Wrapping Up and Outreach Highlights

Blind Bay to Orama:

We wrapped up our stay at the Backpacker’s hostel helping more widows and widowers with practical yard work, gardening and wood-cutting during the days, volunteering at the Department of Conservation, and cleaning up at the local art gallery. We even got to work on some different art projects that we later donated to the gallery. We attended St. John’s community church on that Sunday where we performed our dance and sang a couple worship songs. After about a week near Blind Bay, half of us sailed and half of us drove up to Orama Christian Center on the other side of the island for a couple nights. We helped out with hospitality, cleaned up the grounds, and had two awesome nights of worship, which ended up as ministry time to a group of Pacific Islanders staying at the center.

                We sailed/drove back from Orama to where we had first arrived on the island and were blessed to stay at a big house right on the beach! We had a day of reflection and fasting where we were able to spend time on our own reflecting back on our journey. We had dinner together one last night before we headed out to sail back home.

                And…. We got Grace! We were all able to sail home together on Grace (and The Mandolin) thanks to the owner, Mike- who graciously sailed up to pick us up from Great Barrier and take us back to Tauranga. It was an awesome sail, where we saw dolphins, kayaked through caves, explored the Mercury Islands, paddled through bioluminescent plankton, and had perfect weather! We arrived late Sunday night and will be here at the base through the weekend as an entire group alongside the Pilgrimage school- then we’re all off in different directions again!

Here’s everyone’s outreach highlights!

Amy: I’ve so enjoyed this time, we’ve had so many amazing experiences and been open to some awesome opportunities. Overall I mostly enjoyed the natural conversations we had with both the people in Vanuatu and New Zealand. Being able to speak to them openly about Jesus and pray and encourage them was such a joy. Knowing that we were able to allow the people we met to feel loved by helping them in whichever way we could. The adventures of sailing, sunsets, exploring caves, kayaking and snorkelling also made this whole experience so epic!

Kiki: To come to New Zealand and join the DTS was one of the best decisions of my life! It was really life changing and it opened my eyes in many ways. What is most important in our lives, what we think is best for us is not always the best. I have realized how much I need God in my life with every step I take. As a Christian you always want to be a light, a light that is different and shines so bright that others ask themselves, ‘’there is something about those people something that I also want’’. One thing that I really learned over outreach is that to be a light means to help others and love one another. Do not waste your time on things that are not important just focus on God and He will be with me wherever I go!

Ayla:  As a New Zealander it was really eye opening to go to Great Barrier Island.  There’s only solar power (and wind power in Winter) and they use rain water or river water.  Sounds like Vanuatu.  We saw two classes from South Auckland colleges and we were able to minister to 16 and 17 year old Islanders.  They were really receptive having a basic knowledge of God and church through their parents forcing them to go to church.  However they were really interested in our worship and testimonies. 

Matt: At first it was hard to pinpoint what my highlight for outreach was because there are so many things that I loved about our time. But I realized that my highlight for this DTS was seeing the growth in our team; as individuals and together. Seeing God’s love work through all of us healing wounds and growing us spiritually is so inspirational. God has so many amazing plans for this team and I’m excited to see where all of us go in Him.

Joshua: To show the people God’s love through practical work was my favourite experience. The people on great barrier island were so thankful for our help. I learned how easy it is to show God’s love even through small things. Another highlight was to see the positive change in each of us.

Anna: There are so many highlights from outreach that I can’t name just one. The thing that I enjoyed the most was meeting the various people and being a small part of their lives, whether delivering Bibles in Vanuatu, serving in the Marae kitchen in Waitangi, or helping older people in their gardens in Great Barrier.  

Violin: My highlight was to share people about Jesus wherever I met people randomly on my outreach. Another highlight was to see my team mates grow/change in Jesus Christ, and to see how God works/changes the circumstances around us when I pray to Him

Sophie: I loved to share and help the others during outreach, the thankful heart is the reward for us. It’s a blessing to serve the others. Joy and peace filled our hearts. Thanks God for giving us this opportunity to serve Him.

Andrea: One of my many highlights was our time in Nguna! It was a beautiful island and had such a unique culture to it. I loved going into each house and just being able to spend time with the villagers and show them God’s love by listening to their stories, handing them a Bible and praying with them. I've loved blogging and updating everyone through out these past weeks- thanks for taking the time to check up on us!

Hadleigh: My highlight for outreach was hearing the ways in which all of you have grown and strengthened and deepened in your relationship with God, yourselves and eachother. It has been wonderful sharing the journey with you all!

Orama Christian Center

 

Department of Conservation

Yahweh dance at St. John's Community church

Grace

 

 

 

Waitangi Day/ Answered Prayers/ Great Barrier Island

Waitangi Day:

                After our time on the Pacific Hope, we headed up the Coromandel Peninsula to Waitangi where we camped out for two nights and served at the Marae (Maori meeting place) for Waitangi day. Waitangi Day is New Zealand’s national holiday commemorating the treaty signed between the British and the native Maori 175 years ago. Josh, Sophie, Hadleigh, Seraina, Mizpa, and Marcus set out to sail for Waitangi on Saturday the 31st aboard the Mandolin, but had to turn around on Monday because of the rough weather.

                On Tuesday the 3rd we all stayed the night in Auckland at the YWAM base, and on Wednesday drove up to Waitangi as a group. We pitched tents at a campground near the grounds of the celebration and were able to watch as the Prime Minister, John Key arrived! Over the weekend in Waitangi, we all took turns serving meals at the Marae to the politicians, and we also were able to get a tour of the grounds and the history behind the first missionaries coming to New Zealand and the signing of the treaty. It was an awesome weekend in a beautiful spot for all of us! On the 6^th, we drove back to stay another night in Auckland, and Saturday split into three groups:

Group 1- Hadleigh, Marcus, Martin, Matt, Andrea, Ayla: Our group left Saturday morning for Tauranga to take off in the Mandolin! We journeyed out into our sailing trip for Great Barrier Island. The winds were pretty rough the first evening, and we were slightly delayed- making it only to Mayer Island- a tiny island off the coast, and anchored there for the evening. The stars and moon were so vibrant over the ocean and it was breath-taking! The next morning we set out for Whitianga where we met up with Group 2 after 13 hours of sailing.

Group 2- Mizpa, Amy, Sophie, Joshua, Violin: Group 2 stayed the night at a camp site on the Coromandel Peninsula’s coast in Whitianga after spending a relaxing day in Auckland. They were able to attend a local church service and helped serve on Sunday afternoon before meeting up with Group 1 that evening at the Whitianga harbour. Monday morning, Group 1 and Group 2 headed out together on the Mandolin up the Coromandel Peninsula to pick up Group 3 before heading to Great Barrier Island.

Group 3- Seraina, Kiki, Anna: Group 3 was originally going to sail out alongside Group 1 on a boat called Blessed, owned by one of Marcus’ friends. However, after setting sail for a few hours, there were some issues with the motor of the boat and it had to be sailed back to Tauranga where they spent the weekend until Monday. Although plans fell through, they were able to relax for some time and hang out in town a little bit before taking the bus on Monday to meet up with everyone in the Coromandel Peninsula.

Great Barrier Island:

                Monday afternoon we were finally all reunited with one another! We set out for Great Barrier and arrived late at night. We anchored at one of the island’s bays and 5 of us went out on the dingy to set up a tent on the island while the other 9 of us cramped inside the Mandolin and slept there. Tuesday morning we set sail once again for Blind Bay, our first destination on Great Barrier Island and reached land around lunch time. We spent the afternoon exploring the gorgeous coastal line and rolling hills, and had time to pray for the next couple weeks ahead of us. On Wednesday we began our ministry doing some community service projects at a local art gallery, organic gardens, and elderly’s homes. Over the next week and a half that we’ll be here, we’ll be doing different little projects each day. We’ve been blessed to stay in a Backpacker’s hostel here on the island and have space to spread out and get some sweet quiet time with God.

Answered Prayers:

                Even though we didn’t get Grace, our team has been so blessed by the diversity of an incredible outreach and the provision of The Mandolin. We’re constantly in awe of how God chooses to provide for us and carve our path. We’ve definitely been learning flexibility in every area as it seems our original plans are always falling through or changing, but it’s been a time of significant growth as we all lean on God to direct us. Thanks everyone for your support!

Tents at Waitangi

Maori Waka

Great Barrier Island

Volunteer Work at local art gallery

Port Vila Outreach/ Back to New Zealand

Sorry it’s been so long since the last update! It’s been a busy couple weeks as we wrapped up our outreach in Vanuatu and arrived back in New Zealand- but here’s a short summary of what we’ve been up to!

Port Vila:

                After returning back from Nguna, our original plan was to spend a week at the V2 Life Base, however plans changed and we ended up staying at the Grace House for the remainder of our time in Vanuatu. Each day we had a different ministry opportunity- we went to the outdoor fruit market in town, down to the slums in town, walked around shops, and visited the hospital to meet and pray with the locals. Each day, we would split into pairs, and set out to talk to whoever the Holy Spirit directed us to. All of us have stories of how God intervened and spoke through us, which was life-changing! After setting out quite apprehensive, we were all amazed at the ways God led us.

                We spent two days working at the V2 Life Base helping with the foundation of the Kindergarten. We shovelled coral, sand, and mixed cement alongside a group of builders from New Zealand who were volunteering at the base. It was awesome to see the progress of the brand new Kindergarten being built!

                On our last day of ministry in Vanuatu, we put on a program at the local prison- singing worship songs, performing our skits, and sharing testimonies and sermons. This was a huge highlight for everybody, as we got to bond with the prisoners and share some incredible conversations with them afterward. It was awesome to witness how open and curious the people of Vanuatu are. They were so approachable, hospitable, and loving to us!

                We spent our last couple days in Vanuatu at Iririki island- snorkelling, sailing, and swimming on the resort island, and doing some shopping in town. On our very last night, we were treated to a fancy dinner with a stunning sunset at the Grand Hotel in Port Vila.

Back to New Zealand:

                We arrived back in Tauranga on the 25^th and have been staying on the Pacific Hope ever since. Our typical schedule is working during the mornings- chipping paint, grinding, scrubbing walls, and painting- and doing outreach in town in the afternoons. We’ve spent a couple afternoons down at the Mount on the beach having worship with Matt on guitar and Kiki on violin, and have had some really neat conversations come from that gateway! On Thursday, we went on a team sailing trip around the Mount, and later today we plan to serve at Open Homes- a foster care program here in Tauranga.

We need PRAYER:

                There are a couple things we need prayer for right now! First of all, almost everybody on our team has been sick at one point or another- fighting bugs in Vanuatu, and getting colds, various injuries and allergies here in New Zealand… please pray for the health of all of us and that it wouldn’t be a hindrance to our ministry here!

                Second, our original plans for the remainder of our outreach here in New Zealand was to sail up the North Island to the Bay of Islands on a sailboat called Grace. Because YWAM doesn’t own the boat, one of the men who do was going to skipper it for us during outreach. Unfortunately, he can’t take the time off of work anymore, which leaves us without a boat. We were planning on heading out on February 2^nd which is only a few days away and we still have no word on someone who can skipper for us. However, we were offered a new sailboat called The Mandolin to be used. We tested it out as a group yesterday and it has quite a few problems with the plumbing and piping that we will be trying to fix these next couple days. The Mandolin is only 10 meters in length and will only sleep 6 people, so if this is what we use, only a small amount of our group will be able to sail out to the Bay of Islands, otherwise we will all drive up on Tuesday. Please be praying for The Mandolin to be mended and ready to go as soon as possible, or even for one of the families to be able to skipper on Grace. As you can imagine, we’re all a little apprehensive as to what the next few weeks will look like. Regardless, we’re trusting in God’s direction and provision as we try and work out the details.

                We all send our love, and thanks for your prayers- I’ll try and post more photos once we get regular internet back!

Slum in Port Vila where we did a prayer walk


Outdoor Fruit Market


Local Prison




Iririki Island

Sand Castle Building Competition back in NZ :)

Chipping Paint on the Pacific Hope

Nguna

                Our time at Nguna as a team was such an unforgettable experience. We were all stretched in different ways, and united like never before. We began our journey by taking a boat to the island along with our luggage and Bibles. We spent our first two nights at the tiny village of Nekapa on the coast, and began administering Bibles the second day. We split off into pairs and went into all the houses of the village- gifted a Bislama Bible to each family, and prayed for any requests they had. It was an eye-opening experience to envelop ourselves in a completely different culture- sleep on straw mats on the floor, and manage the hot, humid, and rainy weather!

                Each day, we would wake up around 6 with the sunrise, eat breakfast, and set out for our Bible distributions. We worked our way through four different villages over the nine days we were out, and were able to take two days off. In each village, we put on a church service and performed our skits, led worship, and took turns sharing testimonies and sermons. Each of us have incredible stories of how God has worked in our lives through conversations, prayers, and experiences on Nguna.

                We arrived back at Grace House on the 13^th- a few days earlier than anticipated because it turned out half of the island had already been distributed Bibles to. Yesterday we had debrief, and today we had the opportunity to help serve at the V2 Life YWAM base about 15 minutes drive from Grace House. We worked construction, painted, and helped out with food prep. On Sunday, we will be staying at the V2 base through next Thursday for the last part of our Vanuatu outreach.

Enjoy these photos from Joshua!

Boat ride and emptying Bibles

Typical Nguna home

Bible Deliveries and treks

Typical Island Meal

Song Performed to us at the Last Village

Church Services- skit, dance, prayer