YWAM OXFORD JDTS 2012 - 2013 NZ OUTREACH TEAM UPDATE #5
Kia Ora everyone.
Our last week in Tauranga:
Our team planned to go bless a business called Hell’s Pizza with Jordan (his idea), but they turned us down so we decided to go to the strand. On our way, we saw a hitchhiker, hitching a ride in the other direction. We turned around and picked him up. His name was Chris, a bmx-er. He was on his way from Roturua to Hamilton to visit his sister. Jordan chatted with him about where we were from and showing him crazy pictures of himself tossing a caber at the highland games he went to the previous weekend. And in his sneakiness Jordan passed his iPhone to Jo who was expecting a picture, but instead got a note which said “word of knowledge – Jo”. Praying and then taking a chance, Jo asked Chris if he had a headache. He said he had a bad toothache, Jo then asked if it would be okay for her to pray for him and it was. So after praying for him, he said it felt better. We stopped at the top of the hill to get some water but Chris jumped out as fast as he could. He said goodbye and took off on his bike. We figured he was a little unsure of us, but we took hope and knew that God had met him.
Wanting to show Nefarious again we prayed into doing another justice night. God came through and worked out everything, location and people to watch it. We ended up showing it to the iDTS, which had just started 10 days before. After the film we had a time of discussion. These students were amazing! Many of them got up to share how Nefarious had affected them; heaps of them shared deep and went far beyond our expectations. God moved so incredibly that night.
To bless the people we were staying with at the house we had a Valentine’s dinner. Jo made lasagna and salad and we had a sweet night chatting with our housemates. That night we also went to karaoke bar with Jordan. Jordan has re-written heaps of popular karaoke songs to Jesus honoring music and lyrics to proclaim Jesus’ name through karaoke. It was cool to hang out, sing a couple of songs and chat with a couple of the people there that night. Lily and Lizzie chatted with an older woman there about God and ended up having her and her partner dedicate a song to our team. They were so lovely.
East Coast:
That Friday we drove to the most eastern part of New Zealand and the world. Through our contacts we were able to be part of a family camp on a marae for a weekend. It was different than the last one we helped out with, it wasn’t so much families but young and old alike and learning about the family of God and how we are all apart of it. We helped run the children’s program Saturday morning and for the rest of the weekend we hung out, made friends, learned heaps more about Maori culture, tasted lovely Maori cuisine (eel, kina (sea urchin) and paua included), were part of an evening talent show/ concert, and just had a wonderful time being in a such a cultural atmosphere.
Up North:
After the marae we headed up to Northland, two hours north of Auckland. Here we were involved with numerous things. We got to be part of something called Bible in Schools, it’s one time a week in the morning (Thursday or Friday) in public schools, and the kids are taught about Jesus and the Bible. An afterschool kids program, Epic Kids was running last Friday and so we helped with that, mostly crowd control and hanging out with the local kids. Also we helped out with the local Christian school and their school camp. It was for three days at a Christian camp and we helped with bits and bobs like the dishes and some of the activities like waterslide and flying fox. Our last two days of ministry we helped out at Oakridge, prepping for the L.D.C. graduation and cleaning after words. While we were there we stayed with a local couple, Ken & Delwyn. They are so incredibly lovely. They are so generous and are like our Kiwi parents. Ken loves to be cheeky with us and they definitely made us feel at home. Delwyn also makes incredibly delicious food.
On both Sundays we attended Church on a Hill, the first Sunday we ran the Sunday school for the 7-12 year olds and then the following Sunday we were able to attend the service. During that one we had a group time of sharing what God was showing us through a passage of scripture and a few of us shared our hearts. After church and saying our goodbyes, we headed back to Auckland and our family at Mangere for the night. Monday morning we headed south and drove down to Paraparaumu, about 45 minutes north of Wellington. We are here for debrief till Friday, when we catch a ferry to the South Island. We will stay in Kaikoura Friday night and be home in Oxford on Saturday.
Prayer Points:
-Safe travels to Oxford
-Safe and smooth ride from the North Island to the South, especially for Val because she gets motion sick really easily
-Great debrief time
-Praise for good health and safe travels throughout outreach
That’s all for now folks, love ya’ll heaps!
NZ Justice Outreach Team
