North Island Winter Conference

We have been at the Winter Conference now for a few days and it has been great! We got into the first day recouping from our day of traveling. We spent some of that afternoon and all of Monday getting the camp ready for the students to arrive. The New Zealand staff were very thankful that our team was so willing to ask what we could do to serve them and do some physical labor.

Our team has started to get used to the time change, but not the weather just yet. It has rained on and off every day since we have been here. It even rains when its sunny outside. Today most of our team was playing “sport” barefooted in rain and cold weather. It was a lot of fun, surprisingly for most of our students. They have really jumped into getting to know other students in their small breakout teams and are starting to get a better picture of the culture here. We had a little time together tonight after being put to work (we are more or less staffing this camp as a way to serve the New Zealand staff) and were able to enjoy a Kiwi delicacy, Tim Tam Slams. It is basically a chocolate cookie that you use as a straw to drink a hot coffee through before you eat it. You’ll have to ask the person you know on this project to bring back some Tim Tams and share the experience with you (see picture).

We have met some of the student leaders in Wellington and have walked through some plans to reach the Victoria campuses with the STINT (Short Term INTernational) team that has been in Wellington since September of last year. We are excited to get into the city soon and start to help the STINT team and student leaders to build up the ministry there. I heard the story of a student named Ryan today who had no Christian background and came to know the Lord because a friend of his who was involved in Student Life (aka Campus Crusade for Christ) invited him to church and then a Student Life meeting. His story was much more in depth than that, but it was so refreshing to see the joy in his eyes as he told his story of meeting Jesus for the first time. Then he said something that made look at my own faith. He said that even though he started a relationship with Christ about 10 months ago, he has been as excited each day as he was that day because he knows what Christ did for him. He was a computer science major, but now he wants to go into full time ministry. It was an amazing example of how God is drawing people to Himself here we get to be a part of that!

There are a few ways that you can be praying for us:
1) One of our girls is a little sick from the food here. Please pray for Amy Barton as she recovers and rests. It’s no fun to have to take yourself out of the project.
2) We are getting some pretty in-depth training in how to better share our faith and then we are getting the chance to go out into the town near the camp to share the Gospel. Please pray that God would go before us and prepare the hearts of the people we will talk to.
3) We are leaving here Friday morning at 4:30am!!! Pray for safe travel and that our team is able to get everything together to head out on time.

Thanks so much for your prayer and we’ll try to get updates here as much as we can so you know what is going on.

dave