine had a party in my room on the last night where we talked and painted our nails wacky colours. Ellen would of come but she had to sleep because she had to drive the next day.
-Strand group was hard... I was doing Strand 5. It was hard work. We were looking at Titus and planning a sermon series on it. Kudos to all the pastors out there who do it every week! We spent the first 4 days looking at the themes, theology, ethics and flow of the book, thinking about how to split the book up along the way. On the last day we sorta started to write a plan on one talk... but didn't really finish anything. So that was kinda sad because there wasn't any closure. But I've now got a framework for planning a sermon series. I can see that it's gonna take a lot more than a week to plan a series (let alone write the talks for that series!).
-The talks were awesome too. In the mornings we looked at sin, wrath and the cross... then in the evening we looked at Jesus' approach to the cross. It was really helpful spending time thinking about sin and wrath in order to realise how important the cross is and how great God's love is for us. Listen to them if you can get a chance.

SPRTE misssion THE LAKES!!!
Mission was so good and it was great to head back to the Lakes church to see how they are going. We did heaps more leafletting, doorknocking and contact with the community. We did a BBQ one day to tell people about stuff happening at the Lakes... and it was the hottest day which sucked majorly. But besides that... it was cool to see people from the church like the ministers and families that I had met last year. And the fellowship with the team from UNSW was really cool too. It was a very fun (and funny) team.

Sewing Machine!!!
A while back I bought an Amy Butler pattern for a dress... and the other day I went and bought fabric to make it. So I made it!!! It's the first dress I've made and I'm really proud of it. But it wasn't all easy... there were the usual dramas (like sewing the wrong thing and having to unpick everything) but there was an even bigger drama...
I had been sewing all day and was giving the sewing machine a break. Then I heard this bang... like something had rolled off the table. So I went to see what it was... and I saw all this yellow smoke pouring out of my sewing machine!!! So I quickly removed all the plugs. I was freaking out because it smelt really bad... and I didn't want the house to catch on fire. I was so close to calling the fire brigade. And I couldn't put the machine outside because it was raining. Luckily there was no fire... but the smell was bad... and I was mid project. So I was very sad that my sewing machine blew up (it was 20 years old... and I think it was its time). Thankfully I got to borrow a sewing machine from a church aunty... and I finished my dress!

(Apologies for the super posed photo)

Gosh this was long... I must blog more frequently. It's the least I could do for Elsie.

From
Car-O-Line