Three weeks in, and time is flying! October 25, 2009

I realize this post has been a long time coming. Please accept my apologies for waiting so long to post an update. We stay very busy around here, and there has been a lot going on!

Week 1 of lecture (week of Oct. 12) was great. Jonathan and Lisa Taylor talked to us about seeking God, and we had some fantastic worship times Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings with them.

Wednesday afternoon, all three schools (Earth Care, Backpackers, and Crossroads) were invited to a Maori welcoming ceremony at a place called Wai Ora. The Maori people are the native people of New Zealand, and Wai Ora means “living water” in their language. The group of Maori people at Wai Ora are Christians, and they welcomed us as brothers and sisters in Christ. The speaker told us that he wanted to welcome us not only as individuals, but along with the people who came with us – our heritages, our families. He welcomed each of us as a people. He also said that he didn’t address us as an individual himself, but on behalf of his people he welcomed us to New Zealand. It was very powerful. At the end of the ceremony, each of us got to greet each of the (eight or nine) Maori people there in the traditional Maori way, with a “hongi” – two people touch noses and foreheads while clasping hands. It was sweet.

Thursday the Earth Care group went for a hike in the Torlesse Mountains and spent some time bonding, as well as resting in God’s presence. It was so incredibly beautiful! We crossed a couple of rivers (sometimes with great success, other times ending up with wet feet), and the boys attacked us with snowballs when they came across a patch of snow. So I didn’t have to miss out on winter completely this year after all! Speaking of which, I’ve been struggling with leaving the northern hemisphere during autumn and jumping right into early spring in New Zealand. I was disappointed to miss autumn and wintertime at home, because it’s just so pretty. But as I sat on a little patch of grass and looked around at the trees and mountains surrounding me, I felt like God was saying to me, “I’ll show you pretty!” It was so unbelievably beautiful, that I can’t even describe it to you.

Friday we all went to Christchurch. I went with a group that joined some people at a place called Rice Cube. It’s a fellowship time for ESOL students. We had dinner together and helped some people practice their English. I’m looking forward to building friendships with the people I met.

Saturday, Anna and I went with Rob and Jenny Blakely to a town near Christchurch to help out with a community river beautification project. We planted some little shrubs, then stopped for morning tea. By the way, I love this tradition of dropping everything in the middle of the morning for 15 minutes of socializing over hot drinks and biscuits! When we finished our drinks, we worked for just a little while longer until the leaders declared the job done! A lot of people from the community were there, so the work got done more quickly than anyone expected!

Last week (week 2 of lecture) we had lecture every morning with Jono Turner, who discussed the Father Heart of God. It was really amazing, and I need some more time to process the things he talked about before I can write about it. I think it’s fair to say that one of his main points was that God loves you, and not only that, but he also likes you! “We’re thinking of all the things that are wrong with us and why God won’t like us, and we don’t consider that maybe he wants to pick us up and take us out for an ice cream,” Jono said on Monday.

This week the Earth Care group is going camping at Ounatai on the west coast. It’s supposed to be very remote – after several hours in the van, we have to take a boat, then a “short” hike to the little hut that will be our home for a week. I hope it’s not too cold – my 55-degree (Fahrenheit) sleeping bag will not keep me very warm if it snows. Please join us in praying for good weather! It should be fun and I am looking forward to the experience – it will be a first for me!

I’ve put some more pictures on Facebook. You can access them with this link even if you don’t have a Facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048098&id=80403321&l=eaa981416a

While I was doing my morning work duty the other day, my roommate, Jordan, was playing some music while she did her duty (cleaning another bathroom in our house). The song “Make You Feel My Love” came on, and for some reason, I felt the urge to post the lyrics on here. Here they are -

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I would offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love
When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love
I know you haven’t made your mind up yet
But I would never do you wrong
I’ve known it from the moment that we met
No doubt in my mind where you belong
I’d go hungry, I’d go blind for you
I’d go crawling down the aisle for you
There ain’t nothing that I wouldn’t do
To make you feel my love
The storms are raging on a rolling sea
Down the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
But you ain’t seen nothing like me yet
There ain’t nothing that I wouldn’t do
Go to the ends of the earth for you
Make you happy, make your dreams come true
To make you feel my love

The Importance of the Father’s Love October 12, 2009

Sometimes when we’re praying or having a worship time, someone will speak up to say that they got a picture from the Holy Spirit, and often the point of the picture ends up being that God loves us very much or is pleased with us or something like that.

I have a confession – up until as recently as this morning, my internal response to such a declaration would be, “Well, that’s nice, and good for you if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  But I really don’t think God speaks to people unless he has something important to say.”  My attitude was that God wouldn’t speak to me unless he had some sort of lesson to teach me.

BUT … as I was sweeping in a garden during community work duties this afternoon, I had a revelation.  What message could possibly be more important than “I love you”?  When I talk to my parents on the phone, they always always always tell me they love me – sometimes more than once.  And how much more does my Heavenly Father love me?

So now, when I’m waiting for God to speak to me, I will listen intently for whatever it is he has to say to me.  I will make sure I’m open and listening for something as simple and as vitally important as, “I love you.”

One week in October 10, 2009

Well, I’ve spent a week in Oxford, New Zealand, and I’d say I’m doing very well.

New Zealand, where
… the major highway of the country is four lanes across at its biggest.
… they drive on the left side of the road.
… beet root is served with almost every meal.
… food energy is measured in kilojoules instead of Calories.
… dinner is called tea.
… the countryside is even more beautiful than I imagined.
… the ocean is barely out of sight when the snow-capped mountains appear.
… people are friendly, nature is cherished, and life is good.

I’ve met so many interesting people! There are folks from all over the world at YWAM Oxford – the United States, Canada, Germany, Holland, England, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, and, of course, New Zealand, are all represented here. I live in a house with 19 other girls (we share three bathrooms) and, believe it or not, it’s working out very well.

We wake up early for morning devotions at 6:30, followed by breakfast at 7:30. Everyone has a morning work duty at 8:00 (mine is cleaning one of the bathrooms in our house), then morning activities start at 9 (classes, worship times, etc.). We break for morning tea at 11:15, followed by another lecture time, and lunch is at 1. Afternoons are always different, with base and community work duties, study time, outreach preparation time, etc. My base work duty last week was helping to restore the prayer path – a nature walk that used to go around the whole base, but has been neglected and partially destroyed with recent construction projects. It rained that day, but that didn’t stop YWAMers from their work! I spent the afternoon harvesting stones from a ditch for my teammates to use to line the path. Here’s an interesting bit of trivia – there are no poisonous snakes in New Zealand, so picking up a large rock is no cause for alarm! Nice, eh?

My DTS – Earth Care – has eight students and three leaders. Two other DTSs are going on at the same time – a Backpackers’ DTS, which is a much larger group with 22 students and seven leaders; and a Crossroads DTS (for students older than 30) with seven students and five leaders. We are part of different schools, but we do a lot together – we will have some class times with the other DTSs, the backpackers and earth care students live together, and we all eat together.

Speaking of eating, we have fantastic meals here! A professional chef serves us here as her ministry, and she is amazing! My favorite dish she’s served so far is pumpkin and carrot soup. And she makes a mean chocolate chip biscuit (cookie)!

Formal classes start on Monday, and I’m looking forward to it. We’re learning a lot about listening to the Holy Spirit, and we’ve had some powerful worship times. What a wonderful thing to have so many people from all over the world and vastly different walks of life all together in one place, with one very important thing in common – a love for Jesus Christ. I’m so glad to be here, having this experience. I can already tell that it’s going to be something very special.

Here’s my address in case you’d like to send me any mail (I’ll be here until mid December, and I love mail):

Angela Steele
c/o YWAM Oxford
PO Box 47
Oxford, North Canterbury 7443
New Zealand

Here is a link to some pictures. In case you aren’t familiar with Facebook, click on a photo to see a larger view, then click the photo to see the next one (you do not need a Facebook account to view these photos): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047811&id=80403321&l=f681055f8a

Cheers!

I’m here! October 2, 2009

Well, I’ve finally made it to New Zealand!

Anna and I arrived yesterday afternoon in Christchurch, NZ, after three airplane rides (one of them 12 hours!), one long layover in LA (10 boring hours), and lots of confusing time changes. We were greeted with warm smiles and hugs by some of the YWAM staff, and they drove us to Oxford (about a 40- minute drive from the airport).

Our travels could not have gone more smoothly. We were able to claim our luggage every time we were supposed to (we had to re-check it in the domestic terminal in Auckland before our flight to Christchurch), we had plenty of time to catch each of our flights, and we had no trouble making it through customs. It was a long but successful trip.

Right now I’m having fun meeting lots of new people and adjusting to life in beautiful New Zealand. I’ve just about recovered from the jet lag after going to bed at 8:30 last night and waking up early this morning. Right now it’s noon on Saturday, while it’s 6:00 Friday evening at home in Kansas – very strange stuff!

Thank you for your prayers for my safe travels!