Leaving a Good Reputation

Earlier this month I saw an article about a man who had lost his job because he was too gung-ho about sharing his Christian faith. Reading the facebook response to this story was a little confusing, and obviously charged with a lot of deep emotion. Even though I wanted to share my own thoughts, I realised I’d just be speaking out of raw emotions like everyone else and decided against it!

Now, who knows what the full details really were in this story but it sure got me contemplating my own life. When a conviction burns deeply inside of you and it impacts every part of your being, how can you tell if you are crossing that line? How do you define when are you “pushing” an idea on another person, or when you are just being yourself and letting it ooze out of you?

Reading through Hebrews 11 I was reminded of the legacy that was left behind by people like Moses, Joseph and Abraham. They are recorded as having a good reputation or in other versions, commended as having a good witness.

Perhaps due to bad experiences they'd had in the past, I have encountered people who were extremely angry that I even walk onto university campuses, let alone open my mouth and say anything remotely related to my thoughts on faith. Without us even having a conversation, my reputation in their eyes is far from good right now but as my heart and motives are tried, tested, shaped and refined by my faith, I hope one day to be added to the list of people who were found to have a good reputation.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. Hebrews 11:1,2 NLT

A Picture Captured by God

“But You are always the same;
You will live forever.
The children of Your people will live in security.
Their children’s children will thrive in Your presence.” Psalm 102:27, 28 NLT

I was thinking about how following a dream is similar to taking a photo. Sometimes we see different points that we’d like to focus on and may need to adjust our vision somewhat. Sometimes the subjects we want to include in the photo don’t stay in the one place, or leave the shot altogether! But patience pays off in both cases. And once the final shot is taken, there is immense satisfaction in the finished product. Years ago God promised that He would raise up young men and women from university campuses in Melbourne that would impact the nations for His glory. Thankfully, even though our focus has often been split, and the people we had thought would journey with us have moved on, God has always remained the same. He still has a beautiful picture to capture on campus and I really want to stick around to enjoy it.

From Across the Ocean...

Click here to see a video of our past few weeks at Melbourne Uni

All the good things He had planned

This morning I was reading Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”, reflecting back on all the fun I had last week. All the good things He had planned…

We were so blessed to have a team of students fly down from Brisbane to help us out on campus! Each day we’d arranged different sports/activities and meals to share with any students wanting to join us. We met so many wonderful students and I haven’t laughed so hard in a while!

Planning this time was actually quite a tense journey. As I mentioned in our last newsletter I had previously been asked to leave campus by one of the chaplains. Even though we’ve been invited back onto campus, I was still dreading the day that we would cross paths again! Would she hear me out? Would she be encouraged to know that some of the students we spent time with last week claimed it was the most fun and warmth they’d felt since arriving in Australia?

I can understand there are administrators on campus who are genuinely looking out for the welfare of students and protecting them from being taken advantage of - we have already helped students move out of dodgy accommodation scams. However our experiences last week continue to affirm that our presence on campus is part of “the good things God planned for us long ago”.

We are already starting to notice a community forming. A group on campus that is bringing the different cultures together and creating a safe and fun space to figure out this thing called life. Huge thanks to the crew from Brisbane who helped sow a vision that has really caught on! We’re already looking forward to planning your next visit ;)

...and UniCulture was birthed

This afternoon I was playing with Joel in his room and he turned around and asked me to leave. “Go out of my room Mum, I want to play by myself.” I laughed as I left the room but it got me thinking. That could be taken as highly offensive in most other places and with most other people but this was Joel. And this was Joel’s room. You see, Joel likes to spend a bit of time playing alone. He likes playing with others as well, but sometimes he just wants to have full access to his toys, to move them into the right places and to enjoy them on his own.

A few months ago I was asked to leave Deakin University by someone in authority there. Her issue wasn’t with what I was doing but with who I was. I wear a lot of different hats - I’m a Mum, a wife, a friend, a mentor and a pastor. She didn’t like that last one. I haven’t yet tracked down the rule book she is following but I decided not to contest the issue and have been keeping my distance since then. Why are these two stories related? Well, when Joel asked me to leave the room, it actually made me look at this situation through new eyes. It made me think of all the other things God has been doing on campus the past few months that haven’t involved me. I was keen to be there, just like with Joel today, but Joel had other plans and God has had other plans too.

To be honest, it hit me hard to not be on campus for these months. The old saying “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” rings true. I constantly find myself thinking about different students I’ve made friends with and wondering how they’re doing, praying for them, facebooking them and thinking of practical ways to support them. The rest of our team have felt the same, and we ended up creating a facebook group to keep this sense of community alive. UniCulture was birthed out of this time. Our catch phrase is Connecting Cultures, Creating Community. Since then, a club on campus called Deakin Cultural Diversity Club has asked us to help them run events. When I’ve finished writing this newsletter I shall go back into Joel’s room and see if he wants to play again. Tomorrow, I shall walk back onto campus and see if the time is right there as well…

Passing on the passion

What's more exciting than being involved with impacting the lives of students? Seeing others catch a passion to do the same! In true Aussie-tall-poppy-syndrome style, I have been slammed for going onto campus and 'encouraged' not to go on there again...but I have seen students catch a glimpse of how they can impact their own campus. Job done.