Allies too good for Watson in annual cricket match
In a rematch from last year, off-campus students have defeated those from men’s residence Watson Hall in a game of Twenty20 cricket, March 25. Batting first under cloudy skies at Martinsville Oval, the Allies scored 172 from their 20 overs. Watson scored only 81 in reply. The result means Watson hands back the annual trophy—it won the previous match 102-99.—Josh Dye, public relations intern, Avondale College of Higher Education
Staff members and students plant trees of dedication
Chelsea Mitchell
Public relations editorial intern
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
As the rain falls, a man kneels to plant a tree for the two women in his life—his wife and his daughter—and his dog.
Pre-loved clothes about to find new home: Items donated from the wardrobes of students added to Danii’s Collection as Cafe Rejuve played host to the alfresco op shop. Credit: Sonja Larsen.
Dr Jason Morton joins other Avondale College of Higher Education staff members and students to plant 400 trees in four hours over two days. Girls Walk and the dam between the Cooranbong Community Services Centre and Avondale Springs, both on the Lake Macquarie campus, are the beneficiaries of the regeneration, which comes as part of Avondale’s Green Week.
“My wife, daughter and I are frequent users of the Avondale walking tracks,” says Jason, a senior lecturer in biology in the School of Science and Mathematics and the deputy chair of Avondale’s Sustainability Committee, “so I thought it would be wonderful to dedicate a tree to both my girls and to our pet.” Jason says the tree will remind he and his family of their bond.
Not-for-profit community organisation Trees In Newcastle donate the trees—all are natives. About 120 are Swamp Mahogany, a type of eucalypt. These grow up to 30 metres and for at least 60 years.
Students plant saplings: Sonja Larsen holds one of the 400 natives donated by Trees in Newcastle. Credit: Krissie Hopkins.
Jason hopes the planting will revive the natural state of the targeted areas to “promote an increase in flora and fauna on campus” and even the “return of species such as kangaroos.”
Organiser Jedda Britten, advocacy leader for student club COSMOS, talks of Green Week as “raising awareness of environmental issues and suggesting ways to live more sustainably.”
Cafe Rejuve, playing host to an alfresco op shop, welcomes Danii’s Collection plus the pre-loved clothes of students on day one of Green Week. The theme, “Reuse. Recycle. Relove.,” challenges students to think about the impact—on the environment and on other people—of their purchases. “If we decrease the demand for unethical clothing, we lessen the environmental impact of textiles,” says Jedda. This initiative raises more than $250 for a student-run project that will help feed the homeless in Sydney.
COSMOS sells bamboo toothbrushes and cardboard pens during Green Week. “The beginning of limiting earth’s plastic usage is saying no to plastic,” says team member Karli Borresen. “This will hopefully make way for a sustainable world for future generations.”
Modelling environmental stewardship at Avondale is important, says chair of the Sustainability Committee Brad Watson, “particularly because we believe God made earth and gave us the responsibility of being ethical caretakers.”
Visit www.avondale.edu.au/greenavondale for more information about Avondale’s green initiatives.
Avondale students change lives through service
Sonja Larsen
Public relations assistant
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
With the midyear recess at Avondale College of Higher Education came a feeling of relief but also of excitement and uncertainty as students left the safety of the campus for adventures in service overseas and in regional New South Wales. This aspect of the Avondale experience is so important it appears in the corporate statement of mission.
Empowered: Team member Billy Otto and students from Negros Mission Academy in the Philippines sign the letter “E” for Empower. The ministry is part of Avondale student club One Mission.
“Preparing students for lives of service” is part of the whole-of-life education Avondale has been offering since 1897, but president Dr Ray Roennfeldt sees an even greater emphasis “here and now.” This would involve creating and encouraging students to enrol in at least one unit of study related to service, to challenge the status quo. “Preferably cross-cultural service,” says Ray. “It gets students thinking about the needs of others and about the contribution they can make.”
Many are contributing now, mostly in ministries they have initiated and financed.
Student club One Mission will return for a third consecutive year to the Philippines and the Solomon Islands and send its first team to Brazil over the yearend.
With no agenda or expectations, two STORM Co teams return to serve in the regional New South Wales towns of Goodooga and Moree for 10 days in July—the mission of this ministry is for team members to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Students serve in the local community or visit residents of the local Seventh-day Adventist retirement village as part of the Pick-A-Street and Dorm2Home ministries.
Travel to Papua New Guinea and see Bachelor of Theology/Bachelor of Ministry student Bekezela Sibanda and three friends run three evangelistic programs—baptisms and spiritual revival follow.
In the Solomon Islands, a partnership between Atoifi Adventist Hospital and Avondale’s Faculty of Nursing and Health will see a team of staff members and students return to the wards in Malaita this year.
In Zambia, 59 people are baptised through the evangelistic efforts of a group that includes nine Avondale students.
Four Bachelor of Arts (International Development and Poverty Studies) students also venture to Malawi, Nepal, the Philippines and Vanuatu, volunteering with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.
Jason Hinze, a lecturer and the secondary education course convenor in the School of Education, notes the speed at which sign-up sheets for Ministry of Teaching Overseas (MOTO) fill—56 from the school visit Cambodia, India and Nepal. The India team teach 200 children at the AoZora Adventist Academy and witness the baptism of Nikesh Sinha, the school’s founder and director.
While MOTO students discover the power of education, the nine-member Empower team discovers the power of personal testimonies in the Philippines. It organises a series of concerts, programs and workshops at high schools and a university and a conference for Adventist young adults. “We wanted to tell people we are all equal, that God doesn’t just love Christians or Adventists,” says team member Jana Aveling. The message resonates with a group of Filipinos, who have now formed their own Empower team.
These ministries not only provide tangible evidence of Avondale’s statement of mission, but they also help, as Bekezela says, transform lives, “including ours.” The pioneers set a high standard, but their vision for Avondale to provide “a greater vision of world needs” is a reality. Ask any of the students involved above.
Avondale Singers earn return invitation from Anzacs
Singers impress: Dr Robb Dennis, the music strand coordinator at Avondale College of Higher Education, leads Avondale Singers and members of the community in the singing of the hymn, “Abide With Me,” during the memorial service at Morisset Country Club on Anzac Day. The performance, the vocal ensemble’s first at an Anzac service, impressed. The South Lake Macquarie RSL Sub Branch has invited Avondale Singers to perform again during the service marking the 100th anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli, on April 25, 2015. Credit: Eddy Knopper.
Student’s concert celebrates true meaning of Easter
Focus . . . on faith: Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching student Ben Milis plays during Celebrate Easter in Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church on April 16. The concert, organised by Bachelor of Arts student Daniel Laredo, raised $1355 for The Promise. The vocal ensemble will use the money to help cover the cost of its tour to California, USA later this year. The meditative and reflective performances reminded those in the audience of the true meaning of Easter, says Daniel.—Brenton Stacey Credit: Maneesha Walsh.
Career Expo-nents
Great minds think alike: Avondale College of Higher Education’s Career and Employment Expo, April 20, encouraged students to consider life post assignments and examinations, but pen and paper still came in handy. Credit: Eily Sim.
Government grant will help ensure return to Moree
Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
Greg Combet meets students Amy Thompson and Hayden Lassila (right) and their Storm Co team on Avondale College’s Lake Macquarie campus. Credit: Kirsten Bolinger.
Federal Member for Charlton Greg Combet visited Avondale College Friday to meet students who gave up their holidays to serve in regional New South Wales.
The students joined a ministry called Storm Co (Service To Other Really Matters) to serve in Moree for 10 days in July. They ran a children’s club at the local PCYC in the mornings and weeded the garden of one of the town’s churches in the afternoons. They also collected rubbish from roadsides at the request of the local council.
A $5000 grant from the Australian Government will help ensure the students return to the town next year. The grant is under Volunteer Grants 2010, part of the government’s Community Investment Program. Co-leader Amy Thompson says her team of 18 sees it as a blessing. “When we heard the application had been successful, we thought, Sweet, how can we use the money to continue serving [in Moree]?”
The students will use most of the money to buy a data projector and a portable public address system, help cover the cost of fuel and offer training courses for others seeking to join Storm Co.
Greg impressed Amy. “He wanted to know what we’d done and, even better, what we were going to do,” she says.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been sending Storm Co teams of young adults into local communities since 1992, when a group of Year 12 students planned an adventure in service rather than a school leaving party. Their destination: Moree. The Avondale students who visited the town this year make up one of 39 teams in northern New South Wales. Two of these teams are also based at Avondale—students in these team visited Goodooga and Gwabegar.
Chaplain Dr Wayne French, a former director of youth ministries for the church in northern New South Wales, says service, particularly the enduring success of Storm Co, is popular at Avondale because “whenever we give, we get more than we give in return.” “Our students believe in experiential learning,” he adds. “They want to get involved, and they want to make a difference.”
Links
Storm Co briefing
