Day 11. Thown in the Deep End. - Monday, 28/11/2005

Cat and Norm gave their testimonies today, and Darcy at dinner.

Tonight all our help and backup is taken away for the next week. No more signing in to HQ, no more Recharge Centre to take people to. No more SES, SST, portable toilet cubicles, Rosies, very few police and ambulance. And because the NSW Schoolies are a year older, most of the Schoolies are allowed into the pubs, etc. So there are no more stages on the beach.


Most of the new schoolies arrived yesterday while the stages were still there, so they didn't realise that they weren't going to be there anymore. They've been left very bored and idle, and it is a very dangerous night for us, but it is also an opportunity to talk to Schoolies who appreciate the free conversation over their boredom.

So tonight, before my group of Luke, Kristine, Krystle and I went out, we prayed that the Holy Spirit would lead us to the right places.

As soon as we were on the streets, God impressed me to lean against the wall around a corner. Immediately after I did, a guy leaned beside me and started telling me all about himself. He was a Jack of all trades whose temporary job was to cook for the Schoolies. He didn't know what he was going to do when they were gone. He wasn't getting any sleep, but he seemed much happier as he ran back off to his work after finishing his beer. I tried to keep myself in view of the rest of the team during the conversation, but they knew I was there.

Just on the night when there're no more toilets, I have to go from the start. So we went to these cubicles that lock electronically. A green light shows that it's vacant, and a red light shows that it's engaged. Well, that's the theory anyway. In practice, I had to knock on the door with the green light because I was paranoid that it didn't work, and then I walked in on some girl, so my fears were related to real disaster after all. I was extremely embarrassed, as you can imagine, and decided to hide on the other side of the building until she was gone.
When I finally did go, an electronic voice informed me that I had ten minutes before becoming vulnerable to causing someone else the same embarrassment, and then it started playing irritating jazz who's composer obviously had the intent in mind, of making such situations difficult.
When I finally escaped, I thought that as we walked around I would hum the tune to Luke, who had also used the toilets, in an attempt to tease him. It didn't work.

While walking along the beach, we found a person's hotel tag. On our way to return it, I felt we should talk to a couple of people sitting on the fence. I told Kristine, and straight away that's where we were going. On the way, we passed a group of girls which would have been a safer choice to talk to, and I started to doubt we were doing the right thing. As we got closer, I started to think that the couple on the fence looked like a boy and girl, which would have made it difficult to talk to them. But then I knew we were going the right way. It was two boys, and we had a great conversation.

Then I felt we should go to another place at the top of the stairs, and that's where we went without me saying anything this time. That's where we met a guy who had begun to believe in God, because every time he prayed to Him, impossible coincidences would happen to get him out of trouble. He was confused though, and wanted to know the truth about things, because he had been reading the Bible, but also Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. Kristine told him that if he were to pray to God, the same way he had unwittingly learned to do, and ask Him to reveal the truth about Himself, He would, just as He had done so to us.

After that, I had no more 'feelings' about where to go, but we seemed to go to the right places all that night,

Last year, there was a night where everyone was dressed in green sheets. I had asked someone about it, and they told me they all stole them from a hotel. Last night, I expected to see people doing it again, and I planned to ask them which hotel it was. I didn't see them last night, but then tonight there were heaps of people in the same brilliant green sheets as last year. We asked some of them about it, and it turned out the guy had lied to me last year. It was actually a night club who was giving the green togas out at the door for the toga party. People were wearing them in all sorts of ways. The girl we were talking to was wearing it as a skirt. While we were talking, it suddenly fell off. She ran and hid behind a truck while she fixed it up. Talk about an embarrassing night! There was a third thing that happened too, but I'm going to stop there, or you'll think I was doing it on purpose.

We met Bethany's brother's fiancée's sister in a group on the beach. At least I think that was the relationship.

We escorted someone, who had talked to Jess H. on another night, to their hotel. Jess was really excited when we told her later, and wanted to know everything we talked about.
On the way we saw a guy on the ground who was not looking good. We told his friends that we would make sure they were looking after him when we came back. On our way back, however, I got a glimpse of him barely walking along the footpath on his own.

Then we met a group of drunk guys who were out to make fun of us. Something happened which I put a stop to when I remembered that I had signed a form saying that I would keep my own dignity. Luke thought it was hilarious though.

I saw that guy who thought I was trying to prove God's existence when I was with the Cool Group, but I couldn't speak to him at the time.