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
Monday, July 30, 2007
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!
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