New Zealand Adventures – Week One!

Jon, Macie and I have gone off to New Zealand for 7 weeks!  I am feeling so blessed to be able to be along on this one with Jon.  I am sure Macie is, too, but I don’t think she know we are so far away.  She might not understand why it is not winter anymore, t

hough.  Anyway, we are here working with a Kiwi based adventure camping ministry called Wide Open Spaces.  They get to take week long backpacking (tramping here in New Zealand) trips with teenagers.  Amy and Blair Steven have started it, and are now in there 2nd year.  Jon and the Nexus crew came down here last year to help with guide training and we are here again, along with Kathleen, to do it a second year!

New Zealand has been great so far!  We have gotten our selves just about settled in for our trip here.  Last Friday (Thursday for you in the States) we arrived and headed straight to the batch (summer house) for Counseling and Content training for WOS guides.  It was a fun filled/info filled weekend!  Lots of story telling, discussing, laughing, learning and eating.  We felt so blessed to be able to be a part of this time with the Kiwi guides.  Not only were we able to impart our bits of wisdom of counseling skills and trail content to our new (and some old) friends, but we feel as though we are coming away with just as much new information as we were able to give.

Since we have been back we have just been settling in at the Steven’s place.  Macie is loving her new friend Thomas.  We’ve gotten out and about around town here in Rolleston and a little bit in Christchurch.  Today we went to the ocean beach.  It has been a little bit cold so far.  Hoping for summer weather to warm up soon. We have been

getting good rest, which is good for Jon since he is going on the trail tomorrow for trail training with the guides.  Kathleen was planning on going, too but has come down with a nasty cough.  Pray that she gets well and that trail training can still go off without anymore hitches.  New Zealand can be pretty wet!  But it is SO gorgeous here, so even thought the tramps can be pretty hard core God can do so much for those journeying through his wilderness.  It will be great for the guides to get the experience this week together and be pumped and ready to take the journey with kids after Christmas!

Stay tuned…more adventures to come