Parousia

The term "Parousia" refers to the Second Coming of Christ. We, as Christians, anxiously await his return. I have labeled this post "Parousia" not because I equate my return to blogging with the return of the Christ to the world, but rather because I thought it would be somewhat humorous to think about people anxiously awaiting my return to blogging as much as they anxiously await the return of Christ to earth. If I have offended you, I apologize. If I haven't offended you and you still don't think it's funny, you can leave my blog now.

"So why the haitus?" you might be wondering. Trust me, it's not from lethargy or lack of desire. A group of Lipscomb students just spent a month in Brisbane, and we helped out at two camps, we orchestrated a Vacation Bible School, and we spent a lot of time ministering to people in the Brisbane area. I'm sorry about not updating my blog.

I can't fit all of our experiences into one post, and so I want to show you snippets of the past month. I find that I enjoy reading books with pictures more, and so why not read a blog with pictures?


This is a picture of my roommate, Jonathan, throwing a frisbee beneath a tree. This picture represents the time that we spent at the team retreat. It rained the first day that we we there, but the next morning was beautiful and we were able to spend some time outside. The team retreat is useful, as it is a good time for all of us to get to know one another a little better before our time of ministry here.










This picture is of Andy, Katie, and me at Camp Orion. Camp Orion is an outdoor camp that encourages kids to stretch their comfort zones--physically and socially. The people who run the camp are Christians, and we invite people from all different walks of life to this camp. It's a good way to teach the ways of Jesus to kids through relationship. Katie and I were two "counselors" at the camp, and Andy was our assigned "buddy." Our role was to invest time and energy into making sure Andy was having a good camp experience. But I'm not sure he needed our help with that--he seemed to do just fine on his own!


We hold a Holiday Bible School (HBS) for three mornings during the trip, while the children are on their Winter Break. I helped out with the wee ones this year, and we talked about Jesus' twelve friends, the disciples. Heidi and I were in charge of story time, so we read the story of the day to the kids and asked them questions about the story. As you can see, we had our hands full.







This picture doesn't really represent anything. We took a trip to the zoo one day, and my host brother, Chris, and I enjoyed hanging out with the kangaroos. I thought that it would be funny to get out my map of the zoo and act like I was getting directions from the kangaroo. It's funny, because while the kangaroo would probably know it's way around the zoo, it can't communicate with me, a human.





I hope that you have enjoyed this small photographic look back upon my last few weeks. I hope to blog more in the next three weeks of ministry here. Until then, may the peace of Christ be with you all.