Ballarat part 3

Friday 11.2.10 - Thursday 18.2.10

Things in Ballarat are going great. As doors are opening for us to serve and play in a variety of different settings, we are beginning to see why we were called to come here.

Friday: This morning I went to meet with a man named Justin Gall. He is the music director of Kardina Christian Fellowship in Geelong as well as the guitarist from the band "Compliments of Gus". We discussed various aspects of the trip and listened briefly to a couple of songs off the album. Justin encouraged us in what we were doing, particularly in the fact that we were supporting ourselves along the way. After listening to some of the songs, Justin stated that he thought they were good but not up to radio standard. As I left he complimented us on what we are doing exclaiming that he believes it will be a difficult but rewarding road. Also, he recommended that we contact a man named Wes Jay, who helped them (Compliments of Gus) get off the ground. I left the meeting encouraged believing even more that our trip will only succeed if God is behind us and what we are doing.

Saturday: Today we went into the city to explore a little. We found a fairtrade cafe called, "The Bean Barn", which to anyone who knows us, this is a very exiting thing for us. We had guilt free hot chocolate and hedgehog slice. Sarah also took some wonderful photos of Ballarat which we have posted on facebook.
That evening we went to Delacombe Uniting Church. It was a small church of maybe about 15 people. We had previously met the pastor of the church earlier in the week. After explaining who we were and what we were doing he asked if we would like to come and teach some new songs to the congregation. At first it was slightly awkward, not knowing the congregation or the musicians choosing a song was quite difficult. I chose Brooke Fraser's "Soon" to introduce, which didn't go down amazingly well. However I played one of mine, "Fall into God", as an item and people seemed to respond a bit to that. It was difficult either way not to feel like I was some random person trying to impose my way of doing things on this church that didn't know me. After the service people left fairly quickly however we had enough time to find out when the next music rehearsal was on and I asked if I could join in. Everyone was very receptive to us but in such a small church it was fairly obvious that we would need to establish a bit more of a relationship and a foundation before we could have any kind of impact. When we got home we proceeded to plan out what churches we would visit for the remainder of our time at Ballarat.

Sunday: This was the day that God would show us that He had His own plans for us despite what we thought we were going to do.
In the morning we went to York Street Church of Christ. It is apparently the biggest church in Ballarat. We really enjoyed the service and found the teaching to be very profound and confronting (in a good way). After the service they asked if I could play at their 2nd morning and evening services the following fortnight. We were both pretty excited about being asked to play at the biggest church in Ballarat, not to mention a church we had developed a lot of respect for.
That night we went to One2One Church of Christ, another good service. After that service the Youth Pastor asked if I would be able to play at their youth camp the following weekend. This was another really exiting opportunity and another example that we could only plan so much and beyond that we just follow God's lead.

Monday: Sarah's Birthday!!! We spent the day chilling out and having fun, it was great. I took Sarah out for lunch at the Pancake Kitchen. This much must be said, the pancakes were deliciously evil and we were left feeling very bloated. Sarah really enjoyed the day, as did I.

Tuesday: In the morning I went to the music rehearsal for Delacombe Uniting. It was an excellent opportunity to get to know some of the team better and learn more about the church. We made some music together, had coffee and learned some new songs. Also I offered to give one of their musos some guitar lessons. Later that day I got a phone call from someone from Ballarat Christian College. We met up and talked for a bit about what Sarah and I were doing. He asked if I could come and play at the school the following day. It was a bit short notice but fortunately I like to improvise so I figured it wouldn't be a problem.

Wednesday: Today I played at Ballarat Christian College. It was a fantastic experience both teachers and students were friendly from the moment I set foot in the college. I set up and played for 30min for their Chapel service. The song to receive the biggest response of course was my arrangement of "The Climb". All of my originals were also really well received and I gave away a number of CD's. Afterward a number of students came up and chatted. I really enjoyed meeting them all, although I probably shouldn't have been encouraging them to be late to class. One of the students I met was named Steve and he invited me to play at Ballarat Christian Fellowship Youth Group's once a month open night service.


Thursday: In the morning we went down to Bunninyong Uniting Church and helped out with a working bee. The work we did revolved around helping to make a Prayer Labyrinth. The Prayer Labyrinth is a pathway that moves around in circles gradually bringing you into the center. At the center of the labyrinth is a large circle with a cross in the middle. The idea is that you pray as you follow the pathway and at all times you can see the cross at the center. It is designed to create a more meditative style of prayer. It is a very beautiful sight and I would highly recommend anyone in the area check it out, it's visible from the road. We helped out by digging through a dirt mound for rocks and moving those rocks into place in order to create a rock wall on one side of the Labyrinth. In the process of helping I cut a log of oak wood from an overhanging branch that was cut down. It is my intention to see if I can make some kind of artwork from the log for the church to use with the Labyrinth.

Later that day Sarah received her exam results. This was quite a momentous occasion as nearly 12 months of work had gone towards her course and these results would determine whether or not Sarah would be able to get work in the near future. This was obviously a crucial element to our trip and ministry. Sarah needed 85% or higher to pass (no pressure). I am proud to announce that she passed with honors 93% on one section and a staggering 98% on the other section. She was contacted almost immediately by the organization in order to send there congratulations and explain the further steps to acquiring work as a medical transcriptionist. I have to say that Sarah worked extremely hard to make this happen and I am so proud of her!!

The day didn't end there (it was a good day). After much effort and many attempts to fix our water tank we were finally able to get running water in our camper. We were so exited we made little boats in the sink. The tank still leaks a little but it's a big step in the right direction.