It's been a while since my last post and I apologise for my absence. I haven forgotten to blog, just haven the opportunity to sit down to write it all in. Last week the doc and I made a trip to Sydney for the Hillsong Conference, having heard so much about it from friends. We decided about a year ago to make a trip down for ourselves since I was studying in Australia. It was an amazing trip of learning - in many aspects. The conference was packed with goodies from monday night through to Friday evening, each one with its own message and learning points. Have a read at the breakdown below, its a little long, but hope you enjoy it as you read on... (p.s. the doc wrote most of it)
Day 1 – Friday night Rented car – got lost – Thank God for GPS (best investment so far) – Car rental was expensive but worth it. Slept early cos was really tired. (photo below: our trusty GPS which got us around)
day 2 – Saturday Woke up and headed out for Blue Mountains at 10am.
Took us about 1-1.5 hours. Visited wentworth Falls, the three sisters, scenic world took photos, had lunch and drove back. The Three Sisters at Blue Mountains are pretty impressive when you first view them but after awhile, they lose their appeal and just become a pile of rocks when you stare at them too much.. =)
along the way we had the opportunity to talk more about life and boy did we get to know one another better. Dinner with Robin Gor and Gen at this huge mall called Rowes Hill food was so-so. but large as usual. Lots of shops which caught our attention like Borders, the community library etc. so we are determined to make a trip back ( plus 1st 3 hours of parking is free!)
(photos below: 1.the doc with his morning snack from Macs; 2. a silly photo of e doc pointing at the 1st sister and 3.a picture of the famous Three Sisters)
day 3 – SundayMorning in hillsongs church with Judas Smith as the speaker. 4 services a day and each service is at least 85-90% filled. And the hall can sit think about 10000 people. Wow and amazing. We went to the rock and met my cousin Dawn and Auntie Betty!! They were at this coffee carnival called Aroma Festival and I Tried the Hot chocolate. Quite nice, but Andrew was not too keen on it (so not keen though he was hungry.. he needed REAL food..). Sydney Opera House on the other hand had a fantastic view. Wanted to watch My Fair lady, but no time to do so. Sigh…
[photos below: 1. church members selling church breakfast 2. Aroma Festival @ The Rocks 3. The Harbour Bridge 4. Sydney Opera House ]
Day 4 – MondayRegistered in the morning and we had quite a good time after that at the Fish market!! Andrew was HIGHLY satisfied and ate 500g aka ½ kg worth of Sashimi (RAW FISH)! But they were very fresh and very reasonable for the price offered. We also took the ferry from Sydney Olympic Park to the Darling Harbour and I tell you, it was FANTASTIC.
Imagine the cold biting wind blowing into your face, with splashes of salt water littering your face as the boat streams along and the sun beating down on us, stopping at the various stops to pick people up like bus stations. Really a unique experience especially with the amount of sea in the bay to maneuver and unlike the ruddy water we see in Singapore Sentosa beaches, this was azure glittering blue seas! I could go on admiring the marvelous picturesque view of the harbours and quaint coastal houses amidst the natural background of the lush greenery and weather-beaten rocks. Seeing the white crowns of the waves floating up and down as caught a fantastic unobstructed view of the Sydney Harbour bridge and the very cute pelicans gliding around was also a sight for sore eyes. A great experience!!
First rally of the conference. Good stuff although the songs were pretty unfamiliar. They just released the new Hillsong CD which we are now the owners of, together with my dearest sister. A real big difference compared to Singapore rallies. Listened to Robert Barriger. More dynamism and enthusiasm than in Singapore, I feel, although not altogether a necessarily good thing
[photos:
1. the Acer arena where the conference was held; it seats 20,000 pple
2. the ANZ stadium just next to the Acer arena where our biblical studies elective was held
3. in front of the arena
4. fooling around while waiting for the ferry to arrive
5. a lousy photo of the fish market]
Day 5Youth today are high in public enthusiasm, but low in private devotion. A statement made by Robert Ferguson, the speaker at Biblical Studies. A great session with him. realized that most of the prayer lectures are done by woman. I wonder why… Asked Andrew, he was as clueless as me. Sheesh… Oh and attended the rallies with Paul de Jong and Mikel Pilavanchi. Forerunners!!! I bought the DVD for you all about Mikel’s rally. Very apt about Worship and evangelism. Pestered Andrew to buy it!! He wanted the Judah Smith rally instead! Pouts!! But nonetheless, a good but very tiring time. Having sessions from morning to night can be absolutely exhausting. By the time we got back to Gor’s place about 10++ already
Day 6 – Wednesday Day 3 of conference. Day of rest. God said must have Sabbath… ahahaha so our Sabbath was today. Went for the morning sessions. Heard Darlene for the first time preaching. We also heard Marcus Witt playing and Wow!! Andrew and I are drooling over his songs… on an impulse, Andrew bought his CD to listen.
We then rested and skipped the afternoon rallies. Missed Joseph Prince and Joyce Meyer but found Pancakes on the Rocks in the afternoon and was equally satisfied. =) (hee see below). afterwhich, we cooked (Or rather Andrew cooked, I prepared lunch and breakfast for tomorrow) dinner and thanked robin Gor and Gen. Good stuff and everyone was belly satisfied!!
Day 7- ThursdayTo ONE AND ALL… we must confess our biasness were unfounded. Joyce Meyer is indeed one FANTASTIC speaker. We had her for morning rally and Andrew and I just turned to each other and said Wow! And both of us were convicted by her message just like tt. Definitely a better speaker than a writer I think!! Marcus Witt also spoke and he was equally gifted and anointed by God in so many different ways.
What was really amazing today was LeeLand!! Only 20 year of age and he is so anointed and gidted by God. Loved some of his songs to bits!!!
On the other hand, Joseph Prince talked about the Benjamin Generation and about grace and prosperity. Agreed with some things he said and pondered and debated with Andrew about other points. Cannot believe its already Day 4 of conference. Time flies!!
Day 8 – Friday It’s the last day of conference and our minds and hearts are filled with so much goodies. There hasn’t been much time to process or pray through so we’re going to take Sat and Sun to do that. A lot of the messages spoken at the conference was a much needed reminder for me of God’s goodness, love, power in our lives. It’s timely for me as I return back to Melbourne as I will be facing the very struggles that I have been running away from.
In all honesty, a huge part of me does not want to return back to Melbourne. Yet, I know that I do need to go back there so that God’s glory and providence in my life can be seen in the next 4 months. I need to daily widen my perspective, daily see beyond my own circumstances.
While attending the elective in the afternoon, I actually ‘bumped’ into Jeremy Ong. This was a really divine meeting, as I didn’t know he was coming for the conference (he’s currently in Perth); let alone this elective. The only reason we saw one another was because I decided to make a trip to the toilet halfway through the session and only because I took that route past him that he saw me. My friendship with Jeremy is what I call ‘intentional friendship’. Coming from different local churches in Singapore, we have no mutual friends amongst us (oh, we have one – Judy Foo). Our life-path does not cross unless we intentionally meet-up, and that’s what we do. We share about the on-goings in our own local churches, talk about any recent good book we’ve read etc. etc. But since he left for Perth to pursue his tertiary degree and I to Melbourne, our meetings were like every 6 months to a year depending on our location. So yeah, it was nice to meet him by chance and to sit down with him and Dawn for a chitchat session.
And that wasnt the end, we had coffee at Pelligrini's @ 66 Bourke Street, Melbourne; a quaint little coffeeshop apparently with one of the best coffees in town and famous for being one of the first Authentic coffee shop in Melbourne. I ordered a latte (since its suppose to be good) and boy, was it strong. It reminds me of Chin Mei Chin along East Coast Road, as it too had an old traditional ambience to it.
