“A greater vision”

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.

“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.