News - Award-winning students carry on in winning ways

^ Stacey Hetherington with Dr Darren Morton at the 2007 awards ceremony.

Award-winning students carry on in winning ways
Cooranbong, New South Wales

Two award-winning students from Avondale College’s 2007 round of awards have continued to excel this year.
Stacey Hetherington received $A1000 for winning the Avondale College Alumni Association Community Service Award this past year but donated half the money to help build a new a duplex house at the Wat Preah Yesu Children’s Home in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Ms Hetherington served as co-leader for 35 Avondale students who served at the home for two weeks during their summer holidays in 2006/07.
“Over the past year, it has been a great pleasure to be part of where God has been leading the students of Avondale College,” writes Ms Hetherington in a letter to the college. “Perhaps the biggest blessing was allowing God to use me to . . . minister for two weeks [at Wat Preah Yesu].”
Ms Hetherington returned to the home as one of 41 volunteers this past summer. The team, comprised mostly of members of the Kellyville Seventh-day Adventist church, raised more than $A60,000—$A10,000 more than it needed for building materials, reports Ms Hetherington.
She says, “I thank God for the opportunity to serve in the community and the manner in which He has blessed me undeservingly for it.”
Kent Kingston received the Adventist World Radio (AWR) Award of Excellence in Radio Production and Public Relations, also worth $A1000.
“This award came at the perfect time for me,” Mr Kingston says. “The night before the awards ceremony, I had been doing some research and thinking about volunteering for a role in media ministry
. . . . For someone with a wife and children, this is daunting.
“I was feeling fearful and frustrated at the prospect of supporting a family on a volunteer stipend or even in a ‘faith-based’ situation. . . . When I received the award, it was as if God tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘See, you don’t have to worry about money—I’ve got it all under control.’”
Mr Kingston is now completing a six-month professional internship at the Adventist Media Network, based in Wahroonga.—Brenton Stacey. Photos by Ann Stafford.

^ Kent Kingston with Andrea Steele at the 2007 awards ceremony.