Welcoming Sydney uni and college students
It’s a new day for YWAM Sydney Newtown and we have decided to open the doors of our nine bedroom house to local uni students who seek to live with an Australian Christian family in a safe, loving, gospel-centred home! We’re so pleased to be able to extend hospitality to those who are new to Australia and/or Sydney, and we believe that living in Christian community can be a great blessing to not only those of us in our home, but to our local neighbourhood and city.
This is for you if:
- You are a student at Sydney Uni or another near-by university or college.
- You desire a loving family home for practical support and care during your studies.
- You are looking for a Christian environment to help you grow in your faith.
- You want to be a part of a missional community.
- You are willing to do your part to keep your room and shared areas neat, tidy, and welcoming.
- You want to learn about Australian culture and also share your own culture to help us learn.
- You are willing to speak conversational English with your hosts.
Student accommodation:
Our two student share rooms are the largest, quietest rooms in our entire house. They are set up with you in mind—with plenty of space to rest, study, or socialise as you prefer. Each room is clean, freshly painted, and tastefully decorated with modern furnishings and decor. We have purposely limited our student intake to four students in order that each student feels they have enough space to flourish while also living in community.
Each of our two student rooms feature:
- Two single beds (bunks)
- Bedside table
- Two desks and two chairs
- Book case/shelves
- Large wardrobe and hangers
- Dresser
- Two seater couch
- Lamp, fan, heater, mirror, area rug, bulletin board, towel rack, etc.
- New bedding, pillows, and towels
House features:
Our house is situated on a wonderful, quiet treelined street in a friendly neighbourhood just off of bustling King Street in Newtown. Our nine bedrooms are divided between your host family’s bedrooms and private living space, our shared community areas, guest rooms, and two large double rooms for students. Our main living room is tastefully decorated and includes new lounges, a large TV, DVD, and Apple TV. We have a shared boarding house style bathroom with two showers, two toilets, and two sinks, an open kitchen and dining area, laundry facilities, two covered front verandas, a large backyard, and an outdoor eating area which includes a BBQ, pizza oven, lounge furniture, and outdoor dining table. We also have free Wifi and a selection of DVDs, books, and games, as well as a guitar and electric piano.
Location:
Newtown is a colourful and friendly inner city suburb known for it’s vast array of eateries, street art, and eclectic mix of arts and entertainment. Our house is located a four minute walk to Newtown Station and a 10-15 minute walk to Sydney University. Also within a five minute walk from our house you will find: banks, grocery stores, a post office, library, movie theatre, chemists, medical centres, large parks, cafes, bookstores, hair salons, churches, clothing boutiques, and more. We are a six minute train ride to Central station, and there is easy access by public transport to local beaches such as Bondi, Coogee, and Manly.
Your hosts:
Ryan and Adriel Booker (along with their three young children and gentle, quiet, friendly dog), are an Australian Christian family ready to welcome you to Sydney. They have been serving in full time ministry with Youth With A Mission for close to twenty years and have been involved with youth and pastoral work, leadership, community outreach, communications, teaching and preaching, mentoring, and discipleship. Ryan is part of the YWAM Australia Eldership and also has a preaching and speaking ministry, and Adriel is a published author and preacher/speaker and leads a ministry to mothers and families. Both Ryan and Adriel have a passion to see young people thrive as they get to know the goodness of God, understand their identity in Christ, and find their own place to flourish in the world. We are an active family who loves living in the city, spending time at the beach, travel, sports, and the arts. (Please note that we have a private family living room, office, and bedrooms in another part of the house. Our kitchen/dining and bathrooms are shared.)
Meals:
You will have access to our fully equipped kitchen to prepare the food you love. (Please note: food is not included in your rent.) You will also have your own student pantry space and separate fridge to store items with the other students.
Community:
Each week we have a family dinner as a house that we encourage you to attend. (This meal is provided by your host family at no cost to you.) Our weekly family meal is part of the way we stay connected among our busy days of work, studies, friends, and family. We also have a weekly (optional) Bible study for any who would like to join and grow as disciples of Jesus, as well as periodic service days to give back to our local neighbourhood. (Service days are also optional but we would love to have you join us!) From time to time we will also organise day trips to help you see Sydney and its surrounds if this is something you are interested in. These will be things such as a ferry ride to Manly Beach, a tour of Circular Quay and the Royal Botanical Gardens, a day trip to the Blue Mountains, etc.
Ministry:
Ryan and Adriel lead the ministry of YWAM Sydney Newtown, which you can learn more about here. As a part of our work we have various ministry expressions in our local community and also sometimes host short term guests and volunteers within the two guest rooms of our property. When other YWAM staff and volunteers join us, they also access our shared living areas along with everyone else.
Orientation:
Please note that we will do everything we can to help you get oriented to your new city, including things like helping you set up your own bank account, showing you how to obtain an Opal Card for use on public transport, and connecting you with an outlet where you can purchase a local SIM card and phone plan. We are here to be your house parents and friends, so that means we want to see you thrive!
Interested?
For further details and costs, please send a letter of interest to Ryan Booker:
ryan (@) ywamsydneynewtown (.) com
Adriel Booker
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