Welcome to the SOW Monthly: September Edition!

In this month's edition, we would love to warmly invite you to come join us at the Alumni SOWcial event coming up later this month. Moreover, as campus ministry slowly aligns with the 'new normal', we are excited to share with you some recent updates, such as the Campus Leaders' Retreat and the Cambodia Missions team prep.

Director's Address

Dearest alumni,

Thank you for another month of your support in prayer, finances and the sharing of your experiences with our students. Now that we’re many months out of COVID19 lockdowns, ministry on campus is slowly returning to normal, at least on the surface. Some of the key challenges have been related to the invisible impacts of the lockdowns: widespread mental health issues, greatly reduced physical endurance, social anxiety and an increased fear about the future. Please pray for the staff and campus leaders as we endeavour to continue to serve and disciple the next generation of uni students on campus!

As a massive thank you for your constant support for the ministry and our students, I’d like to extend a very warm welcome to every single one of you to the Alumni SOWcial event that’s coming up on Saturday 15 October. It’s a time where we as a ministry would love to show our appreciation for the partnership that we have with you. I’ll be giving an update on what the Lord’s been doing on campus so far this year, plans for 2023, as well as an opportunity to hear from a distinguished alumni from the first generation of SOWers in the late 2000s. There’ll be food as well as various kinds of beverages to enjoy together. Hope to see you there!

You can register for this event here.

Date & Time: Saturday 15th October, 3:30PM - 5:30PM

Location: Harbour City Church (HCC), 41B College Street, Gladesville

Dress Code: Smart casual

Please RSVP by the 10th of October. For any enquiries, please contact Irene Chen at irene.chen@sowaustralia.com

2023 Campus Leaders' Retreat

On the 16-17 of September we held the first Campus Leaders’ Retreat for the incoming students who are stepping up to serve in 2023. It was such an encouragement to spend a few days away from the everyday busyness of life as a leadership group in the very familiar surroundings of Rose Gardens. Even though 2022 has been an in-person year, it has involved many challenges for the students as they made the internal adjustments back to real life. We held a final praise and prayer night and farewell to the outgoing leaders of 2022 and welcomed in the incoming leaders of 2023 over a lively dinner of Korean BBQ and great conversations at the fire-pit about all the things that make uni life great.

The new leaders also went through their orientation and initial training; it was a long day, but well worth preparing these young leaders to serve on campus in the coming year. Please continue to pray for their growth in the faith and development as servant leaders!

Cambodia Missions Team

SOW began to send out short-term missions teams in 2012 with a team to Thailand and Cambodia. Due to COVID-19, the last teams we sent out were to Taiwan and Thailand in 2019. However, with international borders opening up again, we’re very excited to announce the re-starting of our annual international short-term missions program with a team being sent out to Cambodia in December! We’ll be working with local church partners and long-term missionaries for a fortnight in total: one week in the capital city of Phnom Penh and one week in a rural village. Please pray for us as we prepare to go as a team and as our fundraising gets underway!

The team going are (around the table): Jess Choi (staff), Justin Hung (MQU), Ed More (UTS), Josh Kim (UTS), Erlina Yang (UNSW), Michelle Chen (UTS)