Author: Adventures

Dear Rebecca,

(Rebecca's poem to me) A better place to be Rests at the top of the trees Where white cotton shades the leaves And tells them to pass It on until they wrinkle dry, And follow the breeze to exactly the place They needed to be. Where the wind blows burdens south, And leaces a crinkly cushion For aimless soles smashing fruits Into wine from the trees. A poetic response to a poem my friend, Rebecca, wrote me since I've been overseas… Calloused labor, stained old wine, Sweat flows down fool's ridges, Salt shields paned windows, Settling into damp corners. Upon new day, joy...

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Road Trips and Hobbits

Wow, what a week! This past week my team and I had the privilege of getting to go on a tour of the North Island. It was a lot of fun, and we saw many beautiful places, such as the tip of the North Island. Before we started on our North Island journey however, we first spoke at a church on Sunday night in Palmerston North. Kailey and myself shared our testimonies, and Wes gave the message. This was my first time to share my testimony in front of a group of strangers; I was definitely really really scared at first because I was afraid of being judged or messing up what I was going to say....

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A week to remember, a week to anticipate

So, since you can read all about our little road trip last week from my teammates blogs, I'm not gonna say much about it. I will say this: it was not at all what we expected it to be. Long story short, we ended up not doing as much street ministry as we'd expected, but we did get to pass out flyers to help raise money towards an orphanage in Nepal. And we talked to a lonely guy in a park and a German girl in a hostel and a Buddhist environmentalist on the streets of Auckland. We went to the most beautiful place I've ever seen (I'll post a photo of where an ocean meets a sea)...

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Conga Lines and Mapping

This week has been busy and awesome. We spent a few days painting rooms inside of St. Luke's church in Waikanae, from a hideous Salmon color to off-white. One of the days however, I stayed back at El Rancho to work on a map for the disc golf course at the camp! When the staff found out that I am a cartographer they asked me if I would be willing to make a map for it. I was soooooo stoked! It is looking pretty good and the staff are pleased. It is so awesome to be using my academic skills to serve the Lord! We have also been helping out at youth groups. There are two main ones that...

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I hope you dance

So far this week my team and I have been helping to paint an Anglican Church in Waikanae. I am really enjoying helping out the church and getting to know the youth leader, Greg, we have been working with. In the next couple of weeks here at El Rancho we will be having about 80 kids here for kids camp, and the theme is the Amazing Race! I am so looking forward to helping out with this, and teaching the kids about the lord and how awesome he is! I am also getting to teach a dance class with one of the workers here at El Rancho, which I am really looking forward too! God has definitely put...

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Defining Ministry

First off, I would like to state to all my wonderful supporters: I am indeed working! You did not donate all your love, money, and prayers just so I could come here and kick back for two months. I know that all my pictures say otherwise, but that is because no one is ever taking pictures while we are working because we are actually working! Ok. Now that I've gotten that out of the way… The most important thing that I've been learning since I've been here in beautiful New Zealand is that ministry doesn't always look like what I think it looks like. For instance, earlier...

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