Matamata, New Zealand
Totara Springs
Over the past month we worked hard, made lasting friendships, loved on kids, and glorified the Father. Leaving Totara Springs was not an easy thing to do. As I look back on the entire month, I am reminded of how blessed we were. Here is a recap of the month:
Week 1: Manual labor
We did everything from cleaning about 750 yellow chairs, to tearing down stairs and fences, to cleaning out the bush walk… and we had a blast doing it. It is easier doing hard work when you are working for such amazing people.
Week 2: Housekeeping
We worked under some of the most servant hearted women during this week. We cleaned about a bajillion windows, cleaned all of the ablutions (bathrooms), and did a little vacuuming and sweeping.
Week 3: Kids camp
This week was incredible. We all had different rolls: Courtney was camp mom, Victoria was in charge of the canteen (snack shack), Lisa was the photographer and replacement leader in a cabin, Chris and Jedediah were boy LIT (Leaders in Training) leaders, and Amanda and I were in charge of the girl LIT’s. The LIT’s were between the age of 13-15. This is the first year they have every had leaders, so it was pretty cool getting to set the pace for that. We stayed up late every night having some deep and meaningful conversations with these girls. We found that when we were open and vulnerable, they felt welcomed to be as well. The Lord did some great stuff through all the LIT’s last week. One of the boys told us, the world racers, that we brought the presence of the Lord. Praise the Lord for not only this boy feeling the Lord’s presence, but also for his encouragement.
Not only did we get to play with kids and pour our hearts into them, we also had the opportunity to do dishes and serve food!!!
Here is a picture of the majority of the summer staff we worked with. This people blessed us, poured into us, and allowed us to pour into them. I definitely left a piece of my heart at Totara Springs.
