Wow, what a whirlwind
these past few months have been! It’s
funny how time can seem to fly by and stand still all at once. Although I have many great memories and many
fun stories I would love to share with you about our time in Australia, I think
I was most hit by the “awesomeness” of God in our final few days as I realized
just how much He used us and how much He provided for us in terms of
friendship, comfort and support while we were so far from home.
The night before our
flight home to the United States we had a farewell service at St. Paul’s
Lutheran Church in Box Hill, a suburb of Melbourne. It was a wonderful time to celebrate our four months in
Australia, to take joy in the ministry of Youth Encounter and the Lutheran
Youth of Victoria (LYV), to be reminded of God’s faithfulness and goodness, and
to say goodbye to many wonderful people that we had grown to love over the
course of our tour. Tim Wiebusch
(president of the LYV and unofficial 7
th member of New Vision)
prepared a slide show for us, highlighting all the places we had visited and
reminding us of some wonderful stories that we will always cherish. He also prepared a speech and called us
forward one by one to thank us individually and to tell us each how we had
touched his life. What an emotional
time to sit in a sanctuary filled with our brothers and sisters in Christ and
remember both the highs and the lows of our overseas tour, all the while giving
glory to God for the blessings of struggles, of triumphs, of ministry, and of
friendships. Tim Wiebusch and Tricia
Nordbrock, our two main Australian contacts, also presented us with gifts: a
book of Victoria with pictures of our ministry scattered throughout, an
autograph stuffed bear which we passed around after the service for all to
sign, and of course a bottle of Pepsi and a bag of M&Ms--two things that
were rarely missing from our daily routine in Australia!
After the service we
shared one final tea (dinner) together and we continued to laugh and smile
about fun stories and great memories.
Eventually we decided it was time to leave the church, but since we
weren’t quite ready to say our final goodbyes we headed to a nearby home and
continued to enjoy each other’s company over card games, children’s stories
told in funny accents, and of course some of our favorite Australian
snacks! It turned into quite a late
night as we didn’t get back to our host homes until about 3:30 a.m. and most of
us still had our packing to do! But a
little tiredness was well worth one more great night of fellowship with some
wonderful Aussie mates!
After a sleepless night
and an early morning trip to the airport we soon found ourselves saying goodbye
to Tim and Tricia, the same two people that first greeted us and made us feel
so welcome. Of course we couldn’t leave
Australia without one final surprise: we were joined at the airport by some of
our closest friends that we met during our first week in Australia. Thank you Ben, Liana, Rochelle and John for
getting up early to see us off!!!
Before we boarded the plane we stood in a circle, joined hands and
prayed together. We gave thanks for a
wonderful four months together, for the gift of friendship, for the gift of
God’s love and the ability we have through that love to always feel connected
to each other despite the miles that separate us.
I’m realizing now that I
could go on and on with all the details of our final night and morning in
Australia, but now as I reflect back on it the details become less and less
important and one thing in particular sticks out in my head: relationships that
keep God at the center are strengthened beyond what even seems possible. Time or distance has no hold over
friendships that are built on the solid foundation of Christ. To all of our friends in Australia, thanks
for all the great memories, for all of your prayers and encouragement, and for
treating us with so much kindness and love.
You will always hold a special place in my heart!
For more information and
stories about New Vision’s ministry in Australia and the United States, be sure
to check out Youth Encounter’s website,
www.youthencounter.org! Brand new newsletters from all five of Youth
Encounter’s International teams will be posted in the coming weeks! Stay tuned…
