(Sunday) we went to church at Changepoint- the church that we worked at the
first week- and then we had the privilege to go to their church picnic at
Rotary Park! We also got to eat FISH & CHIPS! Michelle, Liz, and I rode
with a lady named Jill who blessed us so much. She took us to a little shop and
insisted that we not pay for anything. She then proceeded to get us each a
piece of fish, and then she ordered us each a crabstick, and a TON of french
fries. All of the food comes wrapped in newspaper.
It was greasy, but so good! We also got to drink L&P- a sodathat is made here in New Zealand (you see it everywhere here). The park was
beautiful- there were kids playing in the water and people kayaking. It
was a nice time to relax and enjoy one of our last days here.
This morning
a bunch of us woke up and went to THOP (Tauranga House of Prayer) for the
morning. It was so refreshing to go back and just be able to sit, read, and
worship- a great end to our stay here. It’s going to be a lot harder to leave
here than I originally thought. Being in Tauranga the whole time, we have
gotten to know people from the community through church and our ministries. We have seen and worked along side these amazing people for the last 3 weeks-
they truly will be missed.
It’s also going to be hard to leave the other teams
that we
team, Ignitus, and 2 teams from M-squad- Team 91 and Team Arete. I have enjoyed
serving and getting to know these people on a more individual basis. We have
built such a strong community together and it’s going to be hard to leave it
all and start over again, but I am looking forward to new adventures in
Australia!
We leave
from here tomorrow morning at 6:45 to catch the bus and drive to Auckland. We
will then spend the night in the airport there because our flight leaves super
early on Wednesday morning- our first spend the night in an airport! Ha I’m
sure it will only be the first of many! We’ll fly into Brisbane and stay there
for 5 days. We then catch another flight that will fly us up to the northern
part of the country- a place known as Katherine, Australia. I’ve been told that
it’s in the upper 90’s there and February is their hottest month of the year!
We will be working with the aboriginals- our contact being an aboriginal
pastor. I’m not sure if we are tenting or not, or how internet will be so I
will post again as soon as I can!
Please keep
my team and I in your prayers as we travel. Pray that people we come in contact
with will have open hearts and that all of our contact information will all
follow through and work out. We are still looking for a place to stay in
Brisbane, so if you know anyone there, please let me know! I would love to hear
from each of you and know how you are doing- you can click the “Get in touch
with me” tab on the left side of my blog!
