Last and final Post!

My adventure to Western Australia began in June 2009 where I went along to an interview in Milton Keynes, offered to me by Scripture Union. They offered me a place to go between January 2010 and July 2010- I took it!
I looked around lots of ‘Christian Gap Year overseas mission trips’ on the internet prior to this and Scripture Union really caught my attention because of the wide spread activity that was going on in 130 different countries across the world. I knew I wanted to go to an English speaking country so that narrowed it down pretty quickly. Perth in Western Australia really caught my attention because there was so much you could volunteer for.
Scripture Union Western Australia (SUWA) is made up of three departments. Schools, Camps and a Theatre company. They all work at the same cosy little site, in a suburb called Mount Hawthorn in Perth.
My internship took place with ‘Warriuka’ (camping department). I spent all of my 6 months working for them, apart from a well deserved break to Melbourne and Sydney at the end! As a ‘Warriuka intern’ my job was to assist on the running of camps which schools, in WA, signed up for. The ‘Field workers’ oversea the directing and running of camps. I organised and lead some of the activities and often had a group of 15 students on camp to be responsible for. During the day we did different activities with the students. Depending on the age group and the location of the camp I covered: Canoeing; Kayaking; Abseiling; Rock climbing; Caving; Hiking and Flat water rafting. The other intern (Brian- from Belfast) and I got alot of training before we lead any of these activities. Some of them you had to have qualifications for, but the three Field workers that were leading our internship took every opportunity to challenge us and stretch our skills. For example the ‘Warriuka Family’ (Brian and I and the three field workers Anna Ross and Keith) went on a Kayak training day, and we took a wrong turning down a steep hill and a corner. I was driving the Warriuka Ute (Nissan Navarra) and a big trailer with all the boats on the back. They asked me to stop and reverse back up! I was so convinced there was no way I could do this so I tried to prove them wrong- I had a go and actually did it quite well! I definitely surprised myself that day. Not once in the 6 months did they doubt my ability, and the fact they had faith in me was so encouraging. During the evening of each camp we did ‘Warriuka time’. This was a quieter time of the day where we introduced the Bible and get the students talking about different issues. The idea was to link the days activities to the discussion, for example going through a dark cave with only a torch to guide you and the reflectors showing you the way is like God’s guidance. As I got more confident at leading all of this I began to realise that if there was one thing I wanted to tell the students in my group, and the one thing they could take away from the week, was that Jesus died for them on the cross and that He loves them even if they may not even know Him in their lives. All of the schools that signed with us were Christian/ Baptist/ Catholic so they let us go quite deep with the discussions which was awesome.
Whilst I was based in Perth, Scripture Union organised my accommodation with local host families. For the first 3 months I lived in 3 different houses because of the current circumstances. I really made great connections with the couple I was staying with first. They were from Kenya and they really took care of me, it was a great comfort to me and my parents to know I was happy at home. After one of the camps around easter time I moved permanently into a really nice couple’s house. I began to settle alot more there and it was very easy getting places to meet friends because it was right next to the train station and took 12 mins to get into the city. The beach was also just down the main road, which is very different from my home in Cambridge!
Whilst I was in Perth I found two really great churches that I attended. The first one some friends and I found was called St Matts Uni Church, which met in on of the UWA (Uni Western Australia) lecture halls. It was the church alot of the Uni students went to and had a usual number of about 400 people. The teaching at this church was really great in-depth Bible study which I found really engaging. I also went to C3 (Christian City Church) Joondalup. I found this from being invited by a great friend, Jess (the SU receptionist) to a film night as part of their young adults work, the very first saturday I was in Perth in fact! The teaching worship ministry and people were awesome- everyone was so welcoming and so excited Brian and I had come along (we were know well because we were the new English and Irish people!) I got involved with the connect group in a friends home around Easter time, which was really good for getting to know people on a lower key environment. There was about 10 of us in the group and we prayed together alot which I really enjoyed, and even if I wasn’t there I knew they would be praying for me on camp.
Sadly I had to leave at the end of July. It was hard because I felt like I was still getting to know people. We had a leaving party the saturday before we went home (I say we being Emily, Brian and myself, the 3 interns from UK). To my surprise about 20 people turned up at the airport to say goodbye to us- and they had even wrote us a song! But it was a great way to say goodbye to some amazing people that had made such a difference in my life.
Coming back home has been hard at times because 6 months went so quickly, but also really great seeing my Brother getting married, and catching up with friends. I start University at the end of September to study Photography at Nottingham Trent for the next 3 years. I would really recommend anyone that is thinking of taking a gap year to work for an organisation to definitely go for it! It really helped me grow up and make sure I can ‘fend for myself’. Its such a great opportunity and the best time to do it whilst you have no responsibilities! You only live once!