COUNT ME IN! A STUDENT’S PERSPECTIVEvetamorphus.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Veta-Newsletter-14-D… · a desire in people’s hearts to help others grow in their journey, and

My name is Chelsea and I am in year 11 at Horizon Christian School. I live on a farm 100ks north of Adelaide with my parents, 2 brothers and sister. I have been blessed to have grown up in a wonderful Christian community. I love sports, acting, music, reading, and being with my family and friends.

Last year, my school offered the Vetamorphus course for the first time and I heard positive feedback from the students who completed the course. Therefore, this year I decided to enrol in the subject so that I could grow spiritually and physically.

For Vetamorphus I was required to do various exercises, read my bible and journal, meet with a mentor, present seminars, attend church and be involved in various ministries, go on retreats and reflect on the things that I was involved in. Although these requirements were challenging, they proved to be very rewarding and have deeply influenced and changed my relationship with God, and furthered my skills. I have read more of the bible through doing this course than I have ever before and have learnt so much as I have journalled for various scriptures.

My favourite element was the retreats where other students from around the state doing Vetamorphus met together. Through these retreats I drew closer to God and to my classmates, and I also made lots of new friends. There were three different retreats that challenged and encouraged me, however, I particularly enjoyed the second retreat where we focused on blessing others. It’s so easy to be so busy all the time that we forget to

stop and look at the people around us and their needs. My group chose to bake biscuits to give out the people on the streets which would open a door to chatting with people and encouraging them.

However, I underestimated how hard it was to approach a stranger. Through doing this I was challenged to grow in courage and boldness. There were people that rejected us and thought we were strange, however, there was a lot of people who were touched and very thankful by our gesture. A huge highlight, was finding a lady and young boy who had no money and were very hungry and we were able to buy them tea. The joy in her face, and the fact that she was so touched that she jumped up and hugged us, just showed that a small gesture can make a massive impact in someone’s life. This activity was quite challenging but very encouraging to me. When I stop to take a look at other people’s needs, and step out in boldness, I can impact lives in an important way.

Each element in this course has helped to shape my life, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to do Vetamorphus. Looking back over the year, I know that I have grown in confidence and discipline. This course equips you with valuable skills and I would highly recommend considering enrolling.

I would like to honour God for placing a desire in people’s hearts to help others grow in their journey, and a special thank you to Peter Eckermann who is the state co-ordinator and has played a massive part in being a vehicle to allow God to change so many lives.

EMAIL [email protected]

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PHONE 0432 991 836

GROW IN WISDOM

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DECEMBER 2014UPDATE

To all the friends of VETA

Grace and peace to you as we enter the final days of the Christmas season.

I am writing now to thank you for your ongoing, prayerful support of the work of VETA this year and to encourage you to continue upholding us before God as we reach out to young people everywhere with the Good News of God’s love for them. Our whole leadership team is conscious of the enormous privilege and responsibility we hold in nurturing secondary students in the Christian life. The fruit of our work is young lives transformed by the power of God at work in them.

This Christmas I am reminded again of the great passage from Isaiah 9:2 where, speaking prophetically and looking towards the coming of Christ, Isaiah declares that:

‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light –

On those living in the land of the shadow of death

a light has dawned’.

Whilst we are deeply aware that darkness may cover aspects of youth culture today, we at VETA are also honoured to work with so many young people who are themselves shining the light of Christ into the schools, families and communities they are a part of. This gives us real hope for our future.

As you read this newsletter I trust you will get a picture of what has been going on in VETA this year. I trust also that this will help you to pray specifically for the

people and situations involved. As I conclude though, I would ask you to be particularly conscious of:

1. Colleen Andretzke, our administrator. Colleen’s husband Michael passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last week and we just want to surround Colleen with our love and prayers.

2. Brendan Jaensch and the launch of VETA in New South Wales. Brendan has really stepped out in faith this year we are praying that 20 students will enrol in NSW for the start of 2015.

3. The staff and board of VETA as we gather on the 30 January in Adelaide for a time of discernment around what God is calling us to in the next 5 years.

In Christ

Rev. Rohan WatersEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – VETA

This is an article by Chelsea McPharlin from Horizon College in SA. This year Chelsea was awarded the ‘Vocational Education Student of the Year’ for the Wakefield Region in South Australia. This is the top award for students from across the Vocational training sector. Congratulations Chelsea for your award and all the best for your future studies!

A STUDENT’S PERSPECTIVECOUNT ME IN!

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FROM THE BOARDThank you for all of the time

and effort everyone has put into VETA in the last year. It has been an important year as we have started to move our thinking from

being a small start-up to an organisation that will impact

young people everywhere for many years to come.

Some highlights for me are:

• The decision to move into NSW and the really positive process we took to implement this

• Revisiting our mission and values

• Putting a number of policies/processes in place to ensure our staff and the people we look after are protected

• Improving the way we report and track our finances

• Renewing the Board with Jeanette Woods, Kelvin Grivell and Shannon Hood formally starting as board members

• Fostering a closer relationship between staff and the Board;

• Seeing Rohan’s growth as he leads the organisation

• Seeing God use VETA to impact young people across the country.

I hope you have also had highlights like this over the year.

Thanks again.

Matt HarridgeCHAIRMAN

South AustraliaThis year our hope has been to encourage young people to embrace discipleship, starting with the development of community; a community from which each young learner is nourished; a community which points to the presence of God found in each other and the places of life where creativity flourishes. This is where the discovery of self happens.

In 2014, 140 students have participated in Vetamorphus across 24 Peer Groups. The students attend 30 secondary schools and belong to 80 different churches.

There have been many special moments during 2014. For many students the retreats are a high point of their Vetamorphus experience and this year has been no exception. Here is what some of our Vetamorphus learners have said.

“ I am constantly amazed by how much I continue to be inspired by Vetamorphus and especially by Retreats”

- Mairi, St. John’s Grammar School.

“ My interaction with Ruth shaped my experience of Retreat. I will never forget the moment as I held her hands and her tears of joy, overwhelming love and happiness filled her. This joy, love and happiness is only from God. I simply acted in obedience with my Peer Group to love and serve the

people of Adelaide. I know that God opened her eyes that day and I am confident that God is powerful, intimate and caring who encounters with all... I really enjoyed the ‘mission’ focus’ of Retreat as I am so passionate about God’s mission and he gave me a whole new perspective”

- Miriam, Unley High School.

“ Since Retreat I am noticing my surroundings a lot more and have an awareness of those in need in my community. I felt God revealed himself to me and I have a strong urge to be part of helping the homeless. At Retreat I was reminded to shift the focus from my own life to the lives of others”

- Alex, Temple Christian College, Mile End.

Looking back on Vetamorphus 2014, I am very grateful for our students who through Vetamorphus explore what it means to be a disciple of Jesus while connected to others. The result of this is whole communities coming together reflecting on what it means to work out their faith and what it means to follow Jesus. I’m thankful to be a part of this.

Peter Eckermann SA CO-ORDINATOR

Western Australia

Vetamorphus is winding up for the year. As student are finishing final parts of workbooks, I am busy assessing those I have.

We had a great final retreat at the end of August where we enjoyed some interactive teaching from Matt Fricker, form Access the Story. Matt has always been and continues to be a great supporter of Veta in WA – thanks Matt!

This year we have ended up with 35 students going through to the end of the year. Next year it is looking like we will have more schools involved and somewhere near 60 students state-wide.

Congratulations to all students on your journey and transformation this year – I look forward to seeing you all at our graduation early next year. May God bless you all and give you peace and clarity of thinking as many of you embark on the next phase of your journey.

Robyn Phillips WA CO-ORDINATOR

UgandaIt was great to visit our Ugandan students at the Bushfire community and take them on retreat. This year we have six students completing the course. It was a pleasure to spend time with them, listening to their seminar presentations and doing ministry together as a part of their ‘social justice’ retreat. Thanks guys for your high quality of work in workbooks – they were a pleasure to assess. We look forward to continuing with the current students and hope to start a new peer group from Bushfire in 2015.

Robyn Phillips UGANDA CO-ORDINATOR

Victoria

After ten years of involvement with Veta, it’s really encouraging to see where many of our students are at years down the track and to hear them identify the way that God has worked in their life through Vetamorphus. “It’s the reason I’m in ministry”, “the reason I still read my Bible”, “the reason I’m still alive” and “the reason I still have a faith.”

This year in Victoria we have had a total of 94 students and 18 different groups including 10 private schools, 1 public school, 7 church based groups

One of the highlights for me this year occurred at a meeting with one of our regional groups. The students had been meeting to have breakfast and pray for their school most Tuesday mornings since they were in year 7. They saw the growth of Vetamorphus in their school as a direct answer to their years of prayer. Very encouraging.

As a final comment, I’d like to honour one of our Peer Group Supervisors, Laura Bennett who remains one of our most passionate Veta-advocates and supporters. On top of running a Peer Group, she is on both the Retreat Planning team and the State Leadership team, and has helped out with numerous other projects. Laura has had a challenging year but has never wavered from her commitment to her Kingdom work, both in and outside of Veta. Thanks to Laura and to everyone who has been part of the life-changing work of VETA Vic this year.

Paul (Digger) RandleVIC CO-ORDINATOR

New South Wales

My role, since starting in August this year, has been to establish Veta in NSW, and things are certainly taking shape. So much relies on the power of prayer and the work of God. There is a great interest building in NSW with doors opening and many schools planning to offer VETA to students in 2016.

A number of our key team members have 20 students on their hearts for 2015. We feel that God has established this as our starting point for this coming school year. Five students from Walla Walla have already signed up, and the hunt is on to discover who else God is calling to be part of our first official year in NSW.

I will be presenting to a state conference of chaplains in January. This will see us reaching over 300 chaplains and school pastors. I am also working with several schools to get Veta over the line to commence in 2015.

Please be praying that God will open doors and opportunities for young people across NSW to experience this experience of growth and transformation in their Christian life.

Brendan JaenschNSW CO-ORDINATOR

ROUND UP OF THE STATES

RATS & STATS!This year 275 students have completed our Vetamorphus course. This includes

Western Australia 35

South Australia 140

Victoria 94

Uganda 6

Total 275

PLUS We have also had two groups trialling VETA Neo in SA and Vic, with a total of 15 students.