by Justin Watson

ZAMBIA MISSION TRIP

On the 29th of June 2011, a group of 18 people youth from Memorial church are flying to Zambia to build a church. In 2009 Sheree Moodie and her husband moved to Zambia to start a medical centre, and this is where the group will be staying during their mission trip. Uriah St. Juste will be conducting an evangelical seminar in Zambia to “win more souls for Christ”.

A fundraising concert was recently held at Memorial church to help raise funds for the Zambia project. The evening raised $2,700 in offerings, and an anonymous individual responded to the appeal for $4,000, making a total of $6,700 raised for the church building project.

All the students involved are raising money from their own pocket, so donations are accepted. Anyone wishing to support this cause may contact Mark Lamplough (0411074814) or Brad Moodie (0431330691). Concert DVD’s can also be ordered through the memorial Church office which is open from 9.00 am – 12.00 pm weekdays. All proceeds go to funding for the ministry of the Gospel.

IPLAY MUSIC: NEW TO TOWN

Dai and Lianna Pritchard have been teaching in the Cooranbong area with Peter Dixon at Avondale Music for three years. This year Peter Dixon has decided to concentrate more on the recording side of things and so offered them to opportunity to take on the store.

Dai Pritchard has been guitarist for such greats as Marcia Hines, Olivia Newton John, and Jimmy Barnes, to name just a few. Eight years with the late great Billy Thorpe Band, rigorous touring schedules and TV appearances has steeled Dai into the guitarist of choice for many. Dai has been the Slide guitarist for Angry Anderson’s and Rose Tattoo, and both European and National tours keep Dai extremely busy.

Lianna Rose is currently signed to Australia’s Mushroom Music Publishing. She’s had top 5 radio hits, and her originals have been performed all around the world. Between touring, co-writing and motherhood, Lianna knows the art of being an all-encompassing professional musician.

Combined, Lianna and Dai have much knowledge and advice to offer the Cooranbong Musical community. Enter…..IPlay Music!

DEPARTMENT SWELL

For many years, Avondale’s music department has trained, nurtured and given many amazing opportunities to talented musicians. In 2011, the music department has swelled in numbers and almost doubled in size, with a current 36 music majors.

Avondale Singers have also increased in size, to the current 69 members. Conductor Robb Dennis hopes the group numbers will increase further, for a planned performance of Handel’s Messiah later in the year.

Avondale Singers meets every week, Monday evenings at 7.30 in the Music hall.

by Sarah-Jo Huber

1. You ask your friends ‘Is my hair ok? Is my hair ok?’ ten times in the space of five minutes.

2. When ‘he’ walks past, you heart leaps and pounds in your chest; when they sit next to you lose your breath (and quite possibly your voice) – one can only imagine if ‘he’ kissed you, you would certainly faint or pass out!

3. While trying to do research for your next essay, you trawl his Facebook page for the 3rd time that week, somehow convincing yourself that checking his Facebook page counts as “important anthropological research into the habits and customs of a highly specialised and evolved alpha male in the modern age.”

4. You’ve considered attending one of those church dinners where everyone holds hands when they say grace, just as an excuse to hold his hand.

5. Applying lipgloss/lipbalm becomes an obsessive ritual –you know, just in case… and is surpassed only by the amount of times you ask ‘Is my hair ok?’ (re. 1)

6. Getting a message on your phone from him feels like the equivalent of winning the lottery. Your friends ask who it’s from and you reply ‘Oh, no one…’ while sporting a huge cheesy smile big enough to swallow the Grand Canyon or Ayers Rock.

7. Your three-times-a-day teeth brushing schedule suddenly skyrockets to a hectic six or seven-times-a-day – you know, just in case… Playing in the background is Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus, The Veronicas or some other similar extremely “poppy” pop singer filling the air with her songs of love, hope and eternal sunshine/magical moonlight. You sing along loudly and proudly.

8. While waiting in line at the caf you see him at the very back of the line. You suddenly “forget” you left you music books at the piano and realise they’re locking the room in 5 minutes so you hurry outside asking ‘Is my hair ok?’ on the way out and slide into the line next to him. If the subject of the missing music books comes up, ‘er… well the door was locked already’.

9. While waiting in the line at the caf (for dinner this time) you see him in front of you. You “accidentally” bump into him with your tray, then apologise profusely while grabbing the arm that you strategically slammed into and feeling that muscle tone…

10. He asks to borrow a pen. You tell him you love handwritten letters! And then procede to give him your mailbox number/address.

Five additional signs that you have really, really bad crush:

1. You fake drowning, right in front of him. You hold your breath long enough so that he has to perform mouth-to-mouth.

2. When he’s walking past on his way to class you perform the bend-n-snap, Legally Blonde style.

3. As an excuse to get to talk to him for longer, you’ve started to talk reallllly slowwwwly. And softly, so you have to repeat things and yes, hopefully get to talk to him for longer.

4. You get so caught up in the lecture that you don’t take notes and have to borrow his. Actually, you get so caught up in staring at him that you practically miss the entire lecture, and really hope he takes good notes!

5. You have an emergency in the middle of the night, and have to call him for assistance. The actual emergency is that you can’t stand being separated from his irresistible self any longer. The official story is that there was a snake… Right there…

Further Reading
by Mitchell Strahan

This month, I’d like to talk about marriage. After all, that’s why we’re all here, right?

Ahem. This one’s for all you romantics out there. So you finished high school, got into a wonderful degree at a wonderful college. You’re possibly following in your parents’ footsteps. You’re passing all your tests, presentations, what-have-you. Life’s looking like it’s going great. What more could you want?

In addition to this, there’s that cute brunette girl/guy who sits across the caf from you, and you SWEAR she/he was checking you out.

Possibly the reason Avondale has such a dating/marriage culture comes down to these things: a group of close-knit students, at similar places in their spiritual life, with the free time between study and basketball to hang out with like-minded members of the opposite gender. Think about it – high school has too much responsibility and raging hormones, and partners are harder to stumble across in the working world. Our carefree college days are the perfect time for this. Get out there, look for others who share your stage in life, with Christ’s guidance.

At some point I’ll talk on the flip side of the coin, divorce, but for now, we’ll segue into the book review on this optimistic note.

Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas

What if God didn’t intend marriage for making you happy, as much as making you holy?

This is the premise of Gary Thomas’s Sacred Marriage. Oftentimes, we get to thinking that because we picked out the person we marry, we have the right to expect everything from them. This book turns that notion on its head, arguing that at the heart of true marriage lies a spirit of self-sacrifice that, in some significant ways, mirrors that of Christ. Marriage, argues Thomas, allows – nay, forces – us to learn Christlike discipline, and so become more like Him.

Marriage – and to a lesser extent, dating – can show us a lot about ourselves that we would rather not see; our sinfulness, selfishness, desire for self-aggrandisement to name a few. In overcoming these, Thomas writes, we can enjoy both a most fulfilling marriage and an even closer relationship with Christ.

In conclusion, I’d recommend this book to people like starry-eyed first-years, to increasingly worried fourth-years, to those looking to involve God in every aspect of their lives.

Sacred Marriage is available on order from the Adventist Book Centre, and from internet retailers.

Lifestyle
by Sarah-Jo Huber

Is your but getting in the way of things lately? Perhaps your but is too big for you…. Put away your tape measure ladies and gents. You can’t measure things of this magnitude that way. No, the scales in the fresh fruit and vegetable department at Coles will be of no use either. Or for that matter, the bathroom scales… Step away from the scales…

You’re a bright, fun, creative and ingenious young person with the world at your feet. You’ve seen the ads alerting you to the fantastic possibilities that your new Lynx/Impulse deodorant could open up (apparently it’s ok to mix Lynx with Lynx, but might I suggest you save the mixing Lynx and Impulse for deodorant fights with your brother/sisters/significant others?), and your Mum and Dad have told you that you can do anything you set your mind too. Your lecturers want to see you succeed, your friends believe in you, and Jesus loves you too. Unfortunately though, all of this may not be enough. Something may be holding you back. Let’s just be honest: too many of you have big buts.

Your but is that lazy part of you that cushions you in a state of comfort, allowing you to escape exerting effort, giving you an excuse not to move from your comfy position on the couch of ‘normality’ and safety.

By now you may have realise that no, I have not made a stupid spelling error or typo. (I’m happy to admit that I’ve never been quite cool enough to be able to be able to type words “lyke dis” and not come across as a complete tool/cretin/retard.)

What I’m talking about is the tendency we have to manufacture big ‘buts’ to get out of things that might jostle us from our comfort zone, or require some sort of step of faith. Symptoms of ‘big but syndrome’ include rejecting opportunities, making constant excuses, continual procrastination, and failing to exercise faith in our own abilities/the goodness of humanity/ the ‘God factor’ to pull us over the line in a particular scenario.

It is important to be a critical thinker and evaluate situations, weighing up pros and cons. Having said that, don’t let the size of your “but” stop you from dipping a toe into the seas of life so that the waters can be parted for you to stride across!

PS: According to researchers at Oxford University, big butts protect against heart and metabolic problems. There’s hope yet!

Your Voice
by Kristin Hankins

1978 was an eventful year. China introduced the One Child Policy, Israel invaded Lebanon and Vietnam attacked Cambodia. The home-brewing of beer was legalised in the USA, the first test tube baby was born, and closer to home, the first Mardi Gras was held in Sydney. And, of course (although perhaps less notable) was the birth of Joshua Mark Zyderveld on Saturday, September 23rd.

Thirty…. two years on, and we find Josh at Avondale, living in dorms and studying International Development Studies (IDS). This isn’t, however, the only course that Josh has commenced. A seemingly perpetual student, Josh has dabbled in Primary Education, Secondary Education, the beginnings of an Arts degree, as well as a short period of Nursing.

Much of his time as a student was also spent in Watson Hall. “Dorm life is very different now – I used to be the social butterfly who needed to be included in everything. This still has its place, but now I have a life outside college,” Josh says. Somewhat surprisingly, he believes the cafeteria is the best part of college – “You spend every meal at a table with maybe 20 other people, all laughing and joking. In other environments this would happen once a month at best. It’s like a personal restaurant.”

But why, after all these years, has he settled with IDS? It may sound cliché, but Josh feels that this career choice is about making a difference. “I’ve always wanted to study something that gave me an increased awareness of international affairs. IDS does this, although I’ve definitely learnt more about the world from a combination of this study and my travels,” Josh says.

Recently, these travels have taken Josh out of his comfort zone, to explore the mysteries of India and Nepal. He shares how arriving at Calcutta was one of the most intense experiences of the trip – upon landing, he was immediately confronted by the “stench of dirty people and putrid open sewage”. Josh was able to establish a connection with the culture and the land through the many adventures he had and people he met during his time away. This connection with the culture has instilled in Josh a desire to live a simple, moral life.

This trip is only one of many experiences Josh has had since finishing school, including both getting his skydiving licence, and spending six hours climbing a 150m high cliff (which he states was the most terrifying thing he has ever done!). Because of the diversity of his life, some students believe that Josh Zyderveld is all about experience rather than success. And, apart from the measure of success required to fund these experiences, Josh definitely agrees.

by Sara Thompson

Wikipedia calls it “the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects”. For my fellow un-sciencey types out there, we’ll just call it time. And with all the rushing to and fro we do during this awful academic season of ‘mad May’, I’m going to attempt to speak for all of us here: when it comes to time, most of us never seem to have enough of it.

All of a sudden, it’s May. Exams are looming, and somewhere on your desk, under those enormous, expensive, rarely-read textbooks, abandoned in favour of episodes of Greys Anatomy or How I met your Mother, are the many assignments that are now due – all at once.

And then there are the promises that you made this time last year (or, if you’re a first year, the ones you are probably about to make sometime in the very near future) – “Next semester, it’s ALL going to be different!”

No discouragement intended, but if you’re like most of us, it probably won’t be.

That doesn’t mean to say you can’t or won’t improve your time management skills. I’m sure it’s possible (or so I’ve been told!). But try not to stress too much – it’s only going to make it worse. Don’t beat yourself up too much about it all in the present. After all, what’s done is done, and now is the time we get to pick up the pieces of our academic mess and straighten everything up for the home run.

“Time is free, but it’s priceless.
You can’t own it, but you can use it.
You can’t keep it, but you can spend it.
Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”
– Harvey MacKay

Keep the goal in focus, but when you need a break, take one. Try to find the balance between study and leisure – I’ve heard there is one!

Time – its precious, and its valuable. Make the most of every opportunity. And don’t worry – it’s not too much longer before the textbooks can go away for a while…

…until next semester, anyway!