Avondale University STORMCo Melbourne team.

Team bonding

Friday, August 2, 2024
Brenton Stacey
About the Author

Brenton Stacey

Twitter LinkedIn Profile

Brenton is Avondale University’s Public Relations and Philanthropy Officer. He brings to the role experience as a communicator in publishing, media relations, public relations, radio and television, mostly within the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific and its entities.

Students serve at schools in Sydney and Melbourne

Young alum on an Avondale service learning trip (June 16-23) have helped chaplains connect with students at Seventh-day Adventist schools in Sydney and Melbourne.

The students organised and presented chapels and helped where they could on campus—cleaning a bus and around the grounds, making props and setting up for a week of worship, playing sports, visiting classrooms. They finished the week helping organise and present two high school rallies.

The urban STORMCo trip again proved popular, with a team of 15 going to Hurstville and Wahroonga Adventist Schools and Hills and Macarthur Adventist Colleges in Sydney. A team of 21 (pictured) went to Edinburgh, Gilson and Heritage Colleges and Mernda Hills and Nunawading Christian Colleges in Melbourne, a first-time destination for an Avondale team.

A benefit of serving in teams is pooling gifts and talents, says Hadassah Liebke, a Bachelor of Arts student who served in Melbourne. “It meant we were able to share Jesus in more ways than one.”Acknowledging the team will probably not fully learn about the impact it made, “we trust God will continue to water the seeds we planted.”

Another benefit? Serving alongside each other “creates new connections and builds deeper connections,” says Lake Macquarie campus chaplain Priscilla Mariassouce. This strengthens campus life.

Teams on STORMCo trips usually organise projects with a community service focus in regional and rural towns. But with previous experience as a school chaplain, Priscilla sees the benefit of giving students exposure to a school system because “they may be potential employees when they graduate.” It also shows students “they don’t have to be a chaplain or a pastor to minister—anyone can serve, anyone can sing, anyone can speak.”

Share