untold treasures

"Saints of the early church reaped great harvests in the field of prayer and found the mercy seat to be a mine of untold treasures." C.H. Spurgeon

This weekend we met with CSL's (Committed Servant Leaders) for our kick-off retreat. It was here that we began planning for the year ahead, hearts heavy with prayer and eyes fixed attentively on the Lord. The work that we prepare for is the most important work we will ever do in our lives; sharing hope with a broken city. I cannot wait to see the treasures that we stumble across this year and I say stumble because, no doubt, we will!

Some of the CSL's at our kick-off retreat!

We began the retreat with introductions and cast a vision for the school year. Then we broke up into teams relating to various aspects of the ministry. The team that I am leading is the "FUSE and Community Team". Fuse is our monthly gathering where all of the Bible Studies from all of our campuses in Wellington get together to "creatively and actively spur one another on toward loving deeds and good works". Essentially we are the "fusing together" of all the students in our movement in such a way that students are energized to go back out to impact their campus and various communities.

Our first FUSE is Mar 5th (my 23rd birthday), so please keep it in your prayers as we finish hammering out logistics and continue to trust God for the details! I'll share more about FUSE in the weeks to come!

enjoying a BBQ!

Amusing musings...

One of the joys of being an overseas missionary is stumbling over my own two feet when it comes to culture. I've had a few moments in the past few days where I've had to look back and laugh at myself, usually because of some cultural differences, and I thought it'd be fun to share.

1. every single time I go to flip the turn signal, I accidentally turn on the windshield wipers. We call our van a "bubble van" because it's an old Japanese van that looks like a bubble. clever. since it's Japanese the signals and wipers are on opposite sides of what I am used to
2. I was running to get to church on time last night, took a 5:13 train, arrived in town at 5:24 and had a 40 minute walk to get to church by 6. I was so concerned with getting there on time only to find that people don't really stroll in until 6:15 and service starts whenever enough people arrive. It's much more laid back. I could get used to that!
3. I walked to the dairy to buy a local newspaper to find that they were sold out. So I continued walking until I found the BP Gas station. It's 6pm and the gas station is closed. Actually, almost everything is closed by 6pm. I am so used to getting what I want when I want it, because that is how we Americans function. I wonder, though, if maybe having 24-7 grocery stores just feeds our disease of self entitlement
4.Morning tea is required by law in the workplace. This means that we get a 15 min break for a hot drink, a quick stretch, maybe even a run to the toilet, just so that we can get back to focusing on our work. I actually thought people were messing with me when they told me that...but I was wrong...

okay that is all that I can remember for the moment, but if I embarrass myself any more I will be sure to share!

The last week of summer

I am ready to say goodbye to the summer holiday! We had a wonderful week, spent a few days as a team on our staff retreat to Hawkes Bay, enjoyed the warm sunshine in Welly, climbed Mt. Kaukau, and ran a 7k race. I've noticed that being active energizes me, so being outdoors all weekend and spending time with my teammates was the perfect way to end the summer before we start our 9-5 planning meetings this week.

The team retreat was refreshing. I spent most of my time getting to know my teammates, relaxing on the beach, reading my Bible, and admiring the 1920's art deco style of the buildings and the people. Apparently we picked the right time to visit this little town! It is so good to spend time with my team in an unstructured environment because the work we do is so personal and important that I want to be able to appreciate each person and become friends.

enjoying the view from the top of Mt. Kaukau

I also took the weekend to explore Welly's nature, and climbed Mt. Kaukau, a local summit of about 1400 ft. that provides a view of all of Wellington and part of the South Island (on a clear day). It was a spectacular sight and a neat opportunity to pray over (literally) the city that I am serving in.

The race was challenging, but I really enjoyed it. Running has become a new hobby of mine within the past year, and the part I love the most about it is the metaphors it provides for our faith life. It requires perseverance, strength, endurance, pain, elation, triumph, work, and dependance on the Lord to carry you through. And with this race in particular, you cannot always see the end! The course ran along the curvy bay of Wellington, and the sun was bright over the South Pacific Ocean. It was impossible to see the finish line until the last 1/2 kilo and I thought it would never end!

As great as this week has been, I am more than ready for our planning meetings and getting ready for the school year!

3,500 Freshman Orientation Bags

It has been an eventful week! My friend Kara, who initially shared her experiences in Welly with me and inspired me to pray about joining the team here, just arrived from the States. She got engaged to a kiwi two months ago and is moving back to join our team for the next year. She'll be the first to tell you that she prayed for laborers last year and had no idea that God's answer to that prayer would be her!

I also had my first "unofficial" days on campus this week. On Monday Sarah, Steve (another teammate) and I went to the Library to make copies of 3,500 inserts to put in the freshman orientation packets, with some info on Student-life and what it is all about. We spent two hours cutting them out and turned them into the VUWSA (Victoria University Wellington Student Association) office. Then Tuesday morning VUWSA asks that if your club wants something in the packets, you send a representative to help stuff them. So Kara and I went in at 9am to stuff orientation packets. It was a great way to meet students and get to know them. When you are standing next to someone for 5 hours and can't really go elsewhere the conversations get pretty interesting. We talked about everything from New Zealand politics, to faith, to Wellington's culture---all things I've been told to never talk to strangers about!

That being said, I came home with a fever and stomachache, ate 2 peices of toast, and went to bed at 7pm. Fortunately when I woke up at midnight, my fever broke and my stomach now only hurt because I was hungry. We have our staff retreat to Hawkes Bay tomorrow and I would have been really disappointed if I had missed it!

Cable Cars, Museums and Earthquakes!

This past week has been a great balance between studying my training materials and getting to know my city. I've been going through the Transferable Concepts; booklets written by Bill Bright that illustrate different aspects of Christian living in preparation for the school year.

I've also gotten to visit some of Wellington's great sights. My friend Amy from Christchurch (orginally from South Africa) came up to visit our national museum, Te Papa. So I met her there and had a blast, learning about New Zealand, and seeing the Pompeii exhibit.


I also got to take the cable car up to the top of the botanical gardens for a spectacular view of the city, the harbour, and the tropical plant life. It has been really fun to become familiar with the city, learn about the culture, and meet people. I did miss watching the superbowl in the States...we found a pub that was airing it at noon on Monday, so we watched it there, without the commercials! Definitely worth missing for the excitement of being in New Zealand!!!

On another note, I got woken up in the middle of the night by an earthquake--5.0 on the Richter Scale. It was my first one ever (not including the aftershocks in Indiana a few years ago). At first I thought it was the wind rattling the house, but later discovered that the wind, however powerful it may be here, does not make banging noises like the ones I heard, nor does it make the floor shake! The weirdest part is that after visiting Te Papa on Wednesday and seeing the earthquake exhibit I've been talking about earthquakes non-stop, and I have had this weird feeling that one was going to happen soon! Bizarre-o!

Well friends, I hope you all enjoy Valentine's Day. They don't celebrate it here to the extent that it is recognized in the US, but I did enjoy a delicious pink frosted cookie! Blessings!

Woman vs. Real Estate

Good News! Sarah and I have found our flat! We can't move in yet, but we've got it and it is such a relief to not have to face the beast that is Wellington Real Estate. For posterity, and humour, I've decided to give some survival tips for those of you who may find yourselves fighting for a flat in Welly.

1. Run, don't walk to the nearest dairy on Wednesday morning when new classifieds come out in the newspaper.
2. Armed with pen and coffee, circle the flats that fall in your price range and area. Be sure to check out Trademe, a New Zealand website similar to craigslist.
3. Do not be deceived. Flats are priced per week, not per month. You thought a rent of $350 NZD sounded reasonable? think again. that's 350 PER WEEK!
4. Text, don't call real estate agents. Phone calls are expensive, so text the mobile listed to see when the next viewings are.
5. Mapquest or google maps are only semi-reliable in a city where streets change names unexpectedly. Leave at least 15-20 min for getting lost/finding a carpark.
6. Show up to the viewing dressed to impress. Most real estate agents want to rent to professionals, and when ten other people show up for the viewing, you want to stand out in a good way.
7. While your cohort is filling out the paperwork, talk to the real estate agent about his or her dislikes, what you like about the city, ask them questions, etc. Again, you want to leave a good impression.
8. Wait for them to call you. Don't call or text or email them until at least the next evening. Chances are, if they haven't called you the next day, you weren't the chosen one.
9. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. New Classifieds also come out on Saturdays.
10. Don't settle. A moldy flat is not a happy flat. Don't just take it because you don't think you can get anything else.

I hope you found this helpful, or at least had an insight of the adventures that Sarah and I faced while looking for a flat. On a serious note, our biggest piece of advice is to pray, pray, pray! Trust in God's provision, asking Him to tune your ears to His voice, and never giving up hope, but instead rejoicing in the opportunity that this gives you to tangibly trust Him.

January photos

I've only been here in New Zealand for a few weeks now but I thought I'd share a video of some fun moments from the month of January. Enjoy!

January Photos from Ashley Kohl on Vimeo.