Why Australia?

I never really questioned anything growing up. I pretty much had my life planned out for me. I went to school, came home from school, did homework and any other extracurricular activities, went to church, and hung out with friends and family. I did this for 12 years. I got in a pretty nice comfortable routine. Then I went to college. There is a little bit of an identity crisis that goes on trying to find your place in a whole new environment, but we make it. We enjoy college, and we learn new independence. But what happens when those 4 years are over? Our lives are no longer planned out. Suddenly that routine ends. We have to grow up. We have to get jobs. We have to figure out what we want to do with the rest of our lives. To put it lightly, that’s a little intimidating. That’s where I’m at. I have thought about this time in my life, but I never imagined it like this. I somehow thought I would have more of an idea where my life would be headed than I do. It never seems to end up like we dream it does it? The Lord truly does have other plans. Here I am graduating in less than 2 months, going to Australia to build relationships with people in hopes of sharing the gospel, something that has terrified me to do my whole life, and then coming back to no job.

I will be honest, I always did dream of going to Australia ever since Mary Kate and Ashley’s movie “Our Lips are Sealed” came out, but I never thought that dream would come true. And I never thought it would be for missions. I always imagined missions only involving Africa, China, India, and maybe sometimes South America. Australia, really? But they are westernized, they have heard the gospel, right? Christianity Today magazine states this. “In mid-2001, 124,224 Australians and New Zealanders told their national censuses that their religion was "Jedi," which reflected both their love of the Star Wars movies and their rejection of "organized religion." "It was a way of saying to traditional churches, 'You're not providing what we want,'" Chris Brennan, director of the Star Wars Appreciation Society of Australia, told Wired News.”

Yes, they have “heard it,” but have they really? Countries like India, China, Thailand, and such have a much larger amount of poverty. At least they realize their need for something. This is where you have Muslims and Buddhists. They worship something higher than themselves, and though it may be hard to convince them that Jesus is the only way, the concept of worshipping someone other than yourself is not new. And I would say Australia is not that way. It has the same mentality that a growing number of Americans have taken.--“I am the only one worthy of worship. I am the only one who can satisfy. I am the only one that matters.” And convincing someone to take their eyes off of themselves and realize their needs is tough. That’s a constant battle for myself. I hate to depend on other people, even my own parents. It almost seems like a form of weakness, and it becomes a constant burden in my relationship with the Lord. So yes, Australia is westernized. The Gospel is there. But you will find so many people that are lost and don’t even know it. They are just turned off to religion in general. Wow, how can I, a 22 year old from Birmingham, Alabama who was raised in church her whole life and never really questioned anything try to share the Gospel with people who potentially want to have nothing to do with Jesus or the Bible or any form of “religion.” This is not where I expected myself to be after graduating college, but right now, there’s nowhere else I would rather be.

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21