Eyes on Jesus

By Jack Chui

Last Saturday was the AFL grand final - the climax of the other religion here in Melbourne =)

I'm a Sydney Swans supporter only because I grew up in Sydney but I didn't watch the game because I have a dumb belief that if I watch it, it won't help my team and they'll start losing. Besides, its more nerve racking when I care a bit more about the result this time...

So I followed the progress of the game via blog on a good news website and was pleasantly surprised at the result of the game, when after the first quarter, the Hawks looked on paper like they were just going to trash Sydney (another reason not to watch the game). In the end, because the result was so brilliant to me, I should have watched the game as it was in the end, the best grand final to date (ok - I'm a little biased - just abit =)

I watched some of the highlights at the end of the game, and I stopped at one particular highlight. It wasn't a goal or anything so fantastic as that but just a mark (a player catching a ball on the full).

This moment took place early on in game when the Swans (red and white team) were showing signs of being beaten at just about every aspect of the game. Hannebery who caught the ball was incredibly courageous to catch the ball against a bigger opposing player going for exactly the same thing. What drew me was not that he caught the ball, but that he did not take his eyes off the ball.

I am reminded also by this example to keep my eyes on Jesus and not to be distracted by the other things going on around me as fearsome as they are. Hannebery caught the ball against a taller opponent because he did not take his eyes off the ball. He needed courage for that, to not be distracted by the obstacles, potential pain and failure. He gave himself for the team without so much regard for himself.

The words 'Keep my eyes fixed on Jesus' spoke to me a few months ago and the video reminded me of that time when those words spoke to me. It was a time when I was wondering about my future partner. What kind of person should I be looking for? How do I know what I want is what God wants and is best for me? Is it someone that I know or am still to meet? How do I know if she is the right person for me?

It was all confusing because I didn't really have the answers for the questions and there were many possible answers. But somehow the words came to me through all the noise and thoughts - and that was to keep my eyes on Jesus. That was something I could do and focus on to help me navigate through the uncertainty and unknown answers (if there is such an answer to those questions). If I keep my eyes on Jesus, and continue with His work (win the football game) then all the 'answers' will fall in place in time.

There could have been other things I could write about the game as it was a very close game with the lead changing many times all the way through the game leaving the winner in doubt to the very end. The Swans fought courageously, each giving themselves with little regard for their bodies towards the goal of winning the game. They kept fighting even though they were down in the scoreboard with more work that the other team to do just to catch up --- they never gave up. I'll leave it at that, but I'm fascinated at times like this how something as 'meaningless' (using this word a bit lightly because I can't think of anything better) as a football game can teach us so much about God and the life He gave us on earth.

We Need More Joshuas

By Jack Chui

This is a post of my notes from Imsoon's talk on Friday night 7th Sept. Imsoon is the spiritual director for THS - a catholic charismatic youth group which I am part of in Sydney. Some of the content here is quite advanced and so challenging at the same time. Its also mostly a transcript of notes, so there are some bits I've missed and some parts might not make much sense...

This talk was based on the Scripture passage Joshua 1:1-8. Be good to read it first but I'll reference it where I can.

Context - Moses before he died prayed for all the people that they would make it to the promised land. He led them there but never reached or saw it. God then gave the people the book/law of Deuteronomy (Deut:34). Moses then chose Joshua and anointed him with oil. He had picked him among 2 million people.
What type of person was Joshua to be chosen? We need more of these people in our world today.

Six characteristics of Joshua

1. Joshua had parents that believed in God
   Joshua in Hebrew means to lead the people to heaven. Joshua's father Nun had a real faith in God that his son would lead Israel to the promised land if Moses died. That's why he named him Joshua. According to the bible, Joshua's parents didn't make it to the promised land, but his parents prayed for everyone to reach the promised land.
2. Man of prayer
   There was a lot of blame put on Moses when the people complained through their journey to the promised land. But joshua kept praying and didn't take notice of the others complaints. Joshua stayed by Moses.
3. Led/inspired by the Holy SpiritThe people couldn't see God working through all the calamity/complaints. Joshua didn't go by his own thoughts. He drew his thoughts from the Holy Spirit. Numbers 27.
4. Man of mighty power - anointed by God. Miracle workerMoses parted the Red Sea. Joshua dealt with the River Jordan. He exercised the power given to him by God.
   The incident of Jericho. Joshua got the instructions from God. He must have been praying to God very fervently. He carried the instructions out. There was a big battle. But he carefully prayed. He was praying and experienced God's providence. By experiencing God he could win the battle (provide)
   We must be like Joshua to work miracles. We must out ourselves into neutral and pray. It is by the Spirit, not by power and might. He knew how to exercise the power of God accordingly.
5. Obeyed God's wordHe was never disobedient. That's why he was successful. Take in all God's instructions without mixing and matching, picking or choosing and no compromise. It is a leaders duty to obey - then lead the group to the promised land.
6. He was with God and God was always with him until the last day (Josh 1:8)
   Read laws day and night. Obey and you will succeed . If you commit yourself to the Word of God then you cannot disobey. Word of God is God.
   John 8:29 - The one who sent me is with me. he has not left me alone, because I do what is pleasing to him.

Other Characteristics

1. Missed first 
2. two....
3. Romans 14:8-18?
   Who worships God in truth and in spirit. Are you offering mass with a passion for God? We want to offer it up so that God can receive.
4. Faith in God - comes from God as a gift.
   Its not my own belief system. Not what we want to believe. We presume what we want God to be and so create our own gospel. We must have faith else you can't please God. But it has to come from God. Your own belief system has nothing to do with God's way.

We would like to become like Joshua.

God promises 5 blessings to Joshua

1. No one can withstand you while you live (Joshua 1:5)
   Joshua had to face a lot of difficulties. God has a hidden agenda behind your problem. God never allows us to be buried under. As soon as you say yes - God gives you wings to fly and you can not get buried.
   That's why Joshua was always successful. We must never be buried and be like Joshua and become men and women of victory.
2. God is always with you  (Joshua 1:5)
   You will become a people of blessing. Also a blesser - Joshua was a blesser. Because God was with him always he could do so much. We don't have so much power but with God there is power.
3. God will never leave you  (Joshua 1:5)
   God promised Joshua this - guaranteed. Joshua was special. Others in the bible experienced God leaving them. Usually because of sin or the sin of the people. Pray to God and ask why did you promise Joshua and not me! Please give me that too!
4. I will never forsake you (Joshua 1:5)
   This means that salvation is guaranteed. Two people in the bible were forsaken by God - King Saul and Judas. God used them and forsake them. we must remember what happened to those people. We must pray that God will never forsake me - please!
5. Wherever you go you will succeed. You will obtain all the goals in your life (Joshua 1:7-8)
   Two things we want to achieve in our lifetime.
   1- That God gives us a desire in our heart to do something with our life. Family, Professional, Evangelist, Holiness are some examples. This desire is given by God.
   2 - Opposite direction? The things God wants to achieve through us. Do we want to say yes to this? Perseverance to achieve for God.
   Either way you will be successful - you can't get rid of success.

God chose, promised and blessed Joshua. But He asked Joshua to do this/be like this (5)

1. Be firm and steadfast (Joshua 1:6)
2. Fulfil the whole law (Joshua 1:7)
   Jesus did not abolish the law, He came to fulfil it/complete it. Deuteronomy was the most important chapter. Keep the law and do it as it says.
   We don't need the power of the Holy Spirit to keep the 10 commandments. But if Christians can't keep the law then non-Christians point fingers.
   Law vs Grace. Keeping the is not that hard.
   OT - if you get hit on the cheek you fight back - even non-believers are trying to keep this.
   NT - if you get hit on the cheek, offer the other one - Grace is a lot harder!
3. Don't serve to the right or left (Joshua 1:7)
   Means you walk the very narrow path which leads you to the narrow gate of heaven. We might think that's very difficult. But if you start to enjoy God's law then you can dance on that strip of a line. If you see a wide road, better avoid it.
4. Don't be afraid (Joshua 1:7)
   Fear comes, and then you know  you are going to fail. When in fear, then pray a lot. Must pray first, then put the effort into it! Fear can grip our heart.
   We must see the circumstances through God, not see God through the circumstances.
   Need to set aside your circumstances then try and see God. Then see the circumstances through God. Seek God first. Ask God - what do you want me to learn from this, not why are you putting me through these circumstances. What kind of thing do you want to show me through the circumstances?
   Try and see the cross in front of your circumstances. This can give you more courage. See the circumstances through the cross. The circumstances are still there, but look for the victory then all the fear is gone. In His strength we can deal with the situation.
5. Do not be dismayed
   God gave you domain. In God you can have a domain over your circumstances. You are the one God is with, God is not in the circumstances. Se we can conquer our circumstances.
   Don't be a slave to money or knowledge. Don't become a slave to your circumstances. God gave you the domain, not the circumstance.

What kind of faith did Joshua have?

Joshua sent 2 spies to Jericho. Moses sent 12 before. Joshua sent them secretly.

Rahab hid the spies from the soldiers so well. Rahab told the spies about what God told Abraham - that all of Canaan would be Israel's (850 years ago). Joshua listened to what God told Abraham through Rahab - and took it in.

Everyone looked down on Rahab. But Joshua was able to see through Rahab. She's a prostitute but she knows the word of God. This woman has faith in God. She believes it and expects it to be fulfilled.

Rahab risked her own life to be a traitor to her own nation. Because she believed/had faith in the Word of God. And it had to be fulfilled.

We want to become like Joshua

Pray for Asylum Seekers

By Jack Chui

Yesterday, I took 10 people to the asylum seekers detention centre. Half of them were first timers and the others had been there at least once. I've lost count of how many times I've been there but I've been organising these visits since late last year and so far I've been blessed not to miss one.

After going to the detention centre so many times and bringing a mix of people along, it does start to get into a bit of routine and each visit seems to get easier and less hassle to organise. However, yesterday's visit was quite special for me.

First, when we arrived we were greeted by some under-aged Sri Lankan refugees whom we've seen playing outside the visitors area but we could not talk to them because they are under 18. They really wanted to talk to us and share their email addresses with us so that they can ask us to visit them again. They could not stay for long in the visitors area because we did not have their prior written permission to visit them. I'm looking forward to see if we can visit these younger refugees at the next and future visits and being able to minister to them with the outreach group.

One man in detention who is my main contact when I'm looking for group entry to the visitors area has been sick for the last few weeks. I was a bit nervous whether he was even well enough to put the groups list of names through let alone be able to visit us on Sunday. He along with several other Sri Lankan's were not in the visitors area when we arrive and another friend we knew in detention went out to their rooms to wake them up to see if they would come and visit us. I did not expect them to come out of their rooms but I was quite touched that they all did - and they did it just to see my group of friends.

Many of the refugees we are friends with (Sri Lankan's) have been in detention for on average 3 years and most if not all of them have a pattern of sleeping at around 4 or 5am and then waking up after lunch. My main contact was not well and so he slept through his last visitors which came at 2pm but somehow found the energy to come out to see our group after. Thankfully with the larger group of visitors that came this time, we had enough to be able to speak to each detainee one to one. This meant that even I received a chance to get to talk to one of them instead of looking for new refugees for the other visitors to talk to.

After a bit of small talk which I've gotten used to when talking to asylum seekers the conversation I had became a bit more serious. My main contact who was not well is suffering from asthma and in the month, he needed two ambulances to go to the hospital. He shared that the ones in long term detention take pills every day, mostly sleeping tablets and he has been prescribed more now which makes things even more dangerous.

Another I spoke to at length shared about how they were lucky to be in the Melbourne detention centre compared to the other detention centres around the country. The Queensland detention centre it is very lonely because I think its not close to a metro area so visitors are few. As such, allegedly, there is one suicide attempt by a refugee each day and my friend tried to describe the few ways in which they go about trying to end their life.

I was a bit taken aback by hearing what I heard from the refugees during the visit. I have heard such things in over my time visiting the detention centre mostly second hand from Father Peter but hearing it from the refugees themselves somehow made my cold heart move a little. It kind of dawns on me the enormity of the struggle that each of these long term detainees face each and every day. Just staying alive each day while so basic for us must be a great fight for them - we can't really know how great that struggle is.

There is a marked difference between refugees that newly arrive and those that have been there too long. The ones we mostly minister to have been there so long. Its hard for them to sleep at night because there is so much anxiety about their families and the uncertainty of their future. Its easier to hide away from the troubles in the dark, and so they tend to sleep during the day. Each day as I can imagine is the same with no outcome in sight.

Hope is the key thing one of them shared about, how it was this that keeps them going each day. As time goes on, and less happens each day, this hope shrinks and the detainee uses his thumb and his finger to show the reduction. Its when it feels there is no hope, when I can imagine that its easier to not live, than to live with all the thoughts running through their heads and prevents them from sleeping. I am in awe of God for how he has kept my friends alive in detention so long. That's at least 800 days for most of them.

But how to help them get out of detention?! I am powerless like they are to do anything just like I am powerless to control the many things in my life. We can visit them to lift their spirits and hope and show them that there really are people out there that care about them, that they are not alone in their pain and struggle. At times, my hope wanes - I see the same detainees each month and little has changed since when I first visited them. How am I supposed to give them hope when I myself don't have much hope for them if any at all?! My words of encouragement just sounds hollow...

In my powerlessness, the one great hope I have is in God because with Him, nothing is impossible. He is sovereign over all of us, just like the detention centre and Australian Government is sovereign over the detainees. God is the only one that can really do anything effective to save them - we are just instruments in that great plan to save them. I must pray more for the refugees as that is the most powerful thing I can do for them. I can't control the Government and the decision makers who control their future, but I can petition God who will find a way through the seemingly impossible. I hope you can join me to pray for these the  disadvantaged who really need our love and prayers.

Feeling Like Martha

By Jack Chui

Last week was a particularly busy week for me as I sent a lot of time organising several different events for the coming weekend. They had to be organised early in the week so that I could give it every chance of success and I had little time to do so having spent a long weekend in Sydney. When organising the steamboat gathering I had received a response which made me feel like what Martha felt when serving Jesus. 'Why isn't Mary helping me!' I'm opening my house, have to tidy it up, think about what to prepare and how to do it - let alone help with its execution on the day. I felt I was doing all the prep work all alone and no one wanted to be a Martha also choosing to be Mary instead.

But during that week after I had felt frustrated, God spoke to me through the mass readings and an accompanying reflection. It was about how life is just very short and temporary, that married men should live like they were uncommited. It gave me heart that I may not be able to serve forever or a long time and that I should use the time that I have while I have it to serve the people around me because those chances may not come again. I reaffirmed my gift to be a good Martha so that others can be Mary.

The steamboat gathering went really well last Friday night. While I was busying myself trying to make everyone comfortable early on and being a good host I was sincerely touched by the generous help from everyone to buy and bring the food for the party and also help me clean up such that I didn't have much to tidy at the end of the night. I could be experience feeling what it was like to be Mary at the gathering for a bit and be ministered to by the open conversation of my friends in STAY. My heartfelt thanks to everyone that came to the steamboat, your help and your presence and fellowship to make it the wonderful night that it was. Thank you.

Over the next few posts I will share about the talks I had privilege to listen to at a retreat I went to in Sydney. When I get the chance to write them up.

What Do You Want to be Rich In?

By Jean Cheng

This year is one where I have and will continue to be travelling a lot for weddings. It is so hard to save money when I have to keep buying plane tickets, when I want to express my blessings and joy to married couples, and welcome new born babies. Every time I look at my inability to save money this year, fears start cropping in... fears that I will not have enough money for myself to buy my own home, and establish my own future.

When these fears arise, I find myself asking whether I would have it any other way. Would I rather not be there for these friends I have grown up with? Would I rather have that money in my bank and miss  partaking in their joy and having that memory forever imprinted in my heart? At these moments, I always feel comforted because I realise that choosing between financial wealth and relationship wealth, it is the latter I choose.

Of course, it is not easy to always make that choice. And sometimes it really isn't so clear cut. There must be prudence/responsibility in how I handle my money. But that question, 'Would I have it any other way' always helps me know that I am freely making this choice and any sacrifices that come along with it. It helps me to love my choice because I would have it no other way.

When I die, the richness of my life is not going to be measured by the numbers in my bank account and acquisitions. It will be determined by the richness of life experiences, love given and received, and hearts held. May God always remind me of this and lead me on the path to fullness of life (John 10: 10).

Living in Him and Jesus Living In Us

By Jack Chui

Over the last 2 nights I had been to church to support my cell group members with the events they were hosting for Gracefest. I was a bit reluctant to go as I thought I deserved a rest from serving the church on Sunday. In then end, I was glad I mustered the energy to walk to church and for a change be ministered to. I was especially impressed by last night when the Tuesday cell group that I normally lead went about organising a Bible study prepared by a priest from st Francis church all without getting me involved. It makes me proud that I've a group that can do things without me and I'm pretty sure priests feel the same way.

The Bible study last night reminded me about how the Bible could be taught and how rare an occasion we can get such a talented priest/teacher to help us to understand and appreciate the gospel. I think Kenny would come close if we have him 90 minutes but this priest has 40 years of experience over Kenny...

One story he gave is worth sharing and I hope I can remember it well enough to be able to convey it the I heard and understood it.

It was about the lines in Johns gospel where "we live in Him and I in him". Imagine you are outside Jesus house. He opens the door and invites you in to visit. It's a lovely place as you can imagine and Jesus shows you to His living room. You sit to talk to Jesus and while doing so you notice the pictures around the room. Jesus goes on to tell you about the people in the photos, His mother, family, cousins and friends. He then asks if you would like to look around the house. You say sure and Jesus starts to take you to the kitchen the dining area, and around to the many bedrooms in His mansion and there are many rooms in His father's house. Each is room is different and it amazes you that you are privileged to see this wonderful house. you spend the while day enjoying Jesus company and his home.

At the end of the day, just as you are leaving, Jesus says to you, "next week, how about I come to your place?". You politely refuse as your place is nothing compared to Jesus place and there so much to clean up it would be embarrassing. Jesus is gently insistent though and the feeling pressure to  return His hospitality eventually leads you to succumb and you tell Him the address of your house.

You return home and sigh and start to tidy up the place because there's a lot of work to do. Things are moved, furniture is put aside so you can give it a full clean as Jr hasn't had one for a while and you would be having around a most distinguished guest. You place the furniture back, lay out the small guest room in case Jesus wants to stay and rearrange everything nearly so that it looks orderly. Some things are a bit out of place and you don't them on show are gathering around different parts of the house and you're struggling to figure out what to do with them. There's not much time left before Jesus comes over and so you decide to just take them all and shove it one of the spare rooms. For safe measure you lock the door so  I one goes creeping in to find it.

You open the door for Jesus and you welcome him into your living room. There you chat, serving some of the bumble biscuits that you have and while the conversation is underway he looks around at the pictures in your living room. You proceed to share about the people in the photos and so Jesus gets to know your family and friends. Jesus asks if you can show him your home. Youre a bit hesitant and was hoping that Jesus would be happy just chatting in the living room but you don't have much of a choice anyway. So you show Jesus around to the kitchen and dining area. You show him all the humble bedrooms and he comments about how lovely they are. You walk past the spare room to show him the garage and bathroom. As you're both walking back down the hallway Jesus asks what's behind the door which you didn't open. You say there's nothing much in there, just some old junk. He's curious to have a look and asks you if he can see it. You say it's locked so we can't go in. Jesus says - but you have the key don't you? You try to find an excuse to say you can't find it but you can't put up lying to Jesus who's been only but nice and kind to you.

So you take out the key from your pocket and open the spare room door for Jesus. He walks in and looks around. Then he walks back to the door as you haven't followed him in and he says - if you hide all this darkness so that I can't get to it, how am I going to be able to bring light and love to this area of your life?

I thought it was a wonderful story that while not terribly well written, might speak to you.

Salvation

By Jack Chui

It is not often that I think I learned something more about my faith. I received a little homework piece which I shared with my Tuesday cell group on the topic of Salvation which spoke to me, and I'll try and share it here as best I can. Most of it will be direct quotes from the notes I received from my Sydney Catholic charismatic youth group and I'll highlight the bits I found most profound to keep it shorter.

Some of us Catholics have been asked the question by Protestants brothers and sisters 'Are you saved!?'. They seem to use the phrase quite often - at least the term 'saved' which seems to be another way of saying 'baptised' for Catholics. As Christians, we believe our salvation comes from Jesus who died for us on the cross - but what exactly does it mean? What does it mean to be saved and what are we saved from?

We need to be saved from the wrath of God. Many of us aren't aware of this wrath (judgement of the human race) and so don't need Jesus so much. Its like - who needs a fireman when there's no fire? Who needs a Saviour when there's no clear and present threat of judgement.

So we need to be actually saved from God himself... but the mysterious and glorious part is that the One from whom we need to be saved is the very One who saves us! This was a little shocking for me to take in. It reveals a few shortcomings in our understanding:

We fail to understand who God is and we fail to understand who we are. Our view of God is too low, and our view of mankind is too high. This was Isaiah's painful discovery when he got a glimpse of the unveiled holiness of God. In that encounter, Isaiah understood for the first time in his life who God is. It was also the first time he understood who he was. He cursed himself, crying 'Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips' (Isaiah 6:5). His experience was not unique in the bible. Very ego shattering... We are not worried about the wrath of God because we have discounted the severity of our sin. Our self esteem is a shield protecting our eyes from God's holiness.

We all admit that no one is perfect. Being a sinner doesn't sound so like such a serious offense. There is an assumption in me that since God is divine, He is the bigger guy, He is obligated to forgive us. When we sin, we sometimes evade the consequences by saying 'everyone gets a second chance' or as us Aussies say 'fair go!'. But who says anybody deserves a second chance? Does justice require that everyone get a second chance?

A second chance is grace. A second chance is mercy. Mercy and grace are things that are never deserved. They cannot be deserved. If they were deserved, they would not be justice and not mercy. Deserved grace is simply not grace at all. As good as I think I am, none of it counts in increasing my chance of being 'saved' or receiving grace. God seems to have set the standard 'too high' and should have lowered it. But because God created us, He has every right to set the rules, and who's to say that God should lower the bar? Who are we to tell Him to lower the bar?

God as our 'author' has authority over us and therefore we have an obligation to carry out His commands. Sort of like in the army/navy. If God imposes an obligation upon us that we fail to perform, then we incur debt. The problem is, our sins are many and grave - its impossible to pay it back. This is where grace comes in. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, backs up our indebtedness by taking upon Himself the obligation to pay what must be paid. This is how we are saved from the wrath of God and this is the good news of salvation!

A word has been resonating with me the whole week. That word is the word 'nothing'. Just one word which can have different feelings depending on how its used. The way I hear it used in my mind is that 'I am nothing'. Absolutely nothing. And I don't feel bad about feeling this because of what I learned from above. There's truth in it - that everything I have has been given to me by God, and so therefore I don't actually own anything. Its not mine - it was given to me by God. I am really nothing... My nothingness also helps me realise that I can't do anything to increase my chance of getting to Heaven. It is the grace given by God which is going to get me there.

So if I can't do anything - then what's the point in trying. Why bother doing all this ministry and good works around the place? I read the answer somewhere recently, that its because that God intended Heaven to be started on earth - not just when we die. To bring His Kingdom closer, I want to do all these good things that God wants me to do. I want to see God work through my nothingness and to see God work through the nothingness of others because that is such a spectacle that no man on their own can match.

Some of the above is a bit of a patch job, but I have the fuller set of notes if anyone would like to read it. I hope I did it some justice.

Community

By Jack Chui

Last Saturday the leaders of STAY gathered to catch up over dinner. It was the first time we've caught up for a while and as a team without the leaders who established STAY from the beginning. Usually we would catch up once a month over Skype and face to face quarterly to discuss all things STAY. There was a lot to discuss and was reasonably productive in the basic things I hoped to at least achieve.

There was a comment shared by most of the other leaders which I found interesting because I didn't share their opinions. Our church, St. Augustine's has been without a permanent parish priest for the last 3 years or so. We have had temporary priests over the years staying no more than a year, sometimes less and so there has been no continuity and less care in making things better in the church. As such, the spirit and the numbers attending the church have been in decline since its glory days and this has had an impact on some of the ministries that are part of the church. With Father Victor coming back in October, there seems to be a renewed hope amongst the leaders and a feeling that it was a struggle without a shepherd to guide us.

I guess I have not really felt this decline or lack of a priest since we started having 'temporary' priests. Was it because I'm kind of naive or probably didn't really care about the decline. I didn't really share this opinion because as far as I'm concerned, God's spirit was still with the church. But as I thought about why I didn't think like the others, I realise that my experience of St. Augustine's was different to the others.

In St.Augustine's I was part of a community with fairly strong fellowships in a parish cell group. We were small at first, but we continued to meet each Tuesday evening at church to share each other's company around the Word of God. Many of my good friends are there and most of them are many years older than me. But because we see each other so often at cell group and then usually at church, it felt like I belonged and the spirit that was seemed to be gone from the church was still alive in me because I had some close others to share it with and for us to lift each other. I think it was this community spirit that helped me believe that I was part of something amazing in this church.

It was this word 'community' that the STAY leaders agreed on that would help take STAY to the next level. Our aim now is to build this so that young adults in Melbourne have a place to be able to share their faith, be vulnerable, grow, be supported and to lift each other up. The journey is already a hard one and God had designed the Church so that we would not have to do it alone.

The absence of a priest also shows how important and key a figure he is in running the parish. But I found, its like going through a desert - that the lay people will have to rise up to take responsibility for keeping the parish going. The opportunity is there when we don't have a permanent priest and I think its amazing to see people rise up to new challenges. It helped me realise that the priest is only one man, and things would run so much better if the community came together to help him do his job. Like the church, he can't do it alone.