mango tree

after taking a brief hiatus from sunday nights’ vespers gatherings, we put one on last night. (7/13) we had a great turn out thanks to the lipscomb students in town and several other aussie friends. one of this week’s scriptures happened to be my favorite: romans 8: 1-11, which talks about life in the spirit. below is the station that i created for our self-meditation time. 

Life in the Spirit

 If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace.”          -Romans 8: 6

 After having read the above passage, meditate on the following quote:

“That which defines us controls us”

 If we are defined by things of this world…

-status-money-power-appearance-relationships–career-accomplishments-beauty-others’ opinions-

…then those things can easily start controlling us, leading to a meaningless and empty life, and ultimately death.

 Rejoice! As believers in Christ, we have the privilege and security of being defined by Christ alone. Let’s openly invite the Spirit to control our minds, leading to life and peace.

 “Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life…instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God’s likeness—righteous, holy, and true.”    -Ephesians 4: 21-24

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some of my thoughts:

i find that it’s enticing to get caught up in the tangible and instant validation that the world has to offer. it’s frustrating because i know that placing my worth in things of this world is fleeting and leaves me empty and unhappy, yet i still seem to gravitate towards certain earthly confirmations: people’s opinions and approval, appearance, performance, etc.  yet, God’s word clearly states that these things do not provide fulfillment or lasting security. i believe that God created us humans with the innate desire to feel worthy, special, and loved. by creating this need–this void–God designed us so that He is the only one who will fill it. we find our true worth and uniqueness in Him. however, many of us, including myself, spend our lives aimlessly seeking to find validation in all the wrong places. when we place undo importance on status, power, money, our career, beauty, etc., these things can start to control us. we place so much emphasis on “X” that we lose who (and whose) we are. as i continue my journey of discovering my worth in Christ: the gifts He has blessed me with, the path He has prepared for me, and the ways i can impact others through my own life experiences, i encourage you to take a stand against the allurements of this world and claim your true worth in our Lord!

 

peace&love-

sk

oh, what a day.

so, yesterday (tuesday july 8th) was the Lipscomb teams last day at the juvenile prisons.  it was a long and emotional day to say the least.  after traveling through heaps of city traffic, we made it to Banksia Hill, the male juvenile detention center around 9:30am.  the past two weeks, i have been in the gym doing drama skits and sport games with the teens, but this day, i decided to mix it up a bit and tutor the boys in a classroom. i was assigned to the music room, yet the boys didn’t necessarily focus on musical endeavors. i helped two cousins work on their year 10 assignments, mainly dealing with right, acute, and obtuse angles. i was embarrassed to admit that i had to refresh my memory on how to use a protractor to measure the angles. dear me!  

the exciting part about being in a classroom is the one-on-one time i got to spend with the youth. when i was in the gym, i didn’t get to really connect on a personal level with the boys, but in the classroom i had some really in-depth, meaningful conversations. the two cousins asked me about Jesus and my spiritual beliefs. we had a challenging conversation about sinning and Christ’s forgiveness that stemmed from a question about virginity and sexual abstinence until marriage. one of the harder questions to answer was, “if you know Jesus is going to forgive you, why not just go ahead and sin, knowing that you will be forgiven.” i tried to explain that as a christian, i don’t have the desire to sin because i want to live a full life in Christ, modeling his examples and teachings; and, although i rest assured that i am forgiven, that doesn’t mean i intentionally go about sinning.  it was hard to get my thought across to these two boys who have lived a life of delinquency and rebellion. i could sense that it was difficult for them to fathom an all-forgiving God who loves them unconditionally no matter what wrongs they have committed. it saddened me to see them so wrapped up in their rebellious lifestyle. yet, however hard the conversations were, i was encouraged to give them some glimmer of hope of a life outside of what they’ve ever known.    

after leaving banksia hill around 3 pm, we headed to rangeview remand center, which is a more secure venue for inmates. this is where the young girls are kept, as well. the girls had free time from 3:30-5 pm; so, us five american girls spent time chatting with the girls while the lipscomb boys played footy with the male residents. i took some of the girls down to the basketball court and shot around with them. this activity provided for the opportunity to connect on a deeper level with the girls through conversation and interaction.  i was quite surprised to find out that several of the girls have siblings, cousins, (similar aged) nephews, aunts, or uncles, and other relatives in the prison facilities. it just proves to me that parental and environmental influences play a huge part in a child’s future and the decisions they make.  shockingly, most of the girls said they knew almost all of the other residents in the facility from their neighborhood, school, or community. while i was playing basketball with some of the girls, the other LU ladies had some really heartfelt, emotional conversations with other teenage girls. it was inspiring to see what positive impact we had on the girls in such a short time. 

all in all, the past three weeks visiting the juvenile prisons has been an eye-opening, life altering experience. my stereotypes have been challenged, my comfort zone has been stretched, and my heart has been softened by these underprivileged group of kids. it’s funny how we sometimes seek out “mission” opportunities to help serve and positively influence others, but they end up teaching and impacting us far more than we ever expected or predicted.

in other news, my netball team, the mighty ducks, unfortunately lost our grand final game last night, the final score being 15-19. oh me, did we give it our full-out effort though. it was a toughie without our main goal shooter, but our fill-in friend proved quite talented. ah well, next season starts up next week. no break for us committed athletes. so, bring on another great season!!  

i hope everyone had a marvelously celebratory fourth of july weekend. i sure missed the fireworks, watermelon and humid night air. God bless you all!

-sarah kate

halftime

so, this week marks the halfway point for the lipscomb university students that are here in perth for mission work. so far things have been fast paced and super busy.  but, i think they’ve had a balanced mix of service activities and fun times. 

 

yesterday (tuesday) we went back to banksia hill, the male juvenile prison. our second time around proved much more successful. many of the teens recognized us and were in much better dispositions than our last encounters. by us returning, they could sense that we were committed and passionate about interacting with and caring about them.  i was in the gym again this week, and this time rather than focusing on drama activities, we spent the majority of the time playing dodgeball and team basketball competitions. i found that the boys responded more positively to this type of sporty involvement.  i think i can generalize here and say that most 13-17 year old males are not too keen on making up and acting out drama skits in front of other boys who will mock and make fun of them. i wouldn’t be too keen either…so, sports it was!  however, during the last session of the day, we did do some fun improvisation games that got heaps of laughter and participation. all in all, the day was great fun and quite encouraging. i enjoyed reconnecting with some of the boys i met from last week and we all know that i always enjoy meeting new people!  round 2 = success!!  

 

today (wednesday) was a much needed agenda-free, leisurely day. many of the students are feeling worn out and under the weather so we decided to take it easy today.  it was a sunny, cloud-free day perfect for being outside so we decided to drive out to caversham wildlife park.  it was my first time there, too, so i was uber excited just like the group.  this wildlife park has heaps of kangaroos and koalas to pet, exotic aussie wildlife, and beautiful vegetation.

we spent a good part of the day wandering around the park, taking pictures galore, and imitating the animals noises. the tasmanian devil was a hoot: it continually runs around it’s pin in a figure-8 form at a steady pace for hours at a time. we stood there for a solid 5 minutes and watched this crazy creature in robot form. hilarious. the kangaroo petting area was awesome. there were hundreds of them there, just lying and standing around waiting to be petted. i got a kick out of watching a little joey come out of his momma’s pouch, stretch his legs and pose for a photo op, and crawl back inside. the koalas were quite…boring…these lazy animals sleep for 20 hours out of the day. they only feed off of eucalyptus plants, which are very low in energy, so they have to conserve this essential energy by sleeping. so, in reality, all koalas really do is sleep and eat. life of luxury? or just plain boring? eh, since it’s leaves for food and a tree branch for a bed, i’ll choose the latter.

one of the groups highlights was attending the “farm show” where we learned how to round up the sheep, milk a cow, crack a whip, and sheer a sheep. did you know that sheep are only sheered once a year? and this coat produces about 12 pounds of wool. this much wool can make 3 fine wool mens’ suits for $1500 each, but bought from the farmer, the wool is only worth $40. seem fair?  sheesh, i learned so much information today. glad i can pass it along to this blog community at large. ha!

in other news, i am proud to announce that my netball team won our semi-final champion ship game last night. we played shockingly awful in the first quarter and were down 3-7. the bloke that was guarding me has been my toughest opponent yet. i am used to being guarded by a shorter female, and in this case, my teammates lob the ball to me. i jump up and catch it over my opponent and put it up for a score. however, this guy was a solid 6′3”, 230 pounder with a spikey mohawk, scraggly goatee, eyebrow piercing, arms full of tattoos, and a missing front tooth. can we say…intimidating!!  but, we got to chatting and he was as sweet as can be; he just wouldn’t let me get the ball. argh!  yet, determination kicked in and i realized i was quicker than this dude, so i started running around, cutting to the basket and found ways to outsmart him.  ah-ha: we ended up winning by 1 point! unfortunately our key goal shooter (i.e. best player) won’t be in town next week for the final, so i’ll have to step up my game if we want a chance at winning. keep your fingers crossed!!

alright, i’m off to dinner and bible study. hope you enjoyed the weekly update!

-sk