Last 2 weeks before Outreach!

School is almost done here. We're in our final 2 weeks. Winter is coming upon us rapidly. This morning it was 11 celcius (about 48 farenheit) in my room (we have no heat in this part of the house). We had a pitiful snowfall on Sunday of about half and inch that melted by midday. But the mountains were beautifully white well into Monday.
I have to say I've gleaned so much from this DTS. Outreach in Christchurch on Friday nights has been awesome to meet and interact with the locals and even lead many closer to the truth of who God is. From the lecture phase of DTS, I'd say the Lordship of Christ has been most impressed upon me. The idea of surrendering my all to Him and truly making Him Lord of my life, I've discovered, is a daily process. There have been some times of sacrifice and struggle that have subsequently led to amazing peace and joy at the love of Jesus Christ! Through submission to Him comes blessings and amazing growth! As well as discovering who He really is as my Father who loves me unconditionally.

Final prep is being done for outreach. We will spend one week in Perth, Australia, then Johannesburg-South Africa for 2 weeks, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Egypt each for 2 weeks. Before Grad in Israel. In these countries we will be working in orphanages, AIDS hospitals, building projects and public evangelism.

At present, I don't have a clear direction on what God is calling me to after DTS. I have some ideas and visions concerning a few different ministries afterwards. Right now, I've decided to continue traveling after outreach, for about a month or so with the remaining miles on the Around the World ticket that we are using for our outreach. I plan to look into YWAM opportunities during this time in Greece, Ireland, Scotland, and some states. Then back to NZ for about a week before coming home. When I get home, hopefully by late Sept. I will continue to look for opportunites within Canada unless God reveals His calling for me while overseas.

Some prayer requests I'd like to send along are;
*continued focus as I try to hear God's calling for post outreach.
*the open hearts of the African people as we move to work alongside them in their orphanages, AIDS hospitals, building projects. As well for receptiveness to the message we give through our testimonies, skits, evangelism etc in each of these nations.
*our sensitivity to the African people and their needs and culture. That we will do everything with real love and a driven desire to help and reach everyone!
*safety both within the communities we will be in, and also physically against any disease or sickness for all our members.
*God's provision financially during outreach and afterwards, since I have to buy extra vaccinations, supplies, and general daily necessities throughout the next few months of this journey. As well as a plane ticket home from New Zealand afterwards. I'm thinking of selling my truck to help out, but I'm waiting on Him to be sure.
*And finally, a continual 'dying to self' so that I can give Him every part of me and fulfil His purposes every day.

I'm really excited to get started on this next adventure. And also to get to a warmer climate!
Blessings Abundant everyone!

Home from Faith Week!

To view my pics of Faith Week click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23038541@N00/sets/221849/
I'm home! This past week I've been travelling around the South Island of New Zealand by thumb with not much more than my clothes and a sleeping bag. The very appropriate name of this adventure was 'Faith Week'. Every student was grouped with 2 others and sent out in the direction of their choice (we chose south) to travel for one week. We were each given $10, 2 sandwiches, 2 cookies and a piece of fruit. We were allowed sleeping bags but no tents. For the entire week we would have to rely on God to provide our transportation, food and shelter. This was an exercise in trusting God and really building our faith in His provision like we never had before.
The first day out it was pouring rain and within an hour we (David, Liz and myself) were all thoroughly soaked. Our second ride, around noon, turned out to be an Australian tourist. He said he'd take us to Dunedin (the city we were aiming for, about 4-5 hours away) but he was taking a much longer route as he wanted to go see Mt. Cook first. We said we were very willing to join him in his sightseeing tour and we all piled into his tiny little rental car. Unfortunately, because of the dreary weather, most of Mt. Cook was covered in cloud, but we did get to the base of it. And we also got to see some spectacular scenery along the way, including the tiniest little stone chapel I've ever seen, over-looking a placid mountain lake. Another awesome blessing, because of the long ride we got with just one driver, all our stuff got dry! We arrived in Dunedin after 9pm to find there were no hostel beds available and we couldn't afford one anyway. After a couple of hours of wandering around we submitted to sleeping on the benches outside of the city hall. Fortunately the rain had stopped and our sleeping gear was all dry too! YAY! We were awaken on a couple of occasions by intoxicated but harmless partygoers wondering what we were doing, but otherwise we slept soundly and safely through the night.
In the morning, I think we were starting to get the idea of what we were supposed to be doing if we were to survive this week. We called out to God in prayer and admitted our lack of direction, we were down to $20 and no further ahead than we had been the previous day. We went to church that morning in Dunedin, and had a lovely tea and hot cross buns for Easter Sunday with the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church afterwards. Throughout the remainder of the week, whenever we started to get stressed from not having any food, not getting a ride for over 2 hours or not having a clue where to stay we humbly turned to God to show us His plan. And did He ever! In this we also learned to praise God at every opportunity for both the incredible ways He provided, but also for the times of leanness, as these were the times when we were shown how powerful and deep His care and love for us was.
Here is a brief breakdown of the rest of the week:
-2nd night in Dunedin, met 2 university students and were invited to stay at their flat. We were fed, allowed showers, even checked email! The next morning one of the other students we met gave us $50 and all of his Easter candy. He said his life had been touched by our testimony and he was seeking God for himself, and this encounter had encouraged him a great deal. We all plan to stay in contact with him.
-after waiting over 2 hours trying to get a ride in the direction we wanted to go, we decided to take a time out, share a coffee and call on God for about an hour. Within 3 minutes of leaving the cafe and putting our thumbs out to go in a different direction we were picked up. Her name was Courtenay, she took us sightseeing on our way to Oamaru at the Moeraki Boulders on the east coast. It's this beach on the Pacific where these huge stones or boulders are all along the beach and in the water. The cool part is, is they are all completely round, perfect spheres! Never been touched by man, they just formed that way, you have to check out the pics in the link! What a cool experience and an awesome blessing to get to go there in our travels. About 30 minutes after she had left us in Oamaru that evening, to head for Christchurch (she still had a few hours drive ahead of her) we were wandering around trying to find someplace we could afford to stay, she reappeared saying she'd felt she was supposed to come back and help us, she handed us $20 and we said our farewells again. This gave us enough for the hostel that night and another loaf of bread for the journey. Praise God, His provision at work!
-Next 2 nights we stayed in the home of the cousin of one of our rides (in Queenstown), and the next night her brother's in Wanaka. Our Queenstown stay gave us $50 giving us enough to stay in a hostel in Hokitika for our last night.
In all of these places and through many of our rides the incredible kindness and hospitality of Kiwi's was constantly evident. Many were very moved by our determination to rely on God for everything, and had to admit that the way we'd come through with everything we needed was more than coincidence.
-final night in a hostel in Hokita on the west coast, and some money left over for a dozen eggs, rice and a loaf of bread to get us through dinner and the following day.
-heading home from Hokitika, a waitress in a cafe ( I stopped here to pray that we would find rides back to Oxford, as we weren't having any luck) was so moved by the story of Faith Week that she gave me a sandwich and 2 muffins to finish my journey home with. Within 10 minutes of leaving I had a ride all the way to Oxford! Even better he was heading through Arthur's pass in the mountains (the scenic route) and I was blessed to be able to take in even more of God's incredible creation. Snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, crystal blue lakes and winding mountain roads. What an awesome way to finish a journey based on seeking God's guidance. What a huge impact this has had on the way I view God. Even with the weather I know He was looking out for us, as the west coast is typically colder and much wetter than the east, but we never saw a drop of rain and hardly a cloud for the whole week, I even got a sunburn! It's become so evident just how close He really is and how desperately He wants to provide for all of us if we'll only let him. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, but this time I'll bring my sunscreen...B.A.B.E. (Be Abundantly Blessed Eh!)