It is day 4 in Australia, and my roommates and I have turned in for the night. Rightly so...it’s 10:41pm. What time is it there? On Thursday evening our friends from Ransomed Heart picked up in Wollongong and gave us a ride to the retreat event center in Stanwell Tops. We were grateful that we didn’t have to navigate the trains again with our luggage!
The work crew gathered that night. There are only three of us from America on work crew (one from TX, one from DC, and me). The others are from Australia. A few of them have attended a Captivating retreat in Colorado, but for many, this is their first experience. On Friday we spent the morning setting up camp before the attendees arrived—registration, resources, and the worship room primarily.
The retreat center is lovely—on a hillside overlooking the ocean. It is incredibly lush with plants I’ve never seen and big, beautiful gum trees. There are also so many birds! I found a quiet place to watch the sun rise over the ocean on Friday morning. It rises around 5:27, and I haven’t missed one in Australia yet.
Attendees arrived in the afternoon on Friday, and they were friendly, excited, and a joy to chat with. From the first worship song, it was clear that they were eager to be here and get started.
It is summer here, so it is a stark contrast to home temperatures. It’s warm and humid. Few rooms are air conditioned, so we sleep with our will does open and thankfully someone brought a fan. An afternoon rain storm today cooled it off some too.
Tomorrow is the second full day of the retreat, so I’ll say goodbye for now and get some sleep. Sunrise comes early!
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