A Farewell to "Dutchy"

The morning started out with service; my first time out on this trip. It was an interesting territory because it was located very close to the city center. It was just a different atmosphere than what kind of territories we have back home in Sylvania; lots of people walking about, lots of little business, small flats or low to mid-rise buildings with intercoms. I would compare it to working in the West End of downtown (areas around I-405). I got to talk to some people but no one took anything. We finished the morning at a cafe where I had a really good iced coffee with ice cream in it. Maybe call it a coffee float? Pretty tasty though.

Straight from service we went to the downtown Paddy's Market, where you can find just about anything. It was very crowded, and a little chaotic, but we bought some stuff anyway. One random thing I noticed was that almost all the vendors were Asian, and actually I heard more foreign languages spoken than English. Proof again that Sydney is a very international city.

This evening was special because the folks in the Annandale cong were saying goodbye to a friend they had made over the past 6-7 weeks. The guest of honour for this special picnic at Bronte Beach (yes, we were just there yesterday) was a young brother by the name of Robin van den Akker, or as everyone affectionately called him, Dutchy. To make a long story very short, it was completely by coincidence that he landed here. He was originally headed for Melbourne but stayed here instead. He is a very cool guy. We had included him on our trip to Bethel, our hike and we worked with him in service. I have his email and we plan to keep in touch. Tonight we all said goodbye. He leaves for his home in Holland early Sunday.

Pic of the day

A small group from the cong said goodbye to Dutchy (green shirt, #9) after a 6-7 week vacation from The Netherlands.
(sry about the red eye)