Update + Photo Video!!

So we are reaching towards the end of the semester. The past few months have been great on campus. We have been sharing the gospel with students, meeting more students and the movements have been growing with students. It has been wonderful seeing our students really take the leadership in leading catalyst, our weekly meeting, going out sharing, and leading outreaches. We have seen a few students accept Christ, which has been amazing! We have students going through Christianity Explained which is a 6 week study going through the basics of Christianity.

We had our Connexions Camp, which is our fall retreat, where students from Monash, Melbourne and Greater Geelong came together to connect with God and each other. We had about 75 students and staff together for a 3 day camp. It was an awesome time where the students hung out with one another and learned about the Lord through talks and seminars.

Now we are coming up to the last few weeks on campus. We have a break coming up for winter and then we head to our Mid Year Conference where all of the state of Victoria and New South Wales would be together. Exciting :-)

Prayer Request:

Please be praying for our team as our team leaders have headed back to the states for three months to work on support and training. Please pray for Erin as she is our interim team leader.

Please pray that we, missionaries and students, can finish out the semester strong and see where God wants to take us for next semester.

Thank you friends and I miss you all!

Here is another photo video:

Australia Pictures 4 from Jenny Tidd on Vimeo.

Picture Videos

Here are a few videos of my pictures that I have taken over the past few months. One has our Kick off camp where all the KVs and some more students got together at the beginning of the year to plan for the year. The next video has pictures of the Spring Break team that was here for a week to help us out on campus!

Australia Pictures 2 from Jenny Tidd on Vimeo.

Australia Pics 3 from Jenny Tidd on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

Warrnambool

So we have moved into our house but we don't have the internet set up yet. Soon we will have it up so I can blog more. This past week myself, Adam who is my co-leader and Erin headed down to Warrnambool for the first time. The campus is 2 hours away so we are only down there once a week on Thursdays. The campus is very small and only 1,600 students attend. At club day we did surveys and 52 people filled one out. The survey was a spiritual interest survey and also asked if they wanted more information on Real Life, what Campus Crusade is called on the Deakin campuses, or checking out events. About 1/2 said yes or maybe so we have been following them up to see if they want to meet and talk more. I had one follow up and she seemed interesting in checking out events and meeting new people, which is exciting.

During our time on campus we also got to know our KVs, Key Volunteers, better. A KV is someone who is committed to volunteer on a Student Life or Real Life campus. At Warrnambool we have Mato, Kaite and Edwina. It was great working with them to plan events and the club day. Adam and I will be meeting with the KVs every Thursday to do planning for their weekly meeting, called Catalyst which is every Wednesday. We will also go through some type of bible study with them as well. I am excited to be co-leading down there at Warrnambool.

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for all the follow-ups happening on our four campuses: Waurn Ponds, Waterfront, Warrnambool and Ballarat.

The Spring Break team from UC Santa Barbara that arrives this Saturday :-) Very excited about it. They are here for a week to come along side us on Waurn Ponds and Waterfront campus. Please pray for their support and their safe arrival.

Please pray for our team as we are still growing and learning more about one another

Thanks all and miss you,
Jenny

Campuses and Kick off camp

Great news! So just over 2 weeks ago Michelle was able to join us in Australia! God definitely answered our prayers for her to come. She has most of her support in and was able to fly out to be with us. It has been great getting to know Michelle better and having all of our team finally together.

The past few weeks have been filled with staff meetings and house hunting. Adam and Matt were approved for their house about 2 weeks and were able to move in that weekend. Erin, Michelle and I spent the last few weeks house hunting. But great news we were approved for a house and we can move in March 3! The Lord really answered that prayer because the house we got is in a great location, has enough bedrooms for all 3 of us to have our own room and a great living area so we can have to team over. Thank you for praying for us!

During our staff meetings we have been getting to know each other planning for the year. The stinters were told that we will be co-coordinating on a campus with each other. Erin and Jono are leading on Waurn Ponds and Waterfront, they are going to be combined, Michelle and Matt are leading at Ballarat together and Adam and I will be leading at Warrnambool together. Since Warrnambool and Ballarat are so far away, a couple of hour drive, we are only going to be on that campus on Thursdays. Tuesday the team will be split between Waurn Ponds and Waterfront and Wednesday the whole team is on Waurn Ponds. Monday is a prep/planning day and Friday is a staff meeting so we will not be on campus Monday and Friday.


This past weekend we had the Kick off camp which was a 3 day camp where students came from Warrnambool, Ballarat, Waurn Ponds and Waterfront to plan for our club day. There were about 20 students. Most of these students are KVs (Key Volunteers) which are leaders of the movement on their campuses. These students plan the weekly meeting, which is called the Catalyst group, outreaches and other events for their campuses. On the campuses Campus Crusade, which is called Real Life or Student Life on the campuses, are considered a club. So we can set up a booth, Aussies call them stalls, with information about who we are. So most of the weekend was planning for that day and the rest of Orientation week. It was great getting to know the students and planning the start of the school year. Ballarat Orientation week starts on Tuesday. Waurn Ponds and Waterfront Orientation week start March 2 and Warrnambool starts March 9. All classes will be starting by March 8. So after that week we will be in a regular routine.

Prayer requests:

Orientation weeks go well for each campus and we are able to meet more students and get more involved with our movement.

Michelle and Adam finishing up the last bit of their support, they are really close.

Energy for the staff over the next couple weeks as we are doing surveys and following them up while the girls will be moving into our house.

Thank you guys for praying and I am going to try to post a new blog each week.

Love you all,
Jenny

Week 2

We have been in Australia for 2 weeks now. :-) On Monday we got back from our staff conference in Brisbane. We were in the Sunshine Coast right by the beach. At the staff conference we met staff from the states Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. We are in Victoria. It was awesome meeting new people and getting to know things for this year. Campus Crusade for Christ is called Student Life in Australia and some places it is called Real Life. Brisbane is very hot and humid compared to Geelong which is nice weather, in the 70s mostly, and very little humidity.


This week we have been looking for houses, cars and cellphones. We have had a few inspections for houses and have placed in a few applications. We have more on Saturday. Next week we have training for 3 days, 1 day in Melbourne and the rest in Geelong. We will learn more about ministry there.

Prayer Requests:
For our teammate Michelle still raising support and waiting on her visa. Also for Adam, who is here, but he still needs the last bit of support in. Please pray that God will provide for both of them.

For housing, cars and cellphones to fall into place and God will provide.

Training next week will go well and we will learn all we can.


People have been asking about photos and I created a photo video for you all to check out so have fun. Thank you all for everything!

God Bless,
Jenny

Australia Pictures 1 from Jenny Tidd on Vimeo.

Day 4 in Australia

So far we are on day four of being in Australia. The past few days have been crazy with settling in and getting bank accounts straightened away. For the past two days we have been house hunting. We have a budget and number of bedrooms to keep to. We have found a few places to apply but they are pretty far away from the staff couples and a few of the campuses. This next week we are heading to Nexus, the staff conference in Brisbane, so we will have to get on another plane on Monday. Then we plan on staying a few days after the conference for holiday, which is what Aussies call vacation. It has been so much fun learning the slang they have for different words. Like for example some call dinner tea, breaky (don't really know the spelling) is breakfast, Uni = College, biscuit = cookie, and they tend to shorten words alot. So it has been a fun 4 days so far.

Prayer requests:

Finding houses for both the guys and girls with the right number of beds and in our price range near the staff couples. For the conference next week as we get to meet more staff and some of the students from Geelong who are considering staff are coming as well. Michelle as she is finishing her support and waiting on her FBI background check to come in to get her visa.

I will be sending pictures soon. Right now where we are staying the only internet is on their computer I can't send any pictures from my computer.

-Jenny

Australia Day 1

Hey!

I wanted to let you know that my team and I made it to Australia safely. After a 14 hour flight to Sydney and an hour flight to Melbourne with an hour drive to Geelong, we are finally here. Right now there are 9 of us on the team, Meagan and Jimmy are an American staff couple and Jono and Elly are an Australian staff couple. They both have children, Jimmy and Meagan have a 8 month old daughter names Rita and Jono and Elly have a 1 1/2 son names Josiah and a 3 1/2 yea old daughter named Zarah (pronounced like Sara but with a Z). Then there are 5 Stinters, Myself, Erin, Adam, Matt and Michelle (who is still in America finishing up support and waiting on her visa). So far we have met a few students and have been getting to know one another. This week we will be getting bank accounts and looking at houses for the girls and the guys. Today our team leaders have been forcing us to stay awake so we can get on Australia time, it is about a 16 hour different from the east coast. We will be glad they did tomorrow and the next day as we settle down. Next week we have a staff conference in Brisbane, where all the staff from Australia will be there. I am very excited to be here. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. Prayer Requests: Please pray for Michelle as she is finishing up support and that she will get her visa in time. She is hoping to be done on Friday and will be able to join us on Sunday down here. Also please pray for our team as we are getting to know one another and figuring out logistical things. Thanks again!