Thursday, October 23, 2008

Weekend Trip to Napier



This past weekend our team took a 4 hr. trip to Napier, New Zealand to see the other AIM team one last time. They are done with their field time (as they were in the class before us) and are leaving in early November. They wanted us to see some of the work they've been doing and the place where they spent their mission time.
We got to stay with some host families in the church, do some service projects, do a skit for a kid's class and in front of the church, go rock climbing, have a lot of devos. and singing nights to encourage one another, and we got to meet some of the youth and young adults they've been working with and mentoring.
Over all, it was a really neat trip and a great chance to see another part of new zealand, as well as God's people in all different parts! We hope to be able to continue to encourage that church there and to maybe visit again some time! :)

Monday, October 6, 2008

Otumoetai Lock-In



We held a lock-in at our church for all the teens and young-adults in the north island (or at least close around our area.) We ended up having youth come from Auckland, Napier, Rotorua, and 1 girl even came and was visiting from Australia. It was neat to see these young christians from different areas and share with each other. We also had some worship time and a lesson together. Some non-christians attended as well and some brought friends. It was a great way to build friendships and plant seeds! Pray that that they will continue to grow!

Ladies' Challenge



Ladies' Challenge this yr. was held in Rotorua. It was like a weekend-long camp for all the women in the north island, and we even had one come from Nelson in the South Island. It was a great time of refreshment and really neat to meet christians from all different areas! It was very encouraging to get to see some other missionaries from different parts as well and to exchange some ideas and catch up! Overall, our team really enjoyed this time and look forward to probably participating in it next year in Napier, New Zealand.

Trip To Rotorua



Rotorua is about 45 min. away from where we live. For those of you who have been there, you know that it has a quite unpleasant smell of sulfur as you approach and go through some of the town! This is a geothermal area, with natural hot springs and boiling mud. We also got to go through a redwood forest and a neat park there as well. Ladies' Challenge was held in Rotorua, so we went up early to have a look around!

Mexican Night



This was a woman's event we held at our church building that our team spent HEAPS of time organizing and putting together. All the ladies' brought different mexican dishes and we provided some and made a mexican drink and had music and table decorations and did some fun facts and spanish word games and a mexican dance. We even had a pinata. It was tons of fun! It was quite a change for NZ because they don't really have any mexican restaraunts and BARELY ANY mexican food. This was for any women from our church and they could bring friends that didn't go to church for a fun night with the ladies!

Day With the Duboses