Faith Produces Perseverance

James 1:12 (NIV) Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.              

Wow! Time is flying by and I’m not even realizing it. The last time I wrote I was just getting into my two week winter holiday. It was a pretty good holiday of thinking and reflecting, relaxing and planning what the youth group will be doing this semester. Not much went on during the holiday because we didn’t have youth group and I wasn’t studying. Then the last weekend of the holiday, July 13-15, we had our family camp at the church. The youth were awesome and helped take care of the children while the parents were in the sessions. Then we played laser tag which was really fun as well. The youth also made this awesome video for the talent show. It was really cool being at the church and meeting a lot of the different families there. It was nice to meet people that I hadn’t really had a chance to talk to before that. It was just overall really fun. The church is talking about Faith at Home which I think is a really cool concept. It mostly just talks about how important it is to have a home where you honor God together and teach your children about God. For instance praying together before bedtime or doing a Bible Study. I find it awesome that the church is encouraging us to have a faith at home, even if we live by ourselves, or with flatmates. What can we do to live a Christian life at home and not just on Sundays?

                Then from July 16-20 I went to this place called Finlay Park for my fourth block course and the start of the new semester. It was really cool seeing all my friends and meeting the new mid-year students. One of the new guys is a guy called Josh from California. It was really cool being able to talk to another American. It did however make me miss home a little bit. Block course was really fun though. We went on a boat ride to see glow worms, which turned into almost a bumper boat ride because the water had risen so much and was flowing quickly. We also visited a Maori Marae and learned a little about the Maori culture and how Christianity spread throughout the Maori Culture.

                We also had lectures and learned what courses we are taking this semester. We are taking Ethics, Christian History, Youth Elective, Christian Leadership, Pastoral Care, Supervised Practice, Systematic Theology, Mark, Marae Visit and Spiritual Formation.  This makes us having 22 assignments this semester! Crazy stuff. However, I feel pretty confident that it’s going to go well as long as I schedule my time wisely. Luckily at the moment I’m about a week ahead in assignments, hopefully I can keep it up. I am really looking forward to these courses and learning everything I can about them in this short time. Right now I’m reading a book on Christian leadership. It’s pretty interesting understanding how leadership is a spiritual gift and that we really do need good leaders in our churches. I’m excited to finish the book.

                This semester the youth group is going to be talking about how to live out a good Christian life at school, home, or anywhere they are. I’m really excited to see what God does in the life of the youth the rest of the time I’m here. Last week I thought a good place to start was to talk about the Bible and why it is important to read it. If we want to know how to live as a Christian we need to know what God has to say and what better place to look than the Bible? I am really trying to encourage the youth to not just rely on the internet to find answers or to just believe something because they heard it from an adult but to really search the Bible for what God has to say. The youth is also having a few social events this semester consisting of board games (this Saturday), more laser tag, a beach trip, September Serving Month, and a Thanksgiving dinner in November. Also, we are going to have chill days every once in awhile. The guys will hang out with Ye-Gon and do their thing, while the girls hang out with me and we do our thing. I’m so excited about these chill times! This semester with the youth group will be great.

                Last week consisted of me getting back into the swing of things on top of some tough personal issues going on. It has really been a challenge to keep my head on straight and trusting God in it all. Honestly I sometimes get really frustrated with God, myself and others but in the end I know that I must truly rely on God for all. A few things that I learned these last two weeks have been really hard but really good lessons.

                The first lesson that I’m working on is that of gratitude (which I recommend clicking the link to see an article I wrote for the church). With gratitude I’m really working on getting rid of my expectations in life, both of what others have on me and what I think should happen. Without the expectations I can be surprised when things happen and it also takes a lot of pressure off me. I am able to be truly thankful for what God is giving me every day. When the sun rises I’m thankful, I’m thankful for my hot water bottle that keeps me warm, and I’m thankful for the surprise letters I get from my friends. I have learned the more I wake up and thank God the happier I am throughout the day. And when I don’t take that time to talk to God and thank Him my day seems a lot harder.

                Speaking of friends sending me letters, I’ve also learned these last couple weeks how much I truly need them. I have always been a person who thinks that I can go through things alone but I am truly realizing how important relationships are for me. I feel so blessed having such amazing friends in my life who encourage me every day. Even taking me out to get pancakes and just walking around town with me. I have decided that this semester I want to work and grow my relationships with people because they are so important to have. Without these wonderful friends that I met this semester and ones at home I don’t know how I’d be doing right now. I thank God that He put them in my life. But I truly realize that God created us to have relationships and to live as a community of His people. Everywhere I read or discussions I get into is about this very thing. I realize that no amount of studying or planning will do me any good. The real thing that helps me get through life is the relationships I have with both people and God.

                The last thing that I think I’ve been learning is about perseverance. Dictionary.com’s definition of perseverance is, “to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.” James 1 talks about perseverance as well, James 1: 2-4.  2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

                I’ve been thinking about perseverance a lot lately, with a lot of things in life. The other day I was meant to be running (since my mom and I are doing the Couch to 5k thing) but it was sprinkling outside so I decided to wait. The rain sort of slowed down so I decided to go run. I honestly wasn’t in the mood to run and kept wanting to go back to my flat, I knew all the short cuts after all. As I was running my legs were tired, I couldn’t breathe and on top of it all it started raining harder. “If only I ran earlier,” I thought. “This is too hard, I should just turn around.” However, I decided that I should just keep going. As I ran I realized that a lot of times this situation happens in life. Things might look a little hard, like with the light rain, so we put off the things we know God is telling us to do. Then when we decide, “fine, I’ll do it now” It might rain harder and things might be harder than if we did when God was first calling us. However, it’s good that we started so now what, It’s tough and we are tired so we can either take the short cuts or we can run the whole way. I decided as I was running that I needed to persevere. In my mind I wasn’t just finishing this 2 mile run I was determined to run the race God had set out for me. No matter how hard it gets I want to persevere. As I ran I kept telling myself you can’t give up, no matter how hard it is the prize at the end is so worth it. The prize at the end of my run was a nice warm shower and a cup of hot chocolate but the prize at the end of life’s race is so much more, it is life with God. Like James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” No matter how hard I think life is right now, or how hard it can get in the future, I want to persevere.

                These lessons are really huge for me right now and I’m still learning more about them all the time. As I sit here I try not to worry about my future or worry about this weekend but I try to thank God for what He has given me this year. I have never felt so close to God as I do now (even if I do get frustrated). I know He longs for a relationship with me and that I have relationships with His children. I am so thankful for everything He is doing in my life even if it is hard at times I know that I have the promises He has given me to look forward to! I just want to Thank God for everything!!

God's Puzzle

Philippians 4: 5b-7 (NIV)   5b The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

                As you can tell I haven’t written in this blog in about a month and a half! I have been SUPER busy but loving life. Let’s see where I left off. I mentioned that my Youth Group was going to have a 40 Hour Famine event. Well on 26 May we spent the night at the church. We played games; Underground Church was probably one of their favorites. At the event I set up a prayer room with different stations to pray and focus on God. It was so neat seeing how the youth went from yelling and having fun in the games to really focusing on God. It showed me that these youth are really growing spiritually and that they truly know how to connect with God. I’m so blessed to have them in my life. Then we put on a movie and slept in the Sanctuary. I didn’t get much sleep since I was in charge but it was fun. As we were picking up our stuff the worship band showed up and we got ready for church. After church we headed to the shops to break our fast and get some yummy food. It was so much fun hanging out with the youth. 

                Then for the next week, last week of May, I headed to Totara Springs Camp for my third block course of the year. We had a lot of fun. I had two in-class quizzes that went really well and just learned heaps. It was fun learning about the Old Testament and some of the aspects of God such as; King, Warrior, and Father. I also love Galatians and talking about how the Holy Spirit helps you cry our Abba Father!!! It really hit me hard thinking about how God is our Daddy. I remember sitting in our worship and trying to visualize sitting on God’s lap as He holds me and talks to me. It is such a wonderful thought.

                After camp I stayed at Andre’s house a couple nights and got some amazing home cooked meals. We also went to a golf course. I have a new-found appreciation for golfers, it’s hard work. It was the first day of winter but you wouldn’t have known since the sun was shining and was a nice warm afternoon. That Saturday I ended up riding one of the family horses. So it was a nice break after such intense courses and quizzes. :)

                June was a fun time for the youth group. The first weekend of June was the Queen’s Birthday we took that week off but we jumped right into discussing “suffering” the first week back. Ye-Gon presented an awesome lesson on why we suffer. Next term we might revisit the topic again to figure out some practical applications to our lives and how we handle suffering. Then the last two Sundays of June the youth group got their creative juices flowing and made a video for our Chapel Hill Family Camp talent show, 13-15 July. They made a satirical video on safety rules around the church. Hopefully I’ll be able to get it on YouTube once the editing is finished so I can show how amazing my youth group is. We also started planning events for next semester since it is now winter break.

                I have found being the leader of the youth group both challenging and exciting. I have come to realize that if you listen to what the youth are searching for and wanting to learn about, and just plain listen to them you can build wonderful relationships with them and they are excited to learn. As you all know I tend to worry a lot and I ended up telling my youth about that as an application to a topic we were talking about. Now one of the youth guys tells me all the time “DON’T WORRY”. It’s awesome seeing how the youth will care about you if you care about them. Also, we have been growing in numbers since I’ve started which is really cool. However, I want to be carefully thinking about how we are growing and focus on more the quality of the youth group. I’m not so much concerned about the number growing but about how the youth seem to be recommitting, it’s exciting. It excites me that youth want to come now and also to bring their friends. 

Another event that we had in June was a Root Beer Float/Games night. I bought some American candy and Root Beer and we went to a youth’s house. We played computer, video and card games. It was a lot of fun. However, the youth didn’t like the root beer all that much so I get to drink some of the rest. YES!! :P However they did like the American Candy and I also made dirt pudding which they also liked. It was really fun trying to find the ingredients here that were needed for the recipe because they don’t call it the same thing. But it turned out pretty good, next time more Oreos though. We topped off the night with American hot dogs (hot dogs in a bun). So it was a lot of American Fun! 

Then last Friday some of the youth went to a Les Misérables production that one of the high schools in Hamilton put on. Two of our youth group guys were in it. It was an amazing production. Half the time I forgot I was watching high schoolers. It was really neat supporting our guys and seeing their show. I love Les Misérables so that was awesome!!!

                Also, I’ve been studying heaps lately. The last few weeks consisted on an average of 22 hours of study each week. I had Galatians, Youth Elective, and Old Testament Themes essays to do. I had a lot of fun writing them and learning about them but also worked pretty much non-stop on them for two weeks. I kept finding myself reading something interesting and then researching that, and then go from there to other things and then realizing that yes this stuff is awesome to learn about but has nothing to do with what I should be writing in my essay. I love learning though so I guess it’s alright and I got my essays done so that’s good. I would love to type everything I learned but I could go on for years so if you’d like to read an essay you can. I’m not sure if they are any good but you are more than welcome to see what I’m learning about. 

                Since it is winter here my flat has been really cold. There isn’t snow or anything so that’s good and a lot of time during the day it is nice. Their winter seems to consist of rain and this wet/humid cold that makes you chill through the bones. I don’t think it is nearly as cold as a Kansas winter but sometimes with the wet cold it feels colder. I have been sitting with a heater on in my room because it gets no sun and we don’t have central heating like most of us have in the States. I am also going to be buying a hot water bottle so that I can keep warm at night (don’t want to leave heater on overnight cause too much electricity). 

                I have also decided that I want to not just get spiritually fit for God but also physically. I have realized that if I sit all day working on assignments or ministry then I get tired and worn out. I started going for walks during my day and that helped get me energized and work better on my assignments. Then after talking to my mom we decided that we were wanting to start working out together, even though we are half way around the world from each other. We have started Couch to 5K and just finished our third week. I have never been a runner but I am finding this quite fun. I am getting motivated to run a 5K after the 9 weeks of the program. It is a challenge but also makes me feel closer to my mom! It’s a lot of fun!!!! 

                Last Friday, 29 June, was the last day of my first semester at Pathways. This means I’m half way done with my year here. It was such an amazing semester and I’ve learned so much!!! I am looking forward to next semester, even though I’ve heard it is tougher. We have a couple weeks of holiday until we go to Finlay Park for the start of our semester on 16 July! I can’t wait to see all my friends at block course and meet the mid year students. Apparently there is a fellow American starting from California. 

                So far for my holiday I cleaned my flat, hung out with my wonderful friend Rachel who is also a Pathways intern, worked at the church, went to Les Misérables, and bought two puzzles and started one. These puzzles are quite cool. They are called wasgij. Click on the link and it will show you how awesome they are. Well the puzzle I’m working on is in the Destiny category which shows a picture of ladies in a contest. I’m supposed to put the puzzle together of what happens to them in the future. I don’t have a few clues and the present picture to go off of. So as I’m putting the puzzle together I have some idea of what I’m doing, a slight idea of what the picture will look like. The more pieces I put together the more I see and understand which helps me figure out what the picture will look like in the end. Okay so why am I explaining this puzzle? Well, as I put this puzzle together I’m realizing that it is a lot like my life at the moment. I can see where I’m at right now. I can see a picture forming of my immediate future but I’m not sure what the finished product will be. As I put the pieces of my life puzzle together I’m seeing more and more of what God wants for me. I’m not sure how far I am to seeing exactly what He wants for my life after December but as I find one piece after another I’m getting a better idea. Sorry about another puzzle analogy but it is exactly how I’m feeling right now. I have made it to New Zealand and I’ve been studying and interning through Pathways but what does God have in store for me next year, five years from now, ten years? I decided that since the year is half over I truly need to start thinking about this. I have been trying hard not to stress, been sticking “my future” on my prayer wall, and trying to trust and listen to God!! Hopefully I hear what I should be doing sooner than later.

                If you could pray that God shows me the answers! Maybe even let me know if He has shown you the answer to my future, one of my youth guys tried to convince me God told him I must stay here and be their youth leader. Then when I asked him to tell my parents that he said he was joking. But if you have heard from God, please let me know. =) Also, pray that next semester is marvelous and that God will take care of my youth group! Please be praying for my family. My parents’ birthdays are this week! My brother lives in Colorado so if you could pray that he stays safe in the fires, the fire has passed him but please continue to pray for Colorado. Thank you all for your support. I appreciate it so much!!! I’ll continue to pray for you!! God bless!

My Gethsemane

Luke 5:16 (NIV) But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.   

John 6:15 (NIV) Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

These last couple weeks have been busy and full of Bible in Schools, Livewire (middle-school group), youth group, meetings, study and much more. Bible in Schools has been awesome. Judi (my new supervisor) has been really awesome with encouraging me and helping me to take on some of the roles with the children. One day I got to read the scripture to them and dress up in a crazy costume and act liked the paralyzed man that Jesus healed. It was fun capturing their attention and hearing what types of questions eight year olds have. I just find it so encouraging seeing these young minds so interested what we are talking about and just wanting to learn more. My favorite question so far was, “how did God make the sky blue?”=) This next week the class is going on a trip so we won’t have Bible in Schools. I’ll miss that and will look forward to it next week. 

            The last two Sundays I have had the opportunity to teach the Livewire group at church. They are a very active age group. The first Sunday we talked about giving and being generous. I challenged them to do something for their mom’s last week as it was Mother’s Day yesterday. It was a struggle the first Sunday because they want to be an active group and not just sit there and talk. So I decided that yesterday we would be more active and that I would bring some American candy to give them for answering questions. That worked great!!! Kids love candy. =) This week we talked about forgiveness and how sometimes it is a hard thing to do and something that we must work on and ask God to help us. Our activity was to write things on a whiteboard that require us to forgive such as; lying, hurting, and breaking things… Then I brought wash cloths and had a bucket of water. They had to throw the cloth at the board to try and wipe away the words. It was a great visual as to how sometimes it takes awhile to wipe away the hurt, but sometimes it wipes right off. It was quite similar to how sometimes things are harder to forgive than others. I challenged the kids to try and forgive this week. They all have siblings so I told them to start there. =) Judi was there (she is the head over the Livewire group) and said that she liked the activity and that maybe I should try it with the youth group… I think that’s a great idea. 

            The last two weeks of youth group have been more on my own without the pastor there. However, I am quite blessed to have Ye-Gon and another guy called Graeme to be there helping out. Well last Sunday at youth group we only have four youth show up. We had a lot of fun though playing sock wrestling and then talking about John 5. I loved working with this group because they were asking some awesome questions and really getting into a deep discussion. It is really encouraging to see. Then yesterday we had a large group that showed up. One of the youth’s birthday is this week so I made chocolate chip cookies and we played a few random games. We then talked about John 6: 1-21. It was really neat seeing the questions that were brought up such as; the trinity and if God can provide endless food (feeding the 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish) then why is there still a famine? I challenged the youth to bring up topics at the beginning of youth that they wanted to talk about and I believe that these two things might just fit in that category. I pray that I will be able to adequately answer these questions or find someone that can because I’m not sure I even know these answers or explain them well enough. However, I am willing to try. I love these types of questions. My youth group rocks. 

            Assignments: This last week I loved reading The Bible Jesus Read. I had a lot of cool ideas about the Old Testament that I never really considered before. I’m really excited to read the Old Testament with these new ideas and see what I learn. Assignments are going really well, better than I ever thought I thought maybe it would be hard to get back into doing assignments after not going to school for a year and it isn’t too bad. My biggest problem is procrastination and figuring out the right balance between studying and working at the church. Mostly life has been super busy.

Sometimes the business can be overwhelming. The last couple weeks I have been trying to tweak my schedule to get the right balance of work and rest. For about a week and a half I was getting into bed around 9:30 and falling asleep straight away, then getting up around 7 still exhausted from the day before. Don’t get me wrong I love what I do but I just can get tired and burnt out after going nonstop for a couple weeks. Two Saturdays I decided that I wanted to try and take the day off so I went and watched the Avengers! It was a really fun movie and now I feel as if I need to watch the other movies so I know more about the different heroes. It was a pretty fun day but we missed the first bus and then had to wait on other buses and I just felt rushed not really relaxed. Then after a week of been busy again I talked with Judi, my ministry supervisor about balance. We talked about how even Jesus took time away from everything to rest. I even read about it with my youth group this week how Jesus withdrew again to a mountain by himself. Also, in Luke 5:16 it talks about Jesus withdrew to a lonely place to pray. So I decided that Judi was right and that I should really try to make some time just to have Brandi time and not think about everything that has to get done. There are always things that will need to be done but if I’m not spiritual, mentally, physical and emotionally full then I won’t be able to get anything done. So this weekend I was home alone and decided to take all day Saturday to do whatever I wanted. I decided to Skype with my parents and Josh. I baked cookies for the youth and I cleaned… yes I cleaned on my day off but not because I had to but because it was something I wanted to do. It was such a relaxing Saturday!! I woke up Sunday refreshed and ready to go. I have decided that I’m going to take at least one day a week off a week and do this. As much as I love doing my ministry and study I also know I need to balance rest and take a Sabbath.

I have some exciting news that has also happened this week. I bought a car!!! I was looking and not really finding anything less than $1500 but then Andre’s dad found a car for $600. I hadn’t seen the car or anything but I trusted him and bought it. I felt as if by buying a car I would spend less time on a bus and more time being able to rest and put in time with my youth. I now can also be mobile and go to my youth’s events and maybe even take them for an ice cream just to catch up. I really believe that this will help in so many different ways. I thank God that He provided for this. It was quite funny because I had just prayed to God, “God, you know how I can’t even decide on buying a pair of jeans? Well, I think figuring out which car I should buy is going to be harder. I think I’m just going to trust you and have you decide for me by giving me a great deal or some sort of a push in the right direction.” Well, not even an hour later I found out and bought this car! God is SO Good!!! I got to see it today for the first time and I drove it this evening to get Subway! It is so different on the other side of the car and rode but I think it will be okay! Watch out New Zealand Brandi is behind the wheel!

That is pretty much all I’ve been up to these last couple weeks. In two weeks time we will be having our 40 hour famine event so pray that goes well! I can’t wait to get all the activities planned for that. =) I would like to ask you to continue praying for my youth group and the rest of my church, that I travel safe in my new car, my studies and my family. Also, if you see my mom these next couple weeks give her a hug for me for Mother’s Day, she is the best mommy in the world after all =D I love and miss you all! Let me know how you are doing. Thank you again for you continuous support!

Beautiful Mess!

           John 15:9-12 (NIV) 9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends

I can’t believe today is the first day of May (at least here in New Zealand). Where has the time gone? April has been a really full and busy month for me and also a very rewarding one. On April 1st the youth group, some of their parents, younger siblings and I went to the Hamilton Gardens for an Easter, Stations of the Cross. It was a fun way to get the youth out of the church and doing stuff in the community. The Gardens are one of my favorite places in Hamilton so I was excited to go. A lot of local artist did creative pieces that told of what Jesus went through the last week of His life, the cross and the resurrection. There were a lot of lovely things that really got you to think. Some of the youth really took this in and let it affect their lives. It was a really fun social event!

           Then we had a week to prepare ourselves for Easter camp. We arrived to the camp site on the 5th of April to set up our tents and to go to our first worship session. It was fun seeing our group of youth so excited about the weekend. There were over 4000 people at this camp so there were a lot of tents and a lot of people. It was pretty awesome. We slept in our tents for four nights and had a lot of fun. I just want to talk about a few of the highlights of the camp. First off our group entered in to play sports. We played touch rugby and sort of got owned but we had a lot of fun. We only had nine people so not many subs. Then the next day we played soccer. It was pretty awesome; we even won one game and got milkshakes because of it. :) I learned that I need to get back in shape. Also before all of our group sessions we would have tribal wars. No Josh, we didn’t have spears or stones to fight. :P The stands were split in three sections and we competed by making the most sound possible, and believe me 4000 people can make a lot of sound. We also had various competitions such as crowd surfing and passing a cow’s lung around. It was quite entertaining.

Even though the games and activities were a lot of fun I think that my favorite time was this quiet space that they set up where you could go see art that told the Easter story. They had this long tablecloth set out with wine glasses, bread, and grape juice so that you could sit there, reflect and take communion. It was dark in the room with one stage light cast down the table, almost blinding. As I sat there I started to picture Jesus and His disciples sitting there. Jesus was telling us about what was going to happen. I wondered if I was there what would I have said, would I have understood? It was such a powerful moment for me and I just sat there in reflection and awe of God!

           The theme of Easter Camp was “A Beautiful Mess”. The speakers talked about how sometimes our lives get messy but God brings something beautiful out of it. One of the speakers really hit home for me as he describes us as broken glass because of our mess but how Jesus picks up those pieces and makes us into a beautiful mosaic! It really got me to thinking. I could imagine us as a mosaic and how beautiful we truly are.

           Even though I slept on a hard ground and was exhausted when Monday rolled around I had an amazing time. It was so awesome getting to know the six youth that went and watching them grow closer to God. God truly showed up at the camp!

The week after Easter Camp was sort of a busy week for me with getting assignments done and just catching up on rest. We didn’t have youth group that Sunday or the next because the youth were on school holidays. However, the 22nd of April the church had a shared dinner and a gentleman from Australia came and talked about Noah’s Ark, so I got to see some of the youth then. It was an awesome presentation and just went to show how amazing God truly is. I think that I want to look more into the topic of Noah’s Ark and also look into dinosaurs and the Bible. ;)

           Then last week was one of the busiest weeks so far; with an assignment being due that Monday and planning for my first Sunday in charge of the youth. Tuesday was my second time doing Bible in Schools. A lovely lady from my church called Judi asked me if I’d like to help her with this. We go to a little primary school in a town a short distance from Hamilton and spend a half hour talking about different stories of the Bible. It is a lot different being able to talk to children about God in school. I wonder if America could start doing this. It is a lot of fun and the children seem to enjoy it.

           Then Wednesday I read this book called Sacred Pathways for my Spiritual Formation group. It talked about nine different temperaments on how we worship God. There are: the Naturalist, Creationist, Traditionalist, Ascetics, Caregivers, Intellectuals, Enthusiast, Activists, and Contemplative. After reading about what each were and how they worship God and some temptations each type of person has, you answered a few questions and tallied your score to see which one you were most like. When I started reading the book I thought I would be closest to Caregivers or Intellectual. I was but they were my second and third highest scores. My first highest was Ascetics. When I started reading this book I had no idea what that mean but as I read the chapter I kept getting more and more excited, thinking how it sounded a lot like me. The author of the book talked about how it is kind of like the “monk” temperament, one who likes solitude, strictness/obedience, commitment and simplicity. For me that makes a lot of sense. I tend to worship and feel closer to God when I’m lying in bed, in complete silence, in the dark. Or when I stay at the church on Sundays after everyone goes home until youth group. The solitude allows me to truly focus on God. I find that noises, smells or just flashy worship can be distracting to me. Before I read this book I always would try to worship like everyone else expected of me but now I realize that there are many ways to worship God. I want to try this way that excites me and just feels right. Some of the things the book suggested to do was to have night worship, basically like I described about, fasting where you give up something to focus on God (Maybe my computer), and just silent retreats away where there are no distractions. I highly highly recommend this book. It is by Gary Thomas and is called, Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul's Path to God. If you are interested in finding a way to worship God in the way He made you to then this is an awesome book for you!

           This week I have also started my new devotional called “Trusting God” and have found that it is comforting to know that God really does have the whole world in His hands. I have also started my next assignment for my Old Testament Themes class. It is reading a book called “The Bible Jesus Read”. So far it is quite interesting and should be a fun read.

           This last weekend was the busiest part of the week. On Saturday I went to a youth conference that a group called Word of Life put on. Four of the Pathways’ student are interning there so it was awesome seeing them and doing workshops on how to work with your youth and ask them questions. Also, making sure our hearts are in the right place. That was an all day event but was also pretty fun. Then on Sunday the youth group from Easter Camp showed their video to the congregation that one of the youth made and shared some highlights from camp. I was super nervous because I’m not too brave speaking in front of people but God was with me and helped me get through it and it ended up great.

           Then the hardest thing that has happened to me since I have been in New Zealand, happened Sunday night, running youth group.  Since the couple that were running youth group are in Peru for four months I am now pretty much in charge of running youth group (with the help of this awesome guy called Ye-Gon and the pastor and his wife). Well, the pastor and I decided that we were going to take a detour from the book of John and focus on what the youth group should look like and how we are to treat each other at youth, outside youth, and on Facebook. I was so nervous coming up with the lesson, finding the right verses and presenting it in a way that they group would be engaged and willing to talk. And I have to say God is such an amazing God!!! He made things run so well. The group talked, laughed, asked hard questions, and gave great insight to one another! They are such an amazing group of young people and I am blessed that God put them in my life to be the first youth group to work with!!!

           So for the next few months we as a youth group might continue to put the book of John on hold and find answers to the hard questions that they are facing or just want to know about, to continue to engage them and help them grow in their walk with God. Also, this month we are going to be having a 40 hour famine social event and then in June we are going to be having a games/rootbeer float (They don’t have rootbeer here but I’ve found a store that sells it) night. I will be busy planning these events, lessons and doing assignments but I’m very excited about doing all these things. Also, the next two Sundays I will be working with our Livewire class (middle school age) and providing them their lesson during church.

           I hope everyone is doing well! Please let me know if you need any prayer or even just tell me how things are going in your lives. I would love to hear from you. If you guys could pray for my youth group and that God uses me to teach and guide them at youth group. Also, pray for my studies and that I can truly focus on then. One last thing would be either patience about waiting on buses because that is my only form of transportation (sometimes it is hard cause I have to plan an hour of travel each time I want to go to the church) or pray I miraculously have a car sitting in my driveway with my name on it. :P Thank you for all your support and I hope you are enjoying seeing what I’ve been up to.

Faith Prevails

Galatians 3:13-14 (NIV) 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

            First I want to apologize for not posting as often as I should. It has been about two months since I’ve posted last and what a crazy busy two months it has been. I am going to try and fill everyone in with what I’ve been doing while trying not to make this post too long. I hope that you enjoy the story of my adventure as much as I am!!! 

            The last time I posted I was getting ready to head to my first block course to meet everyone in my school. I had no idea what to expect with the school and I still hadn’t met anyone at the church I was to intern at. Well I got on the bus to my block course in Wellington. When I showed up Craig (principle) from Pathways pointed me towards my room and I slowly started meeting people. I was praying to God that I wouldn’t be nervous and that I would just take everything by faith. I soon started meeting all the girls and realized I wasn’t the only one nervous. Soon we all were talking and getting to know each other and by the end of the two weeks it seemed like we knew each other forever and became our very own little family.

            There are about 24 people in my program so it is a nice group to study and get to know. They are interning all over New Zealand so I only get to see most of them at our block courses. This semester I am taking six classes; Supervised Practice, Interpreting the Bible, Spiritual Formation, Old Testament Themes, Galatians, and Youth Ministry Elective. All of the classes are awesome and are helping me with my walk with God.

 Supervised Practice is where I have 3 supervisors with my internship; One Spiritual, one Ministry and one Academic. They all help me in different areas of life. The academic one helps with academics, the ministry one with how I’m doing with my youth ministry and my spiritual more on a personal level of how I’m doing in everyday life and spiritual needs. For this course one of my assignments was to write a learning contract, basically it was about what I want to work on and get out of this year. I talked about how I wanted to stop worrying so much and I want to put my trust in God. I have created a prayer wall where I physically write out my worries and give them to God. It has helped me to realize that I can release my worries to Him. I also put prayer requests on my wall as well. I am also going to be starting a devotional called, “Trusting God: A Girlfriends in God Faith Adventure”. I’m hoping that it can help me in the process of worrying less.

            My Interpreting the Bible course is pretty awesome as well. We are learning how to read and interpret the Bible. So instead of applying the verse directly to our lives we are looking at the background of the book, author, people of that time and seeing what it is saying to them. Then we find the Biblical principle in it and that is when we can start seeing how it applies to us now. I find it really helpful to see why something was written. I think that it allows me to understand and learn the truth behind what is being said. The philosophy part of my brain loves it. :D

            The Spiritual Formation class is a special class for me. It is where a group of us girls get together and talk about life. There are six of us all together and they are such wonderful people. We are reading a book called, “Sacred Pathways” to see in what way(s) we worship God. It is a pretty neat class.

            Old Testament Themes is pretty cool. I love how we talk about the connections throughout the whole Bible and how the Old Testament can indeed be fun. Our lecturer is pretty awesome and full of life. I find it interesting that he is only a year older than myself. He brings an interesting approach to remembering things and that is through food. He even had us drinking vinegar to remember the bitter taste of screwing up. It is neat. 

            I really appreciate my youth elective because that really helps teach me how to interact with the youth and what to expect. The phrase for this course is, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. How true is that? I find that both showing people how much you care and allowing yourself to be vulnerable people open up to you more and trust you more. It is really such great way to live life.

            I think right now my favourite course is Galatians. We read it without chapters and verses but in letter form just as the Galatians would have read it. I find it full of so many themes but my favourite is that of Law vs. Faith. How Jesus came to take that law and wants us to live by faith in Him and the Holy Spirit. If we try to follow one law then we must follow all the laws. However, as people have shown it is quite impossible to follow all the laws so that is why Jesus died for us. People might say then what are the rules we are supposed to follow? I believe that if we have the Holy Spirit then we should allow it to be our moral compass.... Okay I could talk about this all day but I probably should stop here. Feel free if you want to talk to me about it to email me or whatever and I’d love to chat. :D

            So those are my classes that I’m taking this semester. Now back to what I’ve been up to. Block course 1 in Wellington was two weeks long and was the perfect time to get to know everyone that I will be studying with this year. Each and every one of them are amazing people. I can’t believe how close we got so quickly. It is really helpful knowing that they have the same passion as me, to learn and glorify God.  During those first two weeks I found that I wasn’t as homesick as I could have been because I realized that I am home. Wherever there are Christians and God then I am surrounded by brothers and sisters and my heavenly father. It is such a comforting thought. :D

            At block course I still didn’t know where I was going to be living or with who but finally a couple days before I headed back to Hamilton I found a place. I was nervous but so far it has been working out great. While feeling homeless at block course I realized that I had no control over it and had to trust in God. And like always God came through and provided. He is truly amazing. Also, a struggle was for the first month or so I didn’t have internet. It was hard not being able to talk to my family whenever I wanted to and also hard to get homework done. However, I learned that not having internet can be a good thing. It helped me to focus on some important things such as talking to God, reading my Bible, and just communicating with people face to face. There is so much you can get done without the internet. It is quite amazing. :D

            After block course we all went to our towns and internships. I headed back to Hamilton a little nervous about what was lying ahead. I hadn’t met anyone from the church, except a young couple who used to be the youth leaders. They are doing Pathways just like I am but they are travelling around New Zealand with gap year students and wouldn’t actually be at the church when I got there. I was nervous but the youth leader invited me to their social event on the Saturday. It was a swimming party. It was such a great way to meet some of the youth that I would be working with, in an informal way. They were all super nice and seemed excited to meet me which was so helpful. Then that Sunday I met the rest of the church. They were all wonderful and said hi. The pastor was extremely friendly and made me feel welcome. It was such a relief knowing that they were excited for me to be there. 

            So for the last month and a half I have been going to youth group on Sunday nights from 4-6. Our youth group only has about 10 youth but they are such wonderful young people. Sunday nights we have a social activity, a snack, and then a little lesson. We are studying the book of John this year. I have been leading the study for the last few weeks and it has been getting easier every week. We are finding different ways to engage the youth and make them want to come to youth group. Hopefully it is going well. 

            One weekend for our social event we went to a touch rugby tournament. Some of the youth didn’t seem to want to be there and some were even really nervous about playing. By the end everyone seemed to be having a great time and I loved watching the confidence grow in them. It is amazing what one afternoon of fun can do. I am praying that they grow even closer and more confident throughout the year. 

            I also meet every other week with my supervisors for life updates. I have some amazing women that are there to guide me and encourage me. It is amazing what comes up in those meetings just because the women are taking time to take interest in my life. I can’t wait to see what develops through these mentors. 

            Two weekends ago we had our second block course. It was really short, only about a day and a half. We did our lectures over Interpreting the Bible and had an awesome (dangerous) game of using reference books to complete a project. Studying the Bible can be fun. It was a great time to catch up with the other students and to see how they are doing with their internships and study. It was nice seeing how God is using them. I love the fact that we can get together and talk just like we haven’t been away from each other at all. Like I’ve said before, these people are amazing!!!

            Last weekend 6 of the youth and 3 of us leaders went to an Easter Camp where we camped for four nights and celebrated Jesus. There is so much to tell that I believe I will put that in my next blog post. Hopefully that will give you something to look forward to. 

            I hope you have enjoyed reading a brief update as to what I’ve been doing. Please feel free to leave comments/questions about things you’d like to know more about. Also, let me know if there are things that I could pray for you about. Some things that I could use prayer for is that the couple that have been leading youth group are going to Peru for four months. First I’d ask you to pray for them and their three boys that God keeps them safe and uses them for His glory. Second, that means starting the 29^th of April I will be leading the youth group mostly by myself (the pastor and his wife will be there for support) so pray that God provides me with the wisdom and strength to take on this challenge. I’m both excited and nervous. If you have any ideas for social activities that we can do for an hour before our study on Sunday please feel free to share (examples; volleyball, charades, etc.) :P Also, please pray for my school work and that I get the most out of it. Money is also another thing that could be prayed about, pray that I don’t run out before the end of the year.  I’d also like to ask you to pray for my youth group, that they grow deeper in their relationships with God. 

            Thank you for your support and prayers. It is wonderful knowing people at home are praying for me. I will try and update this blog more often. Next post will be about Easter Camp and plans for this next term for the youth. Right now it is the youth’s holiday so I’m able to have some free time to catch up on things. I thank God that He brought me here. I’m loving every minute of it and I’m excited to see what else is in store.