Outreach Update #3

YWAM OXFORD JDTS 2012 - 2013 NZ OUTREACH TEAM UPDATE #3

Kia Ora!

The day to write updates always comes so soon; it reminds me of how fast our time has gone by. The weeks go by so quickly when God is teaching you heaps and the people are amazing. The last two weeks we stayed at Te Ao Maarama YWAM base in Mangere, Auckland. Being at Mangere was a huge blessing and amazing encouragement. We got to build relationships with some incredible people. Staying there for a total of three weeks was an enormous blessing. Living in Mangere opened our eyes and hearts to the island culture.

About some of the things we were a part of… our team got to work at Merivale, a woman’s refuge center that was a 5 minute walk from the base. We cleaned out and helped prep two units for them. Lots of scrubbing floors and walls, the kids who lived in there previously, loved pens and markers. It was neat to see inside a ministry who helps restore women by showing them that they matter and are important. We worked here for a couple mornings each week.

Lily, Val and Lizzie had an opportunity to go to a funeral of a Samoan woman at a Maori marae. Don, whose mother passed away, asked if the YWAM family he has been a part of over the years would come and support him in this time. It was the first time Lily saw a dead body.  It was an amazing opportunity to support a brother in Christ and experience Maori/Samoan Culture. 

We got in contact with a ministry, Drug Arm, which hands out coffee, tea, Milo and baked goods to the homeless and the prostitutes in different areas around Auckland on Friday nights. Drug Arm sends out vans that are equipped with a small kitchenette in the boot, it has hot water and storage for food. We paired up with 3 guys, David and Stan (local pastors) and Ness (a social worker/ security guard at local juvenile detention center). Our lovely Mandy Hudson also came along. We started at 9pm and were out till 2:30am. At about 1am we stopped at a graveyard just outside city center and David asked us to go look for homeless, as it normally was a hotspot. We didn’t find anyone so we wondered if David was testing us to see if we really would do anything. Miss Mandy Hudson sure thought it was funny that we went only armed with a torch, and we all had a good laugh about it afterwards. David had an incredible eye and heart for the homeless; he would pull off and find them in all sorts of corners. The night was an awesome opportunity to see the brokenness of the city nightlife and show God’s love to the people we met.

Monday our team deep-cleaned the base’s kitchen. Val cleaned the oven that had a little too much pig head cooked in it. Shelves, racks, and floors were all wiped and scrubbed away at. The base didn’t really expect us to do what we did so it was so awesome to be able to bless them in such a simple way. For dinner that night we cooked an American/ British BBQ to thank them for being such a blessing to us and welcoming us into their family. We had a great night chatting and laughing together as a family.

Prayer Station was again an epic opportunity to worship with other believers and evangelize on the streets of Auckland. Last Friday, seven people gave their hearts to Jesus!

We’ve moved to Tauranga and have gone to the Tauranga House of Prayer and evangelized or as the two guys we’re working with Trevor and Jordan call it  “the gathering of the brothers”.

Prayer Points:

*Unity in team

*Deeper relationships with each other

*That God would be our one and only focus

*Perseverance and strength

Thanks for all you all prayers and support. Love ya’ll heaps and we’ll be seeing ya’ll soon.

*JDTS NZ Outreach Team*

Outreach Update #2

Kia ora! This is my outreach team's second update...

YWAM OXFORD JDTS 2012 - 2013 NZ OUTREACH TEAM UPDATE #2

Hey everyone! Since the last time we updated you we have run a family camp and have done a lot of evangelism. From December 31st to January 5th we helped run the first King's Kid Family Camp in New Zealand. The camp was incredible, the families were amazing. It was so good to see the families open up to God being the center of their family and them working together. Steph and Lily worked with the 0 - 6 year olds and had a fun time singing songs, making crafts and running around with them. Val and Hikari worked with the 7 - 12 year olds and shared a lot of God's heart for them, setting example while they are still young and keeping up with their energy levels. Lizzie and Jo worked with the 13 - 21 year olds, they had a great time, teaching, sharing and just chatting and getting to know them. We got to meet Ledua's family, his wife Vika and two wonderful children Jeremiah and Sofia.

We arrived in Auckland Sunday night and spent Monday and Tuesday praying and worshiping. Wednesday we spent our day learning to stop striving and trying to please God with our "good works". Later that night we participated in a community dinner that the base here hosts. Lily and Lizzie led communion before the meal which was a potluck of various dishes from around the world. After dinner we spent the evening worshipping and each member of our team shared what we've learnt so far on outreach. We got to connect with most of the people who live on base and the King's Kids base. Mandy Hudson was one of them. Go Mandy Hudson! Friday through Sunday we spent our evenings evangelizing. We worked with Peter Kim who runs a Prayer Station every Friday night on Queen Street, Auckland's city center. The Prayer Station is usually only on Friday nights but because there was our DTS, a University Korean DTS, and a Korean SOM Team, Peter organized it for 3 nights. We had an amazing time working with the Koreans. From 7 - 8 we had worship and prayer and then from 8 - 10 we went out onto the street for evangelism. Every night we had some really good conversations with people. Saturday night, Steph talked to 2 Korean guys, one a Christian and the other not. She did a really great job, sharing with them about God. They told her that they stopped to talk to her because they thought she was blushing, she wasn't though. Her face was just really red because we had gone to the beach for our time  off that afternoon. Sunday night we worshipped out on the street which was pretty cool to sing and worship God in the middle of the street. Val together with Jin, a Korean girl studying English for the next 3 months who is absolutely lovely, led a girl named Annie to Jesus. Hallelujah, praise the Lord! Lizzie and Jo spent their two hours Sunday night, chatting with a Muslim guy, Zachary, about the differences between Islam and Christianity. While they were conversing with him, an atheist, Leum joined their conversation. They ended up talking with him separately for another hour, and it turns out that he's from Christchurch and knows about Oxford and has met some us YWAMers before. He's only 18 but has an incredible knowledge of the Bible and other religions, he even debates for fun. We hope to keep in contact with him, as he is most definitely searching. Please pray for him. 

January 14th, in the morning we had a Powhiri, an official Maori welcome, at the Te Ao Marama YWAM Base, along with the Korean Uni DTS, Korean SOM Team and the English for Mission school students. 

Prayer Points:

- Steph's headaches that they would be healed

- team unity and that we would become stronger as a family

- that we would continue to be bold and courageous as we love people wherever they're at

- for the people that we've built relationships with during Prayer Station nights, like Annie and Leum

- wisdom in direction and following God's leading

- continued good health for our team

Heaps of love,

JDTS '12 - '13 NZ Outreach Team

p.s. ya'll are really really awesome, thanks for praying for us!

Outreach Update #1

Sorry guys for the lack of updates in the last while but internet has been a bit rare and if there is it is lacking in the working department. So heres the last update, I know it's a bit late, please forgive me. It's our team's first update of our first 2 weeks of our outreach.


December 31, 2012
2012 Justice New Zealand Outreach Team Update Report

Hey! It’s crazy to think that 2 weeks of outreach are over already. Time has flown by. We started off with driving up to Moutere (near Motueka). We stayed at a local family’s chalet and got to hang out with them and share about YWAM and why we are in New Zealand. We also got to encourage them with prophetic words and pray with them. They didn’t know much about Jesus but seemed really interested and were open to us sharing.

In Nelson where we headed next we stayed with Allan and Linda Hollis, the pastor couple of Atawhai Faith Works Church. Some of us helped out with manual work like weeding and mulching around the church’s car park while Val and Lily went to the beach with the kids from the summer holiday program from the church. On Sunday we were invited to share on the topic of calling and destiny. Members of our team shared what was on their heart; it was really exciting to end our week blessing the church. They also blessed us by speaking prophetic words over each one of us. We witnessed two girls from the church get baptized later that afternoon at the beach, which was celebrated with a BBQ. Allan and Linda were very hospitable and it was good to build relationships with the church and the community.

For Christmas we were in Wellington. Our Christmas Eve was a quiet affair with just ourselves. Christmas Day we went to the beach for lunch and for Christmas dinner we were invited to the Bloomfield’s (A past YWAM student’s family). On Boxing Day we went out on the main shopping street of Wellington and split up into two groups doing street evangelism. Val, Lizzie and Jo walked around Cuba Street talking to people that the Holy Spirit highlighted to us. We experienced some spiritual attack such as a taro/ energy reader setting up across from us who we shared the Gospel with. Val prayed for and spoke to a demon-oppressed man. We spoke to and prayed for a number of others during the day as well. Jo YWAM styled it and ran after a guy to pray for his knee. Steph and Lily spoke to a man playing the accordion and were able to speak life and truth about God and how he was important to God. They also handed out prophetic notes and candy canes to the staff at the cinema, Lily’s version of drive-by evangelism. One girl was really encouraged and super blessed by it.

In Taupo we stopped off for a night and stayed with Karen and Kelvyn Watkins. It was lovely to see them and having a relaxing evening before a busy week of camp.

Since we’ve arrived in Matamata we’ve helped prepare for the King’s Kids Family Camp that starts Sunday night and will go to Saturday morning. As this camp is the first ever done in an English speaking country it is in its pioneering stage. So we are really excited to be part of this but it’s been a lot of work planning and preparing all the sessions for the children and teenagers.

Prayer points for our team:

·      Stephanie’s headaches, that they would be healed

·      For the family camp here in Matamata that families would be strengthened and get fresh revelation on what God desires for them as families.

·      For us as we are the speakers for the children/teen groups. For wisdom and energy and being very spirit led in what we should share with the students. (Lily & Steph- 0-6 years old, Val- 7-12 year olds, Jo & Lizzie- Teenagers)

·      Focus and direction for the next steps of our outreach

·      Continued and strengthened unity for our team

·      That we would fearlessly and boldly proclaim the Word of God

·      That our van would continue to work

Thank you for all your prayers. Praying for ya’ll too. Love ya much!

                                                           2012 Justice NZ Team