Merry Christmas!

Greetings to all!

Hoping everyone had an incredibly Merry Christmas, and enjoyed the festive holidays in a beautiful White Christmas back home in Canada. Yes, I miss snow, I know it doesn't make sense, but on Christmas day it does!

I'd like to share with you a small example of what Australia's Christmas looks like...





On that particular day of photos, I was hanging out with a good friend of mine from Germany named Matthias, and we both were a little burned.

I hear Manitoba is having a cold snap at this time of the year of -40C weather with the wind chill. I'm experiencing the opposite with +35C heat, and rising as we get closer to mid January.

The past 2 weeks have been incredibly busy, with 10 hour working shifts, 8 of them in a row one week, and a Christmas Spectacular at Hillsong Church during the 2 days off from work, serving in 5 different services. I was in charge of a team of confetti droppers from the 4th floor overlooking the crowd below for the "snow effect" for the play. I found it ironic that I miss snow from back home, and I was asked to make snow happen! My first thought was, "ya, lets make snow happen... fly me back to Canada." So with all the busy days behind, maybe I'll be lucky enough to have a few less hours this coming week, and hope that I can enjoy a FEW days off during the weeks to come, and enjoy the odd day here. Until then, I'll keep focused on my priorities, and work to save up for another semester of Degree, and continue strong in my studies. In that regard pray for me, with favor, and good will, integrity and strength to work hard, but not TOO hard!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I really miss you all, and love you all so much. Thanks for those that sent Christmas cards and Birthday Cards to me in the past 2 months, and thanks as well for the emails from friends and family during this season. You all mean so much to me, and I thank and love you all. I have been blessed with the best friends and family the world could ever ask for, and I'm truly grateful for you all in my life.

Well, till next time, I'll hopefully have some video footage of what New Years looks like, but I'm not sure exactly what my plans will be from this point.

Love Heaps!

To Return

WOW!

How long has it been since I've last posted?!
Answer: TOO LONG!

I just finished another 2000 word Essay for one of my subjects in Degree, and I'm happy with where its at, and glad its in on time, and done as best to my knowledge.

To play a bit of catch up, I've had nothing short of an "interesting" last few months, going on borderline quitting everything I came to Australia for, simply because I nearly lost all funding to be here. Not only that, I was robbed many months ago of my laptop, which played a vital resources in communicating with everyone back home, and also for assignments as well. I was blessed enough to have a tax return to help pay for a new laptop and an extra month of rent (unexpectedly). Also, I've been blessed with a job, I'm now working at Kmart as a loading dock employee, and also tend to filling stock while a few team members are away on vacation. This week alone, since I'm considered on "break" (which really means no classes, but heaps of studying), I've been scheduled over 40 hours. How amazing is that! Praise God!

Its been so long that I don't really know where to start in comparison to what all happened. We had Hillsong Conference at the beginning of July, and it went over really well. I was surprised to find my role in a larger leadership position than expected for serving, the Production team wanted me to keep in charge of lighting, power, and sound for all external venues of an arena that holds over 30,000 people. I will admit that the learning curves were very overwhelming, but once the swing of things were in motion, things did gradually get better and easier to run and solve any problems (if there were problems).

Since Conference, I've been enrolled in the Bachelor of Theology: Degree program hosted by Southern Cross College at the Hillsong Campus. Its a lot of words to really describe that I'm not a regular Hillsong College student anymore, and that a separate institution is educating me at Hillsong Church now. The lecturers are incredible, and I absolutely love the context and subject material we're covering now. The other side of this story is that I have more essays and assignments now than I ever had in previous educational institutions ever before. My 1st semester alone has exams worth 60% and papers to be submitted worth 40-50% of the subjects value. Each paper takes about 14 days of preparing and typing combined to submit a proper essay. Still the process is helping me learn so much more than I could ask for. My favorite subject is Church History.

I'd like to continue more on catching up, but at the moment, I have to catch some much needed rest to start another working shift tomorrow morning at 9:00am.

Until next time, loved ones,

Sincerely,
Paul Ross

Finding Favor

So if you've been keeping up with my posts, you'll have noticed this month being one I've been expecting and believing for Miracles.

I'm just going straight to the point, and share with you how I feel. This might be a giant vent, so your warning has been given.

Late last night, our house was broken into and robbed. They stole my laptop, my school bag that had my Bible, Journal, and signatures I needed to pass my 1st year of Leadership College and Conference forms needed to complete for the final assessment. They also took my house mate's $7000.00 Carbon Fiber Bicycle and his bag he had downstairs as well, with some extra cloths, and some gear for drumming and extras he had. Our house wasn't the only target, it was a mass neighborhood plan, since two houses down from ours also had the same problem, and 4 other houses in our community area had the same situation.

This month has been nothing short but testing and filled with trials. I'm taking every thing in strides as best I can, and am not enjoying it. My year is coming to an end, and I still believe Degree is where I'm called to be in Australia! I can't help but be frustrated with circumstances in life at the moment, and just harbor this all in this stressful season I'm in, and continue my lesson in learning Trust, and keep my Faith strong. The truth is that you honestly don't want to know what I'm thinking right now, and how it feels like everything in my world is falling apart, just because I've chosen to make this stand, to believe in something, and feel how more and more impossible the oppositions feel. I can't help but think, how Big and Mighty my God is! If a small man of David's stature could take down a giant named Goliath, or if Moses can overcome his weaknesses in leadership to rise above and lead millions of people out of Egypt's exile, or if Joseph has a dream of rising above to be the second highest authority in command, but had to go through hell to have what was promised, than I feel their pain. I feel their sorrows, I feel their anger, their faith, their trust, their weaknesses and their strengths.

I feel as though I shouldn't say anymore than this, every thing that has brought me to this point in life has happened too recently for me to allow myself to go on.

My quest for finding God's favor continues...

Month of Miracles

Greetings to all,

First and foremost, before I really get into this post, I'd like to publicly congratulate my good friends Candace & Calvin Martens on their new born baby Daughter Calista Grace! Congratulations, and may God bless Calista with two of the most loving parents I know.

Well, it has been another 3 weeks since my last post and still haven't worked at my previous employers position delivering furniture, and have been continuing my lesson in trust. I must admit, that it hasn't been an easy lesson to learn, and am struggling to understand what I should do next, but I continue to seek God's favor in everything. One thing that is pressing upon me with worry, is the fact that in about a month from now, I'd like to have everything ready to enroll in the Bachelor of Theology: Degree program from Southern Cross, hosted at the Hillsong Church Hills campus, and financially I'll need a miracle to see it pass.

Here at Church, and with all the students in College wanting to continue on with studying, it seems to be a theme that we are all in need of financial aid, to keep going further in growing and learning with Christ. I've felt as though praying to God about His provision in continuing my time here is one aspect that I'll continue to seek, but also allowing others to know about this circumstance might be just as important and wise. I've felt that God may also want to humble me by making my needs known, with being real, and relying and trusting on His timing instead of our quick fix and conveniences we so often indulge. I'm not going to say that it's an exciting time, or tell you that it brings joy to my heart to trust in God in this way, because the truth is that its quite the opposite. At the moment, trusting in God doesn't seem to add up, and that it seems the walls of impossibility are growing ever stronger and larger. To continue standing in Faith when everything else tells you the "what ifs" in life, just makes this season even more difficult to go through. With pure conviction in my heart, I know I'm not meant to let go, and take my leave earlier than anticipated. I know that my training remains here for another 3 years, and that something miraculous is in store for this month to grow stronger in Faith, and see how big our God really is. Not to test God, but to know Him through His miracles.

I believe!

I'm now asking, would you believe with me? Can I know that people are praying for this miracle to take place? I'm not only asking for your prayers, but your faith within this season. Faith to hear a good report, faith to know God deeper than before, faith to see through impossibilities with miracles, faith like that of a child innocent to the world's view.

God may also place the convictions in people's hearts to give generously to help as well, but I leave that completely in God's hands. If for any reason you have this conviction, I can be contacted personally via email at PRoss02@Gmail.com

I must also let people know that I've prayed very much about my requests, and have not asked anything in vain or wrong motives, but out of humility and humbleness.

I thank you for helping me on this journey, with love and heart felt prayers, I couldn't be here without all of you, where God has called me.

God Bless

Lessons in Trust

Greetings to all,

It has been a long time since the previous update, and I should be more diligent with keeping these blogs up and running, but my first year of College is coming to an end, and the busy season is starting to flourish in all areas of life.

I must share what has gone on in my life for the past month that has definitely been a trial and a testing period. I don't think I'll go into large amounts of details, but I will share the values of what has happened, and my actions and decisions since. Its been three weeks ago, that I've had to face a dilemma at work, where I've been asked to compromise my integrity and values to help the business I've been working for. As most of you know, I've been working as a Delivery truck driver for Furniture and help warehousing between three storage locations. The dilemma was to falsely sell furniture as "warehouse" stock, when in fact the delivered furniture was directly off the floor in the shop (borderline 2nd hand quality). The unfortunate part is that I've had to drop off furniture like this on a few occasions, but have never been asked if I had been dropping off floor stock. Until three weeks ago, a customer had asked if the stock we delivered happened to be floor stock. At first, I fell to temptation, and felt terrible about the whole thing, and lied to the customer that it was warehouse stock, but that couldn't be held as truth, and I told her the truth after. I attempted compromising my beliefs and values, and even my integrity to hold a job that was causing such an discomforting stress in my life. I have done a lot of praying of this matter and situation since, and have found the courage to even confront my employer about how I've felt since that work shift. On top of all that, I had been working 8 to 10 hour shifts 2 days in a row, with a College schedule and Serving in ministries straight, without any time off. So as this had been going on for three to four months, I was running myself dry, and found that things were not adding up. After the talk with my boss, he left me with some encouraging words, and wanted the best for both of us, and mentioned to take time away from work. I took his advice, and have not worked since three weeks ago, and am now learning my lesson in Trust.

Trust has been an incredible journey in my life, and a lesson that continues to reveal more and more as I go. Trust had to take place when I even left Canada to come here to Australia, Trust had to take place when God had inspired me to do greater things in life, and today Trust takes place in God's hands with my provision, and my term here in Australia. At the end of my four years in Australia, I'd like to look back and see how Trusting God has helped my path and outcome become so much more than any of us could ever imagine. I now feel some what helpless, but right where God wants me...

To further this note, in less than one months time, I'd like to sign up to further my studies for a Degree in Theology through Southern Cross at the Hillsong Hills Campus, to go further in depth in my faith and with God. At this rate, I feel as though there is an impossibility in front of me, and God is asking me to Trust Him. To Trust in the soul fact that the impossibility is placed in my life, so that God can reveal Himself again, through what we see as His miracle.

I'd like to ask in this time for prayers. To ask people to pray that God's favor would be upon my life in this season, that the impossibilities of having the right finances at the right time would literally become a miracle. That God would see His people triumph, and continue His work here on Earth, to see people come to know their living Christ.

Again, thank you all for reading my blogs, it has been close to a full year, and I'm honored to have such a loving and wonderful audience. Though I don't know how many people are reading this, I am still grateful.

Be blessed, and believe.

Love,
Paul

Birthday Wishes

In Australia, the day happens to be April 27th, 2008, in the Morning, but I know that it is either late afternoon or early evening in Manitoba right now on the 26th of April instead.

Therefore...

Happy Birthday Mom!

I know that I rang her on her morning of her Birthday, but I also wanted to leave this message for her too.

I love you Mom, and hope that today's Birthday celebration is a great one and memorable. I hope you'll get the chance to bug Dad and Justin accordingly on your day, because they do that kind of thing all the time to each other, and sometimes you too, so its fun to em back (even for me too, eh?)

Tell Dad I miss him, and tell Justin he's a bum, but I miss him too. As always, to you too Mom, I miss and love you too!

Happy Birthday again!

You're the best, Mom!

Love always.

The Random Fun of Life

It feels like its been a while since last posting...

So since last I posted, a few things have been going on. Mostly completely random and heaps of fun, and of coarse the fun things in life I have pictures of. So I'm not sure when I last mentioned I went Horse back riding, but here's the picture of some of the people in the group I went with.



The following week, Our house had the first full house dinner with all the new members and the remaining members of the House combined. See before I moved into the new house, there were 4 other guys that were last year's graduates from previous intakes of Hillsong College, and the house has had a few additions. So since then, the final four guys left our home, and it was a sad day, but new beginnings had already been in the making. Our final member of the house had fully moved in, and we always have great dinners on Monday nights. We call our house "the Brotherhood."

This is us:



From Left to Right: Ben Mays, Michael Newsted, Lukas Jundt, Paul Ross, Jared Harries, & Phil Dunn.

One thing that has been a little "interesting" is that our lawn mower stopped working some time ago, and the result is the following:



The following Monday, the pictures of our Monday dinner went up on Facebook, and another house of girls found them, and wondered if they could have a joint house dinner. So since the idea came up, the guys thought it would be pretty cool, and we had our first joint house dinner.



For dessert... you guessed it...

People are now calling them "Paul-cakes!"

So after a great meal, we had this random idea. We thought it would be hilarious if we made a picture of our joint house dinner to commemorate the moment, by having a 1920s depression picture. The following pictures show that moment, both the serious one where we actually pulled it off, and one picture of the many bloopers we have of us trying not to laugh... but laughing anyways!



That joint house dinner was incredibly memorable, its been 8 days since we had shared the moment, and its still being talked about today. Good times!

So the following Saturday, my flat mate Phil and I decided to go and check out an AFL game at the Sydney Olympic Stadium. We watched the Sydney Swans play against the West Coast Eagles, and the game was a blow out! Sydney played a dominating game and won 107 to 45. The point system works by kicking a hand ball between two middle posts giving the team 6 points as a goal. If your kick is outside the posts and within the outside posts, it counts as a ball, where 1 point is given instead. There are other rules to the game, but I'm still learning them at the moment.




The Sydney fans were pretty pumped!

My final picture to share with everyone, is one of what my recent ministry I'm doing. I lead a group of guys in Hillsong Men. I have 9 guys under me, and our group of 10 enjoys hitting the beach before classes start on Thursday mornings. Its been really fun, and I get to really connect with the guys while we hang on the beaches. Our goal is to one day conquer and visit every beach along the Sydney Coast.


And that concludes this post, and hope to hear from you soon. Please send an email, when you read this post, I like knowing that I'm actually posting information to people who are actually reading and caring to know what life is like for myself.

I love you all!

Setting Your Sails

I've had a personal vision, or "revelation", if you will, about setting your sails and how faith applies in the journey of life respectively to this vision. It seems as though when I became a Christian, the comparison of "setting my sails" was the process to begin my journey with Christ. The scenery would be a vast ocean, a golden sky as the sun sets, and stars peering through what used to be a blue sky.

I envisioned this really big ship, setting its sails and venturing into a vast ocean of opportunities, potential, and mystery. This ship would travel by the sails of faith, trusting for strong winds to support it and help guide the vessel to its destination. Where unforeseen storms may lie ahead, or undiscovered treasures may wait their discovery. A life filled with adventure, with anticipation for the unknown upon its horizons.

I believe our faith is much like the sails, that when a storm presents itself, you wonder if the sails will hold. Sometimes, during a strong wind, the sails may tear in places, causing problems to catch the winds properly. Other times the sails may sway too hard in the wrong direction, causing problems for a hopeful and planned direction. Even worse, at times the wind won't even blow, and we're left with the test of patience in a stand still.

What if the tears in the sails bring us to a slower pace, will we enjoy the view? What if swaying sails sets a new course, will we appreciate the detour? What if patience prevents us from entering an unseen storm, will we take the time to rest?

I also wonder if we find purpose in setting our sails. Some may sail in hopes of treasures, or marking their fame in history. Others may even sail to escape the places they've previously been to, hoping to find new beginnings.

Why not set your sail for the sake of life's journey with Christ? So keep your faith strong, endure your storms, and learn from your adventures, and enjoy your journey. After all, Jesus is the wind that guides your ship, with your sails of faith set high, He’ll bring you to your destination.

Packages & Phone Calls

My last message on here was one I totally never want to happen again, but I guess you can say, no matter who you are, "Life Happens!" On the contrary to my previous message, I'll be sharing how great a day I've had today, and to tell of my experiences and adventures serving in one of the top 100 largest closed complex arena's in the world for Hillsong!

I'll start with my day today, just because it was filled with joy. I received a phone call from Mom today, and got to talk with Grandma Ross, Ma Tante Louise, and cousin Marco, for a little while, plus say hi to everyone at home too, and they told me they saw me on Hillsong TV! I was kind of shocked, on a couple of levels, first because I was on TV, but secondly, that my parents saw me! It was a little on the random side, but I'm excited to hear that, especially if Mom & Dad are checking out some Hillsong TV! I can't help it when I say: "That's AWESOME!"

Then to make the day even better, I had previously chatted with my good friends Candace and Calvin, and their two Angels Tyler and Megan, and had some great talks, and some great catch ups. What they don't know, is that later my afternoon, after chatting with Candace and Calvin in the morning, I received the package at my front door! I LOVE IT! The parcel contained 4 NHL Caps, many pretty pictures by Megan, a card with photos of the family and Brittany and Karl's Wedding, and a giant tin of Tim Hourton's coffee, with a little tin as well, and last but not least... Reece's Peanut-Butter Cups! Talk about being blessed today, eh!? I know, I know, I don't normally say "eh" as often as I should (as a Canuck), but I couldn't help myself on that one.

So, to explain a little of what my life was like, the past 4 weeks in a row, I haven't had a single day off! I've worked on every day off possible, and when I wasn't working, I was in classes, and if that wasn't the case, then I was serving in Church. I haven't had a day of full rest of nothing to do in a given full day since the Christmas break! So today, I actually had a full day off of complete rest, and a time more needed now than EVER! Mainly because, previously to this week, I had served 4 days straight a one of the largest venues that Hillsong Church puts on for a conference dedicated to women, known as "Colour Conference."

Here's the link for those that are interested:
Colour Conference

I must say, that serving there was incredible, seeing and meeting some of the guest speakers, serving along side the Church, and seeing women from all over the world come to this one venue get so impacted, was absolutely phenomenal. Hillsong knows how to host a party for ladies, and they did a tremendous job empowering women, and serving them with excellence. I happened to be working backstage, in charge of a small venue outside the main arena, for production and hosting kids with a sound board. The kids were hilarious (as usual), and they had a blast. The plus side, was that I only had to serve at 10:00am - 11:30am for the kids in the morning and again at 6:30pm - 7:00pm in the evenings from Thursday night till Saturday night. So I had a bit of free time between serving, and had a blast helping out randomly through the arena. I helped out a few lovely ladies, with the power of a "backstage pass", to assist with needs, I help run a few cables out to TV land in the arena for more camera work and angles, and last but not least, yes, I even made pancakes for our departments, and even had them served to some of the worship leaders and pastors. I can't say how awesome it is to serve for Hillsong, the adventures are AMAZING and fun, and God keeps shining everyday brighter and brighter in the lives of so many, including my own.

Well, I'm basically giong to have supper now, so I have to run, it's House Dinner night tonight, so Lukas is in charge of cooking tonight, and we'll have a great time in fellowship and sharing with a great meal. Be blessed everyone, and keep being the best blessing you can ever be to anyone you can! The only way we'll ever see this world change for the best is if we see a world of change in us to start the chain reaction of a changed world for the best!

I love you all, and don't be shy in sending letters, emails, parcels, and love!

The "Off Beat"

I'm firstly going to start this blog message on a note to set the bar...

Today may have been the worst day at work to swallow since I've started working. I caused stress for both of my bosses, and I couldn't have helped it! I made little mistakes that ended up compiling upon each other, and made this day one I wish to forget. I won't even go into details, cause I'll just reiterate what I don't need to remind!

So the reason why I titled this message The "Off Beat", is quite simple. You've normally read a message on my blogs of great life is, or how Happy I am, or what excitement the future may have, but today, I can't help but feel I screwed up! Like I'm down, more than I've ever been in a long while really. The truth is that I never want days like these, ever again, but randomly they creep up on me, and I get a bad taste in my mouth from it, but even worse, I just get upset at myself and the world. I'm already sorry that you have to read this, but I'm not going to type anything positive, if I just don't have it in me to do it!

On the contrary to my last statement, I have one option that I'll choose, right now, and that's to praise God! Even if I can honestly say that its not even my whole heart that praises, but at least its a decision I will make for a portion of myself to give back to God. In some cases, the thought "better than nothing" strikes me, but in this case I won't allow for that attitude of do nothing to take over!

There is a song, and if I had it, I'd share it with you, and its called "Praise You in the Storm" by Casting Crowns. The song brings my perspective in view, about how the storms of life can get you down, or worried, or stressed, or sad, or angry, or frustrated, or depressed, or even on your death bed, but that you continue to choose to say "our God is worthy of my Praises!" After all, He is an Awesome God, one of Grace, Love, Compassion, Wisdom, Power, Mercy, & the "calmer" of all storms.

I even realize that after this message, I'm not nearly as down as I was, but I will now set aside the time to bring myself to do devotionals.

On another note to add, my laptop just blanked out, and the screen was all white, and unable to function. As you can tell, this day just gets better and better! I repeat myself... I still choose to give Praise to God!

Amen.

Let Round 2 Begin

Greetings and Salutations everyone,

It seems that everything in the coming semester for 2008 will be expectant for great things!

To start it all off, my first week of College has already passed, and we are currently running through "intensives." Where all the students divide up amongst first year, second year, and third year College students and also degree students to accommodating classes for full on subjects. The reason why we call these first two weeks "intensives" is pretty simple, we only take to specific subjects in a given two weeks to complete a large portion of a full curriculum. So at the moment, our two intensive subjects happen to start off with Church & Ministry, and Personal Leadership. Both are great subjects, and Church & Ministry in particular have some extremely great insights that I've found fantastic.

I have to admit, being back in College feels great! The only draw back is that life is back to normal at high speeds again, thanks to the campus life with ministry and learning all rolled into the week. At this particular moment, I have little to type, for two reasons. One, I'm pretty tired at the moment, I've had a big first week, and the weekend was great. Secondly because I'm preparing "homework" I want to complete for the next couple of blogs, pending on how my weeks to come provide the timing to do what I'd like to share. So till then, I'll continue my time in Australia, pouring myself into this great Church, and loving and missing all of you amazing friends and family back home.

Peace and Joy be with all of you!

Be blessed everyone.

Summer Camp: The Next Chapter

Hi everyone,

Before I leave for summer camp today, I have to at least update my blogs with the details of the event. I'm very excited for what's to come, I hear heaps of great things about summer camp from Hillsong and everyone that's gone before. So I get to share this with you all. I'll bring my camera for some pictures to take too. Anyways, the event itself is phenomenal, with over 1300 Young adults (ages 18 - 25) headed out to a beach camp setting, where we have massive prayer meetings, lots of praise and worship, and opportunities to play some tribal wars during our stay in camp. Plus, I'll have more opportunities to surf, since we're hooked up to a beach with some good surf I hear. I'm looking forward to spending this great time with amazing Godly people, and have the chance to really connect with God on a more personal and "Nature" like level too.

Some other news that has taken place since last I posted anything on this blog, was that the co-worker I used to run deliveries with, has already given his two weeks notice, and now my boss (Simon) will be asking me to take over my co-worker's position. Which, in return, means more hours for work, and hopefully will have a pay raise. I may also get the opportunity to bless another student at Hillsong in need of work and a job to help provide finances.

Well, till my next post, I have to run along, and get ready for summer camp. Enjoy the day, and will post again soon. Be blessed everyone, and be a blessing too.

There's no place like Home

Greetings from Sydney!

I'm back home, and living my regular life again, in my wonderful House, with some newly arrived room-mates from Christmas break, and enjoying the sunshine again. Brisbane was a beautiful place, but it had its fair share of rain during our stay there. Nonetheless, Queensland is a place that is well deserving of rain fall, considering its normally a dry state, with low water supply during dry season.

Let's begin with the drive to Queensland, shall we? Our drive to Brisbane was a good 10 hours, and we missed seeing some of the more beautiful ocean scenic towns, thanks to arriving through the towns past sunset. Either way, the ride there was fantastic, courtesy of Mr. Dooley's amazing Car. It basically drove like a Cadillac, and had a Bose sound system, and all the gadgets to make any road trip pleasing for all. God has blessed us with this vacation, with style too. I totally didn't expect that either, but it was an amazing surprise when we began our trip. We arrived in Brisbane at 3:00am in the morning, and found our heads rested upon pillows in a comforting house thanks to an old neighbour of mine from Old Northern Rd who was willing to house us from his place. Again, another blessing in disguise, since this house at an entertainment unit larger than I've ever seen, and a few pinball machines, and a pool table. So for Diego, Myself, and another friend who drove another Pastor's car to Brisbane named PK, had some entertainment to pass time between adventures. In the long run, we really didn't have much time to sit around and play pinball and watch movies, we rather take the opportunity to visit the sunshine coast, the tree top walk, the Gold Coast, the Water Parks, Down Town Brisbane, the Rain Forest, and the Green Mountains. We almost took the opportunity to travel another 10 hours North to visit the Great Barrier Reef, but it was a fair distance away, and we decided to stay local in our adventures.

The first adventure took place at Sunshine Coast, where I learned how to body surf. The quick description of body surfing is to catch waves with your body, without a surf board. Basically, you swim with the direction the wave is coming into the tide, and you "superman dive" at the top of the wave back to the shore. It's quite the rush, and doesn't require expensive equipment to perform, but can be a little bit more dangerous, if the waves are less forgiving. Sunshine Coast was also the location I gained my new tan.

The next adventure was a combination of The Green Mountains in Lamington National Park, the tree top walk, and the Queensland Rain Forest. It took about an hours drive south west of Brisbane to get to Lamington National Park, and the roads climbing the mountains were winding as ever. I've never driven on such a wounded up road in my life, but it was fun to drive it. Once we got to the top, we found a few paths along the sides of the road, and hiked some 5km into Rain Forest, and found some beautiful waterfalls. The wonderful part of these adventures, is that at the end of this post, I have about 15 pictures of different places along the trip to share.

The tree top walk was a little disappointing, since it was only a 5 minute walk. The good part about the tree top walk on the other hand, was that we could climb via ladders at the middle of the walk ways, to higher deck levels to see better views from the tops of trees. One particular decking had another ladder to climb, giving you the highest vantage point to view the adjacent mountains and the valleys and clouds between them. So for a minor value in walking, we gained a major breath taking view.

At the same location, just outside the tree top walks path, there were some amazing birds that were beautiful in colors, and would land on you and eat seeds if you had any. Diego, PK, and myself all had pictures of each other with these amazing birds all over us, as we fed them bird feed. It was one of the big high-lites of the trip for me.

The next adventure was in the water parks, where we got to meet more of Jared's extended family and have fun in the sun and have a splash. There were heaps of water slides ranging from "fun" to "intense." Basically, if you've ever been to the West Edmonton Mall, and have gone to the in door water park, you've experienced the same thrills there in regards to the water parks near Brisbane. Again, great fun, and more people to meet and enjoy company with all over again. Jared's family are wonderful people, and were most hospitable to us. We were so honored to have met them.

Well that sums up most of our adventures in Queensland, and the Brisbane area, so now for the pictures to share. Know that the pictures do not do justice to the experience, but it’s the best I can do to share this with all of you.

Brisvegas

Hello everyone, from the beautiful state of Queensland.

This message will be short and sweet. I'm here to inform everyone, that my travels to Brisbane has been safe and sound, and that I've been staying at my friends house for 3 days now, and have truly enjoyed this time away from the ministry work at Hillsong. I've been reconnecting with my good friend Diego and have been sharing vision with our future to come for 2008. I've had the opportunity to have the best New Years Eve I've ever experienced, and it included learning how to surf the day after with a most gorgeous sunrise at Palm Beach, as well.

I'm also informing everyone that my internet access at the moment, here in Brisbane, will be quite limited since the house only has one connection with a cable wire, running direct to connect. So I have time enough to type this message, to check emails, and I won't upload videos until I get back home in Sydney. Till then, I'll be sharing small details between connection hook ups, and hope to share the adventures I've been having here, in the Queensland area.

Be blessed everyone, and have the best 2008 you can ever expect!

My Current Address

Hi Everyone,

I just realized, that I haven't given my new address out, so I better get on the ball and share it now while I can.

OK, so I know it's not exactly the best time to share the new address out, now that most people may have sent Christmas Cards to my old address, but later is better than never. Also, for those that have sent me mail to my old address, I do keep in touch and visit my old place now and then, and can pick up my mail from there too.

Paul Ross
18 Coorumbene Court (Ct)
Bella Vista, Sydney
N.S.W., Australia
Postal Code: 2153

Thanks for reading, and keeping up to date so far, the year 2007 has been nothing short of incredible, and I can only imagine and look forward to what 2008 will offer!

Remember that next month, from January 2nd, till January 15th, I'll be in another part of Australia, and I should have pictures and videos to share with everyone by that time. Thanks again for keeping updated, and for caring to read my blogs thus far, the adventure thus far has been one I'm very glad to have shared it with so many loved ones.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Season's greetings to all, and may the best wishes of the New Year come true.

I'm excited to have experienced Christmas over-seas in Australia, but I will admit, it has been an interesting Christmas to experience without the usual friends and loving family that I would have shared it with from those back home in Canada. My love and best wishes go out to all of you back home, and to enjoy the holidays, to grow closer to each other during this festive and Joyous time of year. All the children are getting ready to open gifts soon, and the parents anticipate the lit up faces they'll have in the morning. The snow outside must be quite the blessing to be comforted by the warm fires inside and the welcoming hearts of family as they dine together in fellowship of Christ's birth. Wow, I really miss home right now. That's OK, I'll have plenty of Christmases again in my future when I return in many years from now. All the more to appreciate them for when I return.

Well, my day ahead of me will be spending Christmas dinner at one of the College leader's house, with several students that have stayed here in Australia over the break. Though we miss our families back home, we have made our own culture of family over the Christmas season, of friends from all over the world. Many with different traditions to others, and different experiences and stories to tell from previous Christmas events from growing up.

I'm not sure if many people back home knew this, but for the past four days I've come down with a bit of a soar throat and a cold that has congested my chest. Its not exactly the best time to have a cold, while it is after all summer here in Australia, but in some cases it was almost needed for me to slow down. I did have the chance to participate in the Hillsong 2007 Christmas Spectacular with mic setups, but as for the last few shows, I couldn't help out, due to bed ridden sickness. It was most unfortunate, but the rest was well worth it. As of right now, I'm feeling much better, and hoping the sickness will have been fully healed by tomorrow morning, and will prepare for the next few days of potential work and preparation for a trip.

I've been offered a trip to visit Brisbane Australia, driving Pastor Phil Dooley's car through the Gold Coast, to drop his car off at the Brisbane Airport, and visit another College friend from Hillsong who lives there. So if you haven't noticed, my videos and photos have been very low recently, but soon that will all change, for another adventure is in the making for everyone back home to see. The trip will be completely covered from basically the hand of God blessing me with favor. Its an interesting story, but I'll fill in the details if anyone would like to ask.

So for now, I'm off to the Christmas dinner and wish all a Merry Christmas again, and be a great blessing to all you meet over these joyful holidays.

Season's Update & Prelude

Season's Greetings to all!

Merry Christmas everybody, I'm sure in Canada it definitely feels like the Holidays are in full tilt with one week left to Christmas day, but I can honestly tell you that it doesn't really feel like Christmas in my end of the world. It has been an interesting past month since my last post, so I'll share my details as best I can.

Immediately after my birthday message on this very blog site, I had the busiest week of work I've experienced here in the land of Oz. I worked off a ten hour shift on a Saturday, went to a busy Sunday church service, then went full gear again on Monday with an eleven hour shift, and had two more days worth 13 hours combined. It was a blessed week, but I have to admit that the taxes on students in Oz aren't as friendly as they should be!

After the busy stretch passed, it was moving time for me to the new house. All my previous American house mates had shared a car three ways, and they were all back home in America for the Christmas break, so they allowed me to use their car as a blessing to help me move my belongings to the new house. The unfortunate part of this move was that moments before the car was fully packed, we had some interesting weather patterns strike up, and experienced all four season in 20 minutes time. It was extremely sunny, hot, and muggy one minute, the next minute it started to cool down rapidly, than winds started picking up violently, and large flashes of lightning followed with extremely loud cracks of thunder following shortly after each flash. It immediately started to rain, from literally nothing to all out flood rains. It was then followed by small bits of hail, randomly falling, down to golf ball size hail falling frequently, then to almost baseball sized hail falling rapidly. It then completely stopped all together, and became sunny again as though nothing happened. After that experience I was lucky enough to have the car parked inside the garage, protected from the randomness of the weird weather. The worst part of this weather wasn't the weather itself, but the aftermath of the weather. It left large "gum trees" and palm trees in pieces all over streets and downed power-lines for blocks near the Old Northern housing, right next to the main mall of the "Towers." Castle Towers is the name of the mall in Castle Hill where I used to live. So with that being said, I had to drive to the new house. It normally takes me 10 minutes to drive from Old Northern rd to the Hillsong area or Bella Vista (where I live now), but because of the traffic lights being down, and the police directing traffic as best they could, it took me over 50 minutes to get from Old Northern rd, to Bella Vista. The lesson learned for the day was definitely "patience."

The next week following is the experiences I've had here in the new house with the new house mates in Bella Vista. I have to say, that God led me to this house as a stretching point for me, to learn and grow. The truth is that He was right on the money about the growing experience! The guys I'm living with in this new house are great men of integrity and great men of God. We're all on the same page, we love life and share many things in common. On the plus side, I'm living with another Canadian from Ontario, and he has a great Canadian sense of humor that we as Canadians can truly enjoy and laugh about.

Next on the agenda of news would be the Hillsong Christmas Spectacular. Its a long title for the word "play." Anyways, Hillsong hosts this amazing production of a Christmas play that really is driven by excellence and has amazing theatricals and great everything really. I was involved with their setup in the City campus for a good 14 hours of volunteered work, and then on the performing night of the play, I helped one of my house mates with mic setups for all the main stars of the play, and switch ups with packs and communications during the Spec. It was a huge hit, and on the Sunday afternoon spec, Hugh Jackman, who was the lead actor in all three "X-Men" movies as Wolverine, was in the audience of the Christmas Spec and had a great time. It was really awesome to be part of the Spectacular, and I'm hoping for next weekend, that I'll be able to video tape a bit of myself in action working behind the scenes of the Christmas spec for all you lovely friends and family members back home. The Christmas Spectacular was a hit in the City campus, and now for next weekend, we'll perform it again in the Hills campus for its finale. It was definitely a blast working behind the scenes during the Spec, they provided us all with great food and kept us hydrated and "well groomed" so to speak during the production and action of the Spec. So thank God for those amazing blessings courtesy of Hillsong Church!

As for the end of this post, is to share my struggles in finances for this coming stretch of the 4 months ahead of me. I'm currently on my break working one job as much as I can, and am in search for job number 2 to help my end of year one at Hillsong International Leadership College. I would ask that as many people as possible that reads this very message would please pray on my behalf for finances to help my well being here in Australia. I'm not asking for donations, I'm asking for the faith of many people to unite and help trust in God's providing hand in my life for this time I have here. This past month has been a bit of a struggle, and the truth is that I have been too proud to admit it. Though I completely have faith in God over this situation, I still have worries about finances during my time of studies. Its an interesting balancing act, but I pray that I have the strength to not only carry on, but finish extremely well, and leave Australia in the right timing with no regrets.

I also would like to express how interesting it is to have this Christmas season as the first of many things. They include a Christmas without snow and friends and family. Though I will experience Christmas with great friends here in Australia, but without family is a big adjustment to the norm. I'm left with thoughts of well wishes over the holidays to everyone back home in Canada, with warm houses and love of Christ and family and friends in the air. Please remember the reason you celebrate the Christmas season, it was never intended to be a time off of work, but for generations and generations, it has always been a time to reflect why you celebrate this season. The birth of Christ is so crucial, that it even rests the soul reason why I'm in a foreign country. Do not forget, please, as my final request for this post, and to remain faithful in the Christmas spirit, with or without family and friends.

Love,
Paul

Birthday Thanks to All

Ok, this entire post is dedicated to the many people that have sent birthday wishes and encouragements. There will also be some pictures of my birthday dinner, but the focus is on all of you wonderful, and inspirational, and loving people here at College and those back home.

Where do I start?

I want to give thanks to all the college students and staff that gave birthday wishes via text messages, in person, or through the internet and phone calls. Thanks to Lee Burns, Celeste Hutton, Matthias Walter, Ben Mays, Ryan Gomez, Wes Bennet, Jon-boy, John Rinehart, Libby Christian, Jared Harries, Jahred Schmidt, Joey Allison, Beth Caldwell, Gemma Heard, Topher, Felipe Schurch, Kirsten Jones, Lukas Jundt, Suzi the Aussie, Lindley Joyner, Ciwi Hollund, Colby Truesdell, Felicia McAlpine, So Young Pak, Sara Govea, and many other students I know I'm missing, but am so thankful for.

A special thanks to those who sent more personal messages either from emails or phone calls from back home! Thanks to Aunt Louise, Lori Friesen, Rob Toews, Ma Tante Gabrielle, Auntie Della, Matt Boehlig, Jon Penner, Justin Ross, & Andrew Syme, and always Mom & Dad!

An extra special thanks to the people that spent the day with me on my Birthday dinner. Thank you to Diego Herrera, Hanna Crezee, Suzanne Nijenhuis, Jeremy Chau, Hannah Banderet, Alan Dennis, Diana Gudmundsdottir, Sandra from Belgium, Elisa Wagner, & Michael Newsted.

More thanks going to Jolene Jolicoeur, Juergen Weisschuh, Matthew Keilty, Rhonda Patterson, Angela Gosselin, Luke Friesen, Michelle Fiola, Melanie Fiola, Wesley Heine, Christal Miller, Emily McIntosh, Katy Gourlay, Kate Smith, Sharon Abraham, Danielle Beaton, Mich & Shannon & Gabriel Levac, Sian Wyn Rees, Angela Niger, Rachelle Loewen, Maresa Maritz, Adam Bellemare, Claudia Schmid, Charles Kehler, Sabrina May Kehler, Lorna Sobering, Heather Toews, Jen Enns, Naomi Fenton, Bobbi-Jean Saurette, Jacki Klippenstein, Jim Rush, Tessa Masi, & Trevor Utech.

Thanks to Auntie Cheryle & Uncle Claude, & Ginette and Marc for the letter!

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Marion for the Card and support!

Also thanks to Hillsong Church for saying their birthday wishes as well.

If there were any friends and family I may have missed out, I'm terribly sorry for not making mentions, but your love, thoughts, and wishes are in my heart. Also to the belated wishes, the thought is always there, and I love you always.

What can I say, I feel that the age of 24 will be one I won't ever forget! It feels like a new beginning of new life, new adventure, new love, and new life for a future I can't imagine just yet. Thanks again to everyone for making my day feel that much more special! It was 24 years ago that this crazy big brother, humble son, best friend, distant encourager, love filled heart, spirit led man became a reality to this beautiful world. Again, I can't say "thanks" enough!

If all this thanks to all you blessed people in my life is not a testimony of how great God is, than I just don't know what is!?

I'll end the post with photos:










Look at the clean shirt after eating my saucy birthday meal! it's a sign folks!

Round 1... Accomplished!

Hi Friends, Family, and guests,

I'd like to share with everyone that all my assignments for this semester are handed in and taken care of, and that the two tests that I had to worry about went by smoothly. The past two weeks have been very busy, making sure that time was used effectively to get the job done. In my previous post, I mentioned that I was baptized and that I now have some video footage to share with everyone.

The next part of my agenda in sharing the adventures thus far, happens to be my trip to the Zoo with my house-mates. I can say it was a long needed day coming, with the tests and assignments to worry about the week before, and some much needed kick back time on the weekend. I've also always wanted to get some footage of Kangaroos and Koalas, so what better way then to get some shots at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. You can enjoy the footage and share the good times with everyone back home.


As for the rest of the news in the life of Paul, Christmas time is coming soon, and sooner than that, my Birthday is in exactly one week! Whoa... I didn't even realize that until I saw the date and calender on my laptop. Cool! I'm gonna be 24! Ten days after that, is the graduation ball near the Darling Harbor for all students (Hills & City) to have... well... "a ball". I'm already wondering and considering who I should ask to go with... and well, if things pan out the way I'd like them too, you'll find out who at the beginning of December when I get pictures from the night coming. Other things I'm looking forward to and looking into, happens to be another job opportunity with my room-mate Diego. There's also a potential house near the church with room and board, but I'm not 100% sure about leaving my place I'm at right now. God has presented many opportunities and many blessings in this month, and I'm so greatful for them all. Well, my time is running short, and I've got a few things to do on my agenda, so I'll catch you all in the near future, and a reminder to my readers to be blessed and live life to the fullest. God Bless, and have a great week!

Knock Knock Knock

That's the sound of opportunities!

Well, as many of you know, I've been working on videos for my blogs and doing some random other videos with new friends here at Hillsong, and with that, comes opportunities... but I'll get to that in a moment.

I'd like to share the news with everyone that I've been baptized! as of October 28th, 2007, I made my own public declaration to take the dunk and make my commitment that much more publicly known that it has ever been before. I know that I was previously baptized in the catholic faith as an infant, but my conviction came when I realized that being alive for 2 months of my life and than being baptized does not imply it was my own decision. Another factor for myself was that baptisms represent burying the old self and rising the new by declaration, and that as an infant being 2 months alive and being baptized didn't leave much room for "the old" to even exist. I also must apologies since very little people back home knew that was my plans, but the truth be told, I signed up for it and kind of forgot that I was getting it done, until about three days before going I received an email from Hillsong about it. So please forgive me for not saying anything about it earlier, but out of love I'm letting everyone know the day after it happened. Hopefully by next week I'll have pictures and videos to share with you all.

As for the opportunities in my life, first of all, I may have found a cheaper and bigger house to live in with some great guys who are second year students. Also I'd be moving in with a good friend of mine, Michael from Michigan, where we'll be living a nice 10 minute walk away from Hillsong Church. This blessing is huge for savings on fuel, bus fare, rent and time between days and classes. Its not 100% official yet, but it has been worked on, and we've met with the people that want take up the lease coming this December.

The next opportunity is that working with the video guys here at Hillsong, first of all has been loads of fun, second of all a great experience. The word thus far is that the three main students that do the videos for United and for Wild-Life youth, are leaving and need someone to take over and carry the torch. Thanks to working with some of these guys, they want to put in a good word for me to work with some of the worship pastors and video crew people to help make the cuts they want. So I've been blown away with this as an opportunity, praising God for it immensely, and loving life!

Well as promised, I'd have the Blue Mountain video ready for you by this post, so enjoy the Blue Mountains, and I'll send the pictures and videos of my baptism next post.