Bula!

After leaving our friends at Solscape with hugs, backpacker Biblers, and pictures we headed to Joanna's house which was such a blessing, as we had home cooked meals, laundry, internet, and beds, which we have learnt are luxuries. We are currently in Fiji, where "Bula"s and coconuts are in abundance, and staying cool is a failed art. We stepped off the plane to a shock of heat/humidity, especially for us Canadians! As we arrived at the resort we laughed at the "watch for falling coconuts sign." before being shown to our bure, a beautiful open air dorm with a thatched roof, then took a dip in the warm ocean to cool off...we snorkeled, played volleyball and soccer, and met some great locals and visitors. We partook in a kava ceremony which means we are now family at this resort. We later let down what has become our daily ritual of letting down mosquito nets and trying to sleep in the heat, usually a few shades darker than we had been upon morning. Yesterday we went to visit another island and enjoyed the small village. The people there welcomed us with lots of songs and some dance by the Fijian children, and kava. Some of us also enjoyed playing with a few of the Fijian children, who were shy and first, but fascination with our cameras soon had these cuties talking! It was cool to see how these people live with less than us and in not as nice conditions, but they're still smiling and willing to open their village to us. Today we enjoyed some fish in coconut cream, veggies, and lime juice during cooking class. I personally love the Fijian culture, and everything about Fiji. God really outdid himself in creation here! It's really something to eat fresh papaya and pineapple each morning while staring out at the gorgeous ocean. God's gorgeous, plain and simple. We've learnt that most of Fiji is Christian and we look forward to going with our friend Joe to his local church on Sunday. Some of us also got to pray for a guy who had boils on his leg and he is now healed, Praise God! Later!

Solscape!

On the way to Raglan we happened upon 2 hitchhikers named Dani and Keely who were trying to get back to Raglan. We asked them for good places to stay and turns out they work at Solscape, a beautiful hostel/campground deal just out of town. Totally God. We loved it as it was a small, close community kind of like Hangdog, and we ended up meeting great people there and having great discussions about what we believe and stuff. One girl even ended up becoming a Christian, glory to God! We gave our friends backpacker Bibles which they received well and another cool thing was when one of them shared mate with us (argentinian green tea). It's in this beautiful cup that you pass around and keep adding water to. I personally didn't like the taste, but was still priviliged that she shared part of her culture with us. We are currently at Joanna's house! (our kiwi friend/registrar) and it's such a blessing to be in a home after hosteling/camping. Denver (school leader) is here too and it's great to see him again. We're stoked to fly to Fiji in 3 days!!!! I'll be honest, it hasn't quite hit me yet...looking forward to some worship/intercession group time tonight. Oh yeah, I've been the "leader" this week, so that's been interesting. Definitely stretched me and given me more appreciation for our leader...next update will probably be from Fiji! Some quotes I've happened upon to give you something to think about today:

-no one can do everything, but everyone can do something

-act as if what you do makes a difference. it does.

-you already possess everything necessary to become great

Cheers!

ahoy mates!

This updates gonna be quick I'm short on time...after Nelson we stayed in Picton for a nite at Sequoia Lodge, which I seriously recommend. They serve free dessert each nite and free breakfast each morning. Then we headed over to the North Island via the ferry, which was interesting. We even got to go into the control room to take pictures. We spent a nite in Wellington and enjoyed walking around the artsy town before leaving early the next morning for Rotorua. We spent just one nite and we're now packing up/making breakfast before heading to RAGLAN! Can't wait for that...Natalie just informed me we'll see Denver and Joanna there so that will be awesome. I have to finish packing up my stuff. More updates later! God Bless!

Footprints!

Hey all! My team arrived in Nelson today staying at Footprints hostel which is right near the beach, great place to rest as we just finished the Abel Tasman, which is a famous hike in New Zealand. We did 4 days which were not as flat as we expected, but still full of amazing fews of the ocean and great beaches. A highlight for me was when our group did Bible study and intercession at the beach, the seagulls sounding in the background, the tide softly sneaking up, the little cove at the end was amazing, God's creation is so great. Here at the hostel we just met a girl who goes to school with 3 others we met at the water hole by Hang Dog. It's cool how it's such a small world. We had the opportunity to bless a hitchhiker with a ride today, it wasn't too long so we didn't get into big conversation, but I know he'll be in my prayers. One thing that's really cool to think about for me personally is all the people we've met. I've been writing down names so I can remember to pray for them, and we've come in contact with so many people, its so awesome to think God can influence them thru us...prayer request that our slightly sore bodies recover quickly from the hike. Hope you're having an amazing day as you read this! God Bless!

Hang Dog

Hey all! Just a quick update....after Queenstown we headed up the West Coast but didn't make it too Franz Josef as planned due to flooding washing a piece of the road away. We ended up staying in a marae (sacred Maori "church" building) and they blessed us with a free meal and free accommodation. The next day we headed to Franz Josef to pick up Leo (one of the cooks from base) who is hanging with us for awhile, which is awesome. After camping one nite in Lyell amongst sandflies we headed up to Hang Dog climbing camp near Takaka. So far it's awesome, the water hole is tons of fun and the people are really chill. Enjoying a day off checking out the town before diving into more ministry...amongst climbers! Stoked for that. Ps: family if you're reading this sry i don't have time to email you all right now...so this is the update, but i'm thinking of you guys! belated happy new years!

more Queenstown!

Late the other nite a few of us went to the sidewalk to do some practice poi, and thru that we met Toby and Paul, 2 Germans who are living close to Queenstown, and Nat and I hung with them listening to live reggae. Paul was more open to deep conversation and we learnt he believes in a higher power and pulls things from various religions, so we're definitely keeping these guys in our prayers. Sunday we had church at Vineyard, enjoyed the warm weather, met new people, and even got some attention with our circus act of poi and slackline. Everyone packed up that nite as yesterday was busy. we headed to Reaver's Lodge hostel which is blessing us with free accomodation for a couple hrs work/day (thx for the tip Sherpa!) and got busy cleaning and doing yardwork with the fabulous employees there. After that we headed to Wanaka to advertise the free BBQ that nite and then helped out with it. We got to see Mary and Julica (crossroaders!) again and a bunch of us, including some people we just met that day went out for pizza afterwards. We also got out our slackline and practice poi again as it's a great ministry tool. This morning we got to soak up God during worship and devos and glorify Him cleaning!!!!! We bouldered a bit and are currently chilling at Vineyard. God Bless!

Christmas!

Merry Christmas all! Let me attempt the impossible task of putting Christmas her einto words...after sleeping in and exchanging gifts we headed outside and Natalie (leader) took off across the street to the church, feeling God led. It turned out they were expecting us and blessed us with a free meal, we also got to meet a couple other travelers, including a girl from Winnipeg! (1 hr from me!) This church is special because it used to be a brothel, and they have turned each room into something unique-prayer, healing, spa, and of course sanctuary. It's small but full of Holy Spirit presence and power. To make a long story short, they ended up giving us a key so we can use their building for ministry-inviting ppl in to hang, enjoy a cuppa coffee, play games, worship, etc. They've also entrusted us with thei rtill and blessed us with the use of their internet. This is clearly where God wants us, so we've cancelled our Wanaka campsite and will be here until further notice. We even managed to find free accomodation in exchange for a few hrs of cleaning per day. Last nite we prayed for each other, which really brought us closer together. This has been an amazing unexpected Christmas. God Bless!