Walkabout: Prayers from Brisbane

Our 2010 summer project team

Jess and I after we baptized her

Peter chatting with church ladies Daryl during evangelism time on the beach

Dear Prayer Warrior,

I’m back home safe and sound. This is the Schoolies Summer Project edition
of these newsletters as well as the final one you will receive from me (at
least about STINT in Brisbane). There is so much to tell you about the last
two months of ministry in Australia. You are in for a treat because I’ve included writings
from a few of our students. Schoolies summer project was held on the Gold Coast, we
ministered in Surfer’s Paradise and Burleigh Heads to locals, tourists, but mostly schoolies.
Schoolies are recent high school graduates who go to the beaches to party (much like spring
break in Florida). Since the drinking age is 18 in Australia and most graduate at 17, there is
a lot of first time drinkers who don’t know there limit. We had the opportunity to help in
some situations but mostly we had amazing conversations and asked questions these students
never thought of before. We also shared truth that they have never heard before. I whispered
to one girl named Anna, “This may sound strange, but I believe in God and I know He loves
you and wants you to know Him.” Her head (which was on her knees) shot up so fast and she
looked at me in shock. She said she never heard that before. We got to pray for her and we
hope that she will hear that again in the near future and trust Christ. There are so many
great stories just like that from this project.
Summer Project Summary By: Ruth Dunn
Ruth and Kim Tired physically but
reinvigorated spiritually, left
in awe of God's work, and keen to
share and apply our new found
knowledge and understanding! So
ends Summer Projects 2010. A huge
thanks goes out to all who
supported us both financially
and in prayer. I’m sure I speak
for all 50+ of us when I say that it was a blessing to be
used by God to reach the lost, and learn more about our
awesome creator in the process! During Project God provided
us with strength and a wealth of opportunities to share His
word and improve our skills and confidence. Our team had
over 100 gospel conversations and saw 12 people come to
Christ!
As we went out in Burleigh and Surfers Paradise we saw God
open the hearts of those we spoke to. Though not all gospel
conversations led to someone being saved, it certainly gave
people a greater understanding of Christianity and cleared
up some common misconceptions. We gave many hungry minds
some food for thought! For the first couple of nights some
of our team headed up to Surfers Paradise, while the rest
went out sharing in Burleigh. The groups that went to
Surfers the first nights were primarily there to observe
and evaluate the Schoolies environment. The night took an
unexpected turn and we saw two boys recommit their lives to
Christ, and a girl become a Christian! God was the one
calling the shots and we all learnt to rely solely on Him
for direction and strength. Though many of us were keen to
get to Surfers Paradise to share with the Schoolies, we soon
realised God had big plans for Burleigh and we ended up
having some really great chats with people! On the first
night in Burleigh two girls from our team, Ashley Kohl and
Anna Smith, met a woman who accepted Jesus into her life!
Ashley and Anna were able to meet with her later in the
week, and she is now being connected to a church! The first
Wednesday of project we all started going to Surfers for
evangelism. We weren’t an official Schoolies group and the
council was against religious groups handing out materials
so we were unable to identify ourselves with Student Life.
At first this was a challenge because many of us usually
have material to help us share the gospel, but with God’s
strength and guidance we learnt how to share our faith in
general conversation.
Many of us learnt how to use our testimonies as a way of
sharing the gospel on a more personal level with the
schoolies. Cobus Van Der Elst shared his testimony with a
backsliding Christian who was struggling with similar
experiences that he had previously been through. The
conversation led to the boy enthusiastically turning his
life back to Christ. Genevieve Brook and Camilla Michel
also used their testimonies to share the gospel with 3 girls,
who learnt how they too could have a personal relationship
with God. The girls were so touched that they prayed to
receive Christ right there and then!
Though the Project has ended, God’s plan for us to share the
gospel with others is far from over. On the last night of
The Story of Annabelle By: Amity Honor
Peter, Emily, Nate and I went to Surfers Paradise, and
we were walking around and observing. In the last 20
minutes or so before we had to leave, Nate spotted a
girl who was crying. We were standing in the middle
of the road trying to work out whether we should go
after her; since she was already a little way away we
thought it might be a bit weird if we just ran after her.
But we did – Nate and I power-walked until we came
alongside her, and I just peeked my head around and
asked her if she was ok. She said that she just had
“crap friends”. We asked her if we could walk her
back to where she was staying and she said that she
was staying just in a car a couple of streets away.
When we got to the car (Emily and Peter must have
been following us but they were so discreet I didn’t
notice!), Nate told her that he would prefer it if we
waited with her because he feels responsible for her
safety, and that he has a protective nature. She was
like, “Aww that’s so nice, I wish there were more guys
like you”. We sat down and started talking about
where she was from, and what had happened with her
friends. She was staying with a couple of guy friends
overnight in a car, and they had just been drinking
and had been treating her badly so she walked away
crying. We asked her if her school had had a chaplain
and she said no. Then this adorable little boy who I
thought was about 12 but was actually 16 kind of
appeared out of nowhere and leaned against the car.
His name was Jackson and he had these big blue eyes.
(He worked at the same café as the girl, and had
dropped out of school.) We empathized with him
when he said how he hates people teasing him about
how small he is. He sat down with us. Nate asked
what their dreams in life were. They weren’t really
sure. I said I guess mine is fulfilling my purpose in
life, and asked them what they thought their purposes
were. They were quiet for a little while, and all of a
sudden Jackson piped up and said, “There’s got to be
more to life hey. What, you just live for 80 or 90 years
and you die?” I said, “Well, do you think there is more
to life? What do you think happens when you die?”
Annabelle (the girl –who was 19 – and finished
school in 2008, like me) said that she believes in God.
our time together at Burleigh, a group of us headed down to
the beach to sing some Gospel songs and wind down. We ended
up meeting 3 young men who were drawn in by our music. God
presented us with the opportunity to share the Gospel with
two of them, one of which recommitted his life to God! The
importance of sharing our faith with others was a huge
part of our learning experience on project and we are
striving to make it a part of our everyday life.
In the days preceding our time at Schoolies James Hohaus, a
student from University of Queensland, has started a group
called Student Life in the Real World. The group aims to go
out in Brisbane once a month to share the gospel. Some
students have also been taking the initiative to share the
gospel in areas of their life they previously didn’t have
the strength to. Just the other night God gave Jessica
Scheiwe the courage to share the gospel with a workmate!
This is the first time Jess has shared her faith in day to
day life. The ministry training we received on Project has
prepared students for a new year of Student Life
activities and is reaching other ministry activities
outside of Student Life. Leo Huang plans to apply his
newfound knowledge of shared leadership to his youth
group in 2011! Though such a variety of knowledge was
acquired during project, an important lesson that we will
all take away from this experience is that it is through
God’s power and grace that we can share our faith, not
through our own strength.
‘You’re a champion, but even more than that, you have made
me realise what a champion God is and his sacrifices and
blessings and his love for me.’
-A schoolie’s message to Student Life missionary John Mayne
Please be praying that God will continue to work in the
hearts of those we spoke to on Project, and that he would
strengthen those who committed their lives to Him. Also be
praying that we would all have the courage to help people
realise what a champion God is, and apply what we have
learnt to our everyday lives!
T would pray and if she agreed with the points. And
After project we came home to Brisbane where two of our
teammates flew back to the States and Dani, our two Korean
roommates and I flew to visit Melbourne. It was a great way
to spend a few more days with our beloved friends. When
coming back to Brisbane we had a few more days to say
goodbye to everyone. Our students threw us a farewell
party and it was so sweet to hear their goodbyes and the
kind of impact we had on their lives. Many of them cried
which made leaving even harder. I definitely felt very
loved and I praise God for each and every person He placed
in my life through this experience. I have learned so much
and am grateful for the ways God has blessed me through my
faith steps. The next chapter of my life is looking a bit
blank at the moment but I am looking forward to a medical
missions trip to Guatemala at the end of Jan. Please be
praying for that as I join a new team to serve in a new
place, it will be different from a campus in Brisbane.
Nonetheless I’m excited to be used and to grow.
She said Christians came to her town sometimes and
that they were pretty cool. I asked her what she
thought a Christian was. She said someone who did
good things and that she couldn’t be one because
she’s not good enough. That made me so deeply sad
– because it’s such a lie and is believed by so many
people!!! I told them that being a Christian wasn’t
about being good at all and that I was a Christian
and that I had done lots of bad things in my life.
Then I explained the four points of the gospel using
an illustration. I said, “See this mobile – it has like a
million texts in it – imagine that they each represent
something wrong I’ve done in my life. That’s sin, or
rebelling against God”. Then I went on from there.
Jackson was just staring with his wide eyes the whole
time through this. And he looked amazed, but happy
at such good news, in a sense. Annabelle asked how I
became a Christian, and I told her… she was talking
about how it would be strange or hard for her to
become a Christian because she drinks and smokes.
She asked about Nate’s testimony and he shared how
drinking and stuff isn’t fulfilling – used the example
of the guy behind us who was passed out on the
ground. By this time Jackson had gone behind the
car to get out of the wind because he was cold. I
asked Anna if she would like to have Jesus as her
Saviour and she smiled just amazingly- like amazed
that she could have something like that, and said
kind of quietly, “I’d love to.” And she asked Jackson
to come over. And then I outlined the prayer she
she said “yes I do”. And then she prayed to receive
Jesus as her Saviour!! And we told her that she’s now
our sister in Christ! And that the angels in heaven
were having a party! And Nate encouraged her that
faith is not based on feelings. And Jackson said
something about the Christians giving him the Holy
Spirit… he went kind of spacey… maybe because it
was cold. Nate shook his hand and said, “There is
something more”. And Annabelle gave us both a hug
goodbye and said thank you for being so nice and for
everything. And I got her number and will connect
her with someone from Byron Bay, where she lives.
God is so wonderful!!!!
 In Real Life By: Jessica Scheiwe
Exciting news! I shared the gospel
with one of my workmates last night
in the car on the way home. The
conversation started with trying to
get to sleep, I said that I have
'techniques' that help me wind down -
when asked I said I read my bible and
pray, then I had to defend that as
important to me (and not so boring I
fall asleep). That led to a
conversation about Christianity. I was
praying for courage - I didn't change the
topic like I usually do. I asked what
he didn't like about Christianity and he
said the hypocrisy. I agreed. 

Over the course of the conversation I managed to say

Also to have the answers
they need to hear if
they ask me about stuff.
The conversation ended
with him saying that we
are all lost (and we had
arrived at my home). I
said I'm not, I know
where I'm going when I
die so I'm not worried.
He said something
earlier that it would be
good if more people
were... I can't remember
what he said something
along the lines of genuine
with their faith (so I'd better
pray and guard against
hypocrisy). Anyway, I’m happy
'cause I have shared my faith in a
real life setting for the first time.
that many people sit in Church, completely missing the
main message of Christianity and thus shared the
gospel. I also mentioned, when he was talking about
there being so many religions, that Christianity is different,
the only one dependent on grace, where you can't save
yourself through works. I had a bit of trouble explaining
how I can believe whilst having a science head, I bumbled
through there being enough evidence in my life that I am
confident. I also said that for me it is not about living by
rules but being in a relationship and that when you love
someone you don't want to do things that hurt them, so
the bulk of stuff that is in the rules doesn't appeal to me at
all anyway. He wasn't jumping for joy or about to pray to
receive Christ (I didn't challenge 'cause he started the
conversation with it's not for me). But hopefully he'll think
about it a bit now. I can't tell with my coworkers because
of all the joking that goes on (I think they keep their real
feelings and opinions under wraps). So I'm praying that
they will notice I am different and for strength to avoid
conforming.

Thank you for your contribution to the success of this year as we saw the Kingdom of God grow in
Australia and the world through your prayers and what you have given for the sake of the gospel.
Remember that eternities were changed and that we would appreciate your continued prayers.
Love,
Amanda
amanda.decesaro@gmail.com
www.walkaboutwithamanda.blogspot.com