Bible In Schools

At Bible school we each are assigned a ministry that we participate in each week. We fill out a form at the beginning and based on that they put us in various youth groups and things. The ministry I was assigned is Bible In Schools or BIS. It's such a foreign idea to me because in the states you would never be able to be so open with the bible in a school. Each Friday morning Braden and I, would go to Kiapaki school and teach a lesson for about a half hour. The school is super small and looks more like a house than a school. It has 3 rooms with the different grades in each, the younger kids, middle and older ones. Braden and I had the middle aged kids which was super fun.

Here we are on our last day. It was really sad to say goodbye to them. They have the cutest accents ever! Another fun thing is that they don't wear shoes in the classroom. NZ is really relaxed when it comes to wearing shoes, even in stores and stuff. Each week we would teach them a memory verse and have a main idea from the bible. Then if we had time we would play Simon Says because they LOVED that game.

It was neat getting to know the kids. Some of them come from families where they are the only Christian or just one or two others in the family are Christians. I guess not all schools in NZ have BIS because it's getting harder and harder to find teachers for it. It's really a shame because it's such an incredible opportunity to preach to the kids.

I don't know how much of an impact Braden and I had but the little kids sure impacted me quite a bit. I'm so thankful that I got to spend each week with them and I learned from the Bible lessons too!

Girl's Night and Boy's Night

Last semester (way last semester) we had Girl's Night. The boys planned the whole thing, with the help of some teachers and us girls had no idea what to expect. All we knew was that we were suppose to dress up pretty which is always fun.

Here are the lovely ladies of Capernwray Monvale Spring 2010. One element of the night was the boys took lots of pictures of us. It's so funny because girls really do love having their picture taken, especially the goofy ones we did.

Here is the Homestead Lounge all decorated up. It looked so pretty! There were Christmas lights hung from the ceiling and a huge table brought it that was decorated with fancy place settings and candles. The boys did an amazing job at decorating.

Here's Mitch on the piano. One of the guys, Ben, also played music for us while we ate our fancy dinner on his flute. A couple of the guys also made speeches about how much they appreciate us and stuff which was also super sweet. I was really impressed by the whole night.

When we were heading to dinner, the boys escorted us up to the lounge. Frank escorted me and of course we can't take serious pictures :) All in all, the guys did a great job and we knew that we would have to put on a Boy's Night later on for them.

So not too long ago we did. Rachel did most of the planning and us girls just divided up the responsibilities and each worked a certain part of the night. We decided to make it a themed night and we chose "Barbarian Theme". We wanted to give the guys a night where they could just be guys. We told them to dress up in their best barbarian costume and we were blown away with what they came up with!

Here's some of the guys dressed up.

Part of the evening's activities was line dancing or bush dancing as they call it here. We had Cloudia from ABS come and teach it to us and it was hilarious! It was also a hot night out so it really tires you out. Good thing we planned a delicious meal for them...

We set up a table on the main lawn for them and put up tiki torches around it to help with the barbaric feel. Then we served up TONS of wings and fries and didn't give them any silverware.

Here's another picture of the guys enjoying their dinner. For dessert we brought them cookie dough icecream and again no silverware. It was hilarious. When we came back to clean up we found icecream and chicken bones everywhere.

After dinner the guys went down to our lecture hall and had a play station racing game tournament. We set up the game to our speakers and projector and just let them do their thing. It seems that they had an awesome time and it was so funny to see the difference between the two nights. Boys and girls really are SO different. haha.

Tongariro Crossing Trip

On December 4th we took two vans to go on an awesome trip to the Tongariro Crossing. I had signed up for the hike when we got back from 2 week break so I was super excited about it when it was finally here. The reason we took 2 vans is because the hike takes about 6 hours (18.5 km) to go from one side to the other so the two different groups started on opposite sides, exchanged keys in the middle and then drove around and met up again. My group had the easier way up which I was very thankful for. It was a climb up no matter which way you started (3 hours up and 3 hours down). We left at 5:30 am because it takes about 3 hours to get there so most of us slept on the way there.

Here is a picture of Mt Ruapehu also known as Mt Doom from the Lord of the Rings.

Here's my group starting out.

On the way up. Yes, I am aware that my headband makes me look like I should be Survivor.

This was my group. Ya, we're pretty tough. This is us at the halfway point which is why I'm bundled up because there was snow up there. The people from left to right (front) are: Mitch, Pascal, Hannah, Jessica and top is me, Jack (our fearless leader) Rachel S, Sid, Rachel M and Ian.

Here's a picture of the valley you cross after you get over the first part of the crossing. As you can see you still have quite a ways to climb before going back down. (picture by Auden)

This is almost halfway.

Here's Jack pointing to the sulfur lake at the top. Since it's a volcano there are cool blue sulfur lakes on the top of it in the craters.

Here's more of Mt. Ruapehu. I guess part of this opening is also in the Lord of the Rings. I haven't really seen that much of the movies.

Mt Doom or Mt Ruapehu.

Here are more sulfur lakes on the way down. This part of the crossing was super steep and you could easily slide down since the rocks were more like a pile of sand. I side stepped my way down and was happy I didn't have to go up it like the other group.

While we were waiting for the other group we found a patch of snow and got them with some snowballs. There were so many different types of scenery along the hike.

This is another picture by Auden. This was what the other group saw on their way up and we saw on our way down. It was absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous! The water in the distance in Lake Taupo which is NZ's largest lake.

Another pic of the way down. The colors were amazing. The grass was yellow and brown that looked almost desert like and then you have blue skys, green grass and the lake below. I think God decided to show off when He created New Zealand.

Rotorua Trip

Rotorua is a very popular place to visit if you are in the North Island. It's only about an hour and a half from Cambridge so lots of family groups go there or people take trips but it wasn't until the very end of school that Leah, Hannah, Jodi and I realized we were the only ones who hadn't been. So we solved that by going our last free Friday night.

Lonely Planet says this of Rotorua, "Breathe in the sulphur-rich air of Rotorua and you’ve already got a taste of NZ’s most dynamic thermal area with spurting geysers, steaming hot springs and exploding mud pools."

Breathe in is right. It's a weird smell and it's strong. Here I am in City Center next to some of the boiling mud pools.

Here's a close up of the steamy boiling mud. It's makes super loud Bloop and Blop noises as the bubbles pop. I guess the mud is suppose to be really good for your face and they actually make mud masks out of it which I'm told are amazing.

My favorite part of our visit was going to 2 natural hot springs. One of our teachers helped give us directions and they were so fun. The water really was super hot like a hot tub and the scenery around it was bright green, as most of the North Island is.

I'm glad I finally got to go but I have no idea how people live there. The smell would drive me crazy. I think next time I'll skip the mud pools and go straight for the hot springs.

Carols by Candlelight

I never thought it would happen. I know Kelley Leidenthal really didn't think it would ever happen but yes folks, I got to be a part of our school's choir! I don't have the best singing voice in the whole word but in a sea of voices I can do okay. I sang Alto and it was so much fun! We had enough good singers to help us carry the tune and we had TONS of practices for a couple weeks before the event that is held every year.

Before the actual Carols by Candlelight event, we had some fun practice singing at the town hall in Cambridge. Here's Leah, Rachel and myself by the sign announcing our "gig" outside the town hall :)

Here's me rocking the smile :) Mitch was the choir director because he has a lot of experience being in choir and he made up a smiling contest so we didn't look like we hated life while singing, and guess who won..... yup, it was me. I'm not one to back down from a little competition.

This one I'm not smiling probably because I DID NOT know all the songs that well. My favorite song we sang was an African one called "Betelehemu". I think it was everyone's favorite. We sang 13 songs in total and interspersed was bible readings and Peter Thomas, our principal, gave a message.

Weird to see Christmas lights and people on lawn chairs. I know. It's so strange to have Christmas in summertime. I have yet to get used to it. Not that I'm complaining because I LOVE not having to scrape the ice off my car windshield :) They have been doing this event for 10 years now so it was neat to see that it's become part of people's Christmas tradition to come. We also had a lot of new comers this year which is always good. I guess they also have a choir around Easter time too so we'll see if I can finagle my way onto that one as well. CCC access band watch out :)

Monvale Homestead 100th Celebration

A couple weeks ago we celebrated the Monavale Homestead's 100th Anniversary. The old house that we use as study rooms and guest rooms has had 11 owners since it was built in 1910 so it's been a part of a lot of people's lives. Capernwray has had the building since 1995. The celebration was a week long thing, mostly with past owner family members and people in Cambridge. The biggest part of it was on Saturday when we had an open day for anyone who wanted to attend could come out. Elizabeth Thomas, our principal's wife, was set on all the students being in period costumes and getting everything organized. It was a ton of fun!

Here is the front of the Monavale Homestead.

Here is a picture of the different booths that we had out on the main lawn. Different people and businesses occupied the booths and sold various things. Once booth even had some alpacas.

Here is the barbershop quartet (ok, quintet) that Mitch (far left) put together. They sang a couple songs every other hour, even "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". I had that song stuck in my head for about a week after listening to them practice all the time.

Here's Leah and I in our fun outfits. Leah has become one of my closest friends at school, she's from Olando, Florida and lives right next to Disneyland. We have really similar personalities and don't we look cute :)

Not every girl had a fun hat so the group that did definitely had to get some fun photos together after the open day was over.

Here's the whole group. The girls with red aprons were serving in this big tent and the guy's costumes reminded me of the movie "Newsies" I think I've dressed up more at Bible School than years combined back home.

Morning Tea Devo

Here is a devotional that I did for our Morning Tea time:

As we were driving to Milford Sound on two-week break I saw a sign that said “Mirror Lakes”. As most of you are aware of, the sign was for the lakes that are so smooth and still, that they perfectly reflect the mountains and scenery above them.

Here is a picture of one that I saw in the Abel Tasman. It’s really incredible because you could be upside down and it would still look the exact same.

As we continued driving, I started to think about the lakes and the way they reflect the nature around them. In the days previous, I had just finished a book I was reading by Mark Batterson, a pastor in Washington DC. The book is “Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity”. Here is a bit of the book:

In and of ourselves, we’re not capable of loving God. We cannot manufacture love for Him. We can only respond to His love for us. And I hope that sets you free. Religion is all about doing things for God. Christianity is all about receiving what Christ has done for us on the cross. And what we do for God is a reflection of and response to what God has done for us.

It’s not about what you can do for God; it’s about what God has done for you.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. – Romans 12:1 MSG

This is where the lakes come in. I think we are the water and God is the amazingly beautiful landscape above us. The water in and of itself cannot produce a picture like the one reflected. Water can’t be mountains and water can’t be flowers or trees; it can only reflect it. Just like how we can’t be God, we can only receive Him, his goodness and the fruits of Holy Spirit and we can reflect Him. And we reflect God best when we are still before Him. The water is most like a mirror when there are as little amount of waves as possible.

Because we live in a broken world, we will always have waves. Just as the wind creates waves on the water so, in life our own brokenness or outside circumstances can come and break up the reflection on God that we are intended to have. Actually we in and of ourselves can’t calm the waters, but we know from Matthew 8:23-27 that Jesus can. It says

“Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm stuck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown” Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”

Jesus calms waves and storms in nature and in our lives. When we rely on Him and keep our focus on Jesus we are able to be still.

It all comes down to receiving and reflecting. It’s not as much about us as we sometimes think it is. It’s all about God. Here is more from Mark Batterson’s book:

Everything minus God equals nothing. God plus nothing equals everything. (repeat) At the end of the day, all that maters is God. God is God. And the quest for our lost soul often begins when we get to the end of ourselves. But that is when life really begins.

We all want our lives to be about something bigger than us, more important than us, longer lasting that us. And that is exactly what God wants for you. But that isn’t the ultimate goal. Loving God is. And if you learn to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, then your life will exceed your wildest expectations. Why? Because His love will be reflected in your life.

As we enter into a new term with lots of assignments and hard work, I want to encourage you to take time to be still before God. To remember who it is that we worship and how we are utterly dependent on Him for everything. We aren’t called to work hard for Him because He says “and without faith it is impossible to please him” – Hebrews 6:1

Another verse that helps me keep my focus where it should be is “but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well: - Matthew 6:33

Because as I quoted before out of Mark’s book “It’s not about what you can do for God; it’s about what God has done for you.”

Learning Lots

I haven't been as disciplined on my blog posted lately and most of them center around traveling or doing various things in New Zealand but few are about actual Bible School.

It's hard to believe in just a couple weeks my time at Monavale campus will end. I have made so many close friends here and have learned SO much!

Just the list of lectures we have had is incredible. Our semester is broken into two terms (with the two week break in between). A list of the lecture we had the first term are: Daniel, Missions, Prayer, "Living as Jesus Lived", Colossians and Ephesians. This term we have studied: Revelation, 1 Corinthians, "Cults and Occults", Mark 1-8, Deuteronomy, Herbrews, 1 Peter and Minor Prophets. Each week a different lecturer or teacher comes in and teaches and it has been amazing. Some of my favorites have been Jim Wright who taught Mark 1-8, Lew Meyer who taught about cults and occults and Ron Lowery who taught Colossians.

On top of lectures, once a week we also have seminar groups and book clubs. The seminar group I'm in is Hermenutics with Hayden, who is also my family group leader. It's pretty interesting. I never realized how much I had gotten my theology from speakers or books or Sunday messages instead of reading and studying the bible for myself first. The book I'm reading is "Saving Life of Christ" by Major Ian Thomas who founded Capernwray. It's pretty amazing. The main theme of it is resting in Christ and not "trying" to be a good Christian but "trusting" God to work through you. It takes the emphasis off us and puts it where it should be, on Christ.

On top of that, we also have family groups that meet once a week during our morning tea time and that's like our small group time. My family leaders are Hayden, our dean of students and Dave Firth, our communications director and the BML (Business Ministry Leadership) teacher. I love family time and look forward to it all week. It's nice to bounce ideas of each other and we all take turns presenting a bible study that we have done.

The assignments we have are mostly bible studies. I've never written as many papers as I have here because I went to art school so it hasn't come naturally but I've really enjoyed it. We also did a oral report and study paper this term which was challenging but fun.

I think I've learned a ton from living in such a small tight-knit community as much as, if not more, than the lectures. You can't hold grudges and you can't pick and choose who you hang out with like at home. You also see your own selfishness a lot clearer when put in situations with so many different personalities and cultures. I have been stretched and challenged so much by the other students here. It's really cool how God planned for us all to be together for this time.

Thank you for all your continued prayer and support. I get overwhelmed sometimes that I get to be here and have this amazing experience and I wouldn't have been able to come if people hadn't supported me the way that they did.

Rugby Game

Here in New Zealand, ruby is a huge deal. They get as excited about it as Nebraskans do about Husker football. A while back, I was able to go to a live game and it was super fun! The teams were Waikato vs Canterbury. Waikato is the name of the region I live in and Canterbury is in the South Island and includes Christchurch.

I went with Deborah (German) and Scott (Australian)

I guess the mascot for Waikato is a cow because of the large amount of dairy farms here. Here is the main mascot and some little kids with cow heads on riding in the back of the truck at the opening of the game.

One of my favorite parts of ruby is when they throw the ball in and the teams lift their guy up to catch it. I'm sure it has a technical name but I have no clue what it is.

After the game, everyone went onto the field and we got to meet some of the players. We wanted to get pictures with them even though we had no clue who they were.

Here is a Waikato player with me and Deborah. I'm pretty sure their shirts have a cartoon of a waiter serving a beer....

Here we are with a Canterbury player. This dude was huge!

Another Waikato player who I have no clue who he is

And another...

And here we are with some of the French rowing team because the World Rowing Championships were in Cambridge so there were lots of internationals a few weeks back around town.

It was a super fun time and reminded me a lot about watching Husker games. Oh, and Waikato won!! whoohoo!