Yesterday I spent pretty much the entirety of the day in my room just reading and relaxing. At night I was able to Skype my roommate Carrie for about 2.5 hrs which was SUCH a huge blessing! Carrie is studying at the University of Canberra, AU and it's just really nice to be able to talk to someone who is experiencing life with you, even if it's a different location. She is such a blessing and encouragement to me in every way humanly possible! So I went to bed feeling pretty loved and happy :)
This morning I woke up at about 8am and had my heart set on finding some sort of church. I had walked by a couple Catholic Churches that I noted mentally but they were all at least a half our walk and I was still on the search for a nondenominational or contemporary church. So I decided to get onto good ol' Google Maps and did a couple of searches. I was able to find about 3 churches within a half hour walking radius of me so I pulled up their web sites and did some comparisons & read their vision statements and ministries. After some research I made the decision that I was headed to Eternity Christian Church which was about a 20 min walk. I got all dolled up and headed down that way. At first I was a but skeptical of the place because it was off of a main road down a quite street in an area I was completely unfamiliar with. I got inside and it was a medium sized room with a bunch of chairs set up & the worship band was still warming up.
I was immediately greeted with smiles, handshakes & name exchanges which made me feel at ease for walking into such a small space. I sat down in a row behind a guy who looked about my age, once he had seen me coming he immediately introduced himself as Miles & asked me all of the normal welcoming questions. Miles was also a Junior (or 3rd year as they say here) who went to Sydney Uni & was studying Math. We kept up small talk until he was called to do something in the back then he came and sat by me right before the service started. He was so kind and welcoming and made it a point to introduce me to everyone around us at all times. Miles is apart of an on campus ministry group, very similar to Campus Crusades and was able to connect me to the leader of the campus ministry who happened to attend that church as well! Then the service started and to my surprise I knew all of the worship songs they sang and to be honest it just felt like heaven to be in a place where I was surrounded with Christians and from the looks and sounds of things, they were on fire for God too!
The worship & sermon was fantastic and there was just this way about this church that one could tell that it was very Spirit led. After the sermon there was an alter call for those who felt like they needed a renewal of the Holy Spirit. Throughout the entire service I was at the verge of tears because I was just so happy to have found this amazing place. After my internal struggle as to whether I wanted to step up front since I was the new girl, I decided to throw away my pride and doubt and go up front. The minute I got there I broke out into tears that just wouldn't stop, I could barely sing the worship so I just stopped and prayed silently. I was the last one to go up front so I was the last that the Pastor prayed for. Right before the pastor started praying for me an elderly woman approached us and told the pastor that she had a word for me. She told me, "God has equipped you with all the right tools, he has developed you exactly the way you are for a purpose. You need to throw away all of the fear that you have inside. God has ordained the words that you are going to speak in the conversations with your classmates at Sydney Uni, you haven't come here just as a student but God has sent you here as a disciple and had equipped you to do his work. Do not doubt yourself or what God is doing"
I went from lightly crying to sobbing. I have never met this woman in my entire life and I never told her I was going to Sydney Uni or that I was studying abroad. Everything she had said was exactly what I needed to hear and even though I wouldn't normally admit it I have totally been doubting God and who I am for the past week or so. The pastor and his wife then prayed over me until I stopped crying & felt the complete peace of the Lord over me. Absolutely amazing. Then the pastors wife gave me a long hard hug. I've been praying for a hug because I've gone through a hug drought. Haven't had a hug in two weeks!
After that I sat down for a little bit, then gathered my stuff to head back to juice and cookies. As I was walking back toward the table I had said a little selfish prayer that someone here would be kind enough to take me out to lunch because I am so broke and haven't had a full hearty meal in a loong time. Miles introduced me to a couple of other people and I feel like I just hit it off with every single person I shook hands with! We chatted it up for about half an hour after the service then a bunch of people were going out to eat. I didn't really have money to spend on going out but I agreed to go out anyways. We drove (I havent been in a car here yet so it was crazy being on the other side of the road!) to this Thai restaurant that they apparently go to like every other week. When we got there Miles leaned over and told me that my meal was on him so I didn't have to worry about it. I was so shocked and happy, I was choking back tears again haha. There was about 8 of us that went out together and just laughed and had conversation. I felt so comfortable with this group, like I had known them my entire life but it had only been about an hour. It was the first time that I have felt completely and utterly myself since leaving home. PRAISE GOD!
Miles is helping out with O-week so I gave him my email and he said that I could come help out if I didn't have anything to do this week, which I don't so it was absolutely perfect! I had also explained to him how desperate I was for a job so he's going to ask his work place if they'll hire me too. He also explained a bit more of what the campus ministries do and I am so excited to become apart of it! The young adults also come together for dinner, worship & testimonies every week, so it looks like I've just found myself a new family! One of the girls, Katrina told me that they like to do something after church pretty much every week and next week they were going to serve lunch & and go door to door in the building complex where a lot of people with disabilities live, right after I had explained my passion for my jobs working with the disabled at home!
After lunch we all headed our different ways. Turns out that this entire group of friends love to hug too so I go 8 more hugs! 9 hugs in one day!! :) I was only about 2 blocks from my dorm so I just walked back.
I am just so overwhelmed for how faithful God truly is. Completely overwhelmed!
GOD IS SO GOOD!
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