Acclimatized

January 24th

It’s officially been a week since our great adventure first began, but we’ve experienced enough to have made it seem like ages ago since we were last in Canada. From baking on big and beautiful beaches, to kanoodeling krazy kangaroos, to strolling the streets of Sydney, we’ve really had a week jam-packed with life memories. The last couple of days have certainly been different, as the high speed always-on-the-go pace has slowed down to a pace more apt for absorbing in Sydney culture as best we can. Despite the change, and some slow moments, we’re still having an amazing time here in Australia.

Our last day with the Worners started early, as we were all out of the house and leaving Mittagong by 7:00am; which was a tough departure as it was a town that we all had grown to love! We took transit for the majority of the trip, and arrived in Sydney around 9:30. We were planning on taking a ferry to Darling Harbour, but the ferry didn’t leave until quarter after ten, so we spent 45 minutes walking around the Sydney Opera House, which was really cool! We were all blown away by the size of the Opera house, and the architectural uniqueness was even more evident in person! After taking about a zillion pictures with the Opera house, we were at ease with the idea of moving on, so we got hopped onto the half hour ferry destined to arrive at Darling Harbour. Darling Harbour is a very busy, commercialized harbour that is the home to the Sydney Nature World (a cute little zoo where you can literally cuddle with Koala’s), the world’s largest IMAX theatre, and the Australian Maritime Museum, which contains everything from pirate ships to Nazi submarines. The Worner’s took us on a tour of the harbour, and showed us a restaurant where we can get a good quality lunch (aka burger and fries) for less than $10.00, which is extremely hard to find in Sydney! After lunch they showed us Paddy’s market, which is a fascinating massive-scale version of Pike Place market, selling everything from lingerie to DVD players, to fresh fruit. After looking through heaps of knock-off UGGS vendors and less than legitimate brand name clothing stores, we found our hotel and checked in. Originally when we booked our hotel, we booked into a “Petite Double” room, which was supposed to only have one double bed, but when we checked in the manager told us that we were put into a Deluxe Triple, which meant that we got a mini-fridge, air conditioning, three beds, and a sufficient bathroom, so we were extremely grateful, and relieved! All of our bags were still in the Worner’s car which was parked near the Opera house, so after we checked into our hotel we took a very interesting and scenic walk back to the area where their car was parked. We walked through “the rocks” area of Sydney, which is the oldest part of Sydney, which was really cool to see, and then we walked to the Sydney Harbour Bridge; the famous bridge that overlooks the Opera House, and the entire downtown core. Phil went with the Worners and they climbed up the bridge a little ways to get better pictures and a better view, but considering that it was 43 degrees at the time, Ryan and I unfortunately felt that we had to stay down and sit in the shade and catch a breeze, to cool down avoid overexposure to the extreme Sydney heat. After this we brought our bags back to the hotel, and the Worner’s left us there, which was an extremely emotional departure as we grew very close with them! As we watched our Aussie family drive away, we were hit with a sense of independence, and we started to miss them immediately!

Friday night was our first night alone, and we spent it volunteering at the local Salvation Army. The dean of Capernwray Australia mentioned to us that he was going to be there so we chose to meet up with him, and had a spectacular night of worship with over 50 local street people. The street ministry that the Salvation Army has in Sydney is a very active ministry, and is seeing great growth. They put on a lot of local events for the congregation, and they try their hardest to ensure that the ministry that they have goes further than just offering a free meal, or a church service once a week. The Salvation Army is very intentional about establishing relationships and changing lives and through the testimonies that we heard, they are doing a great job. We were so blessed to be able to be a part of their daily routine even for just night, and all of us felt very stretched, and challenged as we embarked upon conversations with people that we would have otherwise never come into contact with. The stories of faith, pain and triumph that were expressed through their very personal prayer requests brought up so many emotions in all of us, and we all felt so inspired by the people we met. I really realized through these Australian street people just how big God’s movement is. There is a Christian revolution that is taking place, and it is an international, multiethnic, movement that is not bound by any social restraints or political ideology. I found it encouraging to see firsthand just how big our God is, and how beautifully contrasting the faces of his followers are!

Saturday we finally caught up on some sleep, bought groceries, and then went to Hillsongs Church, the World renowned mega church. I’ve been researching the church for awhile now, and I knew what the building looked like where the services were held, and I knew were to take the train to, and where to catch the bus, and we were able to make it their without flaw. I confidently walked up to the big white building that I had seen on the internet, and went to open the large double doors only to be rejected, as they were locked. The security guard who had been apparently been talking to us as we walked up to the doors then informed us that Saturday night services are held in the smaller 1500 seat auditorium in the youth wing, and pointed us in the right direction. I was a little disappointed, as I really had hoped to see the massive 4000 seat auditorium, but nevertheless I was at Hillsongs church, and I was so excited to dive into the experience! The worship at Hillsongs was as amazing as expected. Phil and I went to the front and joined into the mosh pit that developed, and we jumped and worshiped with hundreds of others from the mostly young adult congregation. The speaker for this weekend was American speaker John Bevere and his wife Lisa, and John delivered a really good word based on Honour, and the reward that is received when you honour authorities, peers, and those that you have authority over. It was a really good talk, and was really challenging when he addressed the issue of honouring authorities that abuse the authority that God grants. After the service, we were waiting for the bus to take us back to the train station, and we got talking with a man who we found out was the head of the nearby Hillsongs College. We talked to him about the service, and about Capernwray, and he told us that if we really wanted to experience Hillsongs Church, we had to come back to the Sunday night service, as that is the service that they fill the main auditorium, and that is the service that is 95% 18-25 year olds, so we shrugged off the idea, assuming that we wouldn’t be able to make the hour trip back to Hillsongs.

This morning when we woke up, we realized just how acclimatized we had gotten to the Australian weather. The last 3 days had been 39degrees, 41 degrees, and 43 degrees respectively, so when we woke up today to find it 25degrees, let’s just say we had hoodies and blue jeans on before you could say “that’s not that cold..?!”. We had planned on meeting up with a mutual friend between Phil and me, and going to one of the Sydney beaches, but that plan quickly changed when we realized the balmy weather, so instead we just met up with her for a brief lunch. We were left with the majority of the evening to ourselves, so we decided to go back to Hillsongs to experience the Sunday night service. Doing so was a very good choice! Marty Sampson, one of the leaders of Hillsong United lead worship along with some other members of Hillsong United band, and John Bevere spoke again, but this time he spoke on the empowerment of grace leading to extraordinary living, and it also was a very good message. We left feeling like living in Australia and attending Hillsongs church on a regular basis wouldn’t be such a bad idea!! After the service when we were waiting for the train to come, two girls came up to us and asked us if we were going to Capernwray New Zealand, and we said yes, and found out that they too were going! They were two girls from Calgary named Danielle and Shannon, and so we talked with them for about half an hour, and then said goodbye. It was a weird interaction, but got us pretty excited to go to school. We have about three more days to experience Sydney, one of which is the much anticipated Australia day on Tuesday, and we are really excited to be Australian for a day!
That is a very not-brief update on what we have been doing for the last couple of days, I’ll continue to keep you updated on our journey as best I can. Thank you for your support, and for your prayers, this has been an incredible adventure! Part of the reason that we are able to be so involved in all of the activities we’ve been a part of is because we know that we have an amazing network of friends and family back home that are supporting for us, and loving us every step of the way.

God bless,
Zakk... (written on behalf of Ryan and Phil as well!)