Back In The Groove

     I'm back in New Zealand!!! I've been trying to keep up with the increase of students and as a result, student life in general. There are a lot of talented people including singers, gymnasts, and thinkers. There are a lot of Canadians this time from BC, Alberta, Manitoba, and one Saskatchewan and Yukon. Most of the America

ns are the ones that came back from last semester. Then there's 2 new dutch people and a lot of Germans. Also surprising is that there are no kiwis (New Zealanders) at all. Another surprise is an Aussie (Australian). Now when the lecturers make fun of Australians and then say, "Oops are there any Aussie's here?" We'll have whom they are looking for! 

    This week was mostly overview of life here at Capernwray. We did a Kahoots quiz to test our knowledge from mailboxes to modesty at the end of the week and everybody did a decent job. Friday night, we made our first fire of the term and sang worship songs and talked. Saturday, we went on a hike (Karangahake Gorge) then to the beach. Since it's been in the 80's - 90's all week, we were relieved when the beach day was cloudy. There were huge waves but we could still touch the ground so it was amazing to be rolled about by the foam or jump the crest only to fall a few feet down the other side when it broke. 

   I've been able to have some really amazing conversations with people. Meeting all the new people was as much a blast as I'd thought it would be. Thank you for continuing to read my blog and I love all the letters and packages! 

Bad picture but kind of shows the deep dark mining shaft we hiked into. No flashlights allowed so we could see the glow worms and experience for ourselves the darkness, puddles, and orange clay with a bunch of new friends. 

Back HOME

I'm back home now finally! I left July 12th and came home 2 hours before the 14th of December, gone a whole 154 days - 22 weeks - 5 and half months. And I'm going back again for another semester till the end of June! This next semester I've heard is quite different with about twice as many people as last semester. So far I have no idea what lecturers or teachings we'll be having - I'll see when I get there. I'm already excited to see what God will do with this next batch coming into Capernwray. As a returning student along with about 11 others, we'll be leaders in the sense we've already experienced one whole semester of God's goodness and faithfulness, learned and took to heart countless teachings of wisdom, and grew together closer to God. I can't wait to see what God will continue to do in us returning students as we adjust to these new roles of welcoming in others as well as trying to not remain inclusive in our group from last semester. It's a delicate balance but with God's timing, we should be able to adjust in a way that is empathetic and understanding towards others!

Averaging 4 months of eating oatmeal for breakfast at school, I'm very thankful for a mom who makes gluten free/egg free banana chocolate chip pancakes for me while I'm home.

Lecture Overview!

     How long has it been since I posted last? Quite a few weeks! What have I been doing in that time? Quite a few things! In lectures, we've gone over James, World Religions, Missions, Nehemiah, Doctrines, and God in Film. I'll explain each one, some more in depth than others.
     For James, we read through each chapter over the week. A note on that is that faith is proven by the trials, not produced.
      In World Religions (First half of week 6), we looked at a bunch of different cults from Jehovah Witnesses to Mormons. What I understood from those lectures was that in all religions and cults, they never know for sure if they're saved because of their work based salvation. The lecturer took us through many different beliefs and how you can counteract in particular instances with what they believe.
     Missions classes (2nd half of week 6) were interactive which I really enjoyed. In one class, we watched a video on the persecuted church. It was put together really well and took us through the lives of people around the world in persecution. Then we picked out of a box either number 1, 2, or 3. This represented the Hindu cast system. 1's were the elite. They had a special lunch with fancy dishes and they weren't allowed to work for work day. They also weren't allowed to talk to the 2's or 3's.

The 1's lunch

The 3's lunch - rice.

2's had a normal lunch and work day which was what I ended up being. 3's had to eat lunch in a separate area away from us on the ground. They only got a little of the lunch and they had to eat with their hands. Their work day was long and hard. The staff picked numbers too and it was funny to see which ones got what! At the end we debriefed it. It was interesting to see who liked what. For us 2's things were pretty normal but some of the 3's were so pumped to get to do it hard while some 1's were not feeling so great that they couldn't hang out with us. The day after, we went on a prayer walk around different sections of Cambridge. When we came in for morning tea that consists of hot chocolate, tea, and homemade cookies, we were surprised by just a huge pot of water with a ladle and plastic cups. The fridge was placed backwards against the wall so no one could get into it and all the mugs had been taken away. We drank our water while still having good discussion time around tables. That night as I was getting ready for bed, Yvonne the RA gave me a note. This is what it said:

Hello! This is Michael, I was so excited to have you show up for our gathering last week. I am excited to see you again this week to Worship our God together. Remember don't be late and don't get caught! We will be worshiping tonight at 3:30 am. in the back paddock in the trees. I will see you there! Don't bring a Bible just in case you run into the authorities!

Wow, was I excited! Wake up at 3:30 to meet in the cow field? Let's do it!
At 3:30 sharp, I met Elise and Holly and we crept down to the meeting place, over the fence that is sometimes electric to find ourselves in a circle with our fellow students huddled around candles that let off a flickering glow. Michael explained that this was how people of the persecuted church met and that since they (and we) couldn't bring Bibles, anyone that wanted to share a short message, devo, or memory verse off the top of their heads could. After we did that, there was a time of popcorn prayer for the persecuted church and then we had worship. Since we didn't have a guitar on hand and we had to keep it quiet, people suggested songs and then someone would start us off singing. Afterwards, we had a time of communion and then we scurried off to our beds at 4:45 am. only to awake at the usual time for breakfast, 7:30. Josiah and Azariah never got a note so they slept through our meeting! Our study papers for the term were due that morning at 8 am too and so there was a lot going on! Our final mission classes were two activities we did outside and there a little hard to explain so I won't but they were very insightful and we debriefed them later on. Over all those 3 days were so interesting with a different view on how we take our life so much for granted from meals being different to community and sleep schedule being radically changed. But the focus still remained the same and I think those that kept the same focus of seeing Jesus through all of it grew through this experience instead of just focusing on the negative of missions week. Personally, I loved it even though it was challenging.
     The week after, we traveled back to Nehemiah's day and age. Going through his story was very interesting, how important unity was to build the wall against the enemy which can be a lesson learned as well spiritually. The lecturer picked each of us for different jobs to build an actual wall around a picnic table. None of us knew each others jobs though except who the supervisors and engineers were. I was one of the engineers - excuse me, do I look engeneeric? No. Raphi and I had the plans but we were only allowed to talk to the supervisors who would direct the workers. It was chaos. Some students were working well but others were complaining while they did it. Others were encouraging but they didn't really work hard themselves. Still others set up useless piles of bricks and logs or got in the way of Raphi and I trying to measure the length, width, and height of the future enclosed structure. While this was going on, the family that lives on site here came out with water balloons and started chucking them at us! This was the analogy of what was happening to Nehemiah's wall. Finally, the lecturer brought us in and divulged the information that he had chosen certain groups to be distracters, complainers, lazy workers, etc. We had 10 minutes left till morning tea and he said if now we all worked together, how fast we could complete it? We finished it and then everyone stood on the wall and it held. It was left up throughout the entire week to remind us how fast it took once we were united in a single purpose.
     And that led up to this week which was doctrines and also God in Films. Doctrines was very intellectual and I felt like my brain was right on the end of the train trying to keep up with everything that was being said particularly since he'd ask questions and then we'd have to discuss what had been talked about in regards to the context before the question. At the end, we had a debate over whether justification is more important than sanctification. Then for God in Films, another lecturer went through different clips and how we engage with them and then also discussed worldview of the different films. On Thursday night, everyone went to a movie group at a house and then debriefed it on Friday along the lines of the hero's journey, truths and lies, and theological themes.
And that is the the extent as far as lecturing goes.

Meanwhile, there have been many social activities going on but I can't begin to start on them because that would take me forever to write! Maybe I'll just write about Friday, two days ago. On that day, we finished up lectures, then headed to choir after lunch (we're practicing for carols by candlelight which will happen on the 7th and 8th). After that, Caleb got baptized in the pool in front of Capernwray students and family and friends. It's been really cool to see how God's worked in his life over these past months. After that we had dinner than headed off to a kayaking adventure in the dark. The nine of us went up a river (first time kayaking in a current)! We could dimly see the forms of the other kayaks as we paddled up 20-40 minutes to where glow worms were. They covered both sides of a ravine we paddled into with some waterfalls cascading down. At the end, our guide, a very nice christian man, handed around some Whitaker's chocolate while explaining about the glow worms life cycle. Interestingly enough, he said that though they look amazing on the outside with the glow, inside is actually a mosquito like creature. It made a really cool illustration of how we are like that mosquito like creature who will never catch insects (bring others to God) without our light/glow which is Jesus. Afterwards, we paddled back and changed into dry clothes while the guide brought out hot chocolate in a thermos and a jar of strawberry marshmallows. It was such a good night! However I did find a huhu beetle crawling on my throat in which I screamed before flinging it to the ground. They can bite and they're like the size of half my hand - so nasty!

I'm going to be back in the states in less than two weeks! I'm excited to see home, family, and friends again!!!!!!!!!

Picture of the huhu beetle - not my hand, thank goodness, by the way.

Beginning the kayaking adventure.

Sunny November craziness

Doug (WA), Dylan (OR) in the background, Hannah (Germany), and me.

On top of the mountain.

Went on a spontaneous 5.5 mile hike on Friday after a week of studying 1 Corinthians!

We had Halloween here. In NZ among Christians, it takes on a darker meaning and so churches put on light parties for youth. Capernwray helped out at two different church events. The one I was stationed to was outside and it reminded me a lot of fourth of July. There were rides and bouncy houses. I manned a bean bag toss (corn hole) for four hours in the shade thankfully since it was so sunny. There was also a free sausage sizzle which when kiwis say that means a piece of bread wrapped around a sausage.

On Saturday, we had a youth event for youth groups to come to at Capernwray. There was about 45 that showed up and we played games, had worship and a message, and then supper. Now supper in NZ means dessert basically. So supper consisted of hot chocolate, cake, and cookies. We got to talk with the kids and Chelsea shared her testimony with them which was really powerful. It was a good night.

Today, I had powerhouse ministry in the church. I'm now helping teach Sunday school to 9-11 year olds. There are a lot of them and some quite rowdy (it doesn't help that they're mostly boys;) While the man in charge named Kevin was closing us in prayer, I felt that the boys would act up and sure enough I opened my eyes to see one of them jilt the door open to let an orange cat slide in. On cue, I scooped the cat up and stood holding him while Kevin continued to pray. Finally he finished and I opened my eyes to find all the kids crowding around me petting the cat I held cradled. Good listening skills kids.....

Week 5 coming up! This is going to be my busiest week so prayer for that please! We're doing evangelism, I'm presenting my oral report, we're completing a project on a person in church history, continuing work on my study paper, and going to a play (Annie) yay! Also I'm on prayer for each day which means I pray before and after each dinner meal and think up a ministry to pray for!

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. 

Vacation with God time!

  18 day break of Capernwray NZ life. This is currently our 5th day touring the North Island. Us includes me, Elise (Netherlands), Seline (Kiwi (NZ)), and Scott (USA). After we said long goodbyes to everyone on Thursday, we headed up to Auckland to get our rental car, went ice skating for an hour and than across 3 and a half hours to Coromandel. 

  

On Friday, we went to Cathedral Cove which was featured in the Prince Caspian movie. It was a 45 minute walk down to the cove and then back up but the scenery was beautiful!

Saturday, we headed to Whitianga for the day. We explored a designer's dress shop and a glass-blowing shop. 

 Sunday was my favorite day in all so far in that it was very relaxing. I got up at 6 a.m. for a swim out to an island but I didn't get even half way out before I had to turn back. The water wasn't too cold but I was afraid of sharks:) By the way, I don't think there were any in that calm bay. After that, we checked out of our little cottage on the ocean and headed to church. The worship and sermon was really good and then there was morning tea afterwards. After mingling with the good church folk of Coromandel, we hiked up to a view point of the ocean admist Kauri trees. Driving down to lake Taupo turned into the whole afternoon and we got to the house late to meet another group which we're staying with for 2 nights. The other group includes Raphael and Anna (Germany), Emily (USA), Ryan (USA), and Julianne (Canada). 

Huka falls where we went today

Today, Monday, we went to see the waterfall (Huka falls) where the hobbits went down in barrels. The water was so blue and the noise and sights majestic. 

Left to right: Elise, me, Seline, Julianne, Emily

And finally there's been plenty of time to have my quiet time with God, of prayer and Bible reading and enjoying the early morning atmosphere. We also are doing devotionals as a group every couple days and taking the time to talk about the past term together. There's lots of good opportunities in the car to talk about the lectures and what we have learned the past 10 weeks and applying now what we have listened to.