3 in 1

Hello from Australia!!

I just realized that I only have a few more opportunities to say hello from here...this makes me so sad. We still have one full day left here and I don't want to start getting all upset about it. I would have posted all of this last night but we got home really late from Sydney and I needed to upload a lot of pictures. I'm gonna talk about three things in this post, hense the "3 in 1" title. So here's what we've done the past few days...

Part One: 

Saturday morning we had a Super Saturday. It was so much fun! Here are a lot of pictures from the event.

Above: Chloe, Madison, Katy, Marcus, and Kyle teaching the kids a song.

Action shot of the "Hippo" song. Priceless.

Katy and some of the girls making cards. We decided to do this craft so the kids would have the opportunity to do something nice for someone else just like the Samaritan was nice in the story.

Instead of "pin the tail on the donkey" we played "put the band 

aid on the hurt man"...haha. It was wonderful and the kids loved it!

This is Ryan trying to put the band aid on the hurt man.

Salomon helping a girl with her card.

Some of the boys working on a memory verse game.

Lunch time! 

This girl was precious! So quiet, but incredibly sweet.

Some of the kids playing on the playground outside after lunch.

Part Two: 

GNO BNE!!! "Girls Night Out, Best Night Ever" was the saying for our Sydney outing and truly was a wonderful night. 

We went to Paddy's for a last minute shopping run, duh.

Emily, Chloe, Madison (Tiffany's cousin that just got here), Kim, Madison, and 

Tiffany waiting to cross the street, heading to dinner.

This was an artsy sculpture of the Opera House that lit up and changed colors.

Where we ate dinner. This place was so stinkin' good! We all loved it!

Here are some of the pizzas.

All the girls after dinner. :)

We had to get gelato on our last night in Sydney. It was delicious! There is 

nothing pretty about sticking out your tongue for a picture...

For just a few days in Sydney, they do a light show on the Opera 

House and we were able to see it. How cool is that?!?

Part Three: 

Over the past month, we have all come up with nicknames for everyone in the group and I thought it would be fun to share them with you guys. 

Salomon: The Funny Guy. He will deny it if you tell him he's funny, but he's kept us laughing all month long. He can also be serious, too. He made all of us cry at lunch today...just the beginning of a few tearful days coming up.

Madison: Sad Puppy. AKA "Mad Dog" on campus, we decided to change her nickname up a little bit. I'm so glad this girl came with us. I've loved getting to know her the past four weeks. She was such a blessing to our team.

Marcus: Mr. Giggles. This guy is one of the best guys I have ever met and he's constantly giggling. He's all the time laughing and making people feel good. It's been a privilege to get to know him.

Chloe: Seedless. The first Monday we were here, Chloe found out that there were seedless grapes when I guess she had never known about them before. We thought it was hilarious and have laughed about it ever since.

Katy: Ranger (NOT pronounced like Walker Texas Ranger) "Ranger" is what Australians call Redheads (they don't pronounce the "g"). Even though we have been in Gamma for two years, I really didn't know Katy until this past month. She is such a wonderful girl and I cannot wait to get to know her more this coming year.

 

Kyle: Mr. Aussie. If there is an Australian song written, Kyle knows it. If there is an Australian saying, Kyle says it. Kyle always tries to lighten the mood and makes everyone happier. It's been so good to get to know him better.

Emily: The "Go" girl. Anytime we needed to be someplace or had to be there on time, Emily was always ready to go and help everyone get there. I can't imagine not going half way around the world without my sister by my side. She's been a wonderful roommate the past month and we've grown even closer.

I've grown to love these people. They are like my family and it makes 

me sad to think that I won't see them everyday. They have been such a blessing to me 

over the past month and I couldn't have asked for a better group to be a 

part of. I love you guys more than you know!!

The plan is for Em and I to stay up as late as possible tonight so we can crash on the plane when we leave tomorrow. This isn't my last post. I will most likely post something within the next few hours. I tried to get this posted earlier today, but with the internet not being the greatest and so many things going on, I wasn't able to, so expect another post REALLY soon. Prayers are appreciated for our flight tomorrow. We are all gonna take drugs to help us sleep on the plane to make it go by faster. I hope everyone has a great Sunday worship back home. We had the best worship this morning. It couldn't have been better. The singing was wonderful, Kent had a great lesson, and the people were incredibly sweet, like always. I pray that God blesses the Southwest church for many years to come. I'll write again real soon!

Amy Michele