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Register for April STUMP!

Kevin Thow — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:21:00 +1100

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Register for April STUMP!

We’re excited to announce that the dates for the next Short Term Urban Mission Project (STUMP) in April have been confirmed.

The next STUMP will begin from Sunday 11th April until Saturday 17th April.

We will take up to 10 people, but HURRY SPOTS ARE FILLING FAST! To register, click here.

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Brand New Edify Promotional Video

Kevin Thow — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:02:00 +1100

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Brand New Edify Promotional Video

Check out the new Edify promotional video - 'Be Part of the Solution'. On our homepage or right here! The video contains footage of January's STUMP crew, appropriately named 'The Fire Starters', and was filmed by the ridiculously talented Mark Tipple, a great friend of Edify!

Check out more of Mark's brilliant work on his website: www.marktipple.com

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Hurry - Applications for Internship/Certificate IV in Youth Work Closing Soon!

Kevin Thow — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:00:00 +1100

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Hurry - Applications for Internship/Certificate IV in Youth Work Closing Soon!

Get your applications in soon if you're interested in the 2010 Edify Internship and Certificate IV in Youth Work course! The cut off date is Monday, 22nd of February.

Check out the Prospectus here.

To apply for the Internship click here to download the application form.

To apply for the Certificate IV in Youth Work click here to download the application form.

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New STUMP Video

admin admin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:25:00 +1100

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New STUMP Video

Check out our newest STUMP video featuring our October STUMP crew, the School For Youth Leadership. The amazing photography is the work of a new and best friend of Edify, Mark Tipple, check out more of his incredible work here.

It was a significant week of mission and marked the end of our 2009 STUMPs (40 young people through in 2009 woot woot!). But never fear cause in January 2010 we kick off again! Click here for more info on STUMP and when you can next get on board. Where else would you want to be !?

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New Testimonies Video

Nathan Moulds — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:35:00 +1100

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New Testimonies Video

Check out the new Edify Testimonies Video, six amazing young people (Ariel, Dwayne, Genah, Talitha, Caitlyn, Simeon) who've participated in the Edify Internship and STUMP programs sharing their stories!

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Short Term Urban Mission Project in January 2010!

Kevin Thow — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:51:00 +1100

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Short Term Urban Mission Project in January 2010!

We’re excited to announce that the dates for the next Short Term Urban Mission Project (STUMP) in the January school holidays have been confirmed.

The next STUMP will begin from Sunday 17th January until Saturday 23rd January 2010.

We will take up to 10 people, YOU MUST BE 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER TO APPLY. To register, click here.

The 2009 STUMP crews all had fantastic and challenging time during their week in the Oasis and Streetlevel Community – check the testimonies section to find out what they had to say!

We've also posted some short STUMP video's on YouTube so you can see what you'll be getting yourself into. Check them out here.

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What Ariel Realised at July STUMP

Nathan Moulds — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:29:00 +1100

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What Ariel Realised at July STUMP

Think about this picture. its familiar right? that big cathedral in the city across from that park (St. Mary's Cathedral). We all know it.

Theres a side to it i never saw. Under this cathedral theres a park, and in that park there lives homeless people. I know because i saw one peeing on a tree as i walked past one day last week. I went back a day later and there was this van set up, the Vinnies were giving tea and coffee and biscuits out beside their huge glittering cathedral to a community of displaced people who seemed to have emerged out of the darkness. It was feel good. but it was also ironic.

I had alot of cups of tea that night as we walked around the city i thought i knew but had never really seen. oxford street. the coke sign at the cross. the little park just next to the jewish museum. the world vision office. the bright strip of restaurants off crown street. i'd been there before. but i didnt ever see past the lights and music.

Theres a strip called tranny lane where a person in bright red size 13 heels waited, his mouth covered with a veil. I never saw that. There's a bridge on the way down to Woolloomooloo where those who couldnt get a bed sleep in ruffled bunches of blankets and beanies. they called it the bridge hilton. I never saw that.

Theres an injecting centre across from a club i once went to in the cross where addicts can safely use and stumble out the back to wait out their fortnight until the next pay and the next shoot up.

Near the city theres a quiet building masked in blue marble called Samaritan House. inside are women who have seen hardship unlike anything I've ever experienced, who were displaced and powerless in this strange city and have now found a safe place. I met a woman there who was married in cambodia to a man who brought her to australia, where she was forced to work from 6am till 10pm everyday, not allowed to leave the house, made to sleep in the living room while her husband slept with his girlfriend in their bed. she had overcome the loss of her home, her family, her freedom and also lost a child, she had experienced all that and survived and she was only a few months older than me. we sat and drank tea together and we laughed about silly things, worlds apart but still the same.

Across from 'the wall' famous for male prostitution, I met a woman named sam outside a food van who was looking forward to going home and getting wasted she said. She said she wished she had a job. she picked at sores on her face constantly and was missing some teeth. I'd never met a person like her before last week. but she wasn't so different to me, she paints when she wants to forget and she loved to laugh.

Theres people in this city that just get broken by life. I'm not ok with that. I learnt a million things last week, little bits of wisdom that I'll treasure for life. And alot of them i learnt from these broken people.

One lady named marie told me that theres alot of people in the world that seem rough, but they might be angels in disguise. and that if i can be open to them and trust them then they will trust me. People arent looking for handouts or pity or the occasional altruistic act. They don't even need people to understand their world and have had the same experiences. They need friends, they need brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers who are whole so that they can offer enough love and patience and unrelenting grace to start to mend brokeness.

I want to make it so that no kid ever ends up there in the broken dark corners of this city, and i want to be a place where kids can come to escape that darkness and become whole again. Thats what i realised at STUMP.

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Short Term Urban Mission Project in October School Holidays!

Kevin Thow — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:43:00 +1000

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Short Term Urban Mission Project in October School Holidays!

We’re excited to announce that the dates for the next Short Term Urban Mission Project (STUMP) in October have been confirmed.

The next STUMP will begin from Tuesday 6^th October until Saturday 10^th October.

We will take up to 10 people, but HURRY SPOTS ARE FILLING FAST! To register, click here.

The July STUMP crew had a fantastic and challenging time during their week – check the testimonies section to find out what they had to say!

We've also posted some short STUMP video's on YouTube. Check them out here.

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STUMP Ruined My Life says Simeon!

Nathan Moulds — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:15:00 +1000

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STUMP Ruined My Life says Simeon!

The STUMP Testimony of Simeon Barwick

STUMP. Was. Amazing. There is no other way to really describe it. It had everything one could ask for when serving for a week in Surry Hills: Love, Joy, Sadness, Drugs...and a home-made gypsy tent.

During the course of the week, we learnt to love on the community and on each other. We spent so much time in the community that we formed friendships which some of us are growing outside of STUMP. We also learnt how to love on the other team members, including those on the EDIFY internship. We became like a family, forged through common experience, a love for each other and the community and a desire to see the community member's lives being enriched everyday.

Joy was something that I know I experienced everyday, just knowing that I could be making a difference in someone's life. Even though a lot of the stuff I did was either disgusting or made me uncomfortable, I did it all with a smile on my face. I grew closer to God throughout the week, and I know that it was Him that gave me the joy in my heart, both then and now.

The Street Walk, which we did on Wednesday night, was confronting to say the least. I felt incredible sadness seeing all of these people, normal by any other standard except that they live on the streets and may have addictions. I was at a loss for words (which for anyone who knows me is hard to believe) at the poverty in Sydney, a city of world standing. We met a homeless guy, with a wicked sense of humour, even when he stepped on a rat, and in the shadow of St. Mary's Cathedral, one of the most majestic buildings in the city, was a coffee van serving this bloke and other homeless people. I was almost in tears at the splendour of the building above us, yet the seeming lack of funds to give these humans, children of God, a room and a decent meal everyday. It is a picture that haunts me still.

We were smashed everyday...on Christian Drugs: Prayer, Community and the Word of God. It was awesome to be so totally immersed in a community of such strong Christians, but every STUMP is different, but the people you do it with make it really enjoyable.

Oh yeah, and that gypsy tent...it's generally not a good idea to leave a group of young people and a pile of sheets together in the one room :P

I would recommend this experience to everyone and anyone...it simply ruined my life, now I am actively trying to serve others, not myself, and I'm loving it!!!

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