Week #2: Whangarei

Well, today, we left Whangarei. After a full week of doing more of God's work, it is safe to say that the 4 of us are pretty tired. This past week, we finished our work over at Donna's house and it was a lovely time! There was a lot of bonding as a team, and we also had the privilege to work with locals from the church there. Dwayne, Amy, Anna, and Ty were four others who lent a helping hand on the project and made a huge difference on how much we were able to accomplish!

Besides that, we continued to work in Sunday School with the children. This week, we also had another bonfire on the beach, which was an awesome experience to have again. The next day, the team and I spent the morning and early afternoon with Sonya, one of the workers at Te Ora Hou, and we went to several shops around downtown and had a lovely time.
Later that evening, I got to witness something that I have never seen before. Three of the young adults in the church were baptized in the ocean in front of the pastor's house. It was so neat to see them all being lead out into the (cold) water and be baptized. I have always grown up watching people being submerged in a bathtub-like tank inside, so it was an awesome sight to see them in such a HUGE body of water. Kinda made me want to be re baptized, just so I could say that I was baptized in the Pacific Ocean, but oh well...

After saying our goodbyes to the families that we all have grown to know and love, we were picked up today by Jae, the pastor's wife here at Dargaville, and she brought us to her home where we met Nigel. They are a really neat couple and I am excited about what all they have planned for us to do with our time while we are here. After going through the schedule, we had lunch and then ran a kids' club after school program for local students around the ages of 6-10. From the looks of things, I feel like more and more will come as the days go on and word is spread. The children really seemed to respond well, which is always encouraging as you are spending time with them.

I have a feeling that I will be singing Oklahoma! again to someone here, which is a funny thought. Who thought that a song like that would be so popular here. Maybe they just want to laugh at me. Either way, I don't care, as long as people are entertained and it allows others to feel more comfortable in talking with me. I am so eager to find out what God has in store for the team and I this week- who knows! Please keep the team, the local church, the community of Dargaville, and the seeds planted in Whangarei in your prayers this week as we continue into our 3rd week of ministry here in New Zealand. We have come a long way, but there is still more.
I will hopefully be able to post pictures sometime if I can ever get a good enough Internet connection for my lap top, but I am not able to make any promises.

Blessings to all and I am praying for everyone back home!