Breaking through the barriers...

As we walked on the campus of the University of Sydney on May 24th it seemed that every building and group of people had an impenetrable surrounding them. We were walking onto one of the top 3 schools in Australia attracting the elite students from the eastern coastline. As we talked to students we could see these walls slowly breaking down. In Australia, people want the same things that all humans do. They want happiness, purpose, joy in something; they see deep down that life does not end at the mediocrity of an 8-5 job. I carry with me news that will turn their worlds upside down should they choose to listen. This is my motivation. This gospel is changing my life. It's changing my world views. It's changing my philosophy of the way life should look. My life is drastically different because of the work of Jesus Christ. This is changing ever more from something I do to who I am.

As we try to labor to meet students and try to get an opportunity to earnestly and lovingly share the prism we derive our perceptions through with them, we have seen God work in ways that only he can. In Australia, people have been burned by the church. This is a post-christian culture. If you don't know what that means, google it. You're online already, might as well learn something. So, in this post-christian culture evangelism takes time. Very rarely is cold-turkey evangelism even accepted much less successful. We've been going on campus to meet students with the intention of hanging out with them again; we do this with the hope that through prolonged relationships we can either share Christ with them, plug them into an existing campus ministry, or preferably both.

I'll share two highlights from this week:

In Australia they refer to dormitories or on-campus housing as "colleges." Students don't go to college and live in the dorms, they go to university or "uni" and live in the colleges, or at least a very small percentage do. U-Syd is a commuter school so very few students actually live in the colleges. They are generally populated by the elite students and are very similar to a fraternity or sorority in the US. Out of about 45,000 students at U-Syd about 2,000 live on campus. Campus Outreach has historically worked in on-campus housing because of the huge potential to start a movement in them. Students live in close quarters so if Jimbo was smoking weed in his room yesterday and is reading his bible today, people notice! Close quarters just work great when you're trying to invest deeply in a few people. Now that you have the background information I'll make my point. Yesterday we were able to attend a student-run Bible study in one of the colleges. It was started about two years ago and now has about 12-15 people who regularly attend. This was a God-given opportunity to get into the colleges and see what the spiritual condition is. We've been praying for that opportunity since we got here. That seems like a very small victory from the outside looking in, but it is actually a huge one. This is exactly where I would want to get started with full-time ministry if that's what we were doing and that could be the case one day. A large portion of our purpose in coming here was to investigate the campus, and this was a HUGE stride in that direction.

The next huge bit of progress I've seen personally was a friendship I was able to make today with a student at another campus, UTS. His parents immigrated to Australia from Vietnam and he has become relatively faithful in attending the SOW meetings over the last semester or so. (SOW is the main ministry we're partnering with since arriving). He is also an atheist. In the states we have many people who don't have to guts to admit that they may not buy the whole God thing and instead claim to follow a god that they do not know or understand; this is not the case with my friend. He didn't grow up around Christianity, and right now he's just checking it out. Today we were able to talk for a long time about his spiritual journey and the problems he has with Christianity. They are legitimate concerns that we should all understand about our faith and I was happy to try to talk him through them. I told him that I didn't have all the answers but he's reading a book that should help him reason some things out. Please pray for my friend. I believe that faith in Christ is a gift from God by his grace, and because of that am asking God to give him faith to believe. It's an unusually strong burden that God has given me for this guy and I don't believe it's for naught. I really want to see him get to know Christ. I know God can save him and have no reason to believe that he won't. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers

The good shepherd (Psalm 23)

Today was our day off, our sabbath. If you've ever tried to do any sort of ministry you know that it's hard work, and without a day to rest and reflect it's nearly impossible. As a team we've been looking at Psalm 23 for the past two days as a means to reflect on God and what he's doing in our lives.

As part of my day off, I decided to go for a run through the botanical gardens (yes, I said run. You might say I'm turning over a new leaf). It's a beautiful park in downtown Sydney about two blocks from where we live. On the way there I was contemplating life and its intricacies when I started to think about application for our scripture passage. Many times in life, I think that if I do God's will, it will be the harder way. I think that giving up on my plans and doing God's will would wreck any sort of enjoyment in life that I could've otherwise had in my current situation so I don't want to listen. I want to do my own thing. While running today, I noticed quite the opposite: here I am in Sydney, one of the busiest global cities in the world and God can still lead me by the still waters. He restores my soul. I was running through the park and began to think about how badly God wants to shepherd me. He wants to prepare a table before me, and fill my cup until it runs over. When I'm not "feeling" close to God or when my relationship with him isn't what I would like it to be, it's not because of him. God wants to be there. It's only my sin that keeps me away. We're so content with leading ourselves down what we perceive as the "best" path that we forget that there could be so much more to life out there. This truth of God's word, that he has the best plan and that he's working all things together for our good is so hard to truly live by, but we should.

It took a few sacrifices for me to Australia, but I know that God is using my time for my best, and for the furtherance of his kingdom to which I am an heir. I'm absolutely loving this trip and I can see that it was so worth the price I paid to get here. It doesn't take much on our end to do God's will. He provides a way to do it. And I'm convinced, if we stay in his will, we won't regret it. This is how a missionary in a foreign land, one much more dangerous than where I'm at, can stay and be happy, because they're in the center of their good shepherd's will. No matter how bad the territory, the safest place we can be is in the shepherds fold, and it's a beautiful place to be.

Global proportions...

Yesterday we all went to the market to get groceries. In Sydney, you can shop at grocery stores and pay theme park prices, or you can go to the market. In Alabama terms, it's similar to a farmer's market. They have fresh fruit, vegetables, and meats; and some knock-off purses and jewelry. It's a really cool shopping experience that I've never experienced before. Some people are pressing through the crowd fighting to find the cheapest price on gala apples, or fresh trout while others are yelling "bananas one dolla!" You don't see that sort of thing in Florence, AL. If I could think of one word to describe the city it would be "fast." Most people don't live in Sydney, they live in the suburbs so when they're here they're working or shopping and don't want to play around. Very different from the deep Southern comfort we're accustomed to.

In this place we're surrounded by people who are so different from us. Mostly of Asian descent. All of these people need to gospel. They need to know Christ.

Today we're going to work with a college student ministry called SOW. It's made up primarily of Korean Australians. We're going to a cookout that they're having and trying to get to know the people we'll be working with for most of the summer. It really gets me excited to get in and start working. Please pray that God would use our time this summer with SOW to further his kingdom and lay a foundation that will stand long after we leave.

Who is Jesus?

(v.15) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (v.16) For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. (v.17) And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (v.18) And his is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. (v.19) For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, (v.20) and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. --Colossians 1

Jesus is the protagonist in our story. He's the one who rescued us when his bride was in distress. He is the one that defeated the enemy so that his relationship with his people might be restored. He is our High Priest and King after the order of Melchizedek. He is the prism God looks through to see his people. All things (including humanity) were created by him, through him, and for him. We are not our own. He is our worthy master. He truly deserves our love and respect in the truest form.

We have arrived...

We arrived in Sydney around 10 am this morning. (May 19th in Australia, May 18th in the US). I had initiation with my fraternity on Sunday night and didn't get home until around 4:00 am. Then my parents drove my down to Atlanta to catch our 4 pm flight. On the first leg, we flew from Atlanta to Los Angeles. It takes about 4-5 hours, I think; then we had about a 6 hour layover. The flight from LA to Brisbane was about 14 hours, but the plane was awesome. We flew V-Australia. I would recommend it strongly. Then we jumped on a smaller plane for the 2 hour ride to Sydney. We were almost late because our team leader got randomly searched in customs and we literally had to sprint through the airport to keep from missing our flight; but it makes for a good story now!

We met Jim, Dan and his wife Teresa at the airport. The three of them are missionaries from southern California. I'm really looking forward to working with them as we partner together to labor for the kingdom.

Things to know if you ever go to Sydney:

When people in the airport yell for you to get in "Q", they mean get in the line.

Cars drive on the opposite side of the road from the US, so look to your right before crossing the street.

Milk is about $6 for a 3 liter, so just get ready for sticker shock.

Sorry I don't have much information yet, but I'll continue to keep things updated. Thanks for keeping up with me.

Cheers

This is how they will know...

"(v.34) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (v.35) By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13

Jesus himself said that the way the world will know who we are, and ultimately who he is, is by the way that we love each other. The task we have at hand as Christians is very simple: love God and love people. We lose this raw truth in our church services and youth rallies and songs and righteous lives. We're more concerned with keeping our nose clean that getting into the trenches and riding out the hard times with people.

In preparing to go to Australia, I've looked at how sharing my faith will be different in Australia's culture. I've thought about different paradigms that I will encounter. BUT, this message of love is cross-cultural. I'm not sure, but maybe this is why Jesus CHOSE to use it! He knew that love looked the same in every tribe, tongue and nation; and that it was HIS love that would unite all of them. Why can't we just tell people how much Jesus loves them?

The day is fast approaching...

Wow. It's Saturday night (May 8th) and I leave next Monday (17th). I would be lying if I said I was completely ready and at peace. I remember feeling this way last summer right before I went to Summer Beach Project. Everyone always asks: "so are you scared or excited?" I'd say I'm 100% excited and 100% scared! It's that really weird feeling you have when you know that something great is about to happen, a new chapter of life is about to unfold. It's that last day of High School/first day of college feeling. I know that it will be amazing and I'm so thankful that I've been given this great opportunity. I just don't know exactly what to expect.

The following is a letter that I plan to send to my support team before I leave. For all of my faithful blog-watchers, I'll give you a sneak peak..

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Matt 28:18-20

Dear Support Team,

First of all, I would like to say thank you for your prayer and financial support of my trip to Australia this summer. The preparation for this trip has taught me more, and caused me to draw closer to the Lord than almost anything I can remember. I’ve seen God’s power and providence in ways that I never imagined. More than anything, I’ve seen how small my faith is standing next to the huge power and holiness of God. I can relate to the disciples when Jesus filled their nets to the breaking point as I see what it’s like to ask and receive.

Financially, I’m in great shape for the trip. God has provided me with $6,200 in support at the time of writing this letter so not only will my trip be paid for, through your support I’ve been able to help the rest of my team as we labor to raise support together. Thanks again for allowing God to use you to make this happen!

As we prepare for departure, my team has compiled a set of prayer requests to pass on to our support teams. In Australia, Americans are generally disliked. Aussie’s think that we talk too much and are generally fake. This leads to a common insult used to describe Americans: Sepos (short for septic tanks). In good humor, as always, we created an acronym using this insult to ask God to provide for our needs. It goes like this:

-Servant Hearted: That we will be quick to serve Aussie believers and non-believers- Mark 10:45

-Evangelism: That God will bless us with many relationships and open doors for the gospel-Colossians 4:3

-Passion: We would gain a deeper sense of awe and passion for Christ as we pursue intimacy with Him- Psalms 27:4

-Others-Centered: Our team would be others-centered and unified in the Spirit- Philippians 2:3-4

-Security: That we will grow in our grasp of our position in Christ as find security in Him when facing rejection-Galatians 1:10

Thank you so much for your faithfulness and continuous encouragement through this process of preparation. Without your help I wouldn’t be going to Australia. My team and I will be leaving on May 17^th and returning on June 29^th. Please continue to pray during this time. Also, feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all, or would like to discuss the trip further.

For His Kingdom,

-Brandon

brandonwhite224@gmail.com

and their nets were breaking....

In Luke ch. 5, we see a miracle of Jesus. At this point in his ministry, Jesus has just left the wilderness being tempted by Satan, and is ready to call his first disciples. The story takes place on one occasion of Jesus' teaching to the crowds. He was standing by a lake as the crowd continued to press him (v.1). To avoid being overrun by the sheer force of the crowd, he instructs some fishermen to pull their boats out a little way from the land to give Jesus some space.

These fishermen were cleaning their nets. Fishermen don't clean their nets BEFORE they fish, the clean them after. These guys has been on the water all night. As professional fishermen, they knew the best time and place to fish and had been there at the right place and the right time, but caught nothing (v.5). They were literally getting ready to go home for dinner when Jesus called them. It was probably very inconvenient. That seems to be the Lord's preferred time to call his people.

What these fishermen didn't realize is that they were hosting the Son of God on their ship. The one who had created them and the fish they were looking for. (v.4) And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." Simon immediately responds: "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But, at your word I will let down the nets." Is this not how we approach God so often? I know through this support raising process that's how I've felt. There were many occasions where I talked to my parents and the people leading our team and told them that I just couldn't see where the money was going to come from. I had exhausted all of MY efforts, and I equated that with exhausting all of God's efforts.

As you probably know, as soon as the fishermen obeyed Christ, they caught so many fish that the nets were breaking! They had to get another boat to help them! Remember, these are the guys who had fished all night long and had no luck. These were professionals, who knew the lake like no one else did. It was nonsense for someone to tell them how or where to fish. BUT, when they did what Jesus said, even though it was against everything that they knew to be right, he blessed them with an abundance of fish.

When I heard this story growing up in sunday school, I thought of it as just that, a story. Don't get me wrong, I believed that Jesus was real and that this miracle really happened; but it wasn't real in my heart. I couldn't wrap my mind around what it really looked like in real life. I've spent this semester trying to raise funding to go to Australia and San Diego. In total, I was trying to raise $6,650. This is a huge sum of money that my family and I don't have! If nothing else came in other than what a few more families have already committed to, I will of received $6,850. In spite of my doubt and unbelief, God provided for me just like he did Simon Peter. And not only provided, but gave me more than enough so that I can help the rest of my team.

I can only think of one appropriate response to this sort of provision: the same thing Simon Peter did. To fall down at Jesus' feet and repent of my own lack of faith, to repent of trusting in my own ability, and to repent of doubting the power of the Son of God. I must also not forget what I've learned through this. People have and will continue to fish all through the night in Australia. I must trust in God that not seeing fruit immediately does not mean that no fruit is coming. Sometimes we exhaust all of our own efforts before God begins to use us. He takes us to the point of utter desperation, makes us fish all night, makes us depend solely upon him without seeing any way that success is possible, then rocks our world with his power. Amen to a God who is not limited by my incapabilities and doesn't work on my schedule.

Out of the furnace comes purity

Today I had a conversation with a man of God and we discussed our mutual struggles. We metaphorically related our sanctification to the purification process of gold. God takes us, a filthy mass of impurities, minerals, and a little gold all mixed together and plunges us into the fiery melting pot. He lets us sit there and burn and melt as our sin floats to the top and becomes visible, many times miserably. As our sin is brought into the open, and we repent, our risen savior rakes the impurities off the top, and casts them out of the mold. We are then plunged right back into the furnace to continue the process. We wonder why sanctification has to be so grueling. Why must it go like this? Why can’t this just be easy? The fact is, refinement is not easy. It takes heat, and lots of it to melt down gold and it’s only when it’s melted down that the imperfection can be removed. Every time he plunges us into the fire it’s not to punish us, but because he knows what a refined piece of gold looks like. Our creator knows who’s image we were created in and exactly what it will take to bring us back to what we were created for. God is not satisfied with anything other than perfection, and because of that we know that he loves us. Through his refinement and discipline we know that he cares about us. He is using every struggle that we have to make us more like him, and thereby working all things together for our good, from an eternal perspective. If you're wondering why this struggle won’t leave you, just remember, you aren’t a finished product. Thank God that he is not content with an impure piece of gold….

Almost there...

The time is drawing near. I looked at my calendar yesterday and realized that in one month I'll be traveling across the world. For an Alabama boy that's never been outside the US, that's a long way to go. In spite of all the uncertainty and lack of control that I have, I'm very excited. I know that God will use this trip in miraculous ways to change my heart and the hearts of others.

I have good news! Matt and Brian (the dudes in charge) just got back from Sydney and found a place for us to stay. We will have 2 one bedroom apartments in downtown Sydney for the time that we're there. It will be close quarters, especially for the guys, but as those of you that have been to summer beach project know, we can manage. It's an extremely strategic location because it's right in the middle of everything. God provided in a HUGE way.

More good news! My personal support raising is going very well. For the first time all semester I'm right where I should be. I've got about $4300 turned in, and about $5500 including verbal commitments! I'm almost there! This is an amazing testament to God's faithfulness. I can look back a month, even at posts on this blog, and see how direly I needed God to step in and provide and he did. We truly serve an awesome God.

As well as things are progressing in my support raising, some of the members of my team are struggling. The majority of us don't have all the money we need right now, and it's weighing heavy on all of us. Please pray for them that God would provide. The plane tickets have been purchased and there's no turning back now. It's just a matter of God following up his plan with the resources to accomplish it, and he always does.

Jehova Jireh

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! Luke 12:24

I am continually amazed at how faithful God is to provide. As much as I doubt what he's capable of, he continually shows me how powerful and able he is. At this point I've received $3800 towards my trip to Australia (63%). God has been using people that I never expected, and some that I've never met to send me. It's absolutely amazing what he's doing. This week I've also had some very generous verbal commitments that will help in a huge way, always pushing me closer to where I need to be. It is to God's glory that this is even possible. I ran out of people that I knew to send out letters to a long time ago. I've been pulling people out of the woodwork trying to get information about my needs out there as much as possible, and God is truly blessing it in a miraculous way.

On a much smaller note, God is also teaching me about his faithfulness to meet my daily needs. This week has been rough at school. Since getting back from San Diego, I've been playing catch up from being gone over the break. This afternoon I was planning to write a paper that I honestly haven't had a chance to do. I'm guilty of procrastination many times, but this wasn't one of them. The time just hasn't been there! So I was on my way home from church with my parents thinking about it. I was thinking about how much I had to do, and how badly I needed some down time. I prayed that God would come through and give me time and energy to get done what I needed to. I got home, looked at the course calendar, and it was actually due NEXT Monday. I know this sounds small, but it really was a huge blessing for me to have the afternoon to do absolutely nothing. Instead of writing a paper and doing schoolwork like I have all week, I was able to sit down, chill out, and watch the Yankees/Red Sox game. God knows what I need. He knows how much I can handle, and when I need to take a break. It's crazy how he uses little things like a mistake on my calendar to bring us so much joy in our relationship with him.

CCP support, and school work are things that I need God to work in and through. I desperately need him to sustain me, and increase my life's capacity; however, God is not only the provider of earthly things. His full power is much greater than what we see played out here on earth, or could even comprehend for that matter.

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matthew 26:27-28

On good Friday, I attended a passover meal at Redeemer as part of the Easter celebrations. So many times we hear Easter and Christmas stories, and we allow them to become monotonous. We forget the deep meanings and symbolism present as Jesus fulfilled prophecies that were spoken 1,000's of years earlier. Taking part in the passover showed me once again how the Old Testament is not a retired manual of Jewish ritual. It is so much more than that. The OT points towards Christ just as much as the NT reveals his character. The passover festivities commemorated the "passing over" of the death angel in the plagues while the Israelites were in Egyptian captivity. It celebrates the freedom from captivity given by God, and reminds them of God's redemption. It was not by chance that the oldest son was chosen by God to bear the sin burden for entire family. In Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller elaborates on this concept and I would encourage you to check it out. In short, the oldest son was held accountable for the sins of the entire family. We can see this played out in Genesis 22 when God calls Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He was not randomly telling Abraham to kill his only son, God was in essence calling in a bad sin debt, and seeing if Abraham was willing to give up his son to be right with God. The same took place in the passover. There had to be a payment for sin. The father of the house had to use a lamb's blood to avoid having to sacrifice his oldest son for the sins of the family. Outside of God's grace, we are in debt. The payment for our debt is hell and the accompanying separation from God because we have sinned against him:

BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus took the place as our older brother. He bore the burden of sin that he did not commit and satisfied God's wrath. By Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, we have a new covenant with him. This new covenant did not replace the covenant he made with Moses, but FULFILLED it. The promise God made, he kept. He freed us not from worldly captivity under worldly kings, but from our own sin! That is the true freedom brought by Christ. We can now enter into the holiest of holies and meet with our heavenly father. We can openly cry out to him in our time of need and he will answer us. We are no longer slaves, in debt because of our sin. Our ransom has been paid by our true elder brother Jesus, the perfect first-born of our heavenly father. Now, our sins are "passed over" because Christ's blood covers them. By his grace alone, we are saved and secured a place in eternity with Christ. There's your liberation gospel. Happy Easter

Full of Grace and Truth

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Over the past couple of weeks, God has been showing me how important it is to balance grace and truth in our relationships. In the past, I look back and see so many mistakes I've made by being overly assertive. I tend to look at things as completely black and white; I rarely see any gray area in between my views and the wrong views. I've strained many relationships with friends, fraternity brothers, and many people that I try to share Christ with. I've been seeing that even though absolute truth exists, I am not the source of that truth. My thoughts, feelings, beliefs, etc do not constitute truth. I've had numerous discussions with friends over theological issues, convictions about sin, and so many times I push people not towards the cross, but towards my opinions. It is not my opinions that will change hearts, but God's word and grace. I'm in the progress of working through what this balance looks like. I want my life to be a reflection of the gospel, not only in word but also in deed. Jesus Christ was the perfect Son of God, and he was full of grace AND truth. I think this quote by Randy Alcorn from "The Grace and Truth Paradox" summarizes my thoughts better than I can:

The apparent conflict that exists between grace and truth isn’t because they’re incompatible, but because we lack perspective to resolve their paradox. The two are interdependent. We should never approach truth except in a spirit of grace, or grace except in a spirit of truth. Jesus wasn’t 50 percent grace, 50 percent truth, but 100 percent grace, 100 percent truth.

In Christ's sinless perfection, he was able to find this balance. He was never judging, but always honest, speaking truth. Always loving but never wavering. This is definitely an area that I need growth in. As I strive to become more like Christ, it is completely necessary that I begin to truly love people, and show truth to people in the way that he did. Full of grace and truth.

It's easy to imagine how I'll be confronted with this issue in my trip to Australia. I'm about to be plunged into a culture that I don't know or understand. I'll be surrounded by people who have completely different beliefs about God than I do. How do I reach these people? How do I minister to people who don't know the God that I do? The same way Jesus did, by being full of grace and truth....

Misconceptions/Trip to So Cal

Well, I recently got back from California early Sunday morning. It was a fantastic trip. We spent most of our time in San Diego and the last day or so in Los Angeles. It blew my mind how different the culture is from what we're used to here in the South. The people were great. We were able to partner with Harbor Church to help clean up the city by picking up trash in the alleys and painting over gang graffiti. Our whole team was absolutely broken over seeing the state of the people who live there. It's about a 15 minute drive between some of the poorest and richest people in the US. The poverty gap is extreme. We spent the majority of our time on the campus of San Diego State University. It's a school with about 35-40,000 students. We had students take interactive surveys that had questions about what they did for free time, where they planned to go after graduation, and who they thought God was. It was a very eye opening experience. Most of the students were very open to talk about surface level things like where to hang out, or what restaurants were good; however, the spiritual conversations were difficult, few, and far between. People would listen to what we had to say, but most just had the attitude that "that's great for you, but I'm just gonna do my own thing."

Through this trip God really showed me how much of a need there is to reach these people. There is such a plentiful harvest in areas like California, but the laborers are so few. I pray that God will convict the hearts of those able to go there. The gospel is needed all over the world, not just in the South, or Alabama, or our quiet neighborhoods. Most of the people we talked to had no idea of who Jesus really is, other than what they read on hateful signs that people carry on campus. When we were there, a guy was standing on the steps of a busy building with a sign that said "drunks, whores, fornicators, liars, and thieves will not enter the kingdom of God! Repent and turn from your wicked ways!" This is such a one sided picture of the gospel. The truth is, we're all equally wicked, and are in need of a savior just as badly. Outside of God's grace, none of us could enter the Kingdom. Christ came to save sinners like the ones in California, and Australia, and Florence, Alabama! This lack of truth has lead to negative feelings toward Christ and his people. Those people are in dire need of truth, and it's up to us, Christ's ambassadors, to show them what truth really is...

Wait, who's in charge here?

Luke 12:22-30

The heading to this scripture is “Do Not Be Anxious.” It’s funny how God puts things in our path that we need. I’ve been so anxious today. This passage wasn’t in my normal TWG plan, I just saw it in my support raising notebook and decided to look at it but, had no idea what it said. It’s about 11:30 pm and I haven’t stopped going all day long. Today is Wednesday and I’m getting ready to leave for Birmingham Friday then San Diego Saturday morning at 5 am. I’ve been so anxious about completing an online test, and making it to D group tomorrow, and getting packed, and getting support raised, and coming to the chairs meeting, and going to work tomorrow, and making it to the bank to get some things straightened out. Why can I not just trust God? I read this passage and see my sin so clearly. Jesus says “do not be anxious about your life.” He wouldn’t tell me that if he didn’t have it under control. My God feeds the ravens, and keeps the lilies standing up gracefully even after the storm. Every person in the world has their problems, stressors and struggles; but my Father in heaven knows about each and every one (v.30). He will provide and take care of me, even though so many times I try to take care of myself. I must only seek his kingdom first, and all these other things will be added to me. As long as my relationship with Christ is #1, everything will work out (Rom. 8:28-29). I still feel the pressure, but now I remember who’s holding me up…

The reason...

Over the last two weeks, I've been praying that God would send $3,000 by tuesday. It hasn't happened yet. He did, however, provide in miraculous ways. I'm now at $2500 in support. God doesn't work off my timeline, he's got everything under his control, and I'm seeing that now more than ever. As difficult as this support raising process is, I'm so thankful that I've been given the opportunity to experience it. I'm actually glad that it is working this way and not coming more easily, because through it God is breaking my desires for control. He's showing me once again "who" this is all about.

This week, I've also seen the reason WHY we're going more clearly than ever. If you have wondered why we're going to Australia instead of a completely unreached people group, I would encourage you to check this article out. My team leader emailed this article to us to provide fuel for our prayer life and vision, I hope it does the same for you:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8555953.stm

Australia needs the gospel as bad as any other nation. I'm praying that God would work in miraculous ways to overcome doubts that people have. I'm praying that he would begin a good work there this summer that would carry on for years to come and have eternal ramifications. I truly believe that he will. It may not look like what we're expecting, and we may not initially see the benefit or the fruit; but God's word doesn't come back void. He will bring the good work he's started in Australia to completion, and I firmly believe that he will allow our team to play a part in that. I can't wait. Thanks for your prayers

CCP Weekend Retreat

I just got back from Chelsea, AL where we had our CCP retreat. It was a great opportunity to get to know the team better and further develop relationships that were already there. All three teams met together and talked about what the trip would look like, what our roles would be, Aussie culture, and things like that. It was great because I was able to get a lot of questions answered about what we're actually going to be doing.

It really got me pumped about getting down there and seeing what God does in my life, and in the life of the Aussies. Campus Outreach has never taken a group to Sydney, so we have the opportunity to build a foundation for a successful college ministry where there isn't one now. This is unchartered ministry territory! Not everyone gets to do that! I'm extremely excited. I can't wait to look back 20 years from now and see what God did with the start he made in the summer of 2010 through CCP. We only have a short amount of time to build relationships with people while we're there, but if something can just get started I can't imagine the work that God will do through it. It won't be anything that WE do, but what GOD does. He is the one who provides growth and starts movements on college campuses. I'm just extremely glad that He's chosen to allow me to be a small part of that. I want so bad to see lasting effects from this trip. Australia is a great country with an amazing culture. It is just relatively unexposed to the true gospel. Statistically less that 1% of college students are Christians. In Australia, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. That's why we're going.

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here am I, here am I,”
to a nation that was not called by my name.

Isaiah 65:1

I also left the retreat with things that I really have to trust God for. We have a goal to have $3000 raised by next Tuesday. We need funding to reserve lodging, plane tickets etc. I'm at about $1800 right now, so I'm really praying that God will open up doors and provide. Please email me (brandonwhite224@gmail.com) if you have any questions about getting involved either in prayer or financial support. Hopefully this time next week there will be marked evidence of God's provision and I can give a good update! If you're following this, I really appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Who knew..

Thanks for checking out my blog. This summer I'm planning to go to Sydney, Australia through an interdenominational campus ministry called "Campus Outreach." I'll be living in Sydney for eight weeks, hoping to have to opportunity to share the gospel with college students that live there, and see God work in miraculous ways. I'll be a part of a team of about 12 students from Samford, Montevallo, and UNA. Right now I'm in the process of raising prayer and financial support from the US. Each person on the team has a personal goal to raise $6,000. If you would like to help me out, send me an email and I'll give you my contact information.

I never thought that I would be at this point. As a kid in church, I was always terrified that if I surrendered to my life to Christ that he would call me to be a missionary. I was appalled by the thought of packing my bags, and leaving my comfortable situation. But right now, I'm extremely excited about it. It was a little over a year ago when I finally started my walk with the Lord. I went to a conference that Campus Outreach does called "New Years Conference." That's where it hit me that God's grace was what would save me. God used Luke 15 to show me that like the prodigal son, I had nothing to offer God, no righteousness to bring to the table, but that in spite of my sin, I was unconditionally loved and accepted by him. This was a truth that I had heard my entire life. I grew up in church and have a great family that taught me who Jesus is, and what he did for us. These things were great, but it took the Holy Spirit's conviction to show me the magnitude of my sin, and my need for grace. This was the realization that made it all worth it. I think of Isaiah 6, when he sees the vision of the Lord. It didn't take much persuading on Isaiah's part, he just said: "Here I am, send me." I want my life to be characterized by this sort of obedience to God's will. I'm still trying to see God's will in my life, but I know that this summer I've been given an opportunity that doesn't need to be taken for granted. God has opened up a door, and I can't see any reason not to jump through it..