think that I have ever traveled so much in all my life. For those of you who
don’t know, I left Greenville on Saturday, January 2nd, flew to
Texas where I had a 2-hour layover, then flew to LA where my friend Louie
picked me up from the airport. I got to meet and spend time with his wonderful
family, and got a magnificent tour of LA (including Santa Monica Blvd.!) I then
met my team at the airport on January 3rd and we left to head to New
Zealand. We arrived here VERY early this morning- we totally skipped January 4th
between all the time zones!
We are currently staying at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission)
camp for this first week. The staff has been so friendly and are teaching us
the “Kiwi” way of doing things. I am one of the lucky ones who does not have to
stay in a tent quite yet- I get a bunk bed for the week! What can I say, doing
this makes you appreciated the small simple things in life (like a bunk bed!) I
also had the privilege of meeting my support coaches today. Their names are
Dave and Bernadette and they have come all the way from Holland. They will be
my squad’s “parents” for the year. They will coach us through, come to our
debriefs, and share in the tears and the laughter. I am excited to get to know
them better!
This first week is called “Launch” and is basically similar
to another training camp. They are getting us ready to think as a team and
getting us prepared to go out and do ministry. Please keep us in your prayers
as we are in this country. Only 7-10% of the population are actual practicing
Christians, however as much as 50% of the population would claim to be, so they
are familiar with the Gospel but not as open to it. Please pray that we would
come up with creative ways to share our faith and that we would have the
opportunity to spend time and build relationships with the people here.
Well I think that pretty much sums up everything that has
happened so far. I love and miss you all and will write again whenever I can!
Thanks so much for your prayers- they mean more to me than you know!
