At the Unis

This week we are on the Unis. This is the main purpose of our coming to Australia and it is exciting seeing what each conversation and each day brings. I'll try to explain as much as I can about what exactly we are doing on campus to give you a better idea of our day-to-day.


The Unis

RMIT City- Like most city campuses RMIT City is spread throughout Melbourne but has a few main buildings. We spend most of our time in 'the Caf' and 'the Hub', two places students gather to eat and relax in between classes. The thing about a school here is most students still live with thier parents and travel by bus or tram into the city for school. This means if they have a break in between thier classes they often do not have much to do or that they plan classes on after another. The city school has alot of fine art majors so it is a very diverse and creative crowd.

RMIT Bundoora- A part of the greater RMIT Uni, Bundoora is on the outskirts of the city and is quite a deal smaller. Most of these students are engineers or science majors, a contrast to the City students. Because the campus is smaller and closer to many of the students homes there are not a lot of students who are hanging around. Here there is a lot more guys than girls too. Here they are having trouble getting girls involved in the movement.

La Trobe- Close to Bundoora, this is the campus that feel the most like what I am used to. There is an academic side and a dorm (or 'college') side where international and students who live father away live. School starts next week so we have not been able to see what the character of the student body is but just by walking around this campus has the most Socialist and Muslim influence. They have the opposite problem than RMIT Bundoora, finding it hard to get guys to be involved.


The Outreaches

What are they? Outreaches are ways for us to get into spiritual conversations with other students without it being too awkward. It also gives us a way to approach anyone without intruding becasue they are done in a way where our request can be turned down. They take many forms but the goal is the same, to understand the individual person better, see where they are spiritually and hopefully share the gospel message with them.

Surveys- These are questions that help us dive deeper into conversation. They range anywhere from "What do you value in life?" to "On a 1 to 100 scale, how sure are you that if you died today you would go to heaven?"

O-Week Questions- Basically we hand out flyers to take an online survey & they fill it our online. They last question asks if they would want to talk more about spiritual matters. If they choose "yes" then we get thier information and follow up with them.

Soularium- This is a special type of survey where there are pictures to answer questions. A total of 50 postcard size pictures are given to a person or laid out of a table and a couple of questions are asked. The person is asked to pull out 1-3 pictutes that best descibes thier answer and then is asked to explain why they chose it. This is my favorite outreach and provides the most interesting conversations. For some reason people really open up to you and tell you pretty deep stuff. Some of the questions we might ask are, "What descirbes your life?", "What do you wish was a part of your life?", "Who is God to you?", "What has your spiritual journey been so far?", "What do you wish was a part of your spiritual journey?", "How do you understand Christ's message?" and "Choose an image that best descibe the following; love, sin, sacrifice and renewal?".

My Days

So, finally, what has been going on this week! Monday we were at RMIT City all day. We handed out O-Week flyers at first and when we ran out of those paired up and went out to do Soulariums. Emily, my friend from Australia who came to VT this past semester, and I went out together. We were brought to five amazing women, each going through something unique, but we could see where the Lord was working in thier lives. One girl had only been in Australia a week and had no friends, another grew up in a Christian home but was living to please her parents & was struggling for control, and two more told of they really didn't think of religion or God at all.

The one conversation that stuck out in my mind the most was with a girl named Jane. At the first question she revealed a lot about what was going on with her family and a hard relationship she just got out of. We talked for a while and when she left for class she told us "what are the chances you would come up to ME, with this picture survey that would allow me to tell someone about what was going on in my life and that you would help me. Thank you". That spoke to me so much and showed me that the Lord was working through us to reach His people, whom he deeply cares about.

Tuesday we were back at RMIT City and I went out sharing with Katie, a gril from our project. We got into an amazing six conversations that agian were all drastically different. These included two exchange students from China. They had never heard of 'sin' before and Katie and I were able to share the Gospel with them in a basic and understandable way. They were so attentive and interested in what we were saying and were really processing everything we told them.

Today we were at RMIT Bundoora. The atmosphere was quite different and people were more reluctant to take our flyers and talk to us. But still, a good day. Bess and I had were a bit overloaded when a flock of girls who were friends with a girl we were doing a survey with came over the table and wanted to join in. They loved it and each one came from a completly different background. Later in the day Jane, an Aussie on staff with Student Life, and I got to share with a girl who told us she believed in God and a higher power but was unsure of what that exactly ment. We were able to answer her questions and give her some Biblical truth.

God working through each conversation and it is so apparent on how much He loves the students in Australia. I have had to relayon Him for strength each and everyday as we go to the Unis and approach people. He is the one who puts thoughts into my mind on where to direct the conversation, I know I could never do this on my own. I thank God that I am here and for the blessing it is to be included in His plan and working in Melbourne.

I know, long post...hope that gives you a better idea of what is going on here in Australia.