First Day Photos

Hostel cat. hehe
sideways, but the beautiful garden outside the hostel

front door view

hostel The Brown Kiwi

my Ponsonby walk

First view of ocean while walking

Sky Tower

I totally made it to New Zealand! :) Amen! Yay!

So I took lot's of photos already and ran the battery dead on my camera! Unfortunately, I packed only the charger and not the cord to plug the charger into an outlet with! :( I have to wait to get either get in the mail or figure something else out!

In the meantime, I do have some photos transfered onto my comp from my first day in Auckland! I was beat! But I managed to get out for a lovely walk after a few hours of SLEEPING.

I had no idea where I was staying when I first arrived, as my plans fell through. So after a few phone calls, I found a backpackers with availability! It was in the Ponsonby area of Auckland! So nice-- outside of the main hustle and bustle of everything, yet still within walking distance!

These photos are of the Ponsonby area and the hostle! A lovely young man GAVE ME his NZ outlet the day I arrived because he was leaving back home!

I spend two nights in Auckland. The second day I went to an island called Waihiki Island and I actually visited two vineyard estates and tasted a little bit- one flight was for free with a voucher I received when walking onto the ferry and the other was a fee per wine, so I only tasted one! Then I dipped in the ocean at a bay and walked back to the ferry stop to go back to Auckland! I had a hotdog for dinner from a vendor that night!

I arrived on the Great Barrier Island yesterday afternoon via VERY LITTLE aircraft! haha I had to wear earphones, and actually had the whole plan to myself and the pilots. It was beautiful over the ocean and I overlooked the blue water, birds, clouds, sailboats, and islands! Gorgeous day!

Arriving here was beautiful and still. It is very quiet here right now as Orama just said goodbye to some guests and currently have only two ladies staying on the property right now to do some treking.

I met my roommates and fellow volunteers last night and we had dinner together at a staff member's home-- he caught a lot of crey fish and knows how to cook because he was a chef in Auckland for a time. So I really enjoyed that meal and my time getting to know the other volunteers!

There are four other volunteers right now, although one girl, Pauline from Switzerland, is leaving on Thursday! :( She is so fun and helpful and funny! I'm sad to see her go already just after getting to know her. I shadowed under her today for my first day of work duties and will again tomorrow! Then Wednesday we all have off. I'm actually going to a dentist on Wed! Please pray for my teeth! I'm having some pain and need help. Anyway, it is a very interesting dynamic! The volunteers are not believers, they don't know Jesus yet. They came with an organization from their countries (Taiwan, Japan, Germany and Switzerland are represented right now!) So I wasn't expecting that, but I am so excited for God's plans anyways! They have been here for many months!

I spent some time in the prayer chapel last night and visited for some prayer again tonight. It has been being built over the last month and a half and is nearly finished. I am so excited for God's plans with that!! I am also really looking forward to the soon-to-arrive worshipers. God brought in another applicant last night, which makes 8 students. They really are hoping for more before finding out if the school will officially go-- please pray for more applicants! Amen. :)

I feel so blessed at God's faithfulness. This place so far has really allowed Him to meet me in the ways I expected, hoped, visioned, and anticipated for these past two and half years since praying to come back. I felt God wanted me to pray and just be with Him! And that is happening, and there have been great opportunities in the stillness and quiet so far! Woo hoo!

I am fighting off moths right now since the lights went out (we're on generators) and the only light is my laptop! So I'm going to go to bed now! I miss my family and my fam and church friends have been very close to me in thought and prayer already. Thank you for covering me with prayer and support. Thank you for reading!

Goodbye! :)

I'm falling asleep as I try to blog this! haha so this will be quick, but I wanted to get at least some photos up from yesterday and today.

Yesterday, or however many hours ago it's been now, the Lord sent me out in His favor and love. I felt so persued. Loved. Romanced. Thank you Lord! The story is neat. The shuttle service simply ran out of shuttles, so they sent me a white limo at no additional cost. That, with the special Word that a man heard for me at my friends' church seminar, "Come forward woman of God, to the frontlines. Today a new season starts," (he didn't know my plans to leave the country that night to embark on this journey) and the love of my dear friends and Lizzy's sweet goodbye overwhelmed me. In a good way. I am so happy! And God is so crazy. So beautiful and good!

New Zealand Sojourn

Hey Friends. I'm not sure that anyone actually reads this or follows this, but if you do, I just wanted let people know that I am about to venture on a journey. I'm going to a place called Orama, which is on an island called The Great Barrier Island, and it's in the country of New Zealand.

New Zealand is a gorgeous land. I spent three months there in 2007 and had the great blessing and privelige of journeying through much of the country. While on my missions school, we spent a few days in Orama. It was gorgeous, and the spirit of prayer was greatly encouraged.

Orama itself is remote and beautifully quiet. Facilities are set on a small bay. A sweet prayer chapel has just been built in the last month, where I hope to spend very still time soaking, hearing His voice and talking to my God. That is why I am going.

Lord birthed this desire in me shortly after returning to the States 2 and a half years ago. He has gradually developed and secured these visions into plans and a specifice program to participate in. It's simply the "Volunteer Program." haha

Orama is a Christian Centre, and staff live in community. There is a central kitchen. Orama runs on generators, as there is no electricity. The volunteer program has participants work eight hours a day around the facilities helping to cook, clean, do laundry, work the grounds, and spend time contributing to the prayer ministry. This is what I feel most blessed about. These hours working pay our cost of living to stay there. Thus, i pay no money other than that which gets me there.

I look forward to the walks God will lead me on in the beautiful trails that surround, and I also look forward to communing with Him all day long, in prayer, stillness, and in work. Not that I'm perfect, but that I wish to deepen this relationship with Him. Pray for me.

There will also be a worship school going on while I'm there. The first one for Orama, called "In Flame Worship School." With this also going on, I hope to meet others with a strong love for God, and to fellowship. I hope to learn from these gifted people, and to bless each other.

After my time in Orama, I hope to spend a few weeks traveling the South and North Island. I hope to visit Milford Sound close to Queenstown, work my way up. I hope to take a train ride from Greymouth to Christchurch (ChCh), and hopefully visit some friends in ChCh. I would like to take the InterIslander from Picton to Wellington, and spend a couple of days there to see museums and cultural hot spots. Beyond that, we'll see.

Thanks for following.

Lizzy's Birthday 1/20/10

Above photo by Lizzy

Above photo by Kelly Phillips