Flying out to Brisbane

This morning is the last time we'll be together as a full team until August 1. We are all heading out to our respective locations, with Polly and I flying to Brisbane where we will meet our supervisor and then head to Cleveland. It has been a blast getting to know everyone and experiencing a little bit of Australia.

The first day I was able to see some kangaroos, though that's fairly common in Australia. The next morning at breakfast I tried a distinctly Australian dish of VegeMite on toast with butter. It tasted like soy sauce, which is definitely something I don't want on my toast. Yesterday morning consisted of learning about the Aussie culture and our basic assignments (I'll write a post about that later when I hear what Mandy says about our responsibilities). One of the most interesting things from our sessions yesterday was learning that Australia is a post-Christian society. While most of the older generations would call themselves Christians, the younger does not identify themselves as that. Most of the churches only have 25-30 people and much of the congregation is over 60. Now I know that all of our assignments involve children and young people, so I think this is the main struggle for the Australian church. The parents don't care about church and God, so therefore, their children do not either. I think this is where America will end up in just a few years, which means that we need to get our butts in gear to learn how to make sure that the communities see Jesus as relevant.

After the morning sessions, we headed to Wollongong beach. It was chilly and rainy, but it was still great to walk down the beach climb on some rocks and walk around the city. Pictures will be posted when I get to Cleveland. I think that's all for now, it's time for brekky (breakfast).