Hey guys,
I am back. I flew back with no problems (unlike my trip down) and I have just been relaxing trying to get used to the new time. I get tired about 6 oclock at night as it is since that would be around 1 am Auckland time. I will post again once I have had a bit more time to reflect on my mission effort this summer and how it has effected me, because there is no doubt that it has effected me. I am working on a video to be shown at Park Plaza and Southside (the two churches that supported me through prayer and finances) and if i can figure out how I will post the video online so you all can see. Thank you all for your support, know that this summer could not have happened had it not been for your support.
Ryan
ps. I would appreciate it if you would pray for guidance for me. Its coming to a time when I am going to need to decide where I am going after I graduate (i do plan on doing missions as of right now). Thank you and God Bless
Friday, August 10, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Mens Challenge
So I am now realizing that my time overseas may have impaired my vocabulary a bit...because in the last post I of course meant PRE-Event instead of POST event. My bad. The real POST event analysis is this. It was awesome. We had a lot of great discussions with about 60 people in attendance with over 9 churches of christs from around New Zealand involved. We talked about the future of the church in New Zealand, how best to maintain unity, and what kind of journey we as men are on together. I was able to meet with people from the Bible College in Tauranga as well as their professors which was really cool because it meant that there were people my age there. I played my first real game of rugby in which i scored a tri (essentially a touchdown) though it took me a while to remember that when someone has the ball its better to run behind them than to run in front of them like in football. I also got to go on a memorable hike in the foothills of Mt. Ruapeho (the mountain they used for Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies. It was long, cold, and muddy but it was also a lot of fun and a bonding experience for the 6 of us guys who went. I am packing up right now because I am about to take a trip down to the south island to see what it has to offer. I fly down tommorow and I will proceed to bus my way back up to Auckland stopping at a few of the major cities to spend the day. I ask for your prayers for my safety as I will be traveling alone and I also apologise because I doubt I will be able to update until this next Monday or Tuesday (your Sunday or Monday). Then I will be flying back to the good ole U.S.A.
I must insist that there not be a parade, I know that you guys were thinking about it but I really have to put my foot down. No parade (I will however except various gifts IF you feel so inclined to give). Love you guys and thanks again for your prayers and your thoughts!
Ryan
I must insist that there not be a parade, I know that you guys were thinking about it but I really have to put my foot down. No parade (I will however except various gifts IF you feel so inclined to give). Love you guys and thanks again for your prayers and your thoughts!
Ryan
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Mens Challenge-Post Event Report
Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing well. Its about 745 in the morning here and we are about to head out to Men's Challenge. I am kind of excited except for the fact that I am feeling rather sick. Last night was not a good night, so I ask that you pray for my health and that I have enough energy to finish out these next two weeks without getting sick. I am really going to miss it here when I leave. I have grown to love so many people here and I cannot tell you what a blessing it has been to be here. I have made friends this summer that I will have for the rest of my life and I praise God for that. I just can't thank all you enough for your prayers and your interest in what the Lord is doing here. I just pray that He blesses you for it. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week (where it is warm) and I will enjoy the freezing winter at Lake Taupo Lodge.
Ryan
ps. Isn't it amazing and awesome that God is faithful even when we slip and fall? I just can't seem to get over that lately.
Ryan
ps. Isn't it amazing and awesome that God is faithful even when we slip and fall? I just can't seem to get over that lately.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Basketball Games, Bible Studies, and Rugby
Hey Guys! I have had a busy busy week and I am sorry that I have not been more regular in my updates. We did bible in school yesterday and then went to some of the youth's basketball game in which they dominated. Last night we saw the new harry potter movie which only gets me more excited about the 7th book coming out this weekend. I won't have much time to read the book though because this weekend is going to be busy! I am going to Bible Study tonight after spending the day downtown with on of our young adults and then tommorow we are going to be going to the All-Blacks versus the Wallabies in the Tri-Nations Championship (Rugby). Its going to be pretty awesome because there are about 30 of the church going with me. Then on Sunday we have church then I am going to go to Snow Planet with this youth group guy named Lindsey, a guy who I have been able to really establish a relationship with, and this is going to kind of be our last hoorah before I go back. I am realizing how much I am going to miss everyone here and how fast 9 weeks can go by. All I can do is focus on the next week and a half, try to make the best of it and trust that God is going to do bigger things than I can do on my own. If you would please be praying for our Men's Challenge (a retreat for men) that is coming up this week I would appreciate it, I think it is going to be awesome with over 5 churches getting involved. Thank you all again and I will try to update again before I leave for Men's Retreat!
Ryan
ps. Thanks for your comments!
Ryan
ps. Thanks for your comments!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Holidays
Hey guys!
Here in New Zealand it is the Winter Holiday and so we have been able to hang out alot with the youth. It has been crazy busy here because we have had something to do each day with either the youth or the young adults. We met with a local campus minister who talked about getting Troy (the youth minister here) an associate chaplaincy for the campus so that he can be on campus whenever and he'll even have an office on campus to use. Tonight we have young adults bible study, we are studying through the book of John right now and so far we have had a pretty good turnout. Lock-in was a big success, the cookout went great with about 40-50 people coming for the food and festivities. We had American Jeopardy, a lemon eating contest, egg tossing, and played Chubby Bunny. It was pretty awesome. After the cookout we had about 15 youth stay behind to play games, sing karaoke (yes I did sing; Aerosmith I don't wanna miss a thing), and watch movies. It was a lot of fun and we even had 3 or 4 visitors. This coming Friday night we will have our bible study which I will be leading, so please pray that God will speak through me there. Afterwards I am going to be taking a group of youth to go to another congregations lock-in. It is great that we can get the youth from these congregations together and develop relationships that go beyond specific church fellowships. I hope everyone is doing well and I want to thank you once again for your support because without it I would not be here doing my best to help out and plant seeds.
Ryan
In response to Amy's comment:
-I am having an awesome summer! I am glad that you got back safely though I am sorry that you have a lot going on, I would like to hear about it sometime, perhaps grab a spot of tea (no worries right?). I am coming back to the states on August 7th, and though I will be sad to leave here it will be nice to get to see everyone again. Maybe on my way back to Abilene I can swing by OC and we can grab lunch. I have not had Kiwi Burger, I might just have to try one of those before I leave. I am addicted to the frank rolls at the local bakery which are absolutely delicious. I am going to miss have a bakery on every corner when I get back to the U.S. And don't you worry about us cheerings on the All Blacks! We are definately going to see them put a level of hurt that has yet to be seen on those Aussie Wallabies. Have a great summer and I will talk to you soon!
ps. Do you have skype? I just downloaded it and its a great way to talk back and forth.
Here in New Zealand it is the Winter Holiday and so we have been able to hang out alot with the youth. It has been crazy busy here because we have had something to do each day with either the youth or the young adults. We met with a local campus minister who talked about getting Troy (the youth minister here) an associate chaplaincy for the campus so that he can be on campus whenever and he'll even have an office on campus to use. Tonight we have young adults bible study, we are studying through the book of John right now and so far we have had a pretty good turnout. Lock-in was a big success, the cookout went great with about 40-50 people coming for the food and festivities. We had American Jeopardy, a lemon eating contest, egg tossing, and played Chubby Bunny. It was pretty awesome. After the cookout we had about 15 youth stay behind to play games, sing karaoke (yes I did sing; Aerosmith I don't wanna miss a thing), and watch movies. It was a lot of fun and we even had 3 or 4 visitors. This coming Friday night we will have our bible study which I will be leading, so please pray that God will speak through me there. Afterwards I am going to be taking a group of youth to go to another congregations lock-in. It is great that we can get the youth from these congregations together and develop relationships that go beyond specific church fellowships. I hope everyone is doing well and I want to thank you once again for your support because without it I would not be here doing my best to help out and plant seeds.
Ryan
In response to Amy's comment:
-I am having an awesome summer! I am glad that you got back safely though I am sorry that you have a lot going on, I would like to hear about it sometime, perhaps grab a spot of tea (no worries right?). I am coming back to the states on August 7th, and though I will be sad to leave here it will be nice to get to see everyone again. Maybe on my way back to Abilene I can swing by OC and we can grab lunch. I have not had Kiwi Burger, I might just have to try one of those before I leave. I am addicted to the frank rolls at the local bakery which are absolutely delicious. I am going to miss have a bakery on every corner when I get back to the U.S. And don't you worry about us cheerings on the All Blacks! We are definately going to see them put a level of hurt that has yet to be seen on those Aussie Wallabies. Have a great summer and I will talk to you soon!
ps. Do you have skype? I just downloaded it and its a great way to talk back and forth.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Almost a Month
Hello everyone!
I can't believe it but in a few days I will have been here a month! Time has flown by and I am already thinking about all the new friendships I have made and how its going to be hard to leave in August. I hope everyone is doing well. Things are exciting here, all the kids are on holiday and so there is no school. Myself, Daniel, and Callie are busy planning the lock-in for this coming Wednesday night. It is going to be to celebrate the 4th of July and its going to be a blast! Please pray that we have good attendance and that some other churches youth groups will be able to come. We had an excitig meeting this morning, after the shepherds of the church met and discussed what direction they wanted the church to go in they asked us interns and Troy (one of the missionaries here) to start planning for a campus ministry. We are looking at Auckland University which has a student body of 40,000 students. This summer has the potential to be the beginning of a big ministry towards those students. There are some young adults in the church who go there but what they say is that the university is very anti-Christian and very anti-American, which is two strikes against us. Unfortunately they already have a "Christian" group on campus who have misrepresented Christ to these people. They are very hard and condemning even tricking students into giving phone numbers and emails so that they can harass them. At least this is according to one of the young adults who currently attends. So starting a ministry here is not going to be an easy task but I do believe that God will bless it. Well I better get back to work planning the lock-in but I hope you all are well and having a great summer!
ps. I will change my profile to where anyone can comment, i did not realize I had it set so that only bloggers could comment. My bad!
Robert,
Transformers: This movie was exactly what I expected and I loved it. Shia Lebouff did a great job and I have no doubt now that he can handle a role in the 4th installment of Indiana Jones. The special effects are mindnumbingly awesome! The battles are epic, Optimus Prime is awesome and the whole movie is definately worth seeing. Definately has my recommendation!
I can't believe it but in a few days I will have been here a month! Time has flown by and I am already thinking about all the new friendships I have made and how its going to be hard to leave in August. I hope everyone is doing well. Things are exciting here, all the kids are on holiday and so there is no school. Myself, Daniel, and Callie are busy planning the lock-in for this coming Wednesday night. It is going to be to celebrate the 4th of July and its going to be a blast! Please pray that we have good attendance and that some other churches youth groups will be able to come. We had an excitig meeting this morning, after the shepherds of the church met and discussed what direction they wanted the church to go in they asked us interns and Troy (one of the missionaries here) to start planning for a campus ministry. We are looking at Auckland University which has a student body of 40,000 students. This summer has the potential to be the beginning of a big ministry towards those students. There are some young adults in the church who go there but what they say is that the university is very anti-Christian and very anti-American, which is two strikes against us. Unfortunately they already have a "Christian" group on campus who have misrepresented Christ to these people. They are very hard and condemning even tricking students into giving phone numbers and emails so that they can harass them. At least this is according to one of the young adults who currently attends. So starting a ministry here is not going to be an easy task but I do believe that God will bless it. Well I better get back to work planning the lock-in but I hope you all are well and having a great summer!
ps. I will change my profile to where anyone can comment, i did not realize I had it set so that only bloggers could comment. My bad!
Robert,
Transformers: This movie was exactly what I expected and I loved it. Shia Lebouff did a great job and I have no doubt now that he can handle a role in the 4th installment of Indiana Jones. The special effects are mindnumbingly awesome! The battles are epic, Optimus Prime is awesome and the whole movie is definately worth seeing. Definately has my recommendation!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
3 Weeks
Hello Everybody!
I hope all of you are doing well! I just thought I would give you guys a quick update on how things are going here. We just had the Amazing Race (a photo scavenger hunt around Auckland) that was lot of fun and was a big success at bringing together the church and we had 4 or 5 visitors and even more at the cook out afterwards. All in all it was a big success. My team placed 4th out of 9 teams which considering that we were made up completely of Americans (who have been in New Zealand for no more than 4 months) is pretty good if I do say so myself. Right now we are preparng for our youth lock in that is coming up one week from today. The next two weeks we have are going to be really fun and really busy because the youth will be out of school for their winter holiday and so we can hang out with them more. We have bible in schools tommorow and then we stay after to volunteer with some teacher, this is a very tiring day for us interns (see my past post thanking teachers who teach those kids each and every day) so tommorow will be quite full. My laptop should be coming in tommorow or Friday which is good because I have homework due on the 30th that I should probably start...Other than that things are going great and I am very excited about the next 5 weeks being here!
Ryan
To Robert: Movie Reviews since I have been here
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer - This movie is light, corny, and entertaining. Really cool special effects and pretty fun fights scenes. This might be one you should wait til video to see. I do not think it was as good as the first one.
Oceans Thirteen: This is one that I really did not know what to expect. After a stellar first movie Oceans Twelve was a huge disappointment. After seeing this movie I would recommend seeing it. I enjoyed it, much like the first one, and it is good enough to almost redeem the horrible 2nd film in this series.
Bridge to Terebithia: This was a surprise for me because I had never really planned on seeing it BUT saying that it might just be the best movie that I have seen this summer. I highly recommend seeing it and its one you can (and should) watch with Madison and Mallory, I think they would enjoy it as well.
*I will continue to review movies as I see them with the big one that is coming up being Transformers (a guys night here that we have already planned)
Ryan
I hope all of you are doing well! I just thought I would give you guys a quick update on how things are going here. We just had the Amazing Race (a photo scavenger hunt around Auckland) that was lot of fun and was a big success at bringing together the church and we had 4 or 5 visitors and even more at the cook out afterwards. All in all it was a big success. My team placed 4th out of 9 teams which considering that we were made up completely of Americans (who have been in New Zealand for no more than 4 months) is pretty good if I do say so myself. Right now we are preparng for our youth lock in that is coming up one week from today. The next two weeks we have are going to be really fun and really busy because the youth will be out of school for their winter holiday and so we can hang out with them more. We have bible in schools tommorow and then we stay after to volunteer with some teacher, this is a very tiring day for us interns (see my past post thanking teachers who teach those kids each and every day) so tommorow will be quite full. My laptop should be coming in tommorow or Friday which is good because I have homework due on the 30th that I should probably start...Other than that things are going great and I am very excited about the next 5 weeks being here!
Ryan
To Robert: Movie Reviews since I have been here
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer - This movie is light, corny, and entertaining. Really cool special effects and pretty fun fights scenes. This might be one you should wait til video to see. I do not think it was as good as the first one.
Oceans Thirteen: This is one that I really did not know what to expect. After a stellar first movie Oceans Twelve was a huge disappointment. After seeing this movie I would recommend seeing it. I enjoyed it, much like the first one, and it is good enough to almost redeem the horrible 2nd film in this series.
Bridge to Terebithia: This was a surprise for me because I had never really planned on seeing it BUT saying that it might just be the best movie that I have seen this summer. I highly recommend seeing it and its one you can (and should) watch with Madison and Mallory, I think they would enjoy it as well.
*I will continue to review movies as I see them with the big one that is coming up being Transformers (a guys night here that we have already planned)
Ryan
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Pace
Hey guys!
Well its 445 pm here and we just got done helping out at a local school. I have only done it twice so far but I am thankful for teachers after each time. I just don't have the patience/energy/stamina/take your pick that it needs to do that. So big shout out to all the teachers out there. Thank you. Things are going great here. Catacombs was a big success and my lesson went over well (at least I hope so, no rocks were thrown at least). We had a young adults game night on Wednesday that was a lot of fun though we did not have the best attendance. The young adult group here is struggling to keep up attendance but I think it will pick up over time. Our next big event is the AMAZING RACE that is going on Saturday. It will be an interesting photo scavenger hunt all around Auckland. I am excited and I will try to post some photos of it on here afterwards. I also am meeting up one on one with some of the youth tommorow and so I am looking forward to that. I hope everything is going well with you guys and I love you all!
Ryan
ps. I am getting my laptop next week thanks to Hugh Cooper (a huge thanks!) and so I am pretty excited about that.
Well its 445 pm here and we just got done helping out at a local school. I have only done it twice so far but I am thankful for teachers after each time. I just don't have the patience/energy/stamina/take your pick that it needs to do that. So big shout out to all the teachers out there. Thank you. Things are going great here. Catacombs was a big success and my lesson went over well (at least I hope so, no rocks were thrown at least). We had a young adults game night on Wednesday that was a lot of fun though we did not have the best attendance. The young adult group here is struggling to keep up attendance but I think it will pick up over time. Our next big event is the AMAZING RACE that is going on Saturday. It will be an interesting photo scavenger hunt all around Auckland. I am excited and I will try to post some photos of it on here afterwards. I also am meeting up one on one with some of the youth tommorow and so I am looking forward to that. I hope everything is going well with you guys and I love you all!
Ryan
ps. I am getting my laptop next week thanks to Hugh Cooper (a huge thanks!) and so I am pretty excited about that.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Getting Started
Hello friends!
Things are going well here in Auckland, right now I am taking a break from painting the youth room in order to update you guys on what has been going on. These past 4 days have been pretty crazy. Wednesday we prepared for Catacombs that happened last night (more on that in a second) and then had a young adults night. Thursday we did something called Bible in Schools, which means we go into a local primary school (k-5th) and teach a state approved lesson on the bible. Then we stayed and helped out around the school which gave me a new found respect for teachers. I was pretty wiped out after a day dealing with those kids. On Friday we set up for Catacombs which was a bible study that we held underneath someones house. This was to get the youth thinking about the church that has been and continues to be persecuted. It was pretty cool and we had a really good turn out. Today we are painting the youth room and then tonight we have a guys night where we are going to see Oceans Thirteen. Tommorow morning I am teaching the lesson to the youth and so please pray that it goes well. Hope all of you are enjoying your summer (its in the 40's here) and I will try to update sometime early next week. God Bless!
Ryan
ps. I hate driving here. It's is not easy at all switching to the other side of the road, pray for safety...
Things are going well here in Auckland, right now I am taking a break from painting the youth room in order to update you guys on what has been going on. These past 4 days have been pretty crazy. Wednesday we prepared for Catacombs that happened last night (more on that in a second) and then had a young adults night. Thursday we did something called Bible in Schools, which means we go into a local primary school (k-5th) and teach a state approved lesson on the bible. Then we stayed and helped out around the school which gave me a new found respect for teachers. I was pretty wiped out after a day dealing with those kids. On Friday we set up for Catacombs which was a bible study that we held underneath someones house. This was to get the youth thinking about the church that has been and continues to be persecuted. It was pretty cool and we had a really good turn out. Today we are painting the youth room and then tonight we have a guys night where we are going to see Oceans Thirteen. Tommorow morning I am teaching the lesson to the youth and so please pray that it goes well. Hope all of you are enjoying your summer (its in the 40's here) and I will try to update sometime early next week. God Bless!
Ryan
ps. I hate driving here. It's is not easy at all switching to the other side of the road, pray for safety...
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Got my luggage
Greetings from down under,
I have my luggage! 4 days after I arrived I have my luggage. I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have my own stuff. Right now I am up at the church and we are about to discuss everything that is going on this week. Mainly we are getting ready to do a special youth event this Friday that should be really cool. It is a secret so I will let you know how it goes afterwards just in case a youth member happens to stumble across this site between now and Friday. I hope everything is going well with you guys! Love you guys and have an awesome week!
I have my luggage! 4 days after I arrived I have my luggage. I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have my own stuff. Right now I am up at the church and we are about to discuss everything that is going on this week. Mainly we are getting ready to do a special youth event this Friday that should be really cool. It is a secret so I will let you know how it goes afterwards just in case a youth member happens to stumble across this site between now and Friday. I hope everything is going well with you guys! Love you guys and have an awesome week!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Auckland
HELLO ALL!
I am in finally in New Zealand and at a computer. It has been a crazy couple of days. Since I have been here I have gone to a bible study, visited all around Northshore, had chicken and chips, went to the hot pools, and had a meat pie for lunch. I am about to go to a youth bible study tonight at the Robertsons which will be fun and this will be the first time we get to meet up with the youth. We are all pretty tired trying to make the time transition but it has only been two days so it won't be long before we are adjusted. I hope everything is going well with all of you, I will try to make a more detailed post after this weekend.
Ryan
I am in finally in New Zealand and at a computer. It has been a crazy couple of days. Since I have been here I have gone to a bible study, visited all around Northshore, had chicken and chips, went to the hot pools, and had a meat pie for lunch. I am about to go to a youth bible study tonight at the Robertsons which will be fun and this will be the first time we get to meet up with the youth. We are all pretty tired trying to make the time transition but it has only been two days so it won't be long before we are adjusted. I hope everything is going well with all of you, I will try to make a more detailed post after this weekend.
Ryan
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
A long journey
Greetings from Sydney...thats right I am currently in Sydney, Australia. Some of you might be thinking...hmmm I thought he was going to Auckland....well those of you who are thinking that, you are correct. After a very long day of canceled flights, delayed take offs, and many calls to American Airlines I was able to get a flight to LAX and then to Sydney. I have a 3 hour layover and then I finally fly to Auckland. Funny thing about cancelled flights and things of that nature is that your luggage tends to disappear so it looks like I will be roughing it for a few days until they find my luggage, who knows? Maybe I can get it in a day. I am using a free terminal at Sydney and so I thought I would update you guys on my status. More from me when I get to New Zealand! Much Love All!
Ryan
Ryan
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Answered Prayers
Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing well. Right now I am taking a break from the take home test that I have that is do tommorow night for Senor Green class to update you guys on whats going on. I received my passport yesterday (Friday)thanks to my good friend Cara Williams (I owe her BIG) who Fed-Ex'ed it to me when it was sent to Abilene. Thanks again Cara! So that took a lot off my mind, but now the daunting journey ahead of me is all the more real. I have about 30-35 hours of travel ahead of me, including a 5 1/2 hour layover in L.A. I ask you to pray that we have safe and easy travel this Monday through your Tues our Wed. Thank you all again and I will update when I get to Auckland! God bless!
Ryan
Ryan
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
First Post
Hey Guys! I just thought I would let you know that this is going to me my blog for the summer. For those of you who don't know or perhaps have forgotten, I am going to Auckland, New Zealand for the summer to work with the Northshore Church. I am going to try and update this blog with what is going on with me and with our ministry this summer so that you can be informed on what is going on and what you can pray for. Thank you all for your friendships and your prayers, I truly believe that without prayers we cannot be successful this summer. Thanks again and i'll blog again once I am there!
Prayer Requests
-Still waiting on my passport
-Safe travel (we leave June 4th)
-That God will prepare our hearts(I am going with two others)to serve this summer
Prayer Requests
-Still waiting on my passport
-Safe travel (we leave June 4th)
-That God will prepare our hearts(I am going with two others)to serve this summer
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