Just a Small Prayer note...
Ok so me and a few girls from my room are in some need of prayer. When we got here the financial costs for our DTS stage was higher than was first expected, so now getting enough funds for our Out Reach stage is quite a bit tighter. If you could pray for Malory, Laurie, and I that we would have peace about this and know its in Gods hands, as well as for the right amount of funds to come in according to where God intends us to go. Thank you so much for all your support :)
Blessings
April
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Penguins in New Zealand?
Yes Mom, there are penguins in New Zealand I looked it up; apparently there are 6 different kinds of penguins so tells me the trusty internet. With the weather being how it has been these last few days I definitely do believe there are Penguins! It snowed here yesterday, not enough to leave anything on the ground but its still bitter cold. I hear that at home is nicer than it is here... Oh well.
Friday afternoon the whole group of us headed in to Christchurch to do Friday night Evangelism! But of course the first Friday night is different the then regular routine... I was so excited to go! When we got there we got sent out into teams of 4 to do a scavenger hunt around the city. It was such a fun time, it really helped us get to know our way around the city, and come closer to the people in our groups. We had to do a bunch of crazy stuff, Like find someone to sing Jesus loves me and record it... So April being the most brightest crayon in the box decided to ask everyone on the street that was coming our way... Well unfortunately I went up to this sweet little grandpa guy and asked him if he knew the song Jesus Loves Me.... and well this is what he said... " I'm sorry darling, but I'm completely deaf, were you asking me for directions?" Well I was completely stunned and felt absolutely terrible and all I could say was "I'm so sorry!!" meanwhile the rest of my team is trying so hard not to laugh. When we came back to the base a bunch of the guys were playing some instruments in the classroom, and of course me being me who loves music decided to go check it out... Well what went from a random jam session, ended up to be a few hours of worship! It was so awesome, and such an amazing time! Friday night= Success!!
Saturday we were suppose to go on our trip to Castle Hill which is on a mountain right behind our base, AND is where part of Narnia was filmed. But unfortunately it was a rainy day that was suppose to snow so the trip got canceled. So Mary-Loyd, Ryan, Issac, Phillip, Wyatt, Johnathan, Luca, and myself grabbed some instruments and decided to go to Christchurch to play on the streets! It was a awesome time! We played with a random boy and helped him make some money, and then we headed to the Botanical Gardens and played music in the most awesome tree I've ever seen. Picture this... a gigantic ever green but on the inside it was like a huge tent! Yup it was the coolest spot! And then some Asians really liked our music, so they came into the tree recorded us a bit then started taking their pictures in front of us... Kinda like how people do at Disneyland with the characters. so Saturday= Success!
So my weekend has been pretty awesome! yesterday was a pretty slack day, went to church did some slack lining, and read a book by the fire. Oh! Slacklining! Hey Scott and Adam! Yesterday I went all away across the slackline, turned and went all the way back! AND I can take a few steps backwards now!! I'm so stoked! I guess that's what happens when I slackline everyday here.
Well that's all for now, I'll write you guys again soon!!!
Blessings!
Friday afternoon the whole group of us headed in to Christchurch to do Friday night Evangelism! But of course the first Friday night is different the then regular routine... I was so excited to go! When we got there we got sent out into teams of 4 to do a scavenger hunt around the city. It was such a fun time, it really helped us get to know our way around the city, and come closer to the people in our groups. We had to do a bunch of crazy stuff, Like find someone to sing Jesus loves me and record it... So April being the most brightest crayon in the box decided to ask everyone on the street that was coming our way... Well unfortunately I went up to this sweet little grandpa guy and asked him if he knew the song Jesus Loves Me.... and well this is what he said... " I'm sorry darling, but I'm completely deaf, were you asking me for directions?" Well I was completely stunned and felt absolutely terrible and all I could say was "I'm so sorry!!" meanwhile the rest of my team is trying so hard not to laugh. When we came back to the base a bunch of the guys were playing some instruments in the classroom, and of course me being me who loves music decided to go check it out... Well what went from a random jam session, ended up to be a few hours of worship! It was so awesome, and such an amazing time! Friday night= Success!!
Saturday we were suppose to go on our trip to Castle Hill which is on a mountain right behind our base, AND is where part of Narnia was filmed. But unfortunately it was a rainy day that was suppose to snow so the trip got canceled. So Mary-Loyd, Ryan, Issac, Phillip, Wyatt, Johnathan, Luca, and myself grabbed some instruments and decided to go to Christchurch to play on the streets! It was a awesome time! We played with a random boy and helped him make some money, and then we headed to the Botanical Gardens and played music in the most awesome tree I've ever seen. Picture this... a gigantic ever green but on the inside it was like a huge tent! Yup it was the coolest spot! And then some Asians really liked our music, so they came into the tree recorded us a bit then started taking their pictures in front of us... Kinda like how people do at Disneyland with the characters. so Saturday= Success!
So my weekend has been pretty awesome! yesterday was a pretty slack day, went to church did some slack lining, and read a book by the fire. Oh! Slacklining! Hey Scott and Adam! Yesterday I went all away across the slackline, turned and went all the way back! AND I can take a few steps backwards now!! I'm so stoked! I guess that's what happens when I slackline everyday here.
Well that's all for now, I'll write you guys again soon!!!
Blessings!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Sunshine and Daffodils
Alrighty everyone bare with me because this might not make a whole lot of sense..
This week has been a week of orientation, we've had classes on what worship is, what devotions are, on hear God's voice, and what bible study is all Key classes that we need to begin with in order to carry on throughout the rest of the DTS. I really enjoyed the lecture on Devotion, it was super awesome and straight to the heart!
The weather this week has been quite chilly, except for yesterday... For the majority of the week we were bundle up, wearing layers, mitts, and toques! Everyone here seems to get a kick out of the words "toques" and "bunny hugs" maybe its because Matt and I are the only ones from Saskatchewan. Yesterday on the other hand was beautiful! Lots of sunshine and heat! I think it got to be like 23C maybe? It was sure warm! SO we put some sunscreen on, headed out on a walk to find the Tulip field, which ended up to be a HUGE garden of mostly daffodils, and had some tulips in it. However we didn't enter the garden because there we're signs about dogs... my favorite was "Beware of dogs, Do not leave your vehicle!" after that we headed back for supper and some fabulous slack lining and Frisbee!
Well, there are 9 girls, 11 boys, 4 girl leaders, and 5 boy leaders. and yup, I do know everyones names! I live in an old school house called the Main House, on the lower level its the student lounge with a computer area, and on the upper level is where us girls live. I share a room with three other girls, all of them from the states! There's Laurie from Montana, Mary-Loyd from Louisiana, and Malory from Oregon. Mary Loyd has the coolest accent! My roomies are so awesome and a lot of fun so it's a great combination! Our room is decently large, with a lot of space to put our stuff, so we don't feel cramped at all.
This weekend we are going to Castle Hill, which I think is on the mountains behind our base so it's quite close. I'm super excited to go! As well as tomorrow we are heading into Christchurch to do Friday night Evangelism! Everything is so new and so exciting!
However I'm running out of time to keep typing, I have class in about 5 minutes so I should probably head out. I'll most likely give you guys another post after this weekend when I have more exciting stories to tell you about.
Thanks for all the Prayers!
Much Love!
April
This week has been a week of orientation, we've had classes on what worship is, what devotions are, on hear God's voice, and what bible study is all Key classes that we need to begin with in order to carry on throughout the rest of the DTS. I really enjoyed the lecture on Devotion, it was super awesome and straight to the heart!
The weather this week has been quite chilly, except for yesterday... For the majority of the week we were bundle up, wearing layers, mitts, and toques! Everyone here seems to get a kick out of the words "toques" and "bunny hugs" maybe its because Matt and I are the only ones from Saskatchewan. Yesterday on the other hand was beautiful! Lots of sunshine and heat! I think it got to be like 23C maybe? It was sure warm! SO we put some sunscreen on, headed out on a walk to find the Tulip field, which ended up to be a HUGE garden of mostly daffodils, and had some tulips in it. However we didn't enter the garden because there we're signs about dogs... my favorite was "Beware of dogs, Do not leave your vehicle!" after that we headed back for supper and some fabulous slack lining and Frisbee!
Well, there are 9 girls, 11 boys, 4 girl leaders, and 5 boy leaders. and yup, I do know everyones names! I live in an old school house called the Main House, on the lower level its the student lounge with a computer area, and on the upper level is where us girls live. I share a room with three other girls, all of them from the states! There's Laurie from Montana, Mary-Loyd from Louisiana, and Malory from Oregon. Mary Loyd has the coolest accent! My roomies are so awesome and a lot of fun so it's a great combination! Our room is decently large, with a lot of space to put our stuff, so we don't feel cramped at all.
This weekend we are going to Castle Hill, which I think is on the mountains behind our base so it's quite close. I'm super excited to go! As well as tomorrow we are heading into Christchurch to do Friday night Evangelism! Everything is so new and so exciting!
However I'm running out of time to keep typing, I have class in about 5 minutes so I should probably head out. I'll most likely give you guys another post after this weekend when I have more exciting stories to tell you about.
Thanks for all the Prayers!
Much Love!
April
Friday, October 1, 2010
Touch Down
Well I made it to New Zealand, and its a beautiful day here in Oxford... But lets start from the beginning...
On September 30th at 10:00 my mom, sister and I arrived at the airport. We put my lougage through and found out that was the last that I'd see of it until Christchurch which was a huge relife! Taryn showed up shortly after that and we all had breakfast and coffee and hung out until I had to leave. With a few tough goodbyes I was on my way, and at 12:20pm my plane took off. It was probably the hardest goodbyes I've ever had to do. With a short two hour trip I was in Vancouver. As easy as the Vancouver airport some how I managed to get lost while trying to find Ashlynn. Finally I found her, and we spend the whole afternoon talking and cathching up. at 6:00pm I went through customs which was surprisingly quick, then went and waited until 7:30 to board my plane. Still however quite emotional I wasn't the most chattest person on my flights. at 8:30 we finally took off and we were New Zealand bound. It was a long 13 hour flight to Auckland... I watch a few movies, listened to some music, and slept pretty little. My seat was 3 rows behind the wing so it was quite loud which made it hard to sleep. at 5:55am We touched down in Auckland, we weren't in Auckland very long, we were off the plane through security then back on the next plane and off to Christchurch.. Oh! For those who don't know I'm not the hugest fan of airports, I get quite nervous and stressed if I'm under a time limite. So off to Christchurch which was another hour and a bit. Finally we landed at 8:30, and I was more than anxious to get off the plane and to be done with Airports. But the fun didn't stop there. going through customs in Christchurch was quite the time consuming event. I had to wait in line for quite awhile to get my passport and visa cleared, then pick up my bagage(my duffle bage is ripped all along the top and is usless, my backpack is fine though) and wait in yet another long slow moving line up to get my bags checked, then finally I was out. I was so exhausted by this point that when I came out I forgot to look for my team picking me up! Good thing Matt was there though cuz he called my name and started to run towards me and with a huge sigh of relife i dropped my bags gave Matt a hug, and of course started to cry. Finally the long journey was over. So Matt and Rebecca picked up me and another Rebecca and we set out to find us some food. They gave us a short tour of Christchurch and found us a muffin, then we were off headed to our new home in Oxford. We got to the base where the rest of the team was to meet us at about 11:00am which to me felt like 3 in the afternoon. Matt gave me a quick tour I changed into some fresh close brushed my teeth and unpacked a bit. At 1:00 we had a delicous lunch, and now we are all just haning out and relaxing. I've played a bit of volleyball and have slack lined a bit and now i'm feeling even more exhausted.
I have no idea what the plans are for the rest of the day or even the weekend, but the next time I have some free time to sit down I'll definitely keep you all updated. Thanks for all the prayers everyone!!
April
On September 30th at 10:00 my mom, sister and I arrived at the airport. We put my lougage through and found out that was the last that I'd see of it until Christchurch which was a huge relife! Taryn showed up shortly after that and we all had breakfast and coffee and hung out until I had to leave. With a few tough goodbyes I was on my way, and at 12:20pm my plane took off. It was probably the hardest goodbyes I've ever had to do. With a short two hour trip I was in Vancouver. As easy as the Vancouver airport some how I managed to get lost while trying to find Ashlynn. Finally I found her, and we spend the whole afternoon talking and cathching up. at 6:00pm I went through customs which was surprisingly quick, then went and waited until 7:30 to board my plane. Still however quite emotional I wasn't the most chattest person on my flights. at 8:30 we finally took off and we were New Zealand bound. It was a long 13 hour flight to Auckland... I watch a few movies, listened to some music, and slept pretty little. My seat was 3 rows behind the wing so it was quite loud which made it hard to sleep. at 5:55am We touched down in Auckland, we weren't in Auckland very long, we were off the plane through security then back on the next plane and off to Christchurch.. Oh! For those who don't know I'm not the hugest fan of airports, I get quite nervous and stressed if I'm under a time limite. So off to Christchurch which was another hour and a bit. Finally we landed at 8:30, and I was more than anxious to get off the plane and to be done with Airports. But the fun didn't stop there. going through customs in Christchurch was quite the time consuming event. I had to wait in line for quite awhile to get my passport and visa cleared, then pick up my bagage(my duffle bage is ripped all along the top and is usless, my backpack is fine though) and wait in yet another long slow moving line up to get my bags checked, then finally I was out. I was so exhausted by this point that when I came out I forgot to look for my team picking me up! Good thing Matt was there though cuz he called my name and started to run towards me and with a huge sigh of relife i dropped my bags gave Matt a hug, and of course started to cry. Finally the long journey was over. So Matt and Rebecca picked up me and another Rebecca and we set out to find us some food. They gave us a short tour of Christchurch and found us a muffin, then we were off headed to our new home in Oxford. We got to the base where the rest of the team was to meet us at about 11:00am which to me felt like 3 in the afternoon. Matt gave me a quick tour I changed into some fresh close brushed my teeth and unpacked a bit. At 1:00 we had a delicous lunch, and now we are all just haning out and relaxing. I've played a bit of volleyball and have slack lined a bit and now i'm feeling even more exhausted.
I have no idea what the plans are for the rest of the day or even the weekend, but the next time I have some free time to sit down I'll definitely keep you all updated. Thanks for all the prayers everyone!!
April
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Support
Dear Family and Friends,
Well another year has come and flown by, I just finished up my 6th summer at Ranger Lake Bible Camp, and my passion for God and the children keeps growing and growing! In the past years a lot of you may know that I was deeply involved with the horse program as a Wrangler and as a Riding Director. This year however I got to experience a completely new side of camp! In the past I’ve had the odd week not at the barn, but this summer I was Program Director and Assistant JC Director. It was an amazing experience, and I loved every moment of it! It was challenging, stretching, and something completely different!
However my mission field does not end there! In July this year I got accepted to go on a YWAM. YWAM stands for Youth With A Mission which is an international, inter-denominational, non-profit Christian Missionary organization. There are over 1000 centers located all over the world that have many different programs in them, and the base that I will be going to is located in NEW ZEALAND!! There are both long term and short term programs. Each program has a Discipleship Training School faze and an Out Reach faze. The DTS faze consist of going to classes/ lectures Monday to Friday learning from a new speaker each week to prepare the team for the Out Reach faze. The Out Reach faze is the part of the program where we leave our base and go to a different part of the world to serve and do missions for God. I am going to be in a short term program, and as of right now I don’t know where I’ll be going, we will decide as a team during the DTS faze.
When being a part of any program to be or become a missionary it is greatly encouraged to build a support team full of our family, friends and community. So think of this as an invitation to invite you to join with me on this adventure that God has placed out in front of me. Support spiritually, and financially are greatly appreciated. And always remember every little thing counts and means tremendous amounts to me. I would love it if everyone could have me in their prayers and I step out into the unknown and walk in the direction God has planned for me.
Thank you so much!
Blessings
April Sawatzky
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)