It is day 6 of my return to NZ and it has already been field with amazing stories to tell. Just a week or so ago I was in Knoxville, TN closing up chapters in one portion of my life so that I might be able to open up others on the other side of the world. Those last few weeks were filled with excitement, nervousness and simply not having a clue what would come for the next year of my life! I got through my sister's wedding, moving from one house to another, Christmas and then off to NZ I went the next day. While there were moments of thinking, "what in the world am I doing?!" there was no hesitation of doing what I knew God was calling me to do. I got on the plane, strapped myself in and sat back to hear God says, "Are you as excited as I am?!" All nervousness and lack of peace immediately fled as a smile came across my face and pure joy filled my heart. There is nothing like the feeling of knowing you are exactly where God wants you to be at the exact time!
The moment I got of the plane it was time to get started. We packed for Getaway Camp, picked up some kids, and then were off to Cooks Beach. I immediately began to have a heart for the kids at South and knew that this year was looking to be a good one. The services were wonderful. Great worship and dynamic preaching from the C3 crew pushed the kids to a new place in their walk with Christ. Every night there were new kids in the altar longing to surrender their lives to Christ and just as many being filled with the Holy Spirit and called into ministry. I have admit it was quite amazing to have a camp at a beach. It was amazing weather and literally one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen!
Not only did God allow me to get to know the wonderful group from C3 South and South Primal, but I was also able to reconnect with those I had gotten to know from my previous trip. Many of the young adults that were in the C3 Leadership College had moved on to run their own Primal. I got to hear the many stories of what God was doing all over NZ and know what was happening in the Primals we had launch earlier in 2012.
The next little bit I will be taking time to settle in the the NZ way of life. I am excited to be in a place that will stretch me and force me out of my comfort zones. As we all know, you can never expect to run a youth ministry the same every where you go. It cannot be placed in this box that you expect to be the magic key....especially in different cultures on the other side of the world! I have a lot of learning to do. Different country means different issues and different demonic strongholds. The good thing is God never expects us to do it on our own nor expects us to make Him move. He simply wants us to jump on board and move with Him! Where He goes I go has never been more true. I have been stripped away from everyone I know, everything I have known, and place in a brand new place with a brand new start!
We anticipate launching 6 new Primals all over NZ which will put us in every major city in NZ by the end of 2013. There is a lot of training and preparation to make this happen, but I believe that is why God has placed me here at this time. Years of doing outreach all over Knoxville has given me much knowledge and passion for street evangelism. The weeks of walking the streets and going door to door to invite kids to church has trained me for these very moments in NZ!
We will all be hitting the ground running this year and all for the glory of God. No more sitting back and waiting for people to come to us! There are to many youth taking their lives and too many broken lives to not be aggressive with the things of God. I look forward to sharing these moments with in the future as God opens new doors and leads me in this new chapter of my life. Many of you have been the support that has helped get me here today, and I can never thank you enough!
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