Mid Feb update

Dear friends,

Well, time keeps flying by. 20 Feb has arrived and with it, the start of semester one at Ridley.

So, what have we been up to?

Church
On 12 February, we were officially welcomed to the 11am community at St Jude's. It was actually nice to be pointed out as 'newbies', as it afforded people the opportunity to come up and have the 'so, you're new!' conversations. The service was followed by lunch on Lygon St, where we enjoyed getting to know more people.

Connected to this, we attended out first home group on Thursday night (16th). It's a young adult (or young adult at heart) group and we spent the time sharing dinner and getting to know each other. Of course, this couldn't happen without the good old 'Two Truths and a Lie' game. I found it more fun to think up three lies, personally!! This home group meets fortnightly, so this Thursday we'll attend another homegroup to be part of in the alternate weeks.

Ridley
While today marks the first day of Semester One, it also marks the end of the Greek A Intensive, which Stephen had been doing. He still has a couple of classes before a end of 'semester' test on Monday 5 March. This is a big prayer point, especially as he now needs to juggle 3 other subjects and still keep his Greek practice going daily.

For this semester, Stephen's subjects are; Greek, Old Testament, New Testament & Evangelism & Ministry Foundations.

Sarah is doing Old Testament, New Testament, Evangelism & Ministry Foundations and a Gospel of John extensive. Extensives are held over 3 weekends.

We have also just come back from Launch Camp, where ourselves and 70 other students + faculty spent time meeting each other, sharing meals, and hearing talks from the faculty about what we can expect at Ridley and some of its values and aims.

It was a fantastic time, in the beautiful setting of Upper Plenty Conference Centre. We did laugh that we ended up sharing, not just the same lodge, but WALL as our housemates. Clearly God wants us to get to know each other quite well!!

We're so pleased about what we heard on the weekend. The returning students were very generous in their praise of the College, in particular, the emphasis that's placed on community life and the integration between academic studies and personal transformation. We're excited about what God is going to teach us through our subjects and look forward to experiencing and contributing to the community life at Ridley through Chapel and shared lunches, prayer triplets and other student activities.

General
Overall we're settling in well. I (Sarah) have enjoyed filling in for Stephen's sister's netball team and having time to organise the house and write blog posts! But also very much looking forward to my first class tomorrow!!

On another note, we had to resubmit some paperwork to Centrelink after it apparently appeared in a black hole. This has further delayed the outcome of our application for financial support for another 2 weeks. We'd like to think we're reasonably patient people and this is certainly testing that belief!!

Please praise God for:
- Settling in well to St Jude's community, enjoying home group and meeting new people.
- The values of Ridley College, the excellent launch camp and our excitement to begin full semester together.
- This opportunity to spend time getting immersed in God's Word, studying it and allowing it to transform our lives.

Prayer points:
- Stephen's Greek exam on Monday 5 March.
- Patience with Centrelink!
- Diligence with study, especially for planning essays and exams.