Final 3 Mission Trip Days in NZ

This is a really long post, but it's mainly just pictures so please sit back, scroll down, and enjoy the scenery. After the retreat, the pastors and elders took us sightseeing for a couple of days. It was so nice of them and they did a wonderful job showing us around. This is what we saw... These were some beautiful falls that Andrew hated because they were so loud.


Rainbows rarely photograph well, but seriously, this was like paint in the sky it was so dark! Rainbows in NZ are pretty common. We actually even saw the end of one!!! (No pot of gold. Bummer!)

Yes. The rumors are true. Gabe jumped off a bridge.
BUNGEE!!!




If you're going to go bungee jumping, you have to do it here. Taupo is amazingly gorgeous with the most beautiful water I have ever seen.
Our "last" picture.

Who invented the word, "queue"? C'mon!
Sorry this isn't all in order, but this is too many pics for me to detail. :)

The following were all taken at an area with a ton (heaps) of thermal activity. From what I hear, it's like Yellowstone, but more amazing... and stinky.
Rock star Gabe.


WORD!!!

Gyser time.

Okay. Prepare yourself for the most beautiful place in the universe. This is a park in Rotorua. There are redwoods, tall silver ferns (that look like palm trees), and water like the water in Taupo.

(Right next to the park.)
The team.

Yes, folks, this is real.

Tirau has way too much corrogated metal. It's everywhere!
An old bath house (now museum) in Rotorua.
The two pastors chillin'Ruth keeping her dog warm.
How cute are they?!
So beautiful!... Not us... NZ!... But, hey, we're not bad either... :)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Yeah!!!

I did it! I ran the furthest I've ever run and the furthest I will run until marathon day! This morning, I walked out the front door and ran 23.22 miles (9:43 pace)! Sweet! I ate Gu, which made me feel SO much better than I have been feeling during the long runs. Plus, I don't have a pounding headache right now! Yippee! I am so excited! (Can you tell? There are 7 exclamation points so far in this post and only one period!!! Make that 10. And now 2 periods. 3. 4. How do I stop?! There. Oh no...)

Retreat!

Tuesday through Friday of the first week, we went to a youth retreat just north of Rotorua. It was for junior highers, high schoolers, and college students from the 5 Auckland churches. There was an excellent turnout of around 150 kids, mostly from mainland China. Most of the kids are first generation Chinese and are still working on learning English. It's amazing how quickly they can catch on- and go to an English school the whole time! Can you imagine trying to learn biology in a language you don't even know?
This is Wesley (and Gabe). He's one of the youth workers at one of the churches in Auckland. He's a really cool guy with a great heart for the kids and a love for the ministry. It is clearly evident in his service... a big blessing to watch in someone else's life.
Mimi, her mom Alice, and me prepared for our modern day version of Paul on the road to Damascus, which we titled, "Paula on the way to Damascus Mall".
Some of the guys in our Small Group during KP (kitchen patrol, for those of you who haven't been to camp in a while).
Some of the small group girls.
Daisy (Andrew's favorite bear) turned a strange shade of brown-gray half way through the trip. She basically looked like she had been run over a few times by a muddy buldozer. (The lighting is fine in this picture, btw.) We had a very hard time keeping her away from Andrew, but Ruth (the sweet little girl) lent her dog to him for several playdates and that was a HUGE blessing. The night after the retreat, we stayed somewhere that we had access to a washer and dryer and Andrew's first words when he woke up were, "Daisy? Daisy!"

Andrew with Ruth's dog. She has seven different outfits for her and changes her every day.
Cool game. Put heaps (NZ word used often) of flour into a bowl and try to blow a ping pong ball out of it.
This is what you look like afterward.
All the girls (and 1 guy) from the small group.
Our "small" group.

Wendy and Mimi crammed in the back seat with all of our stuff for retreat. We were lucky we didn't need the jaws of life to get them out!
Andrew loved the retreat becuz (again) he was outside almost the entire time.
The lake at the site. Awesome! I could have sat there for hours.
Some of the men from our team.
Family photo on a stump.

Summary of the retreat: Many kids came to know the Lord there and several more gave their lives to full-time ministry. There were a handful of kids that gave their lives to Christ even before the alter call, which is always exciting. Gabe and I got to co-teach 2 workshops on dating. That was a real blessing for us being we've never taught together. We had a great time ministering, literally, side by side. I had several very meaningful conversations with some of the girls there and was very impressed by their genuine thoughts and questions. I was very happy to be there with those kids.