Why El Rancho
Since being in New Zealand I have had many different thoughts running through my head, but it has been hard to pin point one exact thought. I wake up every morning and think, wow I get to do this for the next year of my life. The next thought that pops into my head is…I AM IN NEW ZEALAND! Then throughout the day my thoughts go crazy on me. I finally just sat in silence and realized that the thought that is most consistently running through my head is…what are missions exactly? What is a missionary? For so long I thought that all missionaries did was share the gospel and convert people on the spot to having a relationship with the Lord. It was not until this trip that I have realized that missions takes on all different types of forms.
My mission in New Zealand
For me I truly feel like God called me to New Zealand to not necessarily share the gospel with people; which he did allow me to do though with my campers, but to be a light to people who are already Christians but young believers. He allowed me to do this with some of the leaders at camp this past week, to just pour into their lives. God has allowed me to be a light in the lives of the
people that are working at El Rancho, and just form relationships and friendships with my other brothers and sisters in Christ, that is my mission in New Zealand. He has allowed me to do missions by serving them, my job yesterday was to place cookies on a pan and then count them and wrap them up (I can’t even begin to tell you how many delicious cookies and deserts I counted yesterday), my mission was helping them and meeting their needs, that is my mission here in New Zealand. I realize that my mission this month has been to serve in random ways but do it with a joyful heart, I don’t think I ever imagined that I would be able to wash windows allllll day with a joyful heart, but He gave me the strength to because that is my mission in New Zealand. He has allowed me to have really good spiritual conversations with other believers close to 
my age and share my testimony with them during road trips that is my mission here in New Zealand. This coming week I will be serving 800 people attending a Christian conference called “New Wine”, I will be in the kitchen all day that is my mission in New Zealand. My mission in New Zealand I realize is to serve God with my actions, my words, and with my life story.
I know many of you think well why are you not helping with poor and needy kids in New Zealand? Why are you not out sharing the gospel with the non believers in New Zealand on the streets? Why are you not feeding the starving people in New Zealand? Those are all questions I asked myself when I first got here. I though over the past few weeks have realized that missions in not one specific thing. Missions is serving others and there for serving God. Missions is meeting people where their needs are and here at El Rancho God brought us here to serve their staff this month. It is definitely apparent why God brought us here this month to New Zealand and more specifically El Rancho. It amazes me the way God works and it amazes me more when we sit and take the time to realize and notice that God is working all the time in huge ways.
