Survived. Challenged. Learned. 2014
Well we are in 2015 now. How did that happen?!? I don't know about you, but i realised i was an adult and not as young as i thought i was this last year when i realised that there were kids in high school born in the 2000s, The kids transitioning into primary school for 2015 were all born in 2010. And i have actually be out of high school for 4 whole years now!
2014 was an incredibly big year for me. The 1st of Feb marks one year since I arrived here in Naracoorte. What a year! Golly gosh, where do i even start?!
These last 12 months have been such an adventure and challenge for me as I stepped out in faith and moved to Nadacoorte to work as the youth pastor and work in the lives of the young people in this region.
When I'm real honest I would say that this last year has been the toughest year if my life. But I wouldn't change it. I have learnt so much. I think I moved here thinking I knew everything and that I was going to be able to change the world. I realised pretty quickly that things aren't always as easy as I thought.
Mental health has been a massive issue in my community this last year and I've had to deal with it in various ways that I've never fhad to before. I've been scared, worried, sad and helpless so many times in these situations but also incredibly humbled that people trust me enough to ask me to be apart of their journey. It's a real privilege to walk alongside them. I have cried my fair share of tears this year as I've been informed of young people I deeply care for who have attempted suicide and young people who have run away. I've made decisions to call support services against the wishes of young people in order to truly keep them safe. It has scared me as I thought I would be attending the funeral of young people and that I would have to lead my youth group through that. Praise God that I haven't had to do that. But I've had to be really strong at times when all I really wanted to do was cry and curl up in a ball rather than put a brave face on and explain to my youth that hospital is a good place for their friends at this point. I'm thankful for the knowledge I have gained this year about mental health and support services. I pray these issues decrease in my community but I feel more equipped one year on to deal with these issues than I did 12 months ago. The events of the last year is something I will remember forever, but they have taught me and now 12 months on I probably wouldn't try and quit straight away when issues arise.
This last year I've moved house a bit. I have been blessed to live with some incredible people and people who so kindly opened their home to me. In the last fortnight I've been able to secure my own unit and this is a real blessing because it means I have my own space to jut be me and not have to worry about everything else. It's super cute. I love it. And it's all mine!
Ministry has been tough and harder than I thought and required more of myself than I thought but it's been good. Young people have found a safe place to raise issues in their lives. Youth have explored faith in small groups and become more involved in church life in different ways. This last year I have learnt that you give a lot of yourself to ministry with your daily interactions with other people, it takes a lot of your while self, for example my faith gets shared with those I leader and that affects my personal faith, unless I build into my faith and am constantly growing I don't have enough to give. This is when I get tired and when things great really hard because I'm giving more than I'm receiving. Ministry isn't meant to be done alone and when I tried to do it alone it sucked because it felt lonely and isolating. I have felt alone a lot this last year. But as I reflect I realise I am not doing ministry alone, I have people who are regularly praying for me, I have people who are financially supporting the role of school chaplains in our town. And there are people who I know I can call and who will answer questions and resource me and point me in the right direction.
School chaplaincy has brought me so much joy and life over the last 6 months since I started at the school. It created a who new group of people for me to meet and engage with. These people encourage me so much and make me laugh. School chaplaincy provides me with this unique opportunity to build a positive reputation in the community and support those who need it most and share the love of Christ to a bunch of people who don't know God yet. I'm so excited for the way people have responded to who I am.
As I enter my second year of ministry here in Naracoorte I am aware of the positive role model I am to many members of this community, I am aware that I need good support and more intentional support than I accepted over the last 12 months and I'm aware of the pure joy that comes from completely stepping out in faith and trusting that God will protect and guide me as He so faithfully has done these last 12 months. I'm so excited for this year, I feel like it's going to be a year of real growth in number and faith as people faithfully pray and engage with those who don't yet know Christ. I'm excited to be apart of it and I am excited to see lives and families and this community changed because of Jesus. It's already starting to happen.
These last 12 months have been such an adventure and challenge for me as I stepped out in faith and moved to Nadacoorte to work as the youth pastor and work in the lives of the young people in this region.
When I'm real honest I would say that this last year has been the toughest year if my life. But I wouldn't change it. I have learnt so much. I think I moved here thinking I knew everything and that I was going to be able to change the world. I realised pretty quickly that things aren't always as easy as I thought.
Mental health has been a massive issue in my community this last year and I've had to deal with it in various ways that I've never fhad to before. I've been scared, worried, sad and helpless so many times in these situations but also incredibly humbled that people trust me enough to ask me to be apart of their journey. It's a real privilege to walk alongside them. I have cried my fair share of tears this year as I've been informed of young people I deeply care for who have attempted suicide and young people who have run away. I've made decisions to call support services against the wishes of young people in order to truly keep them safe. It has scared me as I thought I would be attending the funeral of young people and that I would have to lead my youth group through that. Praise God that I haven't had to do that. But I've had to be really strong at times when all I really wanted to do was cry and curl up in a ball rather than put a brave face on and explain to my youth that hospital is a good place for their friends at this point. I'm thankful for the knowledge I have gained this year about mental health and support services. I pray these issues decrease in my community but I feel more equipped one year on to deal with these issues than I did 12 months ago. The events of the last year is something I will remember forever, but they have taught me and now 12 months on I probably wouldn't try and quit straight away when issues arise.
This last year I've moved house a bit. I have been blessed to live with some incredible people and people who so kindly opened their home to me. In the last fortnight I've been able to secure my own unit and this is a real blessing because it means I have my own space to jut be me and not have to worry about everything else. It's super cute. I love it. And it's all mine!
Ministry has been tough and harder than I thought and required more of myself than I thought but it's been good. Young people have found a safe place to raise issues in their lives. Youth have explored faith in small groups and become more involved in church life in different ways. This last year I have learnt that you give a lot of yourself to ministry with your daily interactions with other people, it takes a lot of your while self, for example my faith gets shared with those I leader and that affects my personal faith, unless I build into my faith and am constantly growing I don't have enough to give. This is when I get tired and when things great really hard because I'm giving more than I'm receiving. Ministry isn't meant to be done alone and when I tried to do it alone it sucked because it felt lonely and isolating. I have felt alone a lot this last year. But as I reflect I realise I am not doing ministry alone, I have people who are regularly praying for me, I have people who are financially supporting the role of school chaplains in our town. And there are people who I know I can call and who will answer questions and resource me and point me in the right direction.
School chaplaincy has brought me so much joy and life over the last 6 months since I started at the school. It created a who new group of people for me to meet and engage with. These people encourage me so much and make me laugh. School chaplaincy provides me with this unique opportunity to build a positive reputation in the community and support those who need it most and share the love of Christ to a bunch of people who don't know God yet. I'm so excited for the way people have responded to who I am.
As I enter my second year of ministry here in Naracoorte I am aware of the positive role model I am to many members of this community, I am aware that I need good support and more intentional support than I accepted over the last 12 months and I'm aware of the pure joy that comes from completely stepping out in faith and trusting that God will protect and guide me as He so faithfully has done these last 12 months. I'm so excited for this year, I feel like it's going to be a year of real growth in number and faith as people faithfully pray and engage with those who don't yet know Christ. I'm excited to be apart of it and I am excited to see lives and families and this community changed because of Jesus. It's already starting to happen.
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