Staff Conference Highlights

Overall, I had an amazing time at staff conference, and I thought I'd point out a few highlights of the week.

1. The Community: I met the 50 staff from all over the country who are working on campuses and sharing their faith. It was such an encouragement to know that there are others who are laboring alongside me, even if we aren't in the same city. At the same time, it was so different from US conferences I have been to. "The laborers are few but the harvest is plenty". We are trusting the Lord to raise up student laborers so that we can have an even bigger impact in people's lives.It was such a small community of people from many age ranges, countries like the US, NZ, South Africa, Singapore, China, and Canada, and walks of life. It is an honour to be welcomed into this community!

2. The Message: We studied the book of Philippians, and our theme was "Joy on the Journey", with lessons about everything from being content in all circumstances, to perseverance, to really reflecting on about my joy being in Christ and not in the things of this world. It was convicting and exciting at the same time.

3. The Location: We stayed at a Christian camp on the Eastern Beach of Auckland. The curtains were pastel florals straight out of the 80's. But the real joy was being able to run along the beach every morning, or look up to the sky and see the Southern Cross constellation from atop a cliff at night. The camp we stayed at even had kayaks that we took out into the ocean towards the rockface you see in the picture. It was beautiful.

4. The Culture: It was my first time in NZ spending time with Kiwis, and I got introduced to some of the slang like "I'm keen for taking a walk on the beach" or " That movie was sweet as!" or "cheers, mate", and "good on ya!". Not only that but we had tea time twice a day, and the toilet flushers have options to flush either half (for 'wee') or full (for 'poo'). I'll give more culture updates as I get more and more acquainted with NZ!

5. The Atmosphere: Aside from being around people who are passionately seeking to serve God, the biggest highlight was probably the memories we made. I really enjoyed bonding with my teammates, playing team building games, tug-o-war, three-legged races, and making up songs about graham crackers and peanut butter during our free time. In all reality, the best part was being able to spend some intimate time with the Lord, reflecting on finding joy in Him, and having the relaxed reflection time to really pray hard for the upcoming year and the challenging adventure that lies ahead!