Coffee Break Lane

A skit series of Australia's next top model acted out by three 'ridiculously good looking' leaders:
Australian Idol - Singstar styleThe Amazing Race: St Ives Village edition
'Bloke overs' by Davo and Bruce of 'Straight Eye for the Straight Guy'
Three legged Soccer, with a rockmelon as the ball
Human foosball
Being led blindfolded attatched to rope through an obstacle course for Survivor
A real live game of Risk
Where else can such crazy activities happen but a youth group event?!
These are just some of the games and activities we ran for The Search this week!

Then of course there were the more serious parts of the mission - chances to get to know some of the new kids who will hopefully join our youth group; asking big questions such as:
Who or what do you think God is?
Who is Jesus and why is He so famous?
Why is Jesus so famous?
What is one thing every human needs?
Is it fair that God has a problem with each and every one of us?
How are you going to respond to the fact that God himself not only wants to know you personally, but that He personally provided the solution to the problem WE created?!

The talks followed the reality TV thing just as the games did. For example:
-Is God just like Big Brother watching over us?
-Jesus either had to be Lord or the Biggest Liar
- We need to undergo an Extreme Spiritual Makeover

4 days of mission is always gotta be tiring.
But I thank God for every minute of The Search and every single kid he brought along.
It was amazing! The team was great and such a good example of what working in a team united under Jesus should be like, serving each other, always willing to jump in and do whatever needs to be done! Its little things like that which make mission that much better!
God spoke faithfully and clearly through Rich as he challenged the kids but also provided some great analogies and clear explanations of the gospel. And the kids were definately engaged in what he had to say, which is awesome.
There were lots of great conversations with new kids and existing members of the youth group.
And a number of the new kids have expressed interest in coming along regularly and finding out more!

As I said, praise God for the Search!
It is such an amazing blessing to be apart of His work in this way; so incredibly encouraging to see Him work in these kids and through the leaders and such events
And so humbling to be reminded that it is ALL His work - we are mere vessels.
He had a plan for what impact the Search would have, its not up to us to change that but rather be used in the way he wants us to be. As I said, humbling.

Thank you to all who prayed for the Search. I ask that if you can, please do not stop here, for the work is not even close to being over! You can pray for Aiden, Courtney, Martin, Kay, Michelle, and all the other kids that came along and have been challenged in some way as seeds were planted. And please pray for us leaders of the youth group as these kids join TC and bible studies that we can be faithful in prayer for them and effective in encouraging further thinking and spiritual growth.


While we are on the topic of prayer (and I realise this is a long post, so thank you for persevering!).... I would really appreciate prayer for myself at this stage in my life.
I am in my final few weeks of my uni degree. And I am finishing up leading the girls i currently lead. Both these factors mean important decisions need to be made - what job to i pursue, do i do furhter study, and what ministry do i do next year.
To be completely honest with you I have often felt incredibly overwhelmed by all of this. When all options seem positive and when you dont really know what you want to do except find the best way to serve God, the decision process gets even harder. Basically ministry needs to be decided by tomorrow.
What ministry I do (youth or childrens) will impact what job I am able to do next year. While there are no jobs lined up, i need to figure out what direction i may be wanting to pursue.
There has been a lot of prayer and running over the pros and cons of all options numerous times. And for some reason I think my gut is telling me to stick with TC (youth minstry). I am scared that that may be because its what I know and love and that although thats a good thing, maybe trying something new is better!?

So, if you have the chance, please keep me in my prayers too, i would greatly appreciate it!

Ok, for now, its off to sleep - as i said, 4 days of mission is tiring and decision making is emotionally draining!

With love in Christ, Chelsea

posted by Chelsea Taylor @ 11:33 PM