Hanmer Springs

The river valley near Hanmer Springs.

A bit "Photoshop'ed", but a spot in the woods that reminded me of Oregon.

On the way up the Mt. Isobel track. Did I say this reminded me of Oregon yet?


A weekend away from life and work at the YWAM Oxford Base. It was quite nice, no, really great.

As part of a celebration and transition to new roles here at YWAM Oxford, the Jan-Mar 2007 crew of Basic Leadership School (BLS) Interns escaped to Hanmer Springs for an awesome weekend away. As part of this crew I was able to get away from the base for some much needed contact with the world.

Yes, it's true, I have only been away from the base for one or two brief outings that would be considered non-work related up until this past weekend. Not necessarily a good thing and its not that the base is a poor place to hang around, just that it is right to remove one's self from current surroundings to keep a healthy perspective on life.

So, we had a chance to get away to a beautiful spot to the north by a couple hours. Hanmer Springs is a place known for hot springs located in-town, however, I thought it a bit too warm to be lounging about in a hot pool. Thus, a couple of us determined to conquer the nearby Mt. Isobel, a 1300 meter hill upon which the surrounding views were grand.

I need to get out more. This is God's Country of the South.


Looking from the saddle to Mt. Isobel peak.

The view from the saddle - Hanmer Springs is lower left center. Quite a view...

Looking out to the other side of Mt. Isobel, from the top.

Mt. Isobel, from the top.

Freedom Day, 23 March 2007

One week from today in the States, Friday the 23rd of March, is Freedom Day.

Freedom Day is a day of awareness and education of the modern-day human slavery taking place throughout the nations of the world, including within the US.

Friday, 23 March 2007, from 3-5 pm, on the State Capitol steps in Salem, Oregon, will be a rally spending a few moments publicly addressing human trafficking.

I invite you to be a part of this rally, or at the very least, to spend just a few minutes of your day seeking awareness. Prayers for this event would be MUCH APPRECIATED.

To learn more about Freedom Day in Salem visit this website:
http://web.mac.com/thefreedomproject/iWeb/Site/Home.html

To learn more about Human Trafficking please visit these websites:
Stop the Traffik
The Blind Project
Polaris Project
Salvation Army Trafficking Site

You can help, it starts with education and will spread from there.

The Last Great Race

Well, the title above may be debatable to some of you, but really it's not that debatable - sorry to have to break that to you...

From the Last Frontier originates a race of will, partnership, and community - with some people thrown in.

The Iditarod Sled Dog Race is in it's final days. The dogs and their mushers will begin arriving in Nome within the next few days.

Check it all out at www.iditarod.com, and enjoy.

Value + 1

And here is an example of where my time (see prior post) has been invested as of late. But, the office is up and running and we now have more room... one step at a time.

The 'new' portable office on-site and in-use - thankfully!


Inside the portable office - never know who may show up...

An early morning sun break through the misty coolness of a warming day.

Value

A fire from Alaska. Fun times to ring in the recent New Year!

A sunset in the late afternoon over a frozen Alaskan expanse - near the Wood cabin of Southeast.


“God sends people our way.”
J. Oswald Sanders

It has been said by someone, sometime, somewhere, that you can tell much about a person by considering how they spend their time. Well, I don't know if I have really heard such as a quote - although I quite imagine it going something along those lines.

In any case, time is the one resource we have control over. Natural abilities or talents, God-gifted abilities or talents - those are things that we can't control the origin of. We have what we have.

But time, now that's something that we have one minute and lose the next.

So, I don't know exactly where my time goes. The days here escape me. When all is said and done, at the end of the day, there is much to be thankful that the day has brought forth and there are those things that wait for a future day.

It begins to torment me that this blog has been left in disrepair, unkempt for days. The desire is to maintain this electronic space , and that on the Skyline website, in addition to keeping up with the emails and contact to the world outside of New Zealand...

So, to say that I value those of you who are not here with me in New Zealand is a very true statement, although if one would review the way I spend the time I have been allotted in this life, it may not ring so true.

Be assured that I thank each of you for your friendship, prayers, financial support, emails, letters, and love. None of that goes unnoticed, though it may be unaffirmed.

More night artistry of Will & Trevor - good, eh?

The recent 2006/2007 Backpackers Discipleship Training School graduating class - God speed!

"...faith is vision..."
J. Oswald Sanders