Long Weekend - Much Needed Rest

Hello family and friends,
This semester has been fantastic, but fantastic comes at a cost... sometimes sanity, sometimes energy, sometimes both.  We are in the midst of what we call Long Weekend, where we send the students off for a four day weekend (Friday through Monday). 

Andrew and I took the opportunity to have a staycation.  The campus has been our home base and we have been been going out to different towns for the day.  Friday we played in Rotorua and visited Okere Falls Cafe, Okere Falls, and the Redwood Forest.  Beautiful sites and the ears were delighted with the sounds of nature.  We found a new little path at Okere Falls and were sweetly surprised by another water fall.  I love the little surprises we find when we are willing to step aside from the known into the uncertain.

Saturday, we enjoyed the day in and around Taupo.  We started our day at the Gypsy Fair with delicious sites, images you would imagine in a movie.  A high-wire walking dog, a one man band in his own posh trailer concert hall, a pirate helping children with tattoos, tie-dye galore, glass art, homes on wheels, and a variety of goodies for the tummy.  We just meandered through taking in the sights.

We then headed over to the Taupo market which was hustling and bustling.  I personally was looking for the potato twister booth, but they weren't there.  People were selling their wares.. a great place to buy gifts .. hand made soaps, quilts, wood working, and the like.  There were a lot of booths but none of them really caught our attention. 

Having not eaten yet, and nothing grabbing our attention, we decided to head back to the central business district to find something that would tempt us to eat.  We looked at a few places but ended up at Paulys.. this really yummy burger joint.  I ate a delicious burger made of venison and pork with plum sauce, mayo, and rum raisins.  My oh my, my taste buds were singing.  Once I picked up that burger, there was no setting it down again.  It was so yummy and I couldn't finish my chips (fries).  What??  Me never finish chips?  Say it isn't so.  It's true.  You can ask Andrew.  It was delicious and I would get it again as a specialty item once in a while.  Delicious!  #paulysdiner

Once our tummies were satisfied, we headed to the trails.  We ended up at Wairakei Natural Thermal Valley and enjoyed a little trek into the valley.  We were issued a temperature radar gun sort of tool so we could see how hot the steam was at different locations in the valley.  The hottest steam Andrew registered was just over 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wowsers!  Do not go through this place barefoot (as many Kiwi enjoy doing).  We checked the ground at a few places and the hottest registered in the 90s.  After our trek through the valley, we enjoyed a nice cold beverage and watched the peacocks, chickens, and other roaming birds. 

Today, we headed to church where Andrew played bass with the worship team and I helped set up the kitchen for the tea (drinks and cookies) after church.  Pastor Doug delivered a great message from John 10 about the sheep and how they hear their shepherd's voice.  I love how God reiterates how no one can snatch His sheep out of His hands, nor Jesus' hands.  His sheep are safe and can relish in the fact that they are secure.

Tomorrow, the students will return and we will be in the downhill race towards the end of the semester.  Only seven weeks left and we have a very full calendar.  Our next big activity is Speakers Week which is November 6th - 10th.  It will be an all hands on deck kind of week for the staff and interns and an amazing time for the students to listen to different pastors and ministry leaders from all over the world.  Speakers are coming from Japan, Australia, the US, and NZ.  I am so excited to put faces with the names of many of these ministry leaders as we pray for many of them at our weekly prayer meetings.  Please join us in praying that God uses Speakers Week in a mighty way.

Please join us in prayer regarding the following:
- Speakers Week - November 6th - 10th
     + Safe travels for the speakers and provision for their needs
     + Open hearts and minds for what God wants to do
- Men's conference - November 10th and 11th
     + Some of our students will be attending: pray for open hearts and a
        willingness to change
     + Some of our staff will be serving: strength and energy to serve the Lord and
        the men well
- Students, interns, and staff to press in and not give in to apathy or tiredness
     + The best is yet to come, let's not give up!

We love you and thank you for joining us on this crazy and amazing journey that God has brought us to.  There is no place like being in the saddle of ministry and holding on to Jesus for life and energy. 

The Lord bless you and keep you!
Dawn and Andrew

Life After Camp - Outreach Week

Surviving the Camp outreach was pretty cool.  I am so glad I went and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  To see so many young people make a choice that will change their lives... to love on girls that have an unsure or unhappy home life... to encourage girls to know who they are in Christ... PRICELESS!

Sunset from the girls dorm area

A key thought was dying to myself.. dying to my needs.. dying to what I want.. I had to.  It was a full on, over-the-top experience and I am exhausted.  I am still recovering as you can tell by my writing style.

Our team minus two littles who left early for a family event.

Sleepless nights left me exhausted, in tears, and sick on Thursday.  The camp staff rallied around me and I felt well cared for.  After moving the little lady in the top bunk above me to another bunk, my nights of sleep became better.. little by little.

Volcano competition - our team did so well!!

I will never forget those 8 little lives.  They have left footprints on my heart forever.  I am still so very grateful for my helper... my junior leader... who was there to help me understand the ways of camp life and guide me through.  She was a soft place for the girls to land, a friend and sister they could turn to.  I am praying for her as well, dear Ms. B-L.

My Junior Leader

You would have loved this campus.  I was telling one of the other leaders, from an American perspective, this place is a lawsuit waiting to happen.  I was quite surprised by the adventures that were offered to kids both young and not so young.  No safety nets on the confidence course.. then again.. would it denote confidence if you have a net to catch you?  Amazing campus!!  The boys at CA in Colorado would LOOOOOOVE this place.

Two of the littles from my team - laughter and smiles!

I just have to brag on God for a bit.  I had no time to do my back exercises... and then when I could make time, I was too tired to care.  The lights were out, my girls were asleep and I was exhausted.  Sleep was more important than anything else at that point... okay, except a shower every so often.  Thank You, Lord, for holding my back together and making it a relatively pain free week!!  To You goes all the glory!  Another little miracle... I was served some soy ice cream (I'm allergic to soy products) and I didn't know it.  I usually react within 15 minutes of eating soy products but nothing.  When I realized it was soy.. I didn't have anymore.  Thank You, Lord, for protecting this body from reactions to food that would have made an already interesting experience.. even more interesting. 

I couldn't pass up this photo with one my littles.

There are many more little miracles that He did for me.  I feel so amazingly cared for by our Awesome God, who took care of the details that could have easily spoiled the week for me.  Warfare was high, but the payoff even higher!  I love all of the aunties and uncles I met this past week and pray for the Lord to bless them and encourage them on their journeys.

Another one of the littles on my team.  Love her much!

So, I am back at school and wrapping my mind around my role here again.  I have songs from camp that come to mind from time to time and I may even do the hand motions with the songs.  I still have the three memory verses we learned on the tip of my tongue:

Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to My ways.
John 2:5 Whatever He says to you, do it!
Proverbs 4:27 Don't get sidetracked and keep your feet from following evil.
(oh goody.. 5 lollies for me)   :0)

What an outreach.. but I am so glad I went!!  So many memories, more than I can share here.  Would you join me in praying for the littles on my team that have yet to receive Jesus as their Savior?  God knows their names and their hearts. 

"Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all." Philippians 2:17

Onward and upwards, all for His glory!
Love to you,
Dawn

Gleanings from Philippians 1:10

Notes from my study on Philippians 1:10

10: that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,

Approve -> to test, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), to recognize as genuine after examination, deem worthy

The things that are excellent -> to test, prove, the good things that differ, to distinguish between good and evil, lawful and unlawful, to approve of things that excel, surpass one

Sincere -> without falsity, pure, found pure when unfolded and examined by the sun's light

The Romans loved statues and sometimes when a statue was being made, a little piece of the stone would break off.  Rather than throwing the whole thing away just because the tip of the nose broke off, they became very adept at mixing marble powder with wax and patching it.  This worked fine until the statue was exposed to heat.  On a hot day the wax would just melt right down the side of the statue.  Those statues that were made without wax were more expensive and would have a sign on them that read, sincerus (sine cera), meaning “judged in the brightness of the sun”.  This is what Paul was praying for the Philippians, that their faith would hold together in the heat under close scrutiny.  That their relationship with God would be sincerely real.  What a great prayer to pray for someone.  Chuck Smith said, “I would love for people to pray that I would be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ”. (From Chuck Smith's commentary in the Word for Today Bible)

Without offense -> not causing to stumble, metaph. of not leading others to sin by one's mode of life, blameless; oven tested (Boice)

Our lives must be open before God and before others.  There must be no hypocrisy.

2 Corinthians 4:2 "But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God."

Till day of Christ -> of the last day of this present age, the day Christ will return from heaven

Praise the Lord that He never gives up on us!  He has promised to never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6).
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More to come!
Dawn