Tabernacle Time

     Hopping back from vacation and into school again was a little bit of a shocker. If I had expected things to be the same, they sure weren't. For one, Emily C., Meg, Rachelle, and Scott all headed off to Adventure Bible School (ABS). The four of them who'd we known since July were suddenly whisked off to the rugged 6 week course of caving, kayaking, rock climbing, etc. They'll be back though for the last month of this second term. Also, we got a whole lot more students who came for BML (Business Management Leadership). They're staying for the whole 10 week term. They turned out to be mostly older than us by 10 to 20 years. There are 3 from Seattle, WA area!
     We also got a whole lot more assignments added on to this term - raising the bar a little higher. I managed to do the 2 Bible studies in one week with God's perseverance and I learned a lot from them. One was my family bible study which I chose: Philippians 2:1-4 about putting others interests first and then the other was a bible study on Hebrews 10:19-25 which proved to be really interesting of Jesus being the new and living way to enter the Most Holy Place.
     That Hebrews bible study led us right into tabernacle week which Capernwray here did for the first time. Basically what happened was this: we transformed the lecture hall into the tabernacle and then led the public through each night. It was cool to see how God worked in the different stations as the public had 5 minutes of reflection and reading a booklet as they rotated each station. Each priest had a different role: One explained where they met that there would be not flash photography, etc. then the arch priest (who stood in the arch) led the group down to the lecture hall where they waited outside until another priest came and led them inside the tabernacle. There were two priests inside the tabernacle making sure everything went well and handling the communion trays (I was one of the priests inside here). Finally, the last priest would escort the group up to where tea, cookies, and debrief time was held. It was really neat to see the community come together for this event. All the openings were booked full and people were touched to be in such an austere place. At the same time this was going on, we also had lectures on Hebrews and then also teachings from a Messianic teacher named Yaakov who was the father of one of the students here. This whole week went by really fast because it was all so different from normal schedule!

Full NZ experience

Past 2 week highlights: 

1. Mt. Taranaki 
We decided to go up to Egmont national park after an afternoon of driving down the wrong scenic road (who knew there was more than one of them?) We headed NW for 2 hours from Whanganui, also spelled Wanganui - the city of one name, two spellings! By the time we got there, we had 2 hours till darkness fell so we made the most of it with picture taking and a walk to Dawson Falls which we tried but didn’t get there before darkness fell. However it was just the kind of hike I love! We were walking and jumping around wooden gravelly stairs filled to the brim in water and then traversing across jutting peaks where you look down and see spiraling death and look up to find a waterfall cascading down with the white masked mountain looming behind it. The sun set as we hurried back to our car and at the end of the hike I used my flashlight because it was so dark I couldn’t see what puddle to step in and out of! 

On the hike

Mt. Taranaki in the background

2. Browsing
Going to Paihia was a blast because although it was so touristy, it had many shops competing against each other which meant good prices. This is where I got my gifts for family! It was nice because one day we went swimming spontaneously in the bay before walking into town and exploring each place. No money or phone meant we got to see the best prices. We came back the next day with the wallets! There were carved whale bone and Pounamu which is an expensive but beautiful NZ stone. If it’s not carved, you can get it for $20 US dollars but you have to be careful it’s not mistaken for Chinese imported jade!    

3. Shopping    
At all the shops, there were beautiful Paua stones set in jewelry, merino wool shirts, possum socks (NZ possum), and more. I had one bag that I set down in the shop to look at something and forgot to pick it back up! After checking out with more things, I realized I was missing my previous purchase. Luckily, I found it after a few frantic searches. I bought way too many things for myself which felt weird but was fun including a 100% merino headband, Paua shell ring, NZ T-shirt, and a Paua treble clef necklace. We also went on a ferry across the water to Russel and went to the top of flagstaff hill. Then we went to shop some more. The only thing is that almost all stores and shops close at 4 or 5 o'clock. Weird, eh? 

Flagstaff Hill

4. Rainbow Falls  
This is a waterfall that’s about 20 minutes north of Paihia. It was in my NZ hiking guide so I thought it might be cool if we went to it. Boy, was I glad we did! We pulled into the parking lot and Scott pointed out familiar faces right away. Another group from Capernwray had just pulled up too! We hugged Stefanie (Canadian), Azariah (Kiwi), Emily (Kiwi), Jonathan (Canadian), and Josiah (USA) as they piled out of the car then proceeded to spend the next 2 hours with them at the falls! It was a
beautiful day and the sun shone on the slippery rocks that led to a cavern behind the waterfall. I chose to not risk falling into the water while braving that wet misty ledge but instead I promised myself if we came back, I would swim the length instead.
We came back the next day. With the group we met up with in Taupo from my previous post! This time I wore my swimsuit and got thoroughly wet standing under/next to the waterfall and looking straight up to watch it plummet over the overhang. After that, we all went to a chocolate factory together and ate toffee samples and watched the workers make delicious delectables before saying goodbye. 

You can kinda see the black emptiness behind the waterfall.

From left: Emily, Hannah, me, Ryan, Julianne, Scott.

5. Matapouri Bay   
We had left this part of the trip open in which to decide what to do. Since we were in Paihia, we could either go up 3 hours to the top of the north island - cape Reinga where the two oceans meet or we could head down an hour to Whangarei which would be closer to our final destination, Auckland. We decided to go to Whangarei since this was where I did my ministry week. I knew of Matapouri Bay from our day off at the beach and so we drove the 40 minutes to there on Friday. Last time, I hadn’t checked out the mermaid pools but had just read on the beach while wishing for a swimsuit. This time however, I was prepared. And oh was it a gorgeous 65 degree spring day. We climbed up and down the rocks and once no one was there in the pools, we swam and got pounded by the high tide waves that were roaring in. One time, I poked my head over the rocks only to get slapped right in the face by a dousing wave! It was so fun in fact that we decided to do it again the next day only this time earlier so that we could get the full experience at low tide and go further down the coast exploring. Well we counted in the low tide but we didn’t count on the NZ fur seal. As we headed around a bend, there was a seal! After taking pictures, we kept going only to find our way blocked by a second seal - this one, the male. The ferocious bulky beast dared to hiss at us and block the way to continuing around the coast. And there looked to be a cave just past him too. So bad! We spent 5 hours there that day rock climbing, exploring, swimming and taking pictures around the coast. 

The water was so blue!

The first fur seal

The troublesome seal that blocked the way!

We came around the coast on the right side of the picture. Literally clinging to the rock face.

The Mermaid Pool at low tide on the second day.

6. The Last Day 
The last day was Sunday so we got to visit Clark Road Chapel where I did my ministry week at. Then we drove down to Auckland . We knocked and knocked at the house we thought we had scheduled a place at not realizing we were two doors off from the right address! 

7. Day of Departure
This was the day to leave. I was a little nervous because we always seemed to get out of the house later than planned but we ended up leaving only 15 minutes later. However it was enough to make us miss our bus! Here’s the lowdown: we went for gas at 9:45, got lost and ended up at a different gas station than we wanted which was fine. But by then it was 10:15 and we were supposed to give the rental car back at 10. Elise dropped Scott and I off at an area around the bus station because we couldn’t actually find the precise location. It was 10:45 and Elise still had to drop the rental car off and walk to the bus station - walking distance, 20 minutes. She ran it in 12 minutes but it was too late . The bus driver made us take everything off of the bus because Elise hadn’t come yet and then he drove away:( We purchased more tickets for an hour and a half later that were also more expensive. Why?! I prayed that there would be at least something good that came out of this and guess what happened? We ended up sitting next to two Capernwray students from Canada who were going on the ABS (Adventure Bible School) program - Carter and John. Is that coincidental or what?! 

The sky tower in Auckland where our bus station was.

All in all, the 18 days were good. It was cool to visit all these beautiful scenic places in New Zealand and learn how to be initiative with finding places to stay and learning that I actually can cook contrary to Mom's belief. 

Prayer for:
This second term as Capernwray did raise the bar higher this term as to study papers, oral report, Bible studies, a devo, etc.
Prayer for using my time wisely as well in all that I get to do.