Zoning In

We have divided the overall team into ministry teams. Each team (ours is Kendall, Nate Frantz, and Zach) has been hanging out with different groups of students we have met (usually first year students living in the same dorm). We have now started to focus our time and energy on those students. This has really helped us be intentional and specific with how we spend our days. We have grown to be good friends with several of these students and we are now praying and waiting for opportunities to engage them in spiritual conversation as we play basketball, football, rugby, and hang out around town. This is what we have been waiting for. It is a big deal. Many of us have either started to have these conversations or are close to. Please be in prayer for God’s supernatural hand during these times. It can seem very awkward or weird bring up matters such as sin and the necessity of Christ. But we fear God and seek to please Him, not these students.

Praise God! Last night we hung out with some key students we have really befriended. After watching a professional game of Rugby we went to eat some McDonalds. I was praying for good conversation, but the McDonalds we went to was crowded, dirty, and disorganized. There was only one spot in the corner (that allowed for conversation that was occupied that I was praying the Lord open up. Right when we received our food, the people sitting there left. We sat down and ate and had some general conversation. Then Zach asked to two of the students we were with, “Do you have any spiritual background?” They responded, “No, we know religious people, but we have never been or really talked about it. I always wondered what happens to a person after they die.” Then we asked them, “What do you think it means to be a Christian?” One student responded, “someone who goes to church, doesn’t curse that much, and doesn’t drink that much.” The other student said, “Someone who believes in God.” We talked a little about our purpose in life and whether religious issues are talked about with their friends. The conversation was going just okay until one of the students asked, “What do you think it means to be a Christian?” From this we were able to tell them that we don’t do things in order to be a Christian and be right with God. We told them about the issue of sin and how much God hates it and is going to punish us for it. We told them how Christ came and took that punishment on the cross and did that for us and that it is free. They looked surprised and said they have never heard that before (it is common that most students know little to nothing of who Jesus is). We asked, “What do you think of what we just said?” They both said, “It’s crazy how Christ takes all our sin.” It was hard for them to grasp the concept of someone doing that for them. The conversation was about 15 minutes, but it was what we were praying for. They were open to talking about it. God had given such a good friendship and trust with them that it was a genuine time. This is only the start of these conversations as we will try to meet with them with the intention of talking about the Christian message. At the end of the conversation I felt the relationship grow deeper by talking about more meaningful things and we look forward to having similar conversations. Thanks for the prayers. It was so exciting to begin sharing with the students we have been investing our time and energy in. May God be made know in these student’s lives.

Nate F. & Kendall T.

Opportunities!

Just a quick request! I would like to ask you all to pray for opportunities! At this point it is sometimes hard to know exactly how to connect with students! We have began to connect to some, but we are always looking for new ways! Please pray that God will open doors and that we will simply be creative! Thanks a bunch!

Sheffey

Hit & Miss

7/7/2010

Hit: Dunedin hosts the “world’s steepest street.”

Miss: The challenge is to drink a milkshake before running up it. I will post pictures of the street hopefully no milkshake incidents will occur.

Our team is slowly connecting on campus. So far our contacts have been pretty spotty as we try to connect with people. We’ve spread ourselves thin so that we can know where to take root in friendships. For me, ministry here can be like going on a date in the 7^th grade – unfamiliar, awkward at times, and wishing you knew better how things are supposed to work. We keep putting ourselves out there everyday, going wherever students are. It’s a great process, but we have exactly one month left! Please take a sec to pray for us to find our niches here on campus with just the right students.

- Sam Metzger

Hit: Everybody walks everywhere

Miss: “When walking down the street, it is abnormal to pass people on the right side of the side walk.”

Today, the implication of being in New Zealand coincided with the verse in Acts 1:8 which states “..you will be my witnesses...to the end of the earth.” We are practically near the “end of the earth” by being in New Zealand. It is amazing to see how God is bringing the truth of the gospel into the entire world as He promised! God is gathering a people from every tribe, language, and nation to worship Him forever. Also, the demographic on campus and in Grace Church is quite interesting. It is common to meet people from other countries like Nigeria, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the South Pacific Islands. This campus seems to be an attractive place to study and has the potential of raising up laborers that could easily go into all the world by students simply going back home.

- Ben Fennell

Miss: Apparently Rat-tails, Mullets, Jorts, and short shorts haven’t gone out of style since the 70’s because Kiwi’s think they are all still sweet as.

The Church body here has been super encouraging so far. Everyone we have met has been super encouraging, from the farmer we stayed with for a couple of days to young couples, and the elderly. The church here looks totally different than most churches in the states. It’s not the obvious things like size, building type, and worship style that are so inspiring. The culture here has left no trace of complacent Christianity.

Everyone in the church is passionate about seeing the Gospel go out. From Gavin the farmer whom we stayed with; by loving on the shearers as Christ did the Samaritan woman, to Bill sharing with his coworker, Austin (a former catholic ,now atheist) with patience knowing that it might be years before God changes his heart .

As can clearly be seen, the saints are being equipped through expository preaching to go out and preach the Gospel, not just inviting lost friends to church so that the pastor can do it. They own up and take responsibility to Acts 1:8. They are sharing the gospel in the workplace and neighborhoods and have a heart to see it reach the ends of the earth.

There is real fellowship, people don’t rush out the door as soon as the sermons over to get a bite to eat or catch the game; they sit around and talk about Christ and what he is doing. These people live out Hebrews 10:24 to the T. Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The Kiwis’s in this church are passionate about taking the gospel out of the Church and onto the campus, and into the workplace so that people will come to worship the one true living God because of His Mercy and Grace. I hope that this description of the Church here would encourage and spur everyone on as much as it has encouraged us.

-Kyle Morris