Luzette Live

Fun times in Social Science

2012-02-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

remembering primary school days

2012-02-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

As well as learning about how to teach, we have also had quite a few opportunities already to experience what it would be like in a classroom. (pretty much pretending we are 7 again! which is all good fun!) :)

In our literacy lecture this week we were asked to write a story from our childhood. I surprisingly quite enjoyed it. When do you actually get to write a random story as a adult! (i love pretending that i'm still a kid!) So.. here's my story

I opened the draw, took our my new school uniform, in my new room, in our new house... a new school. What will it be like? Who will be there? What if my teacher doesn't like me? Questions begin to fill my little head. The nerves hold me down. 'Right, time to go to school kids' my mother call to my big brother and I. At least I had him coming with me too. I suddenly remembered I was going to see four of my cousins at school too. I hope I don't have to be in a class all on my own.

My big brother, my mum, and me hopped into the car and started our journey to the unknown school. We arrive in our lemon coloured polo shirts with a little emblem of a tree and the word 'Parkvale' written across it. At the school gate I look up and see the word and picture of my shirt matches the big sign in front of this foreign land, which is now my new school.

I walk slowly, looking around to see if I can catch a glimpse of my cousins. Please, please, please let me be in the same class! My footsteps get smaller and slower as I start to realise I am going to have to stay here, all on my own! I feel a little push in my back. 'Come on, we have to find out which one of these classes will be yours' my mother tries to ease the nerves which are so obvious on my little face.

We arrive at the principals office. The Principals office! Am I in trouble already? Oh no. I want my old school back. He turned to me and my brother and said, 'Good morning kids, Welcome to parkvale school. I'm sure you're going to love it here. Let me show you round and show you where your new classrooms will be.'

We started to walk again, this time with my mum, my brother, me and the principal too. We walked and walked, and still I was looking for my cousins. 'Alan could be in my class!' I thought, he is the same as age me. I saw a group of kids in the distance, 'Is that Ala....' BAM. ouch... I just walked straight into a pole. 'Watch out Luzette, there's a few of those around', my principal joked with me. Ah great, now I'm all alone, at a new school, new uniform, new classroom, I still can't find my cousins, my mum is about to leave and now I have a bump on my head!
I really do hope this day gets at least a little better...

reflecting

2012-01-24T00:49:00.001-08:00

I thought i was done with reflecting. Seemed to have done quite alot of it thoughout the year and especially at the end of last year. But the lecturer of our first class this week started by asking us 'what kind of teacher do you want to be?'

And so my vision of teaching was born;

A teacher that cares for each and every one of my students, to give them all the best opportunitiez possible to learn, grow and enjoy it in the process. To see growth and development over the years that would not merely be academic, but lifelong skills for use both inside the classroom and outside in the community. To help grow, encourage, support and challenge every student.

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Passionate people :)

2012-01-22T23:18:00.000-08:00

Check this out

I couldn't resist.. I just had to share one of the video's we had to watch for class today. This lady is FAR too excited about reading! :) so much so that I thought she was going to burst into tears in the first few sentences because she loved reading so much!

Reminds me of another very passionate lady I met on you-tube bahahahaha

week 1 complete

2012-01-19T19:42:00.001-08:00

Well..... kinda complete. We have so much reading to do its insane! And for someone like me who tends to do the least amount of reading possible, it feels never ending.

Weekend goal.. catch up on readings. Next weeks goal.. use afternoons wisely for study.

Ohh and i joined the uni gym. Cheap as chips!

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week one as a teachers college student

2012-01-18T20:05:00.001-08:00

Today is only day 3 of lectures and i already feel like ive been there for ages. Which really is a positive not a negative. I imagine as a small class of about 60 that we will (and have already) get to know each other very quickly as we all do exactly the same classes in the same room everyday!

Its nice after day 2 (and all the umming and arring i put everyone through over the past year) to be able to turn to friends and say... i wana be a teacher.

It will be a busy year, a challenging year, but im ready, and im up for it. First practicum before easter! Watch out new entrance classes, im coming your way!

The picture is from a cheeezy activity we did in class today which was complete with a 5 minute drama about teaching kids how to draw apples. I was the rebellious kid who drew apples on a paper plane and flew it across the room! Wooooooosh! Theres so much group work activities which im having to overcome my fear of fast. Haha

I always thought it was the counseling students you could pick from a mile away... now i know its actually the teaching students :)

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I'm back!

2011-12-14T22:56:00.001-08:00

Stay tuned...

I've officially sent out my last prayer letter for Scripture Union before I finish and begin a new adventure at teachers college. It seems people appreciated keeping up to date with my happenings (and don't tell Sylvia but I quite enjoy writing and sending out my letters)... soooooooooooooooooo it's time I start blogging again.

I'M BACK!!

Goodbye South America

2009-12-14T10:49:00.000-08:00

Well.. That was it, Argentina a chile, 2 weeks playing football and sharing the gospel through soccer plus.

We met so many people during these 2 weeks and after spending the whole week in one place in chile, and getting to know people and families in the church, it was very sad to leave. As our bus pulled away and half the church stood outside waving goodbye I felt very teary.

It has blown me away how much people appreciate the little that you give and use. Sometimes during the week I caught myself asking the question... Could I actually be doing more here. But I was really encouraged when the church shared about the impact that the team, and previous team 3 years ago, has had on the growth of the church and bringing people into the kingdom. There's no doubt, God multiplies the little we can give and uses it for his glory. It's not about what u can do, it's not about me or you, it's about God. And I'm pretty glad about that because he's way cooler than me :-)

I'm constantly amazed that God chooses us to serve him and others. He doesn't need us, yet he chose to use us in these situations, and how great do you feel when you give up something of yourself to serve and love others. Brilliant.

These 2 weeks will stay with me for the rest of my life. I'm really stoaked to find a perfect way that football and the gospel fit together. And I pray that our whole team, including myself, can continue to serve and talk about Jesus just as much in New Zealand as we did in South America and continue to see God work in the lives of people we walk alongside everyday.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I know there are people out there behind the whole team. Gracias.

Keep an eye out in the next few days as the pictures start rolling in.

Adios Argentina and Chile!!!' for now... :-)

- Written from half way between Santiago and Auckland. Over the top of a lot of blue stuff. Aka water :-)

Day 15- goodbyes begin.... :-(

2009-12-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

We spent most of today at a wedding for a couple in the church. What a feed!!! :-) the service was beautiful and the reception was at a really nice place aswell. The food was awesome, and they didn't just have 1 wedding cake, they had 6!!! And it wasnt even the classic fruit cake. Flipin awesome!

There were people taking photos everywhere with almost everyone but my camera died so I'm hoping to get a bunch of pics off other people which should be sweet. My $20,000 dress that i brought did the trick aswell. Good purchase :-)

After the wedding we were meant to have youth group but the wedding went fir longer than expected. So instead of us running some games we played volleyball with them (they're awesome at volley) and Kim shared a message about Noah afterwards.

Then we had a massive goodbye service with the church which ended in all the chileans chanting like they do at a football match in Spanish 'kiwis please don't go!'. With all the jumping up and down and clapping and everything. Each member of the team was given a gift by different members if the church, and we gave out a whole lot of thank yous to people. It was really sad saying goodbye to people already not knowing if we will ever see hen again until heaven. Im sure Tomorrow is going to be even worse!

I have really enjoyed my time in south America, but I am also excited to come home and tell all you guys about it all. God has been doing some sweet stuff in the lives of people in the community, in the church, and in the lives of the people in our team. And I'm looking forward to bringing that experience and the things I have learnt back to new Zealand, to continue to see god working in the lives of his children where ever we are in the world.

I hope to have a chance for 1 more post tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be the longest day of my life... Literally. We have a 7 hour bus ride to Santiago, then wait 5 hours before our plane leaves, sit on a plane for 13 hours, miss 1 whole day (enjoy it in nz) and arrive in nz at 4.30am. Crazy!

God is good, and I wait in anticipation as to what he has next on this adventure called life. (I'm secretly hoping it involves Argentina!) :-)

Peace!

- Posted from Chile

Day 14

2009-12-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

A day of slight craziness! Lol but it all worked out in the end.

We had our first sleep in today which was amazing!! Breakfast was at about 10.30am. Tomorrow a couple from the church are getting married but they have 1 ceremony for the community and family and 1 for the church so today was their community wedding and the breakfast was for the newly married couple. Fresh fruit!!!!' it was awesome. 1 thing I have noticed here and Argentina is they don't have a whole lot of fruit and veges. When i get home I'm going to be a vegetarian for a few days.... Maybe lol.

We bused into the city to have lunch and then went to share at a blind university. Most of them weren't there because in the afternoon everyone has a siesta, but there were a handful of people who were still there.

They showed us this sport that they play. It's kinda a mix between table tennis and air hockey but I can't remember what it's called, sorry! The blind guys are pretty good at it, and then we had a go. It's really hard!! We played with blindfolds which all of them wear anyway to make it even as some of them have differing levels of blindness.
I was the champion of my game. No goals got through on my side. Oh yeah.

The guys played a game tonight, another on a gravel like pitch. During the game Megan and I gave out a whole bunch of nz souvineirs to the spectators. Then we went round again and gave out some flyers and tracts from the church. It didn't take long for there to be a big group of kids hanging around and following us everywhere. I was able to give out all the Christmas leaflets aswel. Sharing the scripture union love around the world... Oh and jesus' love :-)

Tomorrow we have the wedding. They are setting it all up now. Looks like it's going to be a very fancy occasion. Crazy that we are going to a wedding in chile!

Until then...

I have made some friends just by saying ...Colo colo!!!! Dale colo colo!!

Day 13

2009-12-11T17:14:00.002-08:00

Today the boys had a game at a gas refinery (yes another random location) but it was actually the best pitch we have played on yet! They had some mean professional players and kicked butt!!

We had a tour after the game on the most comfortable bus in the world. I fell asleep twice during the tour and we were only on the bus about 15 minutes! So tired!

The girls had a game in the evening vs club team in concepcion on a classic south American gravel soccer pitch. I think I still have some gravel in my knee to bring back to new Zealand :-) I can't wait to show you guys the pictures of the fields that we play on here. It's awesome. During warm up I didn't dive once because I thought I would get graised to pieces in goal, but once the game started it was a different story :-) I'm glad I have a long sleeve shirt now, I'm sure my arms would just be shreds now if I didn't have it :-)

Til manyana

- Posted from Chile

Day 12

2009-12-11T17:14:00.001-08:00

This morning we went to share in a retiremnt village. The first thing we saw there was barbed wire around the retirement village. Bizzare!! We sang a few songs, shared a short message and gave out a small gift of yoghurt to the residents.

We took a whole bunch of photos afterwards with groups of the residents. Later on we discovered that most, if not all of the residents don't have any family that visits them at all. So we were like family to them that day. What a blessing to be able to give that during the little amount of time we were there.

We chilled for most of the rest of the afternoon and got to do a bit more shopping. In a real mall this time!!! Very refreshing :-)

They sell peanuts everywhere here in the malls and on the street. All different kinds but most are sweet, similar to honey roasted peanuts. I was brave enough to try some today.. They are pretty tasty, and I'm still alive to tell the tale.

Church service tonight. The church put together a PowerPoint with some pics from nz to the music on the nz national anthem. I felt very proud to be a kiwi :-)

Pastor Leo shared about the impact soccer plus has and is having. The church has significantly grown since last time a soccer plus team has been here. They are now in a much larger and recently
Built on area to the church. Very encouraging to see the outcome of the little that we give and the way that God uses an multiplies it.

Had the most massive pizza EVER for dinner tonight. It was really good though, and huge!!

- Posted from Chile

Day 11

2009-12-11T17:14:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday Paige!!

Actually it wasn't paiges birthday, but we pretended it was, and she wasn't in on the joke so she thought we actually thought it was her birthday. Funny stuff. She was given gifts from some of the locals, and felt so bad about accepting them when it wasn't actually her birthday that she changed her birthdate on facebook. Lol awesome and successful prank :-)

Today is a day off for everyone. In chile they have sunday and tuesdays as their weekends. So today we had a church party at a camping ground, which was kind of like a park with a swimming pool, football fields, volleyball, and picnic tables etc. It was freezing!!! I still can't get over how cold chile is!

They were also playing this random game that us kinda like petque but with disks instead of balls, and you have to throw them into a mud pit thing that has a string in the middle. The one that throws closest to the string gets the points.

During the morning we had a cool worship time under the trees where the pastor shared a message aswell. It was pretty much a mini church service outside where we introduced ourselves individually to the church and shared a bit more about soccer plus.

After the service there were some baptisms. Its always encouraging to see Baptisms, especially when you hear how much this church has grown only in the past 2 or 3 years, and to see people publically declaring their newly found faith in God. Awesome!

For lunch we had our first chilen Asador.(BBQ) It was brillant! A very close match between Argentina and chile. But I do still miss bread rolls and putting those incredible sausages in them. YUM!! But these guys had good as salads and beetroot. Always a winner.

One thing that is really weird in chile is the salt they put on everything. Lettuce included. I can't eat the lettuce here it's so salted. When they make a salad they put soooooooooo much salt all over it! But the beetroot was awesome :-)

After lunch we played a game against some of the girls from church. Soccer plus victory!!! We had a goalie come and play for us so i got to play on the field. 2 more goals to add to my south american tally. yea boi!!

Dios te bendiga

- Posted from Chile

Day 10

2009-12-08T16:17:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this a day behind and trying to remember what happened.

The day started with a breakfast with a bunch of pastors. I'm still not sure if it was just pastors from the church we are at or from a few different churches. It's really random at the services here because there's no one to translate into English so we pretty much sit there not really knowing what's going on. Hannah ang and I got to sing again, and Hannah even busted out the chorus to here I am to worship in Spanish. Awesome!!

We spent the afternoon in the city having lunch and doing a bit of shopping. It was pretty crazy in the city people everywhere and we were wondering around for ages trying to find a good place to go shopping. We found an awesome place in the end, one of our team almost got pickpocketed but she successfully swiped them off in time. Crazy!!

We had a 6 aside game afterwards. It was quite a closely fought match. I played goalie first half and then in the 2nd got to play on the field and scored 2 goals!! Oh yea:-) we win the game about 6-4 in the end and got a trophy!!!!! Still unbeaten in chile.

In the evening we had dinner together with a few people from the church for one of the guys birthday. We are all bringing back the chilian tradition of throwing birthday cake into the birthday boys face to new Zealand. The funniest thing is that they still cut it up and serve it around to everyone to eat afterwards.

Our boys are getting a lot of attention from the girls in chile, but I'm still convinced that the boys in Argentina are much nicer! :-)

Bueno!

- Posted from Chile

Day 9-Welcome to Chile!

2009-12-06T18:12:00.000-08:00

Hola from chile! Although we almost had to stay in Argentina because the drive from cordoba to buenos aires was about 4 hours longer than what we were told it was, so we missed our plane. Lucky the people of Argentina are generous and there's lots of flights from Argentina to chile so they put us on a later flight.

After a crazy overnight bus ride with little sleep, I scored big time once we got on the plane. I got 3 seats to myself!! Oh yeah!! So I lay all the way across got my blankie out and had a mean sleep.

We arrived at the chile airport and were actually allowed outside this time! :-) it was really clean and nice looking outside the airport. First impressions of chile... Moy bien

It's quite a bit warmer here, but it's still not too intense. Not like I thought it would be. Actually it has been quite cold at times, I wish I brought more long pants! I think we will be sweet in chile though.

After landing we drove to a church where they were having a 5 aside tournament. The guys team and girls teams both came out victorious. Double title victory for soccer plus! :-)

After the games we shared in a church service where Hannah and I sang again. My voice is getting sore as from all the singing, but probably all the yelling and cheering at the games :-). And Hannah did a great job sharing a short testimony afterwards.

After church we were split up and stayed in different homes. Everyone went with atleast one other, but I was lucky enough to go to a host family by myself.... Which would have been fine if we spoke the same language, so I was freaking out a little. But it turned out really good. It was really hard at times to understand what each of us were saying but they are such welcoming people. The family were great, and I think the young son who was probably about 10 was having a great time trying to have a conversation with me. 2 things we agreed on the most was hot dogs and pizza. International language :-)

It was fun trying to read each others bibles in Spanish and English aswell. So overwhelming seeing so many Spanish words in one place!!

I had the best sleep so far last night in a room all to myself. 8 hours!! It has been more like 4 hours each night since we have been here, so it was sleep that was very appreciated.

Not sure how much wi-fi I'm gonna get over here now, so you might have to read about a few days at once.

Football games each day in chile!! Bring it on!!

- Posted from Chile

Day 8- victory!!!!

2009-12-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

Double Victory to soccer plus in Argentina!!

The day started with the womens 7 aside game. Soccer plus were the first to score, taking the lead. The opposition soon after managed a sneaky goal which I punched out and it rebounded back into the goal off one of their legs. But before half time we scored another GOOOOOOOOOL!!!

At half time they brought on a whole new team and kept the score line the same to the end of the game. Soccer plus first victory in Argentina 2009!!

And the guys kept up our winning ways with a convincing 6-4 win.

We had lunch with some of the team and some people from the church. Awesome asador!! Last argentinian BBQ :-( sad times.

This afternoon we did a bit of shopping. Stocking up on football jerseys! Oh yeah. I bought some new goalie gloves too because mine are pretty wrecked from the ground here. I have a goalie shirt that actually fits me aswell which will be awesome.

Next time we play wil be in Argentina. We travel back to buenos aires tonight on the bus and fly to chile at about 11am. I'm gonna miss this place, I feel like I'm just starting to get used to it and now we are off to spend some time with the chilien locals.

Argentinians are crazy about footbal and it's been absolutly awesome to be able to share the gospel through this sport. Brilliant! Good times ahead in chile.

Peace!

- Posted from Argentina

Day 7

2009-12-04T02:35:00.000-08:00

The day started by Lucas knocking on our door and saying we are leaving in 5 minutes, the worst wake up ever! We had set our alarm but managed to sleep through it without much trouble at all! :-)

So we jumped on the bus about half a hour later (so much for 5 mins! Half of the guys wernt ready either) we were on our way to cordoba.

We've been pretty famous in Argentina since we have been here. Been on the tv 3 times and the radio aswell and today we met the mayors main man (I can't remember what he's actually called, but the mayor was busy so he sent his main man.

We had another match tonight aswell. I played keeper coz none of the extra girls that played with us was a keeper. We were 1 nil up at half time, and ended up losing 2-1. So guttered. But the goals they scored were good, so atleast they wernt from stupid mistakes of mine :-)8

The guys played after us aswell. They played such a talented team. Seriously they were awesome. So another 2 losses for soccer plus nz :-) lol. Chile must be the place for all our victories!!

We had fun chanting for the guys team when they played. There were heaps of kids hanging around and we were giving out our player profiles
with a simple written gospel message. Some of us even went over to the oppositions supporters who had this massive bass drum with them. They let is loose on the drum so we started chanting for soccer plus in amongst green and white banners :-)

vamos soccer plus!!!

Until manyana

- Posted from Argentina

Day 6

2009-12-04T02:34:00.000-08:00

This morning the guys went and played a game at a prison and were only allowed to take 2 of the girls with them, so the rest of the girls including me chilled out in the morning and found a sweet local market to do a little bit of shopping.

I successfully bought something at the market without speaking 1 word and we both understood each other. I'm like a Spanish pro! Haha not quite but each day we have more and more conversations with locals and sometimes we can work out enough of what their saying to have a reasonable conversation. It's a pitty I wagged half of my Spanish classes. Lol

For Lunch we had asador, argentinian bbq. Although i left a little dissapointed this time, our best asador by far was at brandsen. Yum!!!

We had our first full 11 aside Womens game today. We Lost 3-1 but came back fighting in the 2nd half.
First experience of the argentinian "grass fields" which is more like a gravel pit than grass. So needless to say there's a few of us with battle scars from sliding on the ground.

The boys had a real tough game and lost their one aswell. Even though both teams are still searching for their first south american victory, it's been great to play football and share with the players afterwards. now i even have a few Argentinian friends on facebook which is going to be interesting trying to speak to each other in languages we both don't understand :-)

Shared a testimony at the church we have been working alongside these 2 days. Hannah melissa and I played our classic kiwi song by parachute band- glorify.

Dinner at 12.30 again. Still not used to that one

Taught some maori culture to the Aussie. Most halarious night out which included pakehas (or parked Cars in Aussie) and ended with us explaining whakapapa as our genealogy and Jamie moving tables because he couldn't handle it anymore. Epic times!

- Posted from Argentina

Day 5

2009-12-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

we havent had internet for a couple of days so his post comes a little late. Enjoy!

Today we has a 5am start to get up in time for a 12 hour plus bus drive from buenos aires to San louis.

It sounds really painful but it turned out to be a pretty fun journey which included a couple of games of settlers (and after millions of people playing it at college I think I finally know the rules!) I successfully lost every game and even managed to not even accumulate 1 single victory point.

The ride also included some random craziness, calling team meetings, mafia, and massages. Good times.

In the evening we went to the church where we were going to be based from for the next couple of days. Talking to a group of girls afterwards was a crack up. They were so excited that we had come to spend time with them and we had a great time laughing with each other on the few occasions that we understood each other.

Until next time

- Posted from Argentina

Day 4

2009-11-30T23:49:00.000-08:00

If I write anything that doesn't make sense today it's because we didn't get to bed til about 2am and we are up again at 5am to get ready for a 12 hour bus ride to San Luis. Good times... Lol

Yesterday we ended up visiting and sharing in 2 prisons. The first, which is where we spent most of our time is the worlds only Christian prison. Some Inmates get to go there when they become Christians through other ministries in prisons around the area. It's really hard to put it into words to explain it without being there, but it was absolutly incredible. After the initial getting into the room where the service was being held, it never once after that even felt like a prison.

The elders and pastors of the church are inmates themselves. A handful come in to help run it, but all the inmates do the preaching, teaching and music etc.

It's very different from any prison you can even
Imagine, and by being a part of that ministry for just a few hours I could honestly say that most of those guys are the real deal. Their passion for God was contagious as the claped and shouted for joy. Amazing.

That was the one thing I was really nervous about, but I was really blessed by being a part of.

Hannah and I shared a song again here and it was really cool to have Mel on the drums. We are getting a little girl band going on :-) haha

Then later on that afternoon we had our first game of soccer. Actually we ended up playing fotsol which is a form of indoor soccer and it was so different. We lost 9-2 and I was goalie! Lol oops. And now I have some sweet bruises on my knees because the ground is a lot harder inside comparred to grass!

I now have some Argentinian girls added to my facebook from the club that we played which is going to be interesting posting on each others walls since we can't speak the same language! :-)

We have a long bus ride today, if you are praying for us please pray for traveling mercies.

Paz!

- Posted from Argentina

Day 3

2009-11-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

It's day 3 and the adventures continue. On our way back to buenos aires we stopped at a local orphanage for kids od women in prison which I have already written a bit about in my extra post today.

We had a cruisy night tonight and even got dinner before midnight! We were even finished before 11! Good times.

I thought new zealanders liked their bbqs but they are put to shame when the Argentinian bust out their grills. I now know why it is that when you google argintinian food the first thing you see is steak :-)
I was slightly afraid of spicy food in south america but it's all good. I haven't even come close to anything spicy... Nice! I did have to dodge egg in a empanada today though, which I was bitterly dissapointed because it tasted so good before the egg infected it.

Stocking up on the football shirts too. it's so awesome to shop with 13 other people who all flock to the sports shops and get excited about football shirts and gear. We even found a few all blacks jerseys in the city. And the crazy thing is that they are probably cheaper here than in new zealand. Insane

We have our first football match tomorrow and go to a prison during the day. Please pray for us especially about the visit to the prison, we would really appreciate it.

Until next time. Dios te bendiga

- Posted from Argentina

Blessings in disguise

2009-11-29T17:08:00.000-08:00

I always knew that even though the reason to come over here was always to give of ourselves, to share, and bless these communities in different ways, that I would recieve and learn just as much. What I didn't expect was to be so blessed and encouraged in the first 2 days of being here.

Today we visited an orphange type place where they take in kids of women who are in prison. On sunday mornings they have a church service and during the service Hannah and I sung 2 songs together. Just before we left a lady from the church came to us and shared a really encouraging word to use our football to honor God but prepare yourself for worship ministry aswell.

Psalm 37:5

Last night we also shared at a different church in brandsen. during the worship time, as the band sung the sometimes familar tunes from hillsong but in Spanish, the pastor came up to me and through a translator gave me an encouraging word from God that later brought me to tears. Listening to locals sing the song "you are good" in Spanish saying "people from every nation and tongue, from generation to generation we worship you hallelujah, hallelujah" there's something incredible about being immersed in that place listening to half of the people singing in Spanish and the other half in English. We may not always understand each other, we may have completely different cultures, family and experiences, but we worship the same God. Incredible.

I used bits of the word from the pastor to encourage the team this morning to be a light into all situations where ever we are, in Argentina, chile, New Zealand, in the every day aspects of life, in the ordinary and sometimes mundane tasks of life as well as those times we get the opportunity to share more formally during a programme.

It's only Sunday, our third day in south America, and I am being constantly reminded of how amazing our God is and it's a real priveledge to serve the local people and God in this place. Thanks for helping me get here.

By the way it's raining here today!! So much so that when we left brandsen we had to drive through some low flood water over the road. Where's the Argentinian sun?!!

Asta luago

- Posted from Argentina

Day 2

2009-11-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

Hola! como esta?

No espanol

Hermoso! Almerzo

So my Spanish is slowly but surely improving. We spent all our time today in brandsen with a whole lot of locals which included a very interesting experience at lunch time with a married man.

I decided it was time I learnt some new phrases and one of our hosts was letting us know it was time to go for lunch. So I discovered what I thought lunch was in Spanish and was saying it quite loudly on the bus (they eat really late here so I was hungry as by lunchtime) only to be met by a spainish guy who looked at us funny and asked where we learnt that. We thought that we were simply saying "lunch" which is said almerzo but in fact we were saying "goegous" said halmoso to a married Spanish man!! Lol!!! You might wonder how we can get those confused but you wiuld be surprised now similar they actuallu are! We still laugh about it now because the whole church heard pretty soon after and hassled us heaps for the whole day! Haha

Today we spent some time mucking around and playing a little bit of football at the local square and handing out brochures to people who were there. Then we went off to lunch at the pastors house which was a Argentinian BBQ. I can't remember the actual name now but WOW!! What a feed!! And the meat is amazing!!

We spent the afternoon at a kids programme at a very poor community. I was blown away. We jumped off the bus and I grabed a soccer ball on my way to kick around there. Instantly there is a group of kids around you saying "footbal footbal". Draw card number 1 in south America simply a football.

Some of the team kicked around with them for a bit and I talked with some local Spanish and English speaking adults from different areas. I take my 5 soccer balls that I have at home for granted, but within this neighbourhood it is very likely that none of them had a football at all. We know for sure that there is now atleast 1 there as we gave 1 away while we were there.

Today was the first day that I saw upclose tin shacks and families struggling day to day. It was hard to see and hard to leave, but very rewarding to be there there and sharing the gospel and putting some smiles on the faces of the kids we met.

Tonight we spent the evening at a church where we did a few things in the service and enjoying being in for the rest.

It was an incredible time and I will write more later but for now I need to get some sleep since my dinner is almost settled after having it at 12.30pm a little earlier tonight :-)

Asta manyana

- Posted from Argentina

Day 1

2009-11-28T02:43:00.000-08:00

Argentina is pretty incredible. People here don't really seem to sleep a whole bunch. Last night was my first experience at having dinner in a packed restaurant at 1am! 1am!!!! This wasn't the only restaurant packed full of people, it's quite normal. Crazy.

Last night once we finally got back to the hostel you could hear people singing away out on the street, only to find that when we got up in the morning there's still singing and clapping and chanting. No wonder they're such passionate football suporters.

Speaking of which... We went to watch independiente play some white team. It was amazing!!!! The crowd was only half full if that and the noise that came from stadium was massive! Jumping up and down and going crazy. We took heaps of pics and video which will give u some idea. Can't wait to show u when I get back.

Going to Branson today which is a 2 hour bus ride. It's our first time out and about with our football ministry, exciting posts to follow.

"love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord"

Chile!!!

2009-11-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

Hola!!!!!

Long flight number one complete! Luzette live is brought to you this morning from Santiago chile!!

I just successfully bought my first thing from south america... a strawberry smoothies from dunkin donuts. Lucky enough to be served by a guy who speaks English. :-)

Leaving for Argentina soon. Didn't get any sleep in the plane on the way and am pretty successfully still functioning at the moment.

Oh and my phone is roaming well in chile at the moment so keep the txts flowing.

Adios until next time.

South America here we come!

2009-11-25T03:36:00.000-08:00

Long time no posts, but I thought I'd post something short and sweet to let you know that I have a new app on my iPod which will help me keep you guys in nz informed about how things are going for us while we are in Argentina and chile. Aslong as we get some wifi access I will do my best :-)

Only a few more hours and counting before we board the plane.

Argentina and chile here we come!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

YOUTHSERVE makes it to the paper!

2009-07-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

Sneak Preview of my Newsletter..

2009-06-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've just discovered the brilliance of wordle It makes cool word things, have a play around with it, it's pretty fun. :-)

Which brings me to present to you my wordle prayer letter sneak preview...

YOUTHSERVE promo 09

2009-05-28T17:44:00.001-07:00

YOUTHSERVE is live!

2009-05-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

Check our latest YOUTHSERVE 09 Street Invaders Website here for all the info you need to be a part of an amazing week in July.

Travels to Egypt..

2009-04-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quick run down for those who aren't sure of what Surge and SUPAkidz are. On Friday lunchtime (changing to Monday next week) Nicole and I run a Christian group at Henderson Intermediate called Surge. This term we decided to give the SUPAkidz material a crack and see if we can use it within an Intermediate school context.

SUPAkidz clubs are groups that run at either a lunchtimes or afterschool at a Primary school. SUPAkidz clubs are voluntary and students need parental permission to attend.

So we've been changing and adapting one of the SUPAkidz programme called Explorers Extreme which focuses on the value of Diversity, and that we are all different but are all equally important. Throughout the term we will be looking at different stories in the bible that cover different countries around the world. Today we traveled to Egypt and heard the story of Moses and the Burning Bush.

Our travels started by building some pyramids out of jelly lollies, and toothpicks. There was a bit of girls vs boys rivalry. And I've got to say, the guys did a pretty amazing job with their pyramid including supporting structures and everything, while the other pyramids half crumbled as soon as they let go of them. A clear winner.

We then gave out the all important plane tickets (see the pic below) courtesy of 'Surge Air' traveling on flight AK4098 departing from Henderson Intermediate and Arriving in Egypt on Friday 01 May 2009 at 1340. They were all excited to visit Egypt, but a little concerned that going to Egypt would mean leaving the school grounds. :-)

Once in Egypt, we heard from Moses and God as they rein-acted what actually took place when God spoke to Moses through the burning bush. The young people are always really excited to read, and hear more from the Bible, and we love having the opportunity to do so, especially as there would be at least half of the young people that come to Surge, that wouldn't normally go to a church.

We finished our adventures, by making our own burning bushes to take home. Actually come to think about it... I don't think we actually flew back to New Zealand!! :-) lol (my bad for only creating a one way flight for us all).

Next week, we are flying to Iraq. Please pray for Surge at Henderson Intermediate, and the young people who are coming along as we continue with Explorers Extreme this term.

YOUTHSERVE 09!!!!!!!!

2009-04-27T21:22:00.001-07:00

YOUTHSERVE 09 is only just around the corner. Grab a rego form, flick it round to everyone you know and get it back to us by the 5th of June for the West Auckland Early bird cut off date and save yourself some hard earned cash!!

See you at YOUTHSERVE in July...

Light For The Path

2009-04-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

‘They spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread and prayed together. Everyone was amazed by the many miracles and wonders that the apostles work.’ Acts 2:42-43 CEV

I’ve heard some comment that Schools Ministry is dead, but when I spend time with groups of student leaders of Christian groups around Auckland, I am continually encouraged and blown away by the faith, commitment, and enthusiasm of our young leaders in schools. Their commitment and desire to pray is encouraging especially when they don’t see instant results.

The book of Acts is the second chapter of the journey and influence of the gospel, after Jesus was killed and resurrected. It gives us an idea of the commitment of the apostles and the influence they had in the places they visited, and this commitment too is shared by many Christian group student leaders. Their sphere of influence may not be to the ‘ends of the earth’, but their school environment extends to not only their peers and fellow students but also to school staff.

For some young people, the teaching, fellowship, and encouragement to live out their faith comes only from what happens at school. For some, this is their church and their friends are like spiritual family. They not only come and hang out together, but remember the cross, engage with scripture and learn from each other just as the believes devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, breaking bread, and fellowship.

Influence is hard to measure, and we often don’t realise how much of an influence we can have on a person. Sometimes we have no idea that what we’ve done, or the way we live has encouraged someone to look more fully to Christ. In the end it’s not about us, but God has chosen us and said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

High School Revolution

2009-04-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

Anyone out there that's reading this, from Auckland and knows some high school students especially in West Auckland schools, or are high school students themselves... come and check out High School Revolution! Friday 17th April from 11am at West City Christian Centre.

Would love to have you there!!

Sex + Money

2009-03-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last month I met a group of photographers from Ywam who have been traveling around the world taking photos. Their group is called photogenX and during their travels as they used their passion of photography they discovered something that has become far too common in many nations and that is the issue of human trafficking.

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transport, harboring, or receipt of human beings for the purpose of exploitation. It is achieved through force, abduction, fraud, deception, bribery, and the abuse of power. In short, human trafficking is modern day slavery.

A group of about 5 have been going around some schools in New Zealand, and other parts of the western world speaking about this issue. They have an incredible story to share, and amazing photos that can give us a glimpse of what is happening all around the world. They have also written a book which includes a number of these photos and stories. It is entitled 'Sex + Money: A Global Search For Truth' which you can order online at www.photogenx.net/sexandmoney All proceeds from this book go towards people who suffer from these issues they address in the book and towards the work of photogenX.

Back Live!!

2009-03-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

OK, so I've probably said this about 4 times.... But it's time I actually keep this blog up to date. And even my little cousin is showing me up on her blog! Good stuff Zoe :-)

As you could imagine, a lot has happened since November and now. Christmas, New Year, Summer Camps, Ponui Family Camp, Mangawhai Marine, Parachute 09, Way2Go Auckland, and I've officially past the 1 year mark in full time youth ministry!

This semester I am taking a coaching paper at Unitec. I’m hoping to integrate my love for sport with my love for young people and the gospel and be able to offer something very practical and useful to the schools around Auckland by coaching sport.

I am also currently looking into the possibility of setting up an afterschool sports programme in Ranui for years 6-8 at Birdwood Primary School. This programme will not only be a fun time of playing games and learning new sports, it will be a chance to use the medium of sport to build relationships with young people and share Biblical thoughts and values through sport.

In November, I will also be joining a team from New Zealand and Australia to go on a Missions Trip to Argentina and Chile with Soccer Plus. I’m really excited about this opportunity and busy trying to save money for it.

I've written 2 newsletters this year, and eventually I will figure out how to upload them onto my blog so that people can access them, but until then If your reading this and haven't seen my newsletters and would like a read, give me a buzz and I'll flick one your way.

Fruit..

2008-11-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months I have almost been living and breathing YOUTHSERVE 08, with planning for West Auckland in April, and the Whangarei camp in these last holidays. It has been really exciting to hear stories of young people who were so blown away with how much an elderly man appreciated a simple visit from someone, when they later found out that he hadn't had anyone visit him in 10 years, and then went back after the YOUTHSERVE week to sit with them, talk with them, and pray with them. It's even more incredible because this was a young person who was totally freaking out from just entering the retirement village and seeing many elderly people with walking frames, wheelchairs, and some confined to their beds. YOUTHSERVE is teaching young people to look beyond themselves and serve, give up something precious to them (their school holidays!) to show people that they care about them, and that God loves them.

Today I received a really encouraging email from a mother of a couple of young people from my old church in Hastings. A few years ago, when I was about 18 (and still in the youth group) they asked our youth group to come and help out at their neighbours house because the husband was in hospital and a tree had fallen in their yard. So a group of us spent the whole day clearing out what we could, and having a pretty good time hanging out with each other while we were at it. This was about 5 years ago.. and to be honest until today I had completely forgotten about it. But today I was really encouraged by the fruit that had come from such a simple act as clearing up a fallen tree.

The father has decided that gang violence isn't the way.. and went over to their neighbours and said 'what ever it is that you've got, I want' And they had the privilege of sharing Christ with this guy, and the whole family went to church with them this week.

Their son has seen a huge change in his dad's life already and is totally amazed by it all. It's not going to be an easy ride here on in for them all, but they have discovered the love and acceptance of Jesus Christ, and by clearing up a tree in their yard, a bunch of young people who saw a need and wanted to simply help them out, played a part in this incredible story! Very encouraging.. :-)

Charity Run 2008

2008-10-23T02:35:00.000-07:00

Alright... so I kinda half trained for the Waitakere 11km run... did a few good training runs.. but never actually got to the race itself.. again... for the 2nd year in a row.

Then, Kirstin and I are walking round the mall tonight when a young guy came up to us and said.. 'excuse me, would you consider yourself a fit person?' and after both of us said no, he replied by saying 'good', and went on to tell us about the upcoming ADRA Charity run at the end of next month. So it's time to get my butt off the couch again and start training for the 10km run on the 30th of November at Mission Bay... and I need your help! :-)

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) was initiated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The basis for its existence, its reason for being, is to follow Christ’s example by being a voice for, serving, and partnering with those in need.

ADRA has developed a network of dedicated experts in 125 countries who can deliver development and aid quickly and efficiently, where and when people need it most. Through five distinct portfolios - Food Security, Economic Development, Primary Health, Emergency Management, Education - we give families options for a better way of life.

So I'll do the running.. but I need your help. If you would like to sponsor me for the ADRA Charity Run, please either comment, or email me.

Thanks heaps! :-)

for more information about the run check out www.adracharityrun.org (it's not too late to enter either!)

YOUTHSERVE and Street Invaders

2008-10-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Four large rubbish skips lined the street of Chester Ave on Thursday last week, as the Salvation Army, St James Uniting Church, and YOUTHSERVE came together to bring Street Invaders, and a helping hand to the many families in the neighbourhood.

YOUTHSERVE is a camp run by Scripture Union, based at HolyGround Christian Camp at Parua Bay. YOUTHSERVE gives young people the opportunity to put legs on their faith, and go out into their community to work on different projects encouraging young people to ‘walk the talk, and change your world’. The projects we worked on during the week included planting a vegetable garden, helping make food parcels, creating a community garden, sanding, painting, and of course Street Invaders at Chester Ave.

Getting rid of rubbish and old broken appliances can be a burden to many families, therefore with the help of Housing New Zealand we arranged for three large skips to be dropped off at Chester Ave so that we could help clean up any unwanted rubbish in the area. To our surprise, when we arrived most of the bins were already full, so we quickly got a hold of another skip that we then filled within 10 minutes.

Throughout the whole day many of the kids in Chester Ave were helping us pull weeds and carry rubbish to the skips, so in the afternoon YOUTHSERVE put on a children’s programme for them to have some fun together as a community in their own street. Many of the young people from YOUTHSERVE helped run these games, and shared their stories about being a Christian and why they wanted to come and serve the people of Chester Ave. Thanks to the Bible Society, we were also able to give out many bibles, and now every family in that street has at least one Bible in their home.

In the evening we put on a free sausage sizzle at the St James Uniting Church in Onerahi with live entertainment, and face painting for the kids. This also gave the young people from YOUTHSERVE an opportunity to share with the residents of Chester Ave about what they’ve been up to throughout the week.

Thanks so much to the many people who made Street Invaders an extremely successful day. We really enjoyed our time at Chester Ave, and look forward to YOUTHSERVE in 2009.

Prayer Letter Sneak Preview..

2008-09-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

For anyone out there that's reading my blog regularly I know you would be incredibly dissapointed because I haven't updated it for almost a month!! Real sorry guys..

This week I've been busy writing up my next prayer letter which is due to go out sometime this week, so keep an eye on your mailbox, or inbox and it'll be in your hands soon enough. But until then i'll give you a sneak preview of what's inside it.

Here's an article about Hawkes Bay eXtend, which i'm superdupa excited about because I get to spend some time with my family while connecting with Scripture Union supporters in Hawkes Bay, and helping Annette and Raewyn with eXtend. And will even be around just in time to go out for dinner for my Dad's birthday. (enjoy your final year in your 40's dad.. and start planning that party for next year now, coz it's gonna be a big one!) :-)

Happy reading...

On September 20th I have the opportunity to join with Annette Osborne, and Raewyn Rowney from the children and families department and go back to my home town to help out at the Hawkes Bay eXtend.

eXtend is like a mini version of our much larger Childrens Ministry Conference, Way2Go, that happens in Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin. The idea of eXtend is to go to smaller towns and cities and offer a one day training event that normally consists of 3 workshops of their choice and other valuable input.

At this eXtend I will be doing my first stint of training, running a workshop called Relate, how to relate to and work in small groups with Intermediates. I'm a little bit nervous, but excited to talk about the Intermediate age as I have really enjoyed the work I have been doing with that age group. Please pray for me as I prepare and lead this workshop.

Sylvia is also coming down to Hawkes Bay with us. Her and I will be arriving earlier on in the week to meet up with local Scripture Union supporters and some of my old friends to share what I have been up to in Auckland, and the resources and support that Scripture Union can offer churches and individuals in Hawkes Bay.

This photo is awesome.... makes Hastings look like it's even more old school than people think! haha (and the funny thing is that it's the part of town that's been most recently renovated!) But I'd just like to point out the blue sky in the background... definitly don't get sky like that in Auckland! :-)

SURGE

2008-08-19T14:52:00.001-07:00

We had a great time at SURGE yesterday at Henderson Intermediate. After having a constant group of around 5 students, the last two of weeks we have had a couple of new kids coming along each week, and this week we had 15!! And we had great fun! :-)

We played a few chaotic games, running round stealing pegs from each other, and then played a game where you have to trade and give away jelly beans with the aim of having 10 jelly beans of the same colour. After the game we talked a bit about giving up something that we might want, like one of our precious white jelly beans (because they are obviously the nicest ones around!), to help out others, and then shared the story of the good Samaritan.

After watching a short video clip of the good Samaritan (click here to download the same video for free from max7) I asked the students, 'who has just heard that story for the first time?' and atleast two put their hands up. Therefore we are reaching out to young people with the message of the gospel that haven't heard it before, and giving them an opportunity to dig into the bible in an environment that they are familiar with and comfortable in and that's really encouraging.

Please continue to pray for the school, and the young people coming along, and those that might be thinking of coming along. Soon we may even grow out of the room that we are currently in, and that's really exciting! :-)

Intermediate Schools...

2008-08-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

And Other Intermediate Schools News...

Last week was one of my busiest weeks so far! But it was great to be able to go along to a couple more Intermediate schools and meet up with some other youth workers who are doing some really great stuff with Intermediate age students in schools.

On Thursday I was able to catch up with one young person who was part of the small group that I used to lead at church last year. She is now working for the Salvation Army in Royal Oak as a community youth worker, where she and a number of others run a life skills programme in Royal Oak Intermediate called REC. This programme is run in 3 groups of about 10-15 year 7 and 8's. They are students that some might call 'at risk' youth, therefore are young people who would really benefit from a programme that encourages young people in areas such as organisation, self-control, etc. It was great to go along with these guys, see what they do, and help them out, as well as seeing the growth and enthusiasm of one of the students that used to be in my youth group, doing very similar things that I myself am doing now.

And on Friday I met up with another Youth Worker from a local church in West Auckland that runs a Bible in schools assmebly at Te Atatu Intermediate. This is a fortnightly assembly with most of the schools students attending, except for a handful who choose to opt out. They also run a lunchtime club in the alternating week when the assembly is not on.

The Henderson Intermdiate SURGE lunchtime group is still going well. We had a couple of weeks of very variable numbers, with 4 very keen year 7's who are always there. Last week I ran a fun event to raise the profile of SURGE in the school and encourage others to come along a check it out, and we had a number of students come along for the first time. I'm praying that when we have SURGE again this week that they will come along again and hear more about Jesus and be really enthusiastic about digging into the Scriptures.

At the moment we are working through the UK version of 'It's Your Move' to re-write the book for New Zealand Students. For those of you who don't know what 'It's Your Move' is, very simply, it's a programme designed for year 8 students (form 2), to process and begin to talk about some of the fears and excitments of moving from Intermediate to High School. For more information about 'It's Your Move' check out this website. In previous years we have run this at one local Intermediate in Auckland, and have confirmed to run it again this year with all of their year 8's. We are also looking for other possibly schools to run offer 'It's Your Move' to. If you know any Intermediate teachers who think this would be a great programme for their school, please let me know by emailing me at luzette.hermon@scriptureunion.org.nz and I will pass on the relevant information and to give them more of an idea of what it's all about.

Please continue to pray for these schools, the staff and students, and for opportunities to expand the work that we and others are doing in Auckland Intermediate Schools to reach out to students with the message of the gospel through the life of Jesus Christ.

Go MAD

2008-07-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

In the 2nd week of the school holidays I ran a student leaders training event called Go MAD, which doesn't involve people running round with bags on their heads doing cartwheels and hand stands every 5 seconds, but in fact stands for Go Make A Difference encouraging Christian young people to go make a difference in the lives of their friends and peers in their local school with the message of the gospel.

Student leaders from 4 different high school around Auckland who are involved in leading a lunchtime Christian group at their school came along to this event. They really enjoyed sharing their own stories, ideas and by doing that were very encouraging to other students from the different schools. During the day I ran a training session which covered topics such as planning a programme, aims and objectives, as well as unity, prayer and commitment within your group and leadership team.

We have also created a bebo group where these leaders and any others around Auckland can continue to have these kinds of discussions. If you know any students involved in leading groups at their high school, please feel free to pass on this site address, we would love to have them apart of Go MAD. On this site I will also be posting more information about future Go MAD training events in Auckland.

www.bebo.com/gomadauckland

Myers Briggs Personality Test

2008-06-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

I've always been interested to take a Myers Briggs Personality Test and see what it came up with... and here's my results;

Life as an INFP

(Introvert, Intuitive, Feeler, Perceiver)

'People of this type tend to be: quiet, reserved, and kind; deeply passionate, sensitive, and easily hurt; loving and dedicated to those close to them; creative, original, and imaginative; curious and flexible in small matters; nonconforming.

The most important thing to INFPs is their deeply held beliefs and living in harmony with their values.'

I'm not sure I fully agree... but it's interesting none the less :-)

If you want to take the test yourself just click here and it'll link you to the same test that I took. It would be interesting to see what you come out with as well!

YOUTHSERVE Whangarei..

2008-06-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

YOUTHSERVE Whangarei is planned to run from the 6-11th of July, where we want to take a group of young people and leaders from Auckland, to help establish this programme up north. However at the moment we have extremely low numbers, and need some more young people to come and take part, both from Auckland, and Whangarei.

All of our registrations at present are from Auckland young people, and although we have given most churches in Whangarei a pack of information about YOUTHSERVE and followed up by a phone call, and even visited a number when we went up to Whangarei a few weeks ago to try to drum up local support, we have not had the response we would have loved, and it has proven difficult to establish a new programme such as YOUTHSERVE in a place where we do not have a current youth staff worker.

If you could join with me in praying for YOUTHSERVE Whangarei I would really appreciate it. We have all the plans in place, projects, a campsite, social activities, leaders, and cooks and really want to go ahead. We have to make a decision by tomorrow about where to go from here. So please pray that the churches and schools up north will get back to us, and that we will get a good number of young people from both Auckland and especially up in Whangarei. Thank You.

Introducing...... SURGE

2008-06-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of this term we established a lunchtime Christian group at Henderson Intermediate, which meets on a Tuesday lunchtime. The staff at the school have been very supportive of the group and an intern from a local church that is located right next door to the school has been helping out and coming along to the group.

Up until now it's been called 'The Christian Youth Group' so after a few weeks of getting a group of keen Christian kids coming along, we decided that The Christian Youth Group needed a new identity and we are pleased to announce the arrival of SURGE.

I'm really hoping and praying that the new name will help young people who don't call themselves Christian, and don't go to church, to feel welcome and free to come along as well as those who are Christians. When I explained this to the group on Tuesday one of the girls replied by saying 'Yeah like me, I don't go to church, but I come along to Youth Group.' This was really encouraging, that even in the few weeks we have had together, young people are hearing the message of the gospel maybe even for the first time and are excited to know more.

Please continue to pray for the young people coming along to this group, the whole school and opportunities to set up groups in more Intermediate schools around Auckland.

Word Live

2008-05-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

'Word Live' is a new website that Scripture Union UK have just put up where you can register and receive a free daily bible reading guide by email. If you click the link above it'll take you straight to the Word Live home page, just click on register and Bob's your uncle.

Also if your doing any kind of childrens or youth work with young people from 5-12 you can sign up to 'Light Live' and get a whole stack of free resources based on the Scripture Union bible based Light material. You can even generate your own lesson plans based on specific information about your group and pick and choose different aspects of each session. A very cool website if your working with children and/or young people. Check it out..

The Adventure Begins..

2007-12-22T13:03:00.000-08:00

Four years ago I was an 18 year old fresh out of high school trying to figure out what God wanted me to do with my life, and I would have never in a million years guessed that I would have this opportunity that I have right now, to be apart of the team at Scripture Union working with young people encouraging and supporting them in their relationship with God where ever they may stand in their journey.

I will have the privilege as the Auckland schools worker of going into Auckland intermediates and high schools encouraging Christians to take that next step in their journey with God and sharing the exciting and life giving message of Jesus Christ to those who may not yet know or fully understand this. I will also be working with and alongside local churches inspiring them to also be involved in reaching out to their local schools. This will also strengthen the area of discipleship and on going care for the young people if we can successfully integrate them into a local church youth ministry. For it is in the setting of the local church where young people can continue to be nurtured, encouraged, and challenged in their relationship with God by being given opportunities to live out their faith in all areas of their lives.

Young people have the amazing potential to do and give so much for something greater than themselves, and if we can get alongside them and encourage and support them with the message of Christ, we will see some astonishing things happen in this nation now and in the years to come.

I am really looking forward to my time with Scripture Union and would love for you to join me as I embark on this new adventure. Thanks..