Welcome to 2010!

Since the last update, we have been quite busy!

We are staying at a hostel for free because we help them clean the rooms for new guests. It has been such a blessing, for them and us. They only have two guys on staff to clean 10 or more rooms every day, and around this time of year in Queenstown every place is packed!

Each day begins with worship and a devotional, then we head off to clean. The guys that run the hostel are so thankful for us, so it is very rewarding.

To sum up the week we have:

-witnessed snow in the summer.

-watched movies, enjoying each others company.

-gotten a great letter from our two wonderful roomies (Rob and Joey) from the first hostel here in town. *We stopped by the church here to find a note from them and 4 plastic bread closures (Natalie about died of happiness)...basically, it made our day!

-gotten to praise God that Natalie led a girl named Leah to Christ and she now has a backpacker Bible.

-shared with many others how cool God is and what we are doing and why.

-climbed some boulders (my favorite part).

-celebrated New Years in the second country to hit midnight on Earth (first are the Christmas Islands).

-helped at a picnic in Wanaka, again just hanging out and talking to people from all over the world.

life here in New Zealand is going well. It has been quite the trip so far, learning how to work with our differences and what it looks like to be ourselves and enjoy God.

Prayer Requests:

-that we would step out in our giftings

-be bolder

-meet more people, and see more come to know Jesus

-a travel buddy (someone we meet that will travel with us for a time)

-team unity

Hope our dearest friends in India and Thailand are doing well. We freaking love AND miss you all HEAPS!

Queenstown

My dear backpacking friends (who we miss heaps),

It has been an incredible week! After a few days off the never-ending track, we are in Queenstown and let's just say God is SO faith-FULL. Natalie is hearing Him say something and next thing we know God is rocking us. We are staying in a hostel in the middle of town where so many people our age are. It was so weird to hear people partying until 4am on Christmas Eve, when I myself am used to hanging out with my parents (aka going to bed at 11pm). We are sharing a dorm room with a couple named Rob and Joanne (Joey). They are awesome. They played Uno and Apples to Apples with us on Christmas.

So we woke up on Christmas, opened presents, drank coffee, and enjoyed one another's company. That afternoon we were going to walk around and maybe get a bite to eat, but Natalie felt she should go across the street to a Church called On the Rock. As she waved us down we found that the church was expecting us and had made lunch for us! I had written them an e-mail to ask if they needed help with anything on Christmas, but they responded saying they weren't going to do anything. Surprise, free lunch! We talked with them for awhile, but they all needed to leave to do family things and ended up leaving us a key to the church. They have a espresso machine (Seth it is so nice), which they said we could use and invite others to. There is also free wifi, which I am finding is a rarity. The craziest part is that they also have a massage table and supplies (Natalie was freaking out). We can use everything! God is crazy. We were pumped and decided to ask the Lord if we should stay in Queenstown longer and skip Wanaka. We felt we should stay, so here we are. We are going to get a couple rooms at Reavers (THANK YOU SHERPA FOR THE TIP!), and live it up!

The team is bonding well. We are learning to live intentional, while being ourselves.

Prayer Requests: Continuously seeking God, and loving each other.

there and back again...

Dear Friends,

After 67 kilometers, four days and countless sandflies we are alive (for the most part). We are all still wondering if the pain was worth the incredible beauty and amazing team bonding we had. I honestly don't think I have it in me to write much more, but know we are okay. We met a few people on the Kepler Track and shared some life stories with them. All-in-all the track was a perfect time to get to know one another WELL. Blessings and a Happy Christmas. I will write more after a few more days of sleep.

Love,

Team New Zealand/Fiji