Tutukaka Lighthouse and hanging out

I can’t believe I have been here over a week!

 

From the Tutukaka Lighthouse

 

This last week has been great! I have met so many new people and seen so much of God’s beauty and glory here in New Zealand. I can’t wait for the term to start and I can really start working and sharing the Lord with more people.

 On the way to the Tutukaka Lighthouse

This week we watched the first 2 Lord of the Rings movies. Driving around I can definitely see why they would film those movies here. It is definitely what I would picture in the books. By the way the shire is basically the North Island and the rest of it is mostly the South Island. J 

 driving around this is what it looks like everywhere

 One morning we woke up to find sheep on our lawn
 view on a gloomy day from the top of Parihaka (the hill we live halfway up)

Last Monday I was able to go to the girls club at Te Ora Hou. There is a girls club and a boys club every Monday night during term. Basically they pick these teens up and bring them together and do activities and hangout with them. I am praying about whether or not I should be involved in it but I think it would be a great way to share the Lords love with these teens, so I am leaning toward yes. It was a really great night getting to talk with them and interact with them. Every week they do something different, this week it was a painting project. Here’s mine J

This Saturday Ellen (my roommate), her family and I hiked the Tutukaka Lighthouse. It finally stopped raining and was a beautiful day. The view from the lighthouse is incredible; the pictures don’t even come close to the true beauty of New Zealand. I can’t believe the Lord has led me to a place like this it’s truly amazing! Although with all the rain that we have had I can see why some people don’t like it during every season except summer.

 Whangarei Rock wave
 Ellen and I got icecream because the sun was finally out

This week my main job is finding a place to live and finding a car. Please pray that the Lord gives direction on both. I know He has a plan and I just want to be open and listening for His voice on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driving

In case you don't know this already but in New Zealand they drive on the left side of the road and the driver is on the right side of the car (in most cars). So it makes it quite interesting for people from America to come and drive cars here.

At first I was a little nervous to drive here because I was worried that I would accidentally drive on the wrong side of the road. So far I have driven a couple of times and can proudly say I have yet to drive on the wrong side of the road :)

It has also rained everyday since I arrived. They keep telling me that the weather is changing and that it will start warming up but I have yet to see any signs of warmth. It is very cold here and I am always wearing many layers. There are no heaters in the houses only fireplaces that do a pretty good job of heating the house. I'll post a video soon of a tour of the house I am staying in.

Please be praying for a place for me to live after this place and that the Lord would provide a car for me to drive.

My First Few Days

KIA ORA (that means hello in Maori) my first Maori words J

My first few days have been a complete whirlwind. When I first arrived there were so many things to do. My first day I almost missed my bus up to Whangarei from Auckland, I went to the hospital because Dana one of the pastors daughters had gotten a paint chip under her nail. I went to a youth basketball game outreach. I met the Women’s fellowship and many other things. It was quite overwhelming to say the least. I met so many people I couldn’t keep anyone’s names right.

 The waterfront

The next day was Saturday and because of the time change I woke up at 7am unable to go back to sleep. So I was tired the rest of the day. That day Naomi the oldest daughter took me on a walking tour of Whangarei. Claudia (the mom) dropped us off at the library which is kind of the center of town and we walked all around down by the water and the city. She showed me the “mall” more like the street with the clothing stores on it, and the best grocery store and place to buy essentials. I bought shampoo and soap and stuff like that. After we returned to the house, the younger girls took me on a tour of the house and the yard. It is amazing! The view from here is great and everything is so beautiful. The little girls and I have really bonded! They are so cute and a few of them just like to follow me around and stand next to me all the time. I love it.  

 

Whangarei Falls

Sunday was crazy! It was my first Sunday here and my first Sunday leading worship. I didn’t even know what to expect. The church is small. There were around 40 people there. It felt bigger than Roots but that could be because we were in a smaller room so it seemed more packed. The people were amazing. It was so great to be welcomed by all of them and to get to meet them. After church I went with Ellen to the house that I am going to be living at until October 11 so that I could get to know her a bit. Ellen is great. She is so nice and loves to talk and hangout. In the evening The Abascal’s were having a party to welcome me to NZ and meet some people my age. It was rather awkward but it was nice to meet people. I have met so many people in so few days that I don’t know if I will ever remember everyone’s names. It is quite overwhelming.

 The Pastors house

Today is Monday and I am meeting with Miguel (the pastor) and his wife Claudia to talk about my time in NZ. I’m not totally sure what this talk is going to entail but it should be interesting. The Pastor Miguel is interesting and his communication style and personality is going to be difficult to understand fully.

Flowers in the city!

A couple of things you can pray for:

• Pray for my relationship with people here, that they would be smooth and not awkward.
• Pray for my relationship with Miguel the Pastor and we would be on the same page and understand each other.
• Pray that I am not homesick and miss my family to much
• Pray that I don’t get to overwhelmed meeting all these new people and being thrown into life so quickly

Plane Ride and Sydney

Wow I can’t believe I am actually here is New Zealand! For so long it seemed like such a distant future and now I am here!

It was really hard packing. Up until the last minute I was trying to take things out of my suitcase so that I could meet the weight requirements! It was really sad to have to leave some of my stuff at home.

Finally we headed off to the airport. Even the checking in process took forever and was a pain. They made me buy an Australian visa because I was going to be in Australia for over 8 hours. It was really hard to say goodbye to my sister and parents and my aunt. I cried they cried and then I left through security and on to my future.

My first fight wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. Thanks to my Aunt Kathryn I had an awesome seat. Exit row aisle with no one in front of me. The bathrooms were in front of me and it was really entertaining watching everyone try to figure out how to open the bathroom door. It’s really not that hard it even says push on the door

I sat next to 2 guys one from Britain but lives in Sydney and the other from Auckland. They were very pleasant. I was able to sleep off and on during the flight and only watched one movie. The food was terrible as is most airplane food but I was a good flight over all.

I had decided that since I already had an Australian visa and I was going to be there for 12 hours I may as well walk around Sydney for a while. So when we landed I went through customs, checked my guitar at a luggage locker place and headed for the train. Sydney is BEAUTIFUL!!

 opera house from the bridge

The weather was perfect; it was warm but not hot. I did end up getting a bit sunburned but it was fine it will just end up a tan. I got off the train and circular quay which is the main stop for the water front. I walked around the Sydney harbor bridge and across it. From the bridge you can see the opera house from the best angle. I was able to sit on a bench and just enjoy the sun and people watch. Then I went and grabbed some food and walked over to the Opera house and ate out front of it. I sat there for a few hours reading and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.  Then I walked along the gardens that are next to the opera house. It was all very beautiful!

One funny thing about Sydney is it is very clean. Not much trash on the ground or anywhere but very few trash cans. I kept looking for one to throw my trash in and it took me forever to find one. I wonder how they stay so clean.

After around 9 hours out in Sydney I took the train back to the airport got my guitar ate some dinner and checked in for my flight. This flight was much shorter which was very nice and I had an open seat next to me. I was so tired from the long day and flight that I slept most of this flight. By the time I landed it was 215am. I called the hotel, they picked me up and I went straight to bed.

 

 

 

IN NZ

I made it to New Zealand! It has been quite an adventure getting here and first day but I will have to write that story later due to lack of time right now!!! But just thought I would let you all know that I made it! Thank you for all of your prayers!!

"see you in a year" party

Last night we had a little "see you in a year" party. I am so thankful for all of my friends who came over and encouraged me as I start this journey. We set up a little photo booth so that I could take so fun picture memories with me to New Zealand.

I can't believe how close I am to leaving! Thank you to Lindsay who helped me work on packing! I still have so many things to do before I leave and so many people to still say "see you in a year" to.

I am very much looking forward to this time and what the Lord is going to do in and through me but I know it is going to be difficult and trying at times.

Pray that the Lord prepares and equips me in these last few days
Pray for every goodbye that it is sweet and not so sad
Pray that I get packed!

Ms. Henry's class

Today I had the amazing opportunity to talk with ms. Henry's 6th grade class at maranatha Christian academy! Their class is adopting me as their class missionary and I couldn't be more excited. Hopefully we will be able to Skype and share in what the Lord does while I am in new Zealand!

They were all so full of amazing questions and I can't wait to get to know them all a little better!

Random information about NZ

I thought I would give you all some random information about Whangarei NZ the city I will be going to and NZ in general.

New Zealand is 19 hours ahead of California. So in CA you subtract 5 hours and add a day. so 1:00pm on a Tuesday in CA is 8:15am Wednesday in NZ.

The population of Whangarei is about 51,000 people. Costa Mesa has a population of about 111,000 that's over twice as many people! The population of all of NZ is 4,440,621. The population of California is 37,691,912 that's almost 10x as many people!

There are 10 sheep for every person in NZ.

The land area of NZ is 103,738 sq mi, California is 163,695 sq mi. It takes 30 hours to drive from the northernmost city of NZ to the Southern most city. However you do have to take a ferry from one island to the other.  

You drive on the left side of the road in NZ.

People that live in New Zealand are called kiwi's.

New Zealand is one of 3 countries to have 2 official national anthems. (God save the Queen and God depend New Zealand.

New Zealand was the first country to have it's 3 top positions held by women simultaneously. (The prime minister, the governor, and the chief justice)


New Zealand is the first country to see the sunrise every morning.

The driving age is 15.

The main sport in the country is Rugby.

And as far as weather is concerned on the right side of my blog is a weather app and you can see what the weather is like every day.