SaN Getaway & Fiji!
In our mid-semester break at UTS two very exciting things happened (and one a few weeks afterwards!)…
Firstly, we had our long-awaited Credo SaN (Science and Nursing) Fac-Net getaway. 25 brave souls faced the gale force winds to huddle together in Nowra to chill out, drink lots of coffee, play soccer with the cows, study the EPIC book of James, and hear about living life in the real worlds of science and nursing.
We were massively blessed to have Lewis Jones (an astrophysics PhD and head of the academics and post-grads university ministry under AFES — accompanied by his mega-fun family!) as well as one-half of our house parents, Bronno, share their experiences working as Christians in their respective fields – from the controversies of creation around the lunch table…to the delightful Bristol Scale (wiki it if you dare!!). It was a great insight into what awaits out of uni, and gave us lots to think and pray about.
The talks were hard work for me – I’ve been reading and thinking about James pretty much since we settled on the topic in, like, March or something…and I’m still not sure I did it justice! I’m fairly disappointed with how much of the writing and preaching on it seems to gloss over apparently key phrases in favour of the controversial bits…like why has no one wrestled with the role of the ‘law’? And how can people treat it as purely moral when it exhorts nothing without tying it into the gospel changing the very core of our being? Whinging aside, I massively enjoyed throwing myself into it, and think I nailed for the first time preaching the gospel faithfully amidst moral exhortation…
After an incredibly early-morning dash back to Sydney, I slept my way through the five hour flight to Fiji to see some of my beloved students from Last Year. I’d been invited over by one of them to meet with a bunch of the student leaders of uni groups in Suva, something I was incredibly glad to do! Most of the groups seem to struggle with the same sorts of things: issues of leaders not living up to ethical expectations, inter-denominational tensions, lack of direction between big events… One thing that was both greatly encouraging (because they picked up on it) and deeply saddening (because it’s a big problem) was their awareness that the Bible doesn’t take the place in their groups that it should – but they have no idea where to start fixing that. So with my grand year-and-a-half of experience I suggested a few things I did / wanted to do last year in dealing with things like that, prayed with them, and am currently looking for people to go and teach them how to read the Bible 1-1 in January.
Catching up with my friends was also well wicked! Swasi’s family put on a huuuuge Indian feast for us all and we got a good chance to catch up (Iva and Peni’s engagement for example!) and reconnect.
Also, as of the final lap in last Sunday’s Bathurst 1000, I’m an uncle…Little Josiah. Wooo!
Posted: Oct 14, 01:25 AM Category: USP
Tags for this article: bible, credo, cross-culture