Happy 2009!!
Our outreach team spent our time up to the New Year in the town of Queenstown. It’s a known party town with lots of extreme sports and hiking all around. It’s a small town of only about 15,000 people but there are thousands of travelers passing through to skydive, bungee jump, hike the mountains, see Lord of the Rings sites and other touristy things. We camped at a place about 30 minutes out of town called Moke Lake. It is a small lake up in the hills. All the hostels were booked for the new years and people came from all over for the festivities. We cooked our meals and stayed the night at the lake but would come into town for the day to do ministry.
We had our first van issue the other day. Here is what happened: David and I were driving around gas stations looking for a place to fill up our big propane tank for our stove. At one gas station outside of Q-town our van just wouldn't start! All of a sudden without prior problems. It ended up being a battery fuse issue but the station didn't sell the right fuse. So David and I tried hitching to another station (didn't work) and we walked to another station and found the right part. We put it in (okay, he did it all because he understood what was going on and I didn't) and the van started right up. Hurray! We let it run awhile and drive to another station to fill the tank. Problem... it doesn't restart. So we meet up with the rest of the team to figure out an option for the night. We think about hitching to our campsite outside of town (about a 30min drive), sleeping in the van or getting a hostel. We end up cooking our dinner in the parking lot and having our intercession time there too. For at least two hours, Nate is fiddling around trying to fix the problem. I don't have more details because I don't understand it all, but Nate came to the rescue and fixed the problem completley. We were able to drive out to our campsite for the night and even had a friend we met in town join us around the campfire for the night! God is good and my team was so great at being flexible.
There is an ironic part of this story. Two days later, we are drove out to our campsite at Moke Lake. It’s along a dirt and gravel road up to the lake and along the way, we pop a hole in the tire (probably a nail or something). We are almost home when it happens. Luckily, the boys know how to change a tire and we got the flat fixed in town later. God is good for providing for us and I’m happy about going with whatever comes our way.
For ministry, we once again found the slack line a great way to meet people. We also went on a short hike up a hill near town and met a Canadian guy named Will. He ended up joining our group for the day and invited us to join him on a long day hike the next day. It was a perfect suggestion because Andy, one of students, was having a birthday and she wanted to go on a great hike for the day. We climbed up Ben Loman peak and it was epic! It climbs steeply up to a great view of Queenstown, the whole valley and the mountain range behind us (including a great mountain called Mt. Aspiring). Absolutely perfect!! We spent the whole day with Will and had some great conversation about life, God and some of us shared our testimonies with him. He headed out the next day but we might have the chance to meet up again in Te Anau… that would be awesome.
For New Year’s Eve, we wanted to do a different and bolder kind of ministry. While praying about it earlier in the day, Andy got the idea of making posters to give out prayer. So, we made out some posters that said “Free Prayer for 2009.” It sounds corny, but the word ‘free’ is what would often catch people’s attention. We head out to Queenstown and it is packed with people. They have the waterfront/boardwalk area sectioned off and police checking for alcohol. We get in around 10pm and decide to prayer walk and meet some people then meet up all together at midnight to welcome the New Year together.
I walk around trying to pray and figure out whom God wants me to talk to. I see a man standing along and looking out into the lake so I just approach and say something about New Year’s resolutions, thinking about the New Year, etc. It was definitely a divine appointment because he starts talking about how he is a spiritual healer (drawing in positive energies and stuff like that) and that he is thinking of switching careers. It starts a great conversation about spiritual things and I share my testimony and share about the Bible, Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit, God, death, heaven… you name it and we probably talked about it. I know that God was in my conversation guiding me because I was firing questions at this man, Andrew, and when he asked them back I had scripture and examples that just flowed from me. God had many truths that He wanted me to speak to Andrew. When I say that we were firing questions, I don’t mean we were having a debate… it was actually more like a great discussion between friends when you’re really into it and excited and both people want to know more and share information. I saw something in him change though when I questioned him about enlightenment. He believes, like in Buddhism, that he is trying to reach this stage of enlightenment. He admitted that he doesn’t know what it looks like or why he is trying to reach it, except that it returns our energy to the ‘big’ energy. I talked about heaven and how we were created to live for eternity in heaven with God. We won’t cease to exist; we will live forever with Jesus! He wanted to know about who gets into heaven so I shared salvation with him and explained what he needs to do to accept Christ and become a Christian. I don’t think I’ve ever been this bold with a complete stranger before. It was awesome, because it was God working in me. I also gave Andrew a little New Testament that I had with me. He asked me for prayer and I prayed and then challenged him to try God. He has tried everything else; why not give God a chance. I hope he makes a decision for God.
Then, our team hugged in the New Year and watched the fireworks over the lake. After midnight we pulled out the prayer posters. Keith, one of my students, and I sat on a wall by the water and displayed our sign. We found that we didn’t even have to call out to people; they would come to us. I thought that it would be way more awkward than it was. Most of the people who came up to us were drunk or stoned, but it was amazing how once they realized we wanted to pray for them their eyes would change and they would say from their hearts what they wanted prayer for in the new year. People were sharing their hurts and dreams with us. I remember these two girls- Chloe and Kate. They didn’t want to share what they wanted prayer for. So Keith and I prayed for blessing in the New year. I also prayed for reconciliation and healing in their lives. I remember holding on to the girls’ hands and I could tell when I prayed that it meant something, they held on tighter. When we were done praying, Kate was crying. They both thanked us and gave us hugs. It was so beautiful that I wanted to cry too. All night people were asking for health and protection in their families, a house to be paid off, to be good, to fix his relationship with his mom, that people would love/like him, success and riches (I prayed for God’s provision), forgiveness for falling away from God, everyone on earth to love each other and just blessings for 2009. I felt so encouraged by God’s love and that he had something to say to everyone and I was blessed enough to be used by Him.
We left Moke Lake and Queenstown and are now in Te Anua. It’s a small town next to the Fiordlands, where all the great mountains and hikes in New Zealand are. We are resting up here for a few says and will do some more hostel ministry. Then we are doing a hike called the Kepler Trek. It’s a 3-4 day backpacking trek and I can’t wait to get out in nature and do trail ministry. We are also hoping to meet up with our friend Will from Queenstown.
Prayer Requests:
1) more creative ideas for minsitry
2) no more van issues
3) team unity and more openness in the group
4) good weather for the treks
5) more awesome conversations with backpackers!
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