THE LAND DOWN UNDER DOWN UNDER!

Sry it has taken so long to get updated on here! We finally just got our internet hooked up! For all those of you wondering, all 4 of us made it here (Tauranga, NZ) just fine! We have been here about a week and a half...getting close to two weeks now! We have a house and most all our furnishings! We have a view that looks down over the city and you can see the ocean in the far distance. It's very cool! We also already have 2 cars for our team. We have been going to auctions here to get things at more reasonable prices...that is a more common thing here than it is in the states. I don't think I'd ever even been to an auction! It's exhilerating! We have been having lots of meetings, and doing some different activities with the youth. We are going to start making visitations here soon to people in the church regularly. Tuesday we go to one of the primary (grade) schools here and we will be meeting the staff and start volunteering one morning a week to be a teacher's helper and get to work with the kids some. We went to a ladies night on Tuesday which was also nice to meet some new people. Tomorrow we are planning on going to the church and working on some bible lessons to put together with one of our coordinators (Mary Nelson). Tomorrow Morning (and this past Tuesday) we are going to a class at the South Pacific Bible College here to do some training for Friend Speak (an evangelism tool where you teach international people English using the Bible). Tomorrow we have almost a full day! I'm sure there will be much more to come! We'll try to keep you posted as well as we can! I have so much more I'd like to tell but I really need to get off here! I hope you all have a blessed week! As one of my fellow AIMers use to always say, Keep Christ King! :)
*Ashtin*

Be Flexible...AH! IT'S TRUE!

BE FLEXIBLE...it's a motto we are taught over and over in AIM! And we have learned to be just that!
So! Our NZ team is currently residing in a japanese style hotel in L.A., California! Our plane left at 10:30 p.m. last night and we got 400 miles towards Australia when the monitors stopped working in the plane (don't know what that means...just not good for the pilot!) and we had to turn back. So we are back in L.A. and in a hotel until noon when we will be shuttled back to the airport to get our new flight schedule to Australia and then on to Auckland, NZ. It has been quite fun though as there are many aussies trying to get home on the same plane to Australia and we are enjoying talking to them and getting to hear their sweet accents!
Todays trip to the airport started off very interesting as well! Kayla and I (Ashtin) met up at baggage claim in L.A. where we switched airlines and had to re-check-in. So we got a cart to put both of our luggage on to haul to another building to check in. Kayla was ahead of me pulling our carry-ons and I was pushing the cart of luggage (4 big bags!) when we were crossing at a crosswalk to go to the building and there was a small ramp down to the road and all the luggage fell off the cart in the street! It was great timing as the light turned green and all the traffic was headed at me while I'm trying to pick up all our luggage in the middle of the street! It was quite an adventure!
So 6.5 hrs. from now we will be back in the airport for round two! I hope all goes well and we will try to keep you updated! We may be getting to NZ, at longest, a full day later than expected. But we are still getting there! We have stood in line after line and had to be awake at 2 a.m. to be shuttled to the customs hotel and take our luggage on and off planes...I'd say we have truly learned to be flexible! God will get us there one way or another! And as one of the aussies next to us put it..."No bother getting upset, it is what it is!"

3 Days Left!

Hello everyone! Just a quick update! Our team will be leaving this Thursday, June 5th for New Zealand! I (Ashtin) personally will be traveling out of Indianapolis, IN to Chicago, IL and then on to L.A. where our team will meet up! We will be on a 14 hour flight out of L.A. to Sydney, Australia where we will switch over and then fly about 3 hours I believe to Auckland, NZ where our coordinators will be picking us up and some of us will be meeting for the first time!
As always, we would love to be in your continual prayers as we take this journey and pray for safe travels and strength in our team as we all leave! I know today I saw my mom ("mum") and dad today for the last time. Just pray that any sadness we may have about leaving will be more overcome with joy for what we are about to go do! :)
Also, Kayla Smith now has here visa as well! That makes 3 out of 4 of us! Jana's visa is suppose to be done today or tomorrow, but we still have to wait for it to be mailed back. Hopefully if it is overnight she can get it in time. We definitely need prayers for her and the stress she has about getting her visa in time! I know our big God can handle something as small as a piece of paper! "Faith is not believing that God can, but knowing that He will!" Just please keep her in your prayers and that all will work out fine! The embassy seems to be working slowly on her visa, as her and Kayla sent them in around the same time. But we can still be confident that all will surely work out one way or another! :)
That is the update for now! Here is just a little something I read today that I thought was neat...hopefully it will encourage you, as it did me! :
If someone loses a gold ring, how much is it worth? A gold ring is a gold ring no matter what. It doesn't lessen in value just because someone loses it! A lost gold ring is still very valuable to whomever finds it! Lost or not, gold is still gold!
Do we picture man with this same viewpoint? Instead of a lost gold ring, think about a lost man. What is the value of a man? He holds a GREAT value as God's child and creation! He is priceless to God! Lost or not, a man is still a man and he NEVER lessens in value! :)

Counting Down...

Well, Kristi and I both have our visas and are now aloud to go to the fabulous country of New Zealand! Jana and Kayla have sent for theirs recently! Please pray that all goes well! We all plan on flying out on June 5th and meeting up in L.A. From there we will fly to Australia and then switch planes to go to NZ. I am currently making my last visit to some family in Indiana and then will be in Ohio for a week or two and then fly out!
We hope that everyone will keep us in their prayers as I know I personally (and I'm sure our whole team ) is going through a lot of transitions! I have recently been realizing just what it means to depend on God alone, especially in tough times!
If anyone would like to receive our newsletters through email let me know. I will try and email a newsletter each month while we are on the field. Just send me your email address! My email is preciousangel545@hotmail.com (I made it in 5th grade and too many people have it to change it now! No laughing! haha!) Love you all and God Bless! He always does!
-Ashtin

The Excellent Adventures of Kristi and Ashtin

So, we haven't left the states, and the adventure has already begun. We started out on a 21 hour journey back to Indiana where Ashtin would be sort-of back home and Kristi would fly home from there. HOWEVER, the journey only lasted 6 hours. Traveling down grueling I-40 something punched a whole in the oil pan of Ashtin's car and bent the corner of the radiator. Not knowing anything was wrong, we trudged on. All was well until the RPMs SHOT up and all of a sudden the car died. We just cruised off onto a nearby exit and parked on the side and put the flashers on. A guy then helped us push it to a nearby gas station.
Our current status has been almost stranded in Oklahoma City for 3 days now. Lucky that God was on our side, Kristi's aunt and uncle live only about an hour and a half from where we broke down. We have been staying there.
The current status on the car is not quite as good, however. All of the oil had leaked out as the car was still going since we didn't know anything was wrong. Then the engine ended up locking up and was hot and molded together pretty much. Now the car requires a new oil pan, a whole new engine, and possibly a new radiator.
The insurance should cover all, except a $250 deductible. It's also paying for Ashtin to fly home for a couple weeks and she will come back to OK city to pick up her car and drive it back when it's ready. Kristi's mom will be coming to her aunt's house to pick her up and she'll be going home with her.
It has been crazy already! We have so much more work to do getting support and a little more visa work to do without the extra added worries and expenses! But all is well and where God guides, He provides! "Trials are not enemies of faith, but opportunities to prove God's faithfulness!" Everything seemed awful to start off, but things are looking up and I'll still get home in time to visit with family some before leaving for the field!
Keep praying for our team....support and visas mostly! Keep fighting the good fight!
Because the tomb was found empty,
*Kristi and Ashtin*

Preparing to Leave

Getting ready has been an interesting process. It's not just getting our visa stuff that is difficult, it's also the mental and emotional preparations. The only way I am going to get to New Zealand is by God. Don't get me wrong I want to go but when I think about leaving everything I know and love I kind of get freaked out. Wouldn't most people though?? All I can do is trust in God that he is sending me where he wants me to go and where I can be most effective for Him. The only reason I am ready for this new Adventure is because I know I am filled with the Holy Spirit that will lead me and guide me. I plan not only on being effective and I don't just see it as a job. I also am planning on having lots of fun!!!

Kayla Smith