Finally, Pictures!

Okay, after a week of broken promises I have finally had the opportunity to upload some New Zealand pictures (completly going through laptop withdrawl at this point). Certainly not the fanciest of the place but they do communicate some of the activities and beauty.

So, if you have time, cruise over to the following address or click on the thumbnail picture at right to view the album if you are so inclined...
www.picturetrail.com/mattsdomain

Not much time to write anything else here. My duties along with four others this weekend have been to keep the Base running smoothly as the others are out and about. We will all have our fair share of this "Weekend Warrior" duty - it's been a busy day with one more to go tomorrow (Sunday here).

The week absolutely cruised by and it's hard to believe that the 3rd week is about to begin.

Outreach

The Base is a buzz with talking and laughter this evening during the dinner hour (or tea here in NZ - ya got me...). Just over an hour ago we found out where everyone was headed for our outreach period. The method of revelation was rather nonchalant by the staff which I think added to the excitement on the Base. Everyone is pretty excited - well, very excited.

Come April 2 as we depart for the three month outreach phase of the DTS there will be teams spreading out across the globe with the following focus areas: Eastern Europe, Africa, South America, Far East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. I will be traveling with a team of eight others to Far East Asia.

I don't know if I can share the countries in which we will be traveling to at this point in time (there are six I believe), but if one takes a map and figures that we're not traveling to either of the Koreas, Japan, or Russia, well, then you may be able to guess a few. In the near future I can probably say a bit more - there is a great team put together as well. This selection was my first choice. It is exciting.

Say, I do have some pictures to share, however, obviously, they have not yet been posted to this blog site. Maybe tomorrow, but then, I have said this before. There are certain priorities here, such as playing capture the flag this evening...

YWAM Oxford # 2

Today is the day we must make our top three choices for where we wish to travel for outreach. There are to be a total of 6 teams covering Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, and South America. It is odd to sit here and think about such a decision - at what other point or in what other life would a person be faced with selecting their top three choices of such an opportunity?

Some have placed their top three choices with the school leader, whereas, some have not. I fall into the latter category - no selections made yet - though I do have confidence that after some prayer and contemplating this afternoon those top three choices will be down on paper.

We are beginning our first full and "normal" week. Last week was as much an introduction to the new people as it was to this school and the goings on for the coming weeks. It would rather monotonous to drone on about the daily schedule and the plans for the next 10 weeks or so and so I won't.

Simply put the school week primarily consists of a series of lectures throughout the day (nearly every week there is a new guest speaker) interspersed with times of small group gatherings, outreach prep meetings, once weekly base work duties, worship or prayer times and a few chunks of free time thrown in. I would surmise that between the weekly schedule as well as the various journal and book assignments we will have the weeks are to be quite full. There are also daily work duties to accomplish among the other activities - I get to clean and mop the kitchen floor for the next few weeks. Focus is important.

Friday evenings and weekends will be a time for getting out and about in New Zealand. Friday afternoons (typically) we will head into Christchurch (40 min drive - 3rd largest city in NZ) and have a few hours in the afternoon to hangout, run errands, or check out the city on foot. Friday evenings we will participate in some for of outreach (some of which may not take place in Christchurch); for instance there will be teams working with prostitutes, a Bible study at a downtown Starbucks, hanging out at the skate park or climbing wall (my choice for next week), and aiding a food bank with distribution.

The weekends, or rather Saturdays, there will be outings to participate in, most of which will get us out into NZ. Other than those outings the weekends will be free time, most of which I am guessing are to be filled with catching up with our assignments - that's the other thing that I have to do today.

In a general sense life here at the YWAM base very much has a communal living aspect to it. Many people reside in a place where there is much to be done daily to provide suitable living arrangements, and so there is plenty of work to do in amongst the time spent learning and growing and hanging out (believe me there is no shortage of that).

Oh, I shall not forget to mention that we eat, and eat well! If I don't gain weight in the next few weeks than there is something desperately wrong with me. The staff say that one will likely lose weight on outreach and so stock up now, so to speak. Anyway, between the grand ice cream shop down the road, the local "tim tam" biscuits (cookies) and awesome food we'll be hard pressed to not gain weight.

So that's kind of a general scope of what's going on here - not the most exciting piece of writing I am certain but a glimpse of life here. Over the coming weeks I will post upon the ins and outs of life here in NZ as we participate in this Discipleship Training School.

If anyone out there is so inclined and actually reads these things feel free to post questions with the comment feature and I will try to address them in a reasonable time frame.

Before I sign off and get to work (uh, lunch is first, then work...) I should mention that we did get to travel yesterday (Saturday) to Castle Hill and Cave Stream, which were both around an hour or so away maybe. These were two places where (or near where) filming was done for The Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia, respectively. They are pretty awesome locations - notably Castle Hill - I could have sat there for hours - or attempted to go bouldering and broke something. Hopefully I will post some pictures by this evening or Monday evening. In any case, I am convinced NZ in a beautiful and special place - do travel here if ever you have a chance - and bring sunscreen!

YWAM Oxford

We are just now getting into the school routine. It's strange, after just arriving on Saturday - only 4 short days ago - it seems that everyone feels very comfortable with one another and the facilities - almost like we have been living here for more than just 4 days or so.

Tonight we'll learn a bit about the options available for outreach and then have until this weekend or so to pick our top two choices and submit them, so, not much time to pray and contemplate what will take place from April 2 to June 29. Exciting though.

In fact, there is much excitement here. Not just in the fact that we are all in New Zealand and hanging out with many interesting and various people but also in the fact that all of us expect to come away from this experience changed - spiritually, emotionally, personally. Time will provide the answer to many of our questions and provide much excitement also I would expect...

Computer time is short and we actually our pretty busy - well some of that is just hanging out - maybe some more updates later but still trying to find the groove of a schedule.

New Zealand!

Oxford, New Zealand. Arrived to the YWAM base around 1 pm yesterday (that would be Saturday, 14 Jan 2006). (Oxford is 22 hours ahead of the Alaska time zone and thus jet lag hasn't been bad - only two hours and a day difference.)

It is quite beautiful here. We are west and slightly north of Christchurch - tucked into a spot just south of a ridge of mountains - not high mountains but certainly more then couple of hills (lets say the tallest is around 3,000 feet or so). The weather is warm, though a bit chilly this evening, even requiring a jacket.

Nearly all the students have arrived, of which I am one. Forty-two in all with ten or so staff members. So, quite a sizable group all said and done. The variety of people spans quite a spectrum. Many are Americans, though a sizable portion are Canadians with a few other nationalities strung in as well. The ages, backgrounds, reasons for coming, and personalities are all quite different as well - as you may imagine from a group of 50 people. I think we have much to learn from one another.

I am struck by some of the similarities with England - at least in my mind. The country side dotted with sheep, the traffic similarities (mostly the fact they drive on the wrong side of the road!), a similarity in the accents - thought I suppose this is where the similarities end in my mind. I would imagine that the New Zealanders would agree.

So, finding myself here is still a bit difficult - something like existing in a reality that you know is true yet completely feeling like a person walking through a dream. Of course, reality can't be too far off as the smells of dinner are creeping in all around and I am afraid I may have to give in...

Departure

Ah, today is the day to depart for New Zealand. Well, it doesn't happen immediately as the travel time is somewhat significant, but eventually the plane will land in New Zealand.

Hopefully, everything is ready to go. The last couple weeks have been a bit too absorbed in packing, or repacking, or tossing things out that I don't think I need and then, later, adding them back into the mix. Oh well. Hopefully the 4000 cubic inch backpack that I am using will somehow expand to cavernous proportions to fit the 5000 cubic inches of stuff that I would like to take.

We'll have to wait and see how things go. One step at a time is the current adage. Excited, ready, not nervous, just waiting to go.

Godspeed in your own journey.

Alaska Star

Well, it seems that a recent clip has appeared in the local newspaper providing a brief look into the experience I had with Mercy Ships last spring.

Amy Armstrong, of the Alaska Star, completed a nice piece which you can view by clicking here or by visiting the Alaska Star's homepage at www.alaskastar.com and checking out this week's edition (which I would certainly recommend even if you didn't read the article on my experience!).

If you have arrived at this blog site due to the story in the Star please find your way to the "England (Spring 2005)" links on the right side-bar should you wish to know further details about my experience while volunteering in England with Mercy Ships.

Thanks, Amy, for a nicely written article and thank you to the Alaska Star for continuing the tradition of a well-done hometown newspaper.

Cheers!

2006

Happy New Year!

Hard to believe it is 2006 - actually it's still hard to believe that it is anything past the year 2000... There appears to be a exponential relationship between the age of a person and the relative speed at which time passes.

As promised below a new picture album has been added with recent exploits - click here to view. And some of the posts that were awaiting authoring have now been completed, sort of - see below.

Here is an interesting speech that you may like to review by Michael Crichton (the author). I find it strikes a cord of truth in today's embattled world. Enjoy.