Its interesting how people respond to open doors or challenges, that arise during times in their lives. I'm referring to the happenings that providentially occur. Crossing paths with people, experiencing new things, traveling abroad - all for reason and purpose.
Timing is everything.
My buddy, Andrew, says it best - "there is no such thing is coincidence with God".
Opportunities, challenges, and open doors, are continually colliding with peoples lives. Unexpectedly, at random points they happen. Perhaps you can relate? These spontaneous occurrences I'm getting at, are the over seas missions, telling someone you love them, jumping off a plane, or whatever the case may be. Basically, something crazy or unusual that can (will) forever put a stamp on your life. Or at least get the ball rolling. Something monumental. Something epic. Something adventurous.
Sometimes accepting these challenges can be risky. Sometimes they encompass life altering implications. For better or for worse.
It's neat to see how these people react to their personal challenges. Because they certainly are challenges. Challenges of faith. Where people either act on them, or waste them.
I'd like to think I responded alright. God was my compass.
In November of 2007, I was living/working in a suburb just north of Toronto, called Markham. My buddy Mark, had discovered a job, working at a golf course. Another mate, named Andrew Moore, also tagged along. The 3 of us roomed together for nearly 3 months. I made so many great memories during this season of my life.Unfortunately, this golf course job was only seasonal work. So, the three of us had under 2-3 months to save up for an epic roadtrip. Similar to the one Mark and I journeyed on, six months earlier.
The days were winding down. I had blown nearly all my savings. It became obvious that taking a big trip did not seem realistic. At least by looking at my bank statements. I needed some kind of blessing (preferable the money type) to fund my trip. Mark and Andrew had managed to do fairly good financially. Andrew even bought this old car, from a Russian mechanic.
Sometime in early November, Mark was 'surfing' the net. He had always been an avid Hillsong United fan (Christian band that originates from Australia.) One day, something sparked him to further research Australia. He soon discovered that a working holiday visa was attainable for those who live under the commonwealth. One thing led to another, and within days, he bought a plane ticket. He asked me to join him, but I just could not afford to go. After spending a few days praying about the trip, hoping I could get enough money, Mark lent me the funds to buy a plane ticket.
Andrew would go on a journey of his own - a cross continent trip through the United States and Canada. This trip would include a couple of Switchfoot concerts, and a visit to Mount Rush-more. Unfortunately, Andrew's originally planned route never materialized. US customs would had other plans for this Jewish-looking character. Andrew was denied entry at the boarder and forced to modify his travel plans. Instead he took a 3 week road trip through western Canada.
Knowing Mark and I wouldn't be home for Christmas, we flew back to the east coast to say our good byes. Ten days later, we were on Aussie soil..
My overseas experience wouldn't begin until I took a hideous sixteen hour bus ride down to NYC. I arrived New York City a day before my departed flight out of JFK.
My flight scheduling was modified the day of my departure, so I had to spend a couple extra days in NYC. I didn't know what to do. Certainly spending money on accommodation wasn't an option, as it would go against my morals. Paying for room and board would be especially brutal in NYC, where I would likely have to give up an arm or leg for a bed. There was just no way I was laying down 500 bones, for a little shut eye. I had to improvise. I started lurking the airport. There was an arcade room, sheltered and darkened from all the other hole-in-the-wall stores/fast food outlets. I tied my 3 bags to my leg, and set a battery alarm clock next to my head. This cement bench would be my bedside for the next couple nights.
My three nights at the airport weren't entirely hideous. The first night, I met a middle aged women from New Orleans. She was in between flights, after returning from vacation in Europe. She gave me her whole life story, then showed me all the pictures from her trip.
The next day I met a couple dudes from South Africa. These boys had gone through quite the journey, and had quite the story to go with it. Over the last year or more, they had worked in wheat fields across western Canada, and northern parts of the United States. One of the guys had lost his father during this time, but didn't have the appropriate funds to fly home to South Africa for the funeral. I can't even imagine how it was for him to go home. Both the dudes were sweet and I enjoyed hearing their travel stories. They even bought me MacDonalds, which was sweet cause I had just run out of American currency.
While lurking the airport on my last day before the rescheduled flight, I also made friends with a German dude. If my memory serves me correctly this dude was doing some traveling alone. There was a language barrier, but we still got on pretty good. We even traded some coins.
Times were tense. Nervousness of the flight and uncertainness of our trip started to settle in. Luckily God was handy to implement some humor into my life. As I went to the desk to pick up my new plane ticket, I began conversing with the dude behind the counter. Generally I am keen to pick up the whereabouts of a persons accent. However, his accent was unique, so I questioned him about it. He told me his father was from originally from Iceland. Then he told me his mother was from Cuba. As a kid, his mates called him an Ice cube.
My day of departure finally arrived that last week in November. I flew out of NYC, with a three hour layover in Abu Dhabi. My short time spent at the Abu Dhabi International terminal was one to remember. For the first time in my life, I was of the minority. Everyone around me looked like they came off the broadway set of Aladdin. My only souvenir from the airport was a newspaper I grabbed before jumping on my flight to Sydney. Twenty-seven hours after leaving NYC, I finally landed in Sydney. This was my first over seas experience. Anticipation and anxiousness consumed my emotions. All Mark and I were planning, was to catch Hillsong. The both of us had no long term plans, really. In fact, we didn't even have a place to stay. We had no job lined up. We were both packing about $1000 bucks each.
Our flights arrived 15 minutes apart. When I saw Marko I embraced him with a massive hug. Apart from God, all we could count on was each other. I remember minutes after flying in, we just kind a looked at each other; not knowing where to go from there. We made friends with two Swedish girls who were on a similar journey. They were both Christian chicks, as well as Hillsong fans. We then met a guy from Holland. They five of us lurked the city streets, with no particular destination. We were just itchy for some adventure.
We found out that there were free busy around the city that take you to Hillsong church. We hopped on one, and made our way to Church.
We arrived at Hillsong with anxious anticipation. The worship was unreal and something that I think would really fly on the east coast of Canada. The dude delivering the message even called Mark on stage and used him for the message. Then the music began. Far out, the holy spirit was moving like mad. I met some church members after the service. One women who was about 60 years old asked me to join her in the church cafe. She prayed over me and assured me that God had some groovy plans in-store for my life.
Mark and I then got introduced to some Hillsong College students. There were two German blokes, Ricardo and another dude who's named had slipped my mind. There was also an english guy named Ian Halfpenny. The three of them were flatting at an apartment in downtown Sydney. Before heading to a post worship hang out sesh at a local pub, they invited us to crash with them until we figured things out.
We stayed with the three internationals for a couple days, letting our bodies adjust to the time zones and jet leg. We then took a train to the Central Coast (2 hours north of Sydney). Mark had intentions of playing semi-pro hockey with a team on the central coast. So, he lugged around his hockey gear around till we got settled.
We took the train to the city of Gosford. There, we took a bus to Erina Fair - One of the largest shopping centers in the Southern Hemi. We walked into the local hockey rink, hoping we could put Mark's gear in storage, and ask for directions to God knows where.
At the rink, we met a dude named Micah Rae. After some small talk, we made the connection with him that he came from similar beliefs. We told him of our previous few days in Sydney, and checking out Hillsong. He then went on to ask us if we were "christian guys".
He then went back to his booth to call his parents. One thing led to an other, and we were off to his house for supper. We arrived at the Rae's house, welcomed by Momma Merelyn Rae. We also got introduced to Micah's brother Sam. Brother-in-law, Eric was also hanging out.
During my months on the coast, I also got involved in Pastor Rae's Baptist Church. It was a smaller congregation, but had a great Small group program. I also joined a cell group. Periodically, I would head to Sydney with mates, to catch Hillsong services.
To make a long story short, we spent the following three months at their house. Tony and Mereyln even threw me a 21st birthday in December. They also helped Mark and I find work, driving us around and running off resume's.
The month of December consisted of mostly bumming around the beach, attempting to surf, and just hanging out. After a few weeks of that, I knew I should probably start being a little more productive. Mark found a job at a restaurant in a little beach town, called Terrigal. I did what I do best, and piggy packed him, landing the same job. There were great perks to working in over seas hospitality, and we benefited from all of them. Every night we worked closing shifts, we took home all the left overs. The owners also paid us $15 an hour (cash in hand). Soon enough, Mark and I made enough to money to buy a car off E bay.
During A week in January, I was working a day shift at the restaurant. It was super busy, as there was a surf camp put on by Hillsong. I served a table with a bunch of Hillsong students. Over small talk, I made connection with them that I was also a christian. Next thing I know, one of the girls offered me to position to travel with some members of Hillsong Church. This group worked in-conjunction with an national organization, called the Halogen Foundation. They travelled through out Oceania and parts of Asia to promote the ideology of leadership. I went on tour with this organization for ten days, making stops in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Melbourne. Rather than flying back to Sydney at the end of the tour, I stayed in Melbourne. I heard interesting things in regards to the lifestyle there, so I stayed for a couple extra weeks, before flying back to the Central Coast.
Upon returning back to the coast I learnt that my job at the restaurant was not as secure as I presumed it was. Some employees were let go, while new ones were hired on. I was one of the unlucky ones. I urgently began job hunting once again. Considering my flight home was not completely paid off, time was scarce.
Upon returning to the coast, I considered what I might do next. I met up with Mark, who I hadn't seen in over a month. He was looking to head home soon and take advantage of the companion pass he had with an airline company. He left in mid-March. God was about to cross his path with a wifey in L.A. After meeting a girl at a magic show on the streets of L.A, a three day layover was quickly changed to a 50 day vacation.
Back in Aussie, I was needing a place to stay. Just before I went on tour I knew I should find some other temporary accommodation An employee from the restaurant I worked at, offered me room and board. The circumstances surrounding this housing situation were rather unique, in-comparison to my stay with the Rae family. Glenn Skelton was a 34 year old homosexual. He smoked the occasional oregano, and loved a good glass of wine. To make matters even more difficult, I was homophobic at the time. However, they say beggars can not be choosers, so I swallowed my pride and moved into his flat. I still remember emailing my parents and letting them know of my latest happenings. Understandably enough, they were confused with me choice of accommodation. Especially my father, a baptist pastor. Though Glenn and I became good mates and I was given the opportunity to share my faith with him while we lived together. To this day, we still talk often and love the guy very much.
During my time working at the restaurant, I made friends with a Thai girl who worked at a neighboring Thai take-out. Her name is Laksamee Phasin. She was sensitive to my situation and offered me accommodation at her flat. She also employed me at the restaurant. The location was convenient to everything. I was only a skip away from work. Terrigal beach was forty feet across the road. Once again, I was truly blessed.
I can not write a blog about my adventures in Australia, with out talking about one more person. Her name is Pip. Supposedly related to Fijian princess... But that wasn't her only claim to fame. I had never met a girl so beautiful in the inside as she was on the outside. I remember hanging out with her in Terrigal. We would get lunch together and then go sit on the Terrigal rocks. I think she was as much as a dreamer as I was. I throughly enjoyed her company and our friendship. I'm excited for the megga plans God has for her life.
So in more than a nut shell, this is the tale of a vagabond canuck, keen for more than your typical 8 - 5 'sit on your ace' office job. I'd do it all over again..
No comments:
Post a Comment