For most of our congregation, the New Year will bring a few New Year resolutions. For two people, this New Year will bring a New Year revolution. Jonny and Cheryl Weston will be leaving our shores and moving to Australia to begin two years of study at Hillsong International Leadership College.

Both Cheryl and Jonny will be studying for a Diploma in Ministry. Their core subjects (the theology bit) will be the same, but Cheryl will major in Worship and Jonny will study TV & Media in Ministry in the first year, and Youth Ministry / Music in the second.

Cheryl was able to take some time out from her hectic schedule of form filling, medicals, x-rays, emails, organising money and flights, to answer some of the questions that this nosey parker (and I’m sure many others) wanted to find out.

Cheryl, why did you choose this particular Bible College?

Despite popular opinion (Dave McFaul) that I’m a Hillsong fanatic, it actually has more to do with the courses that they offer - we found them very appealing - and relevant to the gifts that God has given us. More practically, we were attracted by the affordability (being a bank official I know how strong the exchange rate to the Aus dollar is at the moment - multiply your sterling by 2!)

To be honest we hadn't really ever thought about going to Bible college on a full-time basis until one day we received a college prospectus (it just dropped through our door in the post one day). We joked about going and how great it would be, but the more we talked, the more we felt like God was urging us to seek His will. We both prayed and left this decision at his feet.

The definitive moment for me came when I had a bit of a health scare a few months back. I was so worried about this, coupled with all the other stress that was going on in my life, that I just put on a “sacrificial worship” cd. I found myself prostrate on the living room floor, sobbing and I felt God totally enveloping me.

Like many women my age I really longed to start my own family and at the time it was one of the things that dominated most of my thoughts and I remember praying "God you know my heart, and you know that one of my strongest desires is to have children, but above that I place my desire to do your will, and I pray that you would guide me in it, in whatever you would have me do" ..... a dangerous prayer and for me a particularly heartbreaking one to make. But I trust in Him, and I'm excited to see his will develop and unfold.

Where do you plan to live in Australia, and how will you be supporting yourselves?

We'll be renting a house in Sydney, although we are finding this a bit difficult at the moment as the letting agents require you to view the property first so we can't do this until we get there. The college have offered to house us temporarily (we want to be able to have people come stay so that's why we're not staying in college houses - doesn't cost much more).

We're remortgaging our house and will be renting it out to my cousin. It seems quite extreme, but we don't have nearly enough savings. We'll also be allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours per week, so we intend to try and get jobs sorted once we get there to assist our expenses.

We're putting our faith in God and we know that He will bless us abundantly through what we will learn, developing our gifts and the people we will meet. All our costs are insignificant when we look at the bigger picture of furthering His kingdom. I think we'll be living by faith!!

What is going to be the biggest hurdle you face as you prepare to leave?

Saying goodbye to everyone. It's not really a hurdle, but will break my heart especially as I’m such a home bird. Anyone who knows me well will know how big a step this is for me, but His will is greater than mine. We know that we will really miss the sense of family and the support network in Glengormley. Jonny is gutted that he has to leave the youth behind for two years, at such a crucial point in time for them.

So how can we keep in contact with you?

We'll be 10 hours ahead so phonecalls will likely be later at night or early morning, so probably contacting us through email or Bebo/Facebook would be easiest.

Jonny will be making short films and sending them on DVD back to the church every few months, to show the highlights of what we've been up to, where we've been and what we'll do next. Kind of like a video diary for the church really! These should be available on the church website.

Enough of the sad stuff, what are you most looking forward to?

Learning!!! I'm not naturally an academic person and have no patience for studying, but when something really interests me then I grab the bull by the horns and get stuck in.

Music is such a passion in both of our lives, automatically go into their choir because of my course I’ll and Jonny has already been offered the opportunity to drum in one of their worship teams (they have many!)

Ultimately, when you both return to NI, what would you like to do with these new skills?

Ideally we would both like to use our skills in a full time capacity in a church setting. Jonny's qualification will enable him to work in TV & Media/ Youth ministry or music. I'd really love to teach singing and lead worship, although there isn't much need for full time worship pastors in NI. But we'll see .... all we know is that God wants us to go to college for 2 years. Anything after that is up to him. It's hard to explain, but I guess we'll just be living by faith.

What support would you like from our church?

Prayer for our safety, our marriage - that we would continue to focus on God's purpose, and that God will guide us in all of our decisions about courses/preparations etc.

Finally, what advice would you give yourself as you begin this adventure?

Probably to calm down, just trust God's will and not panic!