Sweet Home Alabama

Just yesterday, myself, along with Dan & Jim rented a large "people mover" (aka passenger van) and trekked it over to Sydney International Airport to welcome 13 young Christians coming to us all the way from good old Birmingham, Alabama. The arriving short-term mission team, sent by Campus Outreach based in Montevallo, Alabama was sent to help Jim with the two ministries he founded here in Sydney, Harbour City Church (HCC) and Student Outreach to the World (SOW).

So, aside from the final steps of settling into our apartment, prepping for this team's 6-week stay has taken up almost all of our time lately. As you can imagine, planning a six-week itinerary for 13 people we've never met, in a city that we're new to, for two ministries that we just joined has been a pretty difficult task. What's especially difficult is the fact that this trip is the first of its kind. Campus Outreach has been sending college missions teams to Brisbane (Queensland) for years now, but never to Sydney. So while all of this is new and exciting, it's been pretty daunting to say the least.

In fact, to be perfectly honest, planning & figuring out how to host and effectively utilize this team in our ongoing ministries has been a challenge on so many levels. But more than just the logistical nightmare this kind of venture presents, I've found that ministry and my service to God can very easily became a spiritual obstacle. Funny that huh?

So here we are, Dan & I living all the way out here in this little corner of the world, trying to live for God's kingdom and see Australians come to know Christ. We've come to support two missionaries (Jim & Claudia) and two ministries we love (HCC & SOW). And, we've come to experience full-time ministry work ourselves to judge whether it's a career path we want to pursue. But with all our good intentions, ministry itself has somehow become a stumbling block to God's blessings. My mind wasn't filled with thoughts of how God can powerfully use this team to do His work in Sydney. My heart wasn't overjoyed at the prospect of meeting a group of excited young students who're all eager to get involved in campus ministry. Instead, their arrival date loomed like a dreaded deadline and I was frustrated because so many circumstances weren't ideal for hosting this team. I questioned their motives. I questioned our motives. I fought with Dan several times because we had differing opinions on nearly everything (this is pretty typical though). And above all, I was anxious that our planning would be poor and that the team would leave Australia rather unfulfilled and disappointed.

So you see, I made an idol of ministry. I put my work for God before God. And I couldn't appreciate my labor as the blessing it truly is.

Yesterday, meeting the students and spending a brief afternoon giving a quick city tour was a tremendous blessing. I haven't been able to sit down and get to know them yet. I don't even know all their names or faces. But I know that we share the same heart for God's kingdom. And I know that all my worries and frustrations amounted to nothing. If their schedule isn't completely figured out yet, if we still don't know what they'll be doing the last two weeks, if their budget won't cover their transportation costs, if it rains half the time....no matter! We've dedicated these next six weeks to God as an offering. And He gladly takes our weaknesses with our strengths; it's the offering, the heart of the worship, that He desires after all.

So now I present to you the Sydney CCP Team 2010!



In the meantime, please pray that Dan and I would keep reminding ourselves to serve God with joy and thanksgiving, striving towards faithfulness rather than success.