"Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty"

So here it goes. I am going to attempt to put into words my experience as a member of Hillsong Church. Just as a little disclaimer, words will never due our experiences justice.

When you think of Hillsong Church, what comes to mind? "Shout to the Lord"? Darlene Zschech? Or maybe Brian Houston? Or even "that mega charismatic church in Australia". It is true Hillsong is known for all of these things. I would dare to say, that in the past 3 Sundays we've sat under some of the world's best preaching, teaching, and worship. I've heard preaching like I've never heard before. Scriptures come to light like I've never known. *Side note, if you've never heard Christine Cain preach you must log onto the Hillsong website and take a listen. She is one sista who can bring it!* And the worship...I can't find a word powerful enough to describe Hillsong worship. We've seen some of the world's best lead the congregation in raw and authentic worship. But the one think I've discovered, its not the speakers or the world renown worship leaders that make Hillsong. Its the body as a whole. The body of believers who truly flesh out the body of Christ. As I was worshipping on Sunday, I realized for the first time I wasn't focused on the great music or the awesome band, but I was fully enveloped in the presence of God. I experienced the Holy Spirit in a corprate setting like never before. I was surrounded by a body of believers, of all cultures and races, yearning and thirsty for the Lord. I've never seen such a group of believers so excited to worship the Lord. I've never seen a body of believers so humbled to worship the Lord. And I've never seen believers so thirsty for the Lord. And its authentic. I have to admit, that was the most suprising thing. Its easy to walk in and see a bunch of crazy people jumping around and dancing and it may appear that on stage and in the congregation its all for show. But then as you linger and experience more, you see that these people are just truly excited to be in the presence of God! I think as Christians sometimes worshipping becomes so routine that when we are surrounded by those who are truly excited and thrilled to worship the Lord, its easy to dismiss it as show (this isn't always the case). At least that was my case. As I surveyed the congregation on Sunday, I was convinced I was experiencing an itsy bitsy taste of what it will be like in heaven. Raw, unashamed, humble, JOYOUS worship to the King. And Iwas surrounded by people from all over the world. Europeans, Africans, Indonesians, Asians, Indians, Canadians, Americans, Australians, and so many more in one room lifting high the name of Christ. Indescribable.

Aside from great worship services, we've been welcomed like a King and Queen. People go out of their way to greet us and actually sit down and check on us. Hillsong has a coffee bar for people to mingle after the services. Each Sunday we've been we've had numerous people ask us if we'd like to sit down for a coffee. Now this is after morning service at like 12:30pm, when most families and people want to rush home or out to a restraunt. How guilty I was of that! After a hard Sundays work all I wanted to do was rush home. Gulp. However, so many people have sat down and had meaningful conversation with us. No hurry. No rush. Complete strangers spending an hour of their time after church just chatting with us. Once people find out we're a married couple from overseas, they go out of their way to make us feel at home. There isn't a day gone by without a friend or stranger call, text, stop by, or have us over for dinner. I've never felt so welcomed in my life. Going so far from home is hard at times, but when I'm having a hard time the phone always seems to ring, at the perfect time, with a friend calling to check up on us. The sense of community from such a HUGE church is simply unbelievable. I am so thankful and can't ever repay these people for the sense of belonging they've given.

This post is SO long and I haven't even gotten to "Vision Sunday" we had last week. But I'm going to leave you in suspense! I want to leave you with thank you. Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragment. You have no idea how much it means being so far away from home!

We love you!

Back To School!

Yes, that is correct! Today is Brian's first day at Hillsong Leadership College! He was so excited! And so was I. I think I got a glimpse at motherhood today. I felt as if I was sending my firstborn off to school for the first time. I made him a hearty breakfast, packed him a sack lunch, and got him on his way! I was so PROUD! I even shed some tears after he left. I can't wait to see what the Lord has for my Bri. Here are some other goings on in our world...
*We celebrated our first holiday, Australia Day, in Sydney! Australia Day is the day the country was founded. However, Australia is NOT a completely independent country. They are a commonwealth of England. We had a great weekend of celebration complete with: a great dinner at a quaint cafe, trip to downtown Sydney, a trip to Darling Harbour (AMAZING), BBQ with friends, pool time, and movies! A great weekend.
*Internet. Still don't have it in the flat. Getting frustrated...grr! We rely on quaint cafe's and internet cafes near our place to get connected.
*There is a hole in the ozone above Sydney. I've been told this by heaps of people. However, I am now experiencing it, first-hand, with the burn I got laying out.
*Coffee. Coffee is divine. No exaggeration. I've never experienced coffee like it is here. However, there is NO such thing as "drip coffee" its all specialty. Just a note on how good it is...Brian has become a coffee drinker! And if you know Brian, you know just how great the coffee is here!
*J-O-B. I've applied to heaps and heaps of jobs. I'm an expert at the whole application/resume process now! There are lots of great opportunities out there. Please pray that I find a job that I enjoy soon! Brian cannot begin work until he has his school schedule which will be after Wednesday.
*Church...so much to say on this subject. In the short time we've attended Hillsong, I've learned SO much. As a matter of fact, I'm STILL processing. I am going to devote a WHOLE post on this later this week. Lets just say, God is at work in this place!
So good to be in blog world today. We love you all heaps and heaps!

Australian Dictionary:
Rubbish-Trash
Arvo-Afternoon
Sunnies-Sunglasses
I reckon-I believe, I think
Tomato Sauce-Ketchup
Take Away-To go
Lollie-Candy

A Taste of Sydney

Sorry our posts are few and far between since we've arrived, but we don't have internet in our flat yet.  Internet service is very different here.  You must pay by download and not a flat fee each month.  Crazy.  So we're trying to find the best package for us.  In addition, we are waiting on our debit cards to arrive, and can't set up internet until they do.  So we're crossing our fingers to get wireless by the end of the week.  So bare with us till then!!!  However, we do have some pictures of the city.  And can I say its beautiful here?  Since we've arrived we've spent most of our time finding appliances and furniture for our flat.  So we haven't had lots of time to explore the city yet.  Most of these pics were taken at Rose Bay.  Tomorrow we are FINALLY going to the beach, so we'll have heaps more pics later.  So start the drumroll......here is Sydney:

This is us next to Rose Bay on our way to our friends' place.  We had so much fun with them!!!

This is the view from our balcony in our room.  Unbelievable!

Well, that is going to have to do for now.  We'll post more after we visit the lovely beach tomorrow.  Words can't express how much we appreciate your prayers.  We love you all SO much.  And miss you heaps!!!

Australian Dictionary:

Flat-apartment

Heaps-lots

*Thought you might need this, so you can learn the Aussie way too!!!

G'day from Sydney!

Hello All!

We arrived safe, sound, and with all our luggage here in Sydney on Thursday (our time). While I'd love to tell you about our journey so far, we don't have phone or internet hookup yet. It is one of our top priorities so we can start communicating regularly. Just wanted to say we're here safe, LOVE IT, and will be up and running with internet soon!

Thanks so much for all of your prayers of safe travel over us! We felt them. It was such a smooth travel.

More soon!!

erika.

Bon Voyage!

Tomorrow is the day!  The day we've known about for 9 months!  This journey leading up to tomorrow has had the highest of highs and lowest of lows.  Nothing has stretched my faith like this process.  Through all of the laughter and tears, God's hand has been evident in it all.  I've witnessed miracles.  Like I've never before.  And I can't wait to see what he has in store.  I know there will be more laughter and tears.  But I know we'll see our faithful heavenly Father through it all. And for that I'm excited.  I'm excited to see even bigger miracles than I've witnessed already.  

As we travel, we'd love & appreciate all the prayer we can get!  Those of you who have ever gotten on a plane and experienced delays know what I'm talking about!  Here are a couple of requests:  

*Weather-It is supposed to snow a considerable amount in Chicago, and unfortunately we are flying through O'Hare.  Please pray that we will not experience any delays and arrive to Sydney as planned.

*Luggage-On a mission trip to India my luggage was separated from the plane.  I went 2 days without anything but the clothes on my back.  Terrible.  However, this time we are traveling with ALL our belongings.  Please pray that our luggage arrives at the Sydney Airport WITH us.  

*Smooth Travel-Alert Pilot, safe travel conditions, etc.  A gracious friend in Sydney has agreed to pick us up from the airport when we arrive.  We also have a "welcoming team" waiting at the church for us.  I would HATE to miss this due to a delay.  Please pray that we won't experience any significant delays that would push our arrival in Sydney back. 

*Sleep-I don't sleep much on airplanes.  Our total travel time is 31 hours.  Enough said. 

*Health-No sleep.  Close quarters.  Winter.  Time change.  Again, enough said.

*Arrival-Pray that despite all the LONG hours traveling we won't be so overwhelmed when we arrive that we miss out on enjoying our first day in Sydney!

Thanks so much for your prayers.  There are no words to describe our gratitude for you all.  We truly have felt such a blanket of prayer over us.  We couldn't have done it without 'em.  

Last, but not least, travel details.  We will leave KCI at 9:55am tomorrow morning and fly to Chicago, LA, Fiji, and then arrive in Sydney Wednesday night at 7:30pm (your time).  It will be 12:30 pm Sydney time.  FYI, we are 17 hours ahead in Sydney.

Next time we blog we'll be in the land "down under"!!!!

XOXO

erika.

9 Days

Bandy/Opperman Family Christmas'

Bandy Family

Opperman Family

 9 Days, oh my goodness it is so close.  It has been a long time coming, but has gone so fast.  We have had so much fun through this whole process so far.  We are so so so very grateful for all of your prayers and support.  We have heard from so many of you, words of encouragement and that you are praying for us, and believe me we can definitely tell.  God is blessing us so much with everything that we need.  We have made contacts there and people that we are so excited to meet in person.  

We had such a fun Christmas and last few weeks with our families.  Please pray for us in this area.  Erika and I are very family oriented and will miss our families very much.  We had the Opperman side of the family Christmas on the 23rd, and we had the Bandy side of the family Christmas on Christmas Day.  Attached are some pictures of the fun that we have had with our families.   Thank you all so much again for being a part of our lives and investing in us.  I cant wait to take a lot of pictures when we first get there, and share them with you. 

Tidbits

Sorry it's been so long since we've updated. These past few weeks have been a whirlwind, and I have a feeling our last few weeks in the States will not be any less crazy! But its a good crazy. Our next weeks include spending as much time with family and friends as possible while squeezing in last minute preparations. Brian and I are savoring every second. Not taking anything for granted. A lot has happened since the last post, so I'm going to give you the reader's digest version. I promise our next post will include pictures of all the fun we're having with family and friends.

• We have an APARTMENT. I know this was included in the last post, but I'll go into some detail. We will be living in the on campus apartments for married students. However this is not your momma's normal campus apartments. Hillsong leases a complex of apartments from a large company in Sydney. They are located in Waterloo, which is in Sydney, next to campus and church. Very convienent for Brian to walk to class. We're right there with the heart of Sydney at our fingertips which is great for job opportunities and transportation...and shopping(not that I would EVER dream of such a thing)....hehe. Our apartment consists of a master suite (bedroom and bathroom), kitchen/dining area, and a living room. Here is the link for you to take a virtual tour of a similar apartment. Ours won't come with all the decor and such but it will give you an idea of the layout of our place. http://www.realestate.com.au/realestate/agent/meriton+sydney/mhdsyd/102589302
• I'm DREADING packing. Brian and I are taking 3 suitcases a piece, however, we were informed by our international flight that none of the suitcases can exceed 66lbs... or else. Or else we have to LEAVE something at the airport. No fees, but if it the weight is over the limit you CAN'T take it with you. The kind lady with the airline informed us that with international flights they have to put a strict policy in place or their won't be enough luggage room for all the passengers. This means I'm gonna have to master the art of packing. We have some tricks up our sleeves. I have a blueprint of our suitcases and I know what is going in each suitcase! On the up side, this has made me get rid of things I NEVER wear. It also helps that we won't need a bunch of heavy sweaters or coats.
• We're on the job hunt. Brian already has an interview lined up shortly after we arrive and a lead on another job. Please continue to pray that the Lord provide us with jobs. On the job note, tomorrow is our LAST day of working here in the States. I am going to miss Commerce so much. When I started I just thought it would be a good temporary job, but nothing more. I never imagined I'd make such great relationships with my coworkers. What a blessing these people and job has been for me. My last day will definately bring tears. But they're throwing me a party, so it will be a day of laughter as well!
• It SNOWED in KC...TWICE. As it was coming down I was thinking about how much I'll miss snow in Sydney. That was until I had to drive in it...ick! It nearly doubled my commute time.

T minus 27 days till take off!