Looking Back Over My Last Two Years in New Zealand

Thank you so much God for what you do. It was a privilege and blessing to be a part of the growing multicultural Wesleyan Methodist church of New Zealand. Over my time two years in New Zealand I believe the number of church plants went from under twenty churches to 21 or 22 with hopes of starting a whole new hub of churches in the South Island from Christchurch. The community projects that ran through the Depot building where we held church (cession|community) were a great way to meet people and serve.

My study spot at the Esquires coffee shop in the local mall was also a great way to bump into people and bring God into the everyday conversations. Connecting people to the church was the big challenge. Getting friends to feel comfortable walking through the church doors was an equally difficult challenge. But getting them to see the essential need for God in this world was one of the biggest.

Small and big chances to connect people with God were small and big reasons to rejoice. I became good friends with the family that owned this local cafe and had some amazingly great dialogue about the differences between Hinduism and Christianity. I was even able to hangout with a couple of the guys and create friendships outside of the cafe setting through this.

Here was My original excitement of being cleared to go and get my plane ticket!

MINISTRIES
Global Partners Team

Cession Team

Dreaming

Ignite Wesleyan Youth Camp
One year i was able to be the camp speaker which was amazing and humbling at the same time to watch God speak and the teens respond. The second year i was the camp media director and was able to put this video together.

Outreach Opportunities

Weekly Church Setup



Culture
One of my most watched youtube videos was made a few days into my first New Zealand trip. So at the end of my two year term 3 years later, i decided to revisit with the Mackay family and other friends in the clip below.
IWU Missions Team Point Man on the Field

Youth Group

Preaching

Greeting

Creating Family

New Friends

Leading Worship as Needed
And Playing Bass

Volunteering for Lifeboyz Field Trips for kids with special need

Alternative Education Mentoring

FRIENDS
The Mackay Family Time

Snells

First Day in NZ with Jones Family & close friends

Australian Friends Visiting

Organizing Paul Milbank's Bachelor Party

Heidi's Arrival Bowling Party


It was interesting celebrating Christmas away from home. Here was Graeme my first roommate and some friends while we were decorating the flat that first Christmas.


EXPERIENCES
Soccer Tournament

Vanuatu Trip
a random jump i got to do in the blue water hole

Rugby at the Family Camp

Surf Lessons
This was a video Evy made when i was first teaching him how to surf.


Stations of the Cross Sketch

A Friend's Graduation Ceremony

I was also able to go to Hillsong conference in some of my free time. It was a great experience and opportunity to learn.

SCENERY
It was crazy being on the mission field and later realizing that i was getting accustomed to living in a bigger city instead of smaller town with Auckland being 1.4million in population.

OBSERVATIONS

My focus going over was to support the local church. This was good yet difficult because I felt like this meant my job was not to just create whatever I wanted ministry wise, but to really build and support my friends and people over there who were also ministers.

1. Brett Jones, Paul Milbank, and Rhett Snell- were 3 special friends and colleagues in ministry. My goal was to try and encourage and help them with their passions and responsibilities as i could. Brett was amazing smart and my NZ boss. I served alongside him as the community life pastor and really appreciated him pouring into me and trying to place me in the best possible spot passion wise to help him and cession. Paul was a close friend and the youth pastor at cession. Working out, mentoring teens, and working with the youth Monday nights our consistents. Rhett Snell was a good friend and prayer buddy. Outside of talking theology, i really appreciated our time towards the beginning of my two years where they would have groups over to their house after church and the times Rhett and i set aside to simply pray for cession and ministry.
   
2. Supporting other missionaries and visiting Americans was a specialty of mine. I met with a couple of guys and girls like Evy/ John Gorveatte/ and Heidi who traveled over to New Zealand for a season.
3. I invested in weekly cession cell groups and welcoming on Sunday to continue helping build a team that is growing and pouring into the people walking through the doors.
4. I don't want to take specific credit for things that were a team effort but there are multiple stories of people getting connected to the church family through relationships built.
5. A big blessing was the Saione which is one of the Fijian congregations. I was able to preach there a few times and was even asked to consider joining their community towards the end of my time which was such a huge compliment and humbling ask.

• New Zealand went full circle coming back to the USA... it was ironic hearing Kari Jobe (who i was first introduced to in Australia) singing hosanna written by Brooke Fraser(new Zealand artist) while i was back in the states! It has crazy how my life has gone full circle and is interconnected.

Thank you so much for supporting me through prayers and finances over this time. New Zealand continues to be a place i pray over for the future and will try to visit sooner rather than later although i do not believe God is pressing me to return immediately in this season of life.

Today's flow

I was a pastor instead of personally productive today. haha

The Pure Heart

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God Matthew 5:8

As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man Proverbs 27:19

So if the man is often seeing God in his everyday life it is fair to say that his heart is purely searching for God.

God is bigger than our imaginations

"To most of us a person, a human being, seems to be a maximum of being, the ceiling of reality; we think that to personify is to glorify. Yet do not some of us realize at times that a person is not a superlative, that to personify the spiritually real is to belittle it? A personification may be both a distortion and a depreciation." -Abraham Heschel
God is bigger than our imaginations.

Trace Faubel and Kevin Brock moving up!

So i have two friends moving up to be a part of ministry up here in Lansing, MI. My friend Kevin Brock
from Indiana Wesleyan University is moving from Indy and my friend Trace Faubel
going back as far as elementary school is moving up from San Diego. They both will arrive in this Saturday night. Its gonna be good time.

Getting back on the saddle

First off, let me apologize for being a horrible blogger as of late.
Second, Laughing is Good

Third, here are some raw thoughts from an old journal a few years back.

There seems to be a consistent difference between what people say or think they believe and know to be true And how they REALLY feel

They need to realize the difference between recognizing how they really feel, believe, and act

and how that compares to what God actually means by what he asks of them

We are good at getting people into church and telling them what they should believe

But I’m not sure we are so good at helping them actually see and believe it themselves

Often, when we haven’t completely faced our deep seeded beliefs and have just accepted what others have told us.

We aren’t seeking… we are following and listening to whatever we are told.

Evy Mazellan put Marion IN on the Surf map!!!

You got to check this out! how legit is this! Evy Mazellan put MARION, IN on the surf map!!!
haha. He's the lifeguard the guy is talkin about in the article and i'm pretty sure Evy also took the picture.

A Foretelling moment of the future ministries colliding?

5 things ministry wise going on simultaneously

After Christmas this will be a huge one to try and learn how to manage...

· Personal Fun/UG people at volleyball

· Endowment meeting for NZ and larger church involvement

· Dewitt building meeting

· 3dYouth Band practice at church

· and I had almost thought that I could just go home and rest tonight at 5 from a long weekend :)

Lansing Fun So Far...

I don't have pictures up, but a few of the things i have done so far are a:
Bonfire
Grand Rapids
college/young adults homegroup
Ignited conference

and Random Friend Visits from:
Heidi
Kevin
Codey Holliday
Dave Hopewell

Good times

The House & Churches in Lansing

I still have a few videos and pics to go:
Service & UG video, dewitt pics/ office pic, etc.
but here is a quick look at my life!

FAITH CHURCH
My office

I have deer that always come behind the church windows

Sanctuary
This is a smaller venue where we hold the nigh service
I don't have a good picture of the sanctuary yet. this is it at night with no one in it! :)3D Youth Room...


DEWITT CAMPUS
This is the campus where we will launch in February
Parking Lot
We played volleyball here in the summer
Parking Lot from Entrance and overhang
The Sanctuary
Before the carpet was torn out.the awesome colored microphone covers and projector improvisationHall Way Before being torn down
The Afters are to come
Irony
Both these pictures so a desire to reach out although we are now going about it in a different way
Nursery extra rooms
The Parsonage Where I'm living
Kitchen Floor before
and After

Cursed to Taco Bell

You know how it talks about generational blessings and curses in the Bible, the idea where your parents good and bad decisions can continue you on generationally in their kids, grand kids, etc?

Well the only one that i think i have come across is that i think i am doomed to crave Taco bell and be perfectly content to eat Taco Bell on a daily basis because of my dad. Okay, well maybe it is my own fault and decision as well, but i'm still not sure how much of a choice i had in this matter. :)

One of THE MOST AMAZING dance moves and football catches i have ever seen.

I just rewatched this dance moment from America's best dance crew 5 and it still blows my mind every time i watch it!

I would say the same exact thing about this football catch made by prothro

Party in the AUK made New Zealand TV!!!

Apparently Party in the AUK was played on Iamtv this last week!!! how awesome is that! If you didn't know, me, John Gorveatte and a load of other friends in New Zealand including laura, stephenie, and ben made a video talking about New Zealand and other things in Auckland. You can watch it below. It made my day to hear that the video made it on to tv though! so cool.