A Time of Learning, Growing, Forgiving and Loving

Welcome to the base! This is where I live.

Hello friends, loved ones and family. :)

I thought I would post an update and share a little bit about what God has been doing in my heart and the hearts of my fellow students, as well as what has been going on all the way out here in New Zealand.

The past few days have been spent bonding and growing with the 30 or so students. We have gathered under the leadership of an amazing Australian man of God named Cheyne (pronounced like Shane) in the lecture room, where next week we will begin classes based on whatever stream we are in (I am in the Justice group. There is also a medical, compassion and evangelism). This week though, the lecture room has been a place for sharing testimonies; struggles, breaking chains and bondage, praying for one another and ultimately receiving forgiveness. I can't even begin to explain the healing that has been going on here in the past couple days. We have grown not only individually but also as a group- any ice there was has been broken and we are all becoming close and comfortable with each other after less than a week here! Our time of sharing was set up in a circle where the floor was open for anyone to share what was on their heart- be it their past, testimony, sin, past struggles, current struggles, past hurts, current hurts, etc. The ultimate goal of this sharing time was to get our hearts right with God and wipe the slate clean before we embark on this journey. Students who have become my friends confessed of and/or broke free from deceit, lust and impurity, drug and alcohol addictions, self-harm, pride, depression and suicidal thinking, insecurities, prejudice, anger, and almost anything else you can think of that all of us as humans struggle with. So many tears have been shed as we received nothing but love and forgiveness from the open arms of our Father and our friends. 


We've been broken. We've been forgiven. We're still working on it every day. We acknowledge that many of these struggles HAVE to be surrendered daily. It all starts here with us speaking it out and confessing it to God in front of one another. This has been one of the best experiences I've had; especially in the area of community and friendship. We look at each other with nothing but the loving eyes of the Lord and have rallied behind each person who has shared their broken hearts. There is no shame, because there does not need to be. The Lord tells us this in Isaiah 54:4- "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood." Ah, to realize this is so good. It has set so many of these students free. I praise the Lord for that.

Today we had a woman named Patty who is the founder of Justice Reach come and speak to us. She shared her ministry, one that I have such a heart for and can't wait to work more with. It is actually one of the main goals of my time here- to do Justice. It is directed towards women and children who have been trafficked and sold into sex slavery. Oh, to hear her speak this morning just ignited the flame in my heart once again. This injustice stirs something up inside of me. These kids, these little girls. It breaks my heart to think of all of the PRECIOUS lives being stolen and broken- innocence being stolen and broken. I can't wait to start learning about how to do justice and bring hope to these women and children whose lives are entrapped by modern day slavery. Classes begin next week! And then, three months from now, hopefully I will be able to live out these things I will learn!

Maori warrior during the Powhiri.

Also today, we were officially welcomed as a group to the land. The Maori (indigenous people of New Zealand) have a ceremony called Powhiri (in their language 'wh' is pronounced like an 'f'') in which they assess whether or not our intentions for being here are good, and from there welcome us to the land and bless our time. The ceremony began with a Maori warrior in traditional clothing dancing around making noises and grunting, trying to intimidate the male representative from our group with the goal of seeing if we were fit and wouldn't back down. And trust me, it was intimidating. Once he was convinced we were okay, he laid down a stick and began to back away. The man representing our group then picked up the stick as a sign of receiving the welcome, and the ceremony began. Speeches acknowledging God's creation of this beautiful place were made. Songs of worship and welcome were sang. It was beautiful. It was such an experience to see and be a part of a culture so different from my own. Our common ground was God.

I am loving this place.

I am making so many new friends. I already feel as though these people are family.

Thank you for getting me here, everyone. Thank you so much.
God is so good to me.

Love (and lots of it), Holly


P.S. 

Words, Phrases, and Things I am becoming very familiar with here

• Milo- A drink from New Zealand which I think is a lot like hot chocolate. I've had a lot of it. I'm drinking it right now.
• "heaps" - A lot of something (ie. in my time here I've already learned heaps)
• Kia Ora- Maori word for welcome, greeting
• Tim Tams - cookie like dessert that has a gooey center. 
• Tim Tam Slam - An activity in which you bite off one corner on each side of the Tim Tam, and then use the cookie as a sort of straw. I have not yet participated in this activity but it seems to be very enjoyable to natives and foreigners alike.
• "good on, mate" - Nice, congratulations, great, an affirmation
• "sweet as" - awesome, cool
• biscuits - cookies!
• jersey - sweater
• L & P - New Zealand drink, kind of like Ginger Ale
• trolley - shopping cart