Newsletter #1

WHAT STARTED OUT AS A DREAM…
We write the year 2004. I had just started college at the Christian University Ede. This is where I first came encounter with Hillsong United, a worshipband out of Australia. After some research I discovered around 2006, that Hillsong does not only exsist of United, but in fact is a big church, and with that also a college with a degree in the area where my heart lies: worship and music!
Ever since i was a little kid I’ve been busy with music. So, I learned at an early age that God is in music and it’s a awesome way to communicate with God and people. I can’t exactly explain why music is so important to me, it just is! What I do know is, is that music is a powerful tool to touch people, tell them a story or to share with. Because that’s what it’s really about: Relationships, between God and people and between people. For me, music is an important key. And I pretty much like anything. Currently I play piano and guitar in church, where I also sing and lead worship. Besides that I really enjoy my drumlessons.
‘Later, when I’m older, I’ll make it my profession…’, a thought that crossed my mind a lot as a child, teenager, young adult… But I had a long ways to go before college graduation…
So all the while it remained a dream. When I talk about it with my friends nowadays, they tell me that I’ve always mentioned it in college. I can’t remember much of that, exept that there was always that voice in the back of my head that whispered: ‘Later, when you’re older…’.
And ‘later’ came, because finally, Feburay 2009 I graduated and got my Bachelor of Social Work. Now it was time to seriously think about my future. And after a long time not thinking about is, the old dream came afloat: Studying at Hillsong College. So what to do: the security of a job, or go for Australia? After three weeks of thinking and praying, that I’d made my deadline, I cut the knot: I’m going for it!
During the months that followed, I got a job, a homefront committee, I took care of my application and I started saving my butt of. A year later, this passed march 2010, that one important letter from Australia came: I was accepted in the Worship Music Programm, starting January 2011!


WHAT IS HILLSONG COLLEGE?
Hillsong Church is a big church in Sydney, Australia, consisting of two campusses, the Hills Campus and the City campus. Each weekend, over 15000 people join the services, spread over more then 10 services. There are also services in Brisbane, aswell as in London, Kiev, Paris and South-Africa. Part of Hillsong Church is Hillsong College, a college (comparing to a dutch HBO-university) that, in it’s current form offers four streams: Worship Music, Dance, TV & Media and Pastoral leadership.
The Worship Music stream is a three-year program, one can follow 1,2 or 3 years. The first year, besides core subjects such as Introduction to the Old and New Testamen and Personal Leadership, each stream follows, I’ll get subjects such as Worship Leadership, Songwriting and Worship Theology. Also there are Masterclasses, Worshops and Tutorials that go deeper into the diffent parts of music and worship.
Besides the theoreticall input, the stream offers the opportunity to practice the learned theory within Hillsong Church.


CITY CAMPUS
The campus I’ll be at is the City Campus, based in the middle of Sydney, close to, for example, the touristic Bondi Beach. (Google it with Google Streetview, adress: 188 Young Street Waterloo NSW 2017 Australia). This campus houses about 150 out of 800 students and is therefor the smaller campus.
6 MORE MONTHS… JANUARY 2011
Well, it’s not that far yet. School starts january 24th 2011. That means I’ll leave somewhere at the end of december, the beginning of january to Down Under. At least 6 months of preparations are ahead of me.
I’m using this time mostly by working a lot and saving up. I work at Karakter (Character) Child and Youth Psychiatric Hospital close to my hometown Ede, at a treatment grouphome for teenagers. I love it every day, both with the kids and my team! I’m also currently working on an airplain ticket, my visa, sponsors and other things to take care of for this adventure.
I hope to update you regulary the coming months on developments and I hope to talk with you personally about this great adventure!

PRAYER AND THANKING POINTS:
- Thank God that He is the Dreamgiver that keeps His promisses and I can go.
- Thank God that I have a great job with an awesome team of co-workers.
- Thank God for my superb homefront committe, that are totally commited and suportive.
- Pray for the finances to get there.
- Pray for a good preparation period (visa, ticket, etc.)