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*