First off, I can not even believe that we have one month behind us already! God could not have started us off in a better country. I think I have fallen in love with new Zealand and its people. You might be thinking how is this possible, and yes i was only there for 3 1/2 weeks, but God defiantly taught me a lot and used the places and people we were in and with to grow and use me. It is probably best for me to write about each of these places and areas that God has allowed me to grow in, so here goes…
After launch in Matamata, our team was paired up with team 12:18 and we stayed behind at the camp as everyone else left for their ministries. Since New Zealand has come to a close for us, I can see our purpose in staying those extra days where we thought at first we were useless. God took that time for our two teams to bond and prepare us to work together for the next 2 weeks. What I have gained from 12:18 is some amazing friendships that will last a lifetime. Each person from both teams was able to bring something different that made for some amazing growth in areas of community, working, and spiritual growth. So a shout out to Matt, Caleb, Susie, Miranda, Simone, and Lauren. 
Team 12:18 and JSL on Farm Day
After those days of farm working and relaxing at the waterfall, we headed out to Feilding to work with Soul Survivor. If you have been keeping up with my previous blogs you will know that this is where God really started working on me. I came to this camp with several expectations of what we would be doing. God defiantly took those away as nothing I thought we were going to do actually happened. I learned that God needs us to be willing and ready in all situations to serve Him, even if that is cleaning toilets and graveyard security shifts. I learned that maybe I am willing to serve in the “hard” areas where people can be praised for what they are doing but I was not ready to serve under the Caleb, James, Nga, and Me
radar in those jobs that no one wants. Thank you God for showing me this! Soul Survivor was an amazing opportunity and I am so thankful I was able to serve there. One of my favorite memories of this place were of my new friends James and Nga. God defiantly had a purpose in us meeting them because I learned so much from them in such a short time. We may come from different areas of the world but we all have a story to tell that God has given us.
After Soul Survivor ended we all loaded up and headed to El Rancho, in Waikanae, to work with a family camp called New Wine. We continued to work with team 12:18 and then met up with 3 teams from N Squad who were working for El Rancho. Since we were each working for 2 different groups it was hard to spend a lot of time with them. The task I had f
or the week at New Wine was to work in Blazing Ahead! I had a group of 6 boys that were 9-10 years old. I had an awesome time getting to know these boys and seeing them begin to understand who God is and ask questions just made me smile. So if you could remember Jonathan, Isaac, Douglas, Elijah, Daniel, and Joshua in your prayers that they would one day soon come to accept Christ, that would be much appreciated! Another hightlight of this week was that on Sunday, James and Nga drove in from Wellington to visit us! These 2 are definatly friends for life and the fact that we have only known each other for a short time, we can rejoice together in knowing that we can share our lives with each other and how God uses these friendships to further His Kingdom!
or the week at New Wine was to work in Blazing Ahead! I had a group of 6 boys that were 9-10 years old. I had an awesome time getting to know these boys and seeing them begin to understand who God is and ask questions just made me smile. So if you could remember Jonathan, Isaac, Douglas, Elijah, Daniel, and Joshua in your prayers that they would one day soon come to accept Christ, that would be much appreciated! Another hightlight of this week was that on Sunday, James and Nga drove in from Wellington to visit us! These 2 are definatly friends for life and the fact that we have only known each other for a short time, we can rejoice together in knowing that we can share our lives with each other and how God uses these friendships to further His Kingdom! Some of the awesome kids from Blazing Ahead
Camp ended on Monday and we took a 10 hour bus ride through the night back to Auckland. It is hard to believe that this month is already over. My prayer is that God would continue to grow my team and I during our time in Australia. The following quote is from my journal and is my prayer for the year:
“Since I know God, I know love because God is love– nothing else should really matter. How can I do this? I have to live by faith and show the love of God to everyone, I can’t hold back. I can’t pretend to do these things for myself but I must honestly seek to love God and love people. It’s not about my agenda, it’s about Gods. We are called to love, to serve, and to use what God has given us to further the KINGDOM. God, change me, use my past in a way that I can show love. God use me as a vessell, take me OUT of the picture and put you IN it, so that you may get all the glory.”
Much love,
Auston
