I Saw Sydney Opera House and an Echidna

On Wednesday night my household set out on the road to Sydney. Moriah was invited to speak at The Beecoft Forum of the Major Issues And Theology Foundation, and we got to go with her. The topic for the evening was War and Christianity. There were four Speakers at the dinner. Rev. Moriah Hurst, a Baptist Minister with a pacifist Mennonite background, Chaplain Barrie Yesberg, the senior Fleet Command Chaplain for the Royal Australian Navy, Camilla Schippa, an international development worker who held senior positions at the United Nations for over 10 years, and Rev. Sion Gough Hughes, a minister of a Welsh Church in Melbourne who before the ministry was a professional soldier and was in active service during the first Gulf War. So it was a night of intense conversation about faith with incredibly intelligent and experienced people. All of whom are very passionate about there work and what they believe in.

We stayed in Sydney for all of Thursday and left Friday morning. So all day Thursday was devoted to seeing the sights of the city. We started the day at Manly Beach, one of the most famous beaches in Sydney. Let's just say I will never look at another beach the same way again. Also, its a good thing we went to the beach near Moriah's parent's house the night before. It would have been embarrassing freaking out at Manly. My team really likes the beach. We caught a ferry from Manly into the heart of Sydney. Awaiting us was the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera house. Two icons of Australian architecture. It sort of surreal seeing the Opera House. It's a building I've dreamed of going to since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but I never thought I would make it all the way to Australia. I guess I was wrong.

It was a great trip and we came home exhausted. We then only had about 6 hours before departing on another adventure. My team went with the Canberra Baptist Youth Group out to Caloola Farms, a beautiful little camp just outside the city nestled in the surrounding hills. It was youth camp weekend, comparable to youth retreats at FMC. It was a long weekend full of games and sports, music and bible study, laughter and fellowship. After four years of being heavily involved in a youth group, youth camp felt like home. All the kids are really great and have so much energy, especially for new games. I taught them Mennonite Madness. It got pretty heated in the end. I won. Oh yeah. It was a fantastic weekend. I even found myself participating in running games like Borrow the Balls and Capture the Flag. Who would have thought. On Sunday morning we were spending time outside thinking about the bible study we just had and one of the boys spotted an echidna. Along with the platypus it's the only mammal which lays eggs. They're not often seen in the wild, so it was pretty sweet. They look like porcupines, but they don't have quills, it's just their hair.