Laura In New Zealand: September 2007

Thursday, September 13

Weekends

A couple weekends ago me and another staff took two van loads of people over to the West Coast. The weather wasn't all that great, but I had a really fun time hanging out with the students. We stayed at a nice Beach Hostel and saw some cool sites. If you want to see more pictures when it's sunny go to my archives and find June of 2006. We saw the pancake rocks at Punakaiki and did a short trek that led us to an amazing ocean bay. On the drive home we went to a cave, but we didn't have the right gear to fully explore it. We will go back in 2 weeks with lights and clothes that can get wet. Last weekend I decided to trade my snowboard boots for ski boots and I had a great time re-learning to ski. It was amazing how scary black runs are on skis when they are cake on a snowboard.

To update those of you who may not have gotten the e-mail, God did a miracle with finances and provided through a few VERY generous people ALL the money Joy needs for outreach. Thanks so much to those of you who have been praying, God is answering your prayers.

This week we have an amazing couple speaking named Jay and Erin. The main revelation I have received is that the whole point of Christianity is being in relationship with the Trinity. They are perfect love because God IS love. It never says in the Bible that God IS wrath or anger, but His character and nature is in fact love. Pretty profound, if you think about it for a bit.

Arthur's Pass

Hokitika Gorge

Me with Jose and Matt

The West Coast

Cave Stream

The water is freezing...brrrrr!

Rosie and I at Mt. Hutt

Yes, I did try skiing again last weekend. I'm really soar now.

Wednesday, September 5

Church Serving Week

The purpose of church serving week is to do exactly that, serve churches. We split up into our outreach teams last week and got sent out all over the South Island to spend a whole week doing whatever needed to be done at various churches. My India team and I went all the way up to Blenheim to serve a church called The Elim Centre. This was actually the home church for one of my students, so he got an opportunity to spend some time with family and friends. We got to stay with different families from the church and we were so blessed by their hospitality. Me and another student named Laura stayed with an amazing couple. It felt like being home again. We spent hours talking over dinner about anything and everything, but mostly we talked about God. They were full of Biblical wisdom pertaining to politics, science, and life in general. It was mentally stretching, but so worth it to engage in meaningful conversation. Our team spent the day doing manual labour. They have a ministry that provides a fun place for kids on their school holidays. They have bouncy castles and a go-cart track and now thanks to our team, they have a mini-mini-golf course. We hauled a lot of dirt, dug out a lot of rocks, mixed concrete, cemented a patio, and prepared the ground for grass. It was hard work, but they were so appreciative of our help. We also shared testimonies at their young adults group and youth group, as well as helped out with Sunday school. Laura and I managed to convince the son of the couple we were staying with to come to church for the first time in a long time. I am continuing to pray for him.

We had an incredible week bonding as a team. I really like every single person and I'm so excited to spend 10 weeks with them in India. We leave in less than 4 weeks. Please be praying with us for finances and other logistical things. One student still needs 4,600 NZ dollars as well as her passport and visa. As a whole, our team needs $8,300. We are believing that God will provide and we are looking forward to seeing how He is going to do it. Enjoy the pictures.

Because some of you have asked, here is my contact info again:

YWAM PO BOX 47 Oxford,
New Zealand 7443

YWAM website www.ywamoxford.org