TEA 5 - 2009 A quick rundown

"Congratulations! You have reached the end!"

70 days. 10 weeks. 8 people. 1 van. And a whole lot of New Zealand! Which brings us here: at the end of TEA! It's unbelievable how fast time flies!

Week 9 started off with kayaking on Lake Terawera. George's friend Anthony and his son Caleb joined us and we had a grand ole' time. The rain (naturally) followed us, but this time there were no trees to hide under. No, no. We were in the middle of the lake with nowhere to go! The Bible verse, "Even the wind and the waves obey him" kept flashing through my mind and I was wondering just what God was up to. The second two of the three nights we spent at Hot Water Beach. The water was so hot in some places, we could actually cook our food in it! We all enjoyed a warm "bath" in the lake.

("bathing" at Hot Water beach)

After we finished kayaking, we headed back to Papakura! On the way we stopped at Inter-Cultural Institute (ICI) which is an English school run by OM! We checked out their facilities and got more information about what they do. Then it was home! We were all very excited to get back... It was just like coming home again! : )

Throughout the week each of us had the opportunity to lead the group devotional in the morning. It was exciting to get many different perspectives from each TEAm member. Everyone had something insightful and encouraging to say. And it was nice to get a break from George ; )

The beginning of week 10 brought a big surprise. All we knew beforehand was that it was called "MI Day". Turns out it was "Mission: Impossible Day". We were informed Saturday morning that we would be going into Auckland as a team and completing a list of tasks. We had to stay together the whole day, which made some tasks more difficult. We also had to wear our Christmas hats the entire time, which made us stand out quite a bit. We had to pass out over 2,000 tracts, interview at least 7 strangers about what Christmas means to them, create more Nativity scenes with strangers and just talk to people in general.

It turned out to be a relatively successful day! We met some great people (one guy even hung out with us rest of the day until we left!), had some fantastic conversations and had a lot of fun. One guy walked way with a Bible and a new perspective and conviction on how he should live his life. It was an exciting but exhausting day for all of us.

Sunday morning the TEAm visited a local church in Papakura. We had our final evaluations and then on Monday morning we headed out for our last TEA adventure! We drove north of Auckland to Goat Island to spend a few days on the beach! We all did a lot of snorkeling in a Marine Reserve. The fish seem to know they'll be safe there, so they all congregate and we get to admire them. we even got to see some dolphins! We also hiked a bit to get to TI Point and do some rock climbing.

The second evening we were there, a huge group of school kids were too. We made some "dampers" and were able to share with the kids around the campfire. That night was our last truly fantastic night in the Southern Hemisphere. The stars are indescribable and it's impossible not to be in awe of God and his glory when his creation looks like that!

After returning once again to Papakura, we have spent the last few days cleaning and organizing everything. Packing and finding room for all of our stuff has been our latest adventure ; )

We finished off TEA with a fabulous party! We all pitched in and made our favorite foods. We also each dressed up like someone else from the TEAm (see picture below). Anthony and Caleb joined us for the evening and we all had a grand time! : )

(who's who?)

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers over these last 10 weeks! None of us could have done this without the support of our family and friends. We have all seen God work amazing things in our life and we are very excited to see where he wants to take us next! Please continue praying as we are all starting to travel in one way or another. Some of us are heading home straight away. Others are staying here in New Zealand for a month or more while others are on their way to Australia! So, we all need your prayers for travel and for guidance as we continue on with our lives and desire to seek God's will.

Also pray that the fire burning within us will continue to burn and we can be a shining light for Jesus in everything we do!

Blessings and joy!

Week Eight and Feelin' Great!

Well! It has been quite awhile since we've last updated you all! We have had a very busy couple of weeks! We finished off week six with a relaxing three days at the beach and enjoyed day walks and some swimming in the Tasman Sea. A couple of fantastic conversations took place at the camp we were staying at and we even ran into a couple of OMers! They had been members on a Panama trip a few years ago so they joined us for some singing and devotional time.We also got to talk to two Israelis and they were really open to the love of Jesus and asked a lot of questions! They were given a Bible before they left and our whole TEAm was very, very encouraged.

After leaving Kaiteriteri, we headed to the small town of Wanganui! Here we had the privilege of spending the weekend with a family that was also a part of OM. They were fabulous hosts and we had a great time playing with their kids and enjoying being in the company of other Christians. We had the opportunity to go to their church with them and tell several people just what we are all about.

On Monday morning, we packed up all of our stuff and headed out on our last official tramp up to Mt. Egmont. When we got there, it turned out that one of the bridges was down so we had to change our plans slightly. We ended up staying in one hut the whole time and taking a day walk in between. We met several people during our three days and had some very fruitfull conversations with those staying in the hut with us. All of us were very encouraged and got even more hyped up to talk to people! : )

(Mt. Egmont)

After tramping we drove to New Plymouth where we camped at a holiday park right on the beach! We stayed there for two nights and on Thursday we went as a group and "worked the crowds" in town. We bought Christmas hats and our mission was to remake scenes from the Nativity story and take pictures of it. The hard part was getting strangers to join us ; ) We were relatively successful, but after a while just continued on handing out Christmas tracts. That evening, Tineka and Lauren made a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner for everyone! It was their first time to ever do so and they managed to do it for eight people!!!

(The 3 wise men giving their gifts to Jesus)

When we passed through Taupo, Birgit conquered her fears and jumped out of an airplane!!! Then we stayed at Golden Springs and enjoyed the natural hot springs of New Zealand. Next we headed to Rotorua - the biggest tourist destination in New Zealand! George spoiled us here and got us cabins... with sheets even! It's funny how the smallest things make the biggest difference ; ) So far, in Rotorua we have had a few conversations with fellow travelers and had the chance to go to Calvary Chapel for church on Sunday!

(Birgit skydiving!!!)

Sunday afternoon, George's friend Anthony and his son, Caleb met up with us. They will be kayaking with us for the next four days on Lake Terawera! We are hoping to meet lots of people and hopefully score some free trout ; )

Please pray for us this next week as we embark on new adventures and continue, even still, to learn new things about each other! TEA is coming to a close and we need all the prayer we can get! It's coming to the point where all of us are asking, "What next?" and are trying to figure out the rest of our lives. Pray for God's guidance and an understanding on our part that He knows all and will always take care of us!

Blessings to all! : )

TEA 05/09 - Tramping, jumping, camping and still hungry for more!

This week started off with a slight change in plans due to some very wet tents. Instead of starting the St. James Walkway on Monday, we held off until Tuesday and stayed in a backpackers hostel instead. There were lots of people to talk to, so we spent the evening hanging out and relaxing. And then on Tuesday morning, we headed out to start our 5-day tramp!

(the girls at Ada's namesake hut)

St. James Walkway is a 65 kilometer (40+ miles) track. The mountain scenery was absolutely gorgeous and the weather actually cooperated with us for the most part! : ) The second day, we stated at Anne Hut and were greeted by wild horses! They were beautiful and we all had fun trying to get as close to them as we could ; ) Unfortunately, we didn't run into too many people on this tramp, but it turned out to be a fantastic group bonding opportunity. We all grew closer and learned new things about each other.

(wild horses at sunset)

The Sunday morning after coming out of the bush, we visited a very small Anglican church in town. The message was about commitment and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us. It was something all of us needed to hear. God's timing is always perfect, eh? : ) We spent Sunday afternoon doing the typical after-tramping-chores and relaxing in the sunshine.

The next morning, after packing up and having group devotions, we headed to Motueka: skydiving central!!! After finally being talked into it by the very convincing employee, Tineka, Sonja, Julian and Lauren put on real classy jumpsuits and harnesses and proceeded to board a very tiny "aeroplane". It was definitely a fear-conquering jump, but SO worth it! Everyone came down with smiles on their faces and barf bags in their hands... oh wait. That was just Tineka ; ) The smiles have continued into today as we keep reliving the experience!

(Lauren and Tineka)

(Sonja and Julian)

Now we are camping at a Christian camp right next to the beach! It is a beautiful place to enjoy God's creation and talk to more and more people! This last week we really focused on watching our attitudes and seeing how they affected other people. This coming week we are taking note of our group attitude as a whole.

Please continue praying for us as we are getting into the last half of TEA. All of us have days where we really just want to get on that plane and go home, but we need to stay focused and remember why we're here. Pray for patience with each other as we still are learning how to work with and love each other.

TEA 05/09 - Bridges? Where we're going, we don't need any bridges.

This week started off with a new, temporary TEAm member, fondly known as George II. He came with us from YWAM and shared in our adventures for a few days. We drove from Oxford, through Arthur's Pass to get to Greymouth, on the west coast of the South Island. On the way, we had the privilege of seeing the very same backpackers hostel that George (the original) came up with the idea for TEA! We didn't get to stay there, but it was cool to see and hear about how it all got started.

The first night in Greymouth involved a dinner big enough to feed (literally) 20 people... at least! We had so much good, we weren't sure what to do with ourselves. So, we worked some magic and found strangers to share in our feast with us! One of them stayed and talked with us for awhile after the meal was over and George II actually ran into him a few days later on a completely different part of the island! God sure knows what he is doing! : )


A couple of weeks ago, we met a man who claimed to be an atheist. Some of us talked with him and all of us have been praying for him. Well, as we pulled into our holiday park in Punakaiki, guess who was there waiting for us?! This time, we were able to invite him to eat dinner with us and share Jesus' love with him. When he left the next morning, he promised that he would read his untouched Bible when he got home : )

The weather wasn't very cooperative with us this week, so we had a slight change in plans that resulted in first: a quiet, relaxing free day and next: an 8 and a half hour tramp through mountains and (unbridged) rivers. Hmmm. I'm not sure this is quite what I signed up for ; ) But! The light at the end of the tunnel was worth it! We camped at Ballroom Overhang - a natural overhang that sleeps 80 people comfortably! The natural acoustics were pretty neat. George tried to make us tramp out the same way we came in, but we wouldn't have it! So. A short two hours later, we were safely at the van!


Now we are in Westport for the next two days until our five day tramp through St. James Walkway starts on Monday! Today we got to visit a seal colony and watch huge waves crash over even bigger rocks! We are visiting an Apostolic church on Sunday morning and then packing everything up for our tramp.

This past week we really focused on serving one another. This week we are analyzing our own attitudes and noting how our actions reflect Christ's love to each other and those around us. Please pray that we will continue to serve one another and to really keep our attitudes in check. Pray for the people that God has already decided we will meet at some point. Pray that their hearts will be open to what we have to say and that we will know just what needs to be said. Pray that our attitudes show goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others and love (2 Peter 1:5-7) to everyone we meet and that they will question why we are different. And that in return we can tell them it's really Jesus shining through us.


We are officially halfway through TEA! 5 weeks down... 5 to go!

TEA 05/09 - When Will Sandflies Be Extinct?

This week's adventures started out in Christchurch - one of the most popular and well-known cities in New Zealand! We paired up and went on another adventure day, only this time we learned about the history of Christchurch by asking random people we came across. A few good conversations got started this way and we also had the opportunity to pass out tracts about "What's Wrong" with Christmas. 

On Sunday evening, the TEAm was invited to the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in Oxford! We shared a dinner with the students there and had some really encouraging conversations and prayer time. IT was very refreshing to fellowship with other Christians for a short time. It's great to see God at work in other people's lives.

A short day tramp through Mt. Cook found most of the TEAm swimming in a glacier lake! After all, someone has to stay dry and warm to be the photographer ; ) It was a gloriously sunny day that provided a pleasant atmosphere for growing closer to each other and enjoying God's creation. It also resulted in several sunburns... : )

We got to see the world's biggest (no joke - they have a certificate and everything) sweater/jumper/jersey - depending on which continent you live ; ) Upon arriving at Mt. Somers, in preparation for our big tramp, the entire TEAm (minus George) went on a run together! This was a fun way to work together. Later that evening, we had a great discussion that gave us all a chance to be vulnerable with one another. So far, this has resulted in a tighter knit group - Praise Jesus! God is really working his way through each one of us individually and together.

Next up: a four day tramp into Mt. Somers! It had snowed quite a bit the night before, so we had our first snow tramp! It was fun (and slippery) as we hiked up to see a huge waterfall. The first night in Woolshed Creek Hut, we had the place to ourselves. But, the second night, after returning from a long day hike up to the top of Mt. Somers, we were joined by three ladies. They sang worship songs with us and one of them had lots of questions about Christianity! It was very encouraging to realize there are people out there who are interested!

The third day of the tramp included water caves and even more waterfalls. We arrived at Pinnacles Hut to find it nearly full with more people constantly streaming in. We had a great evening talking and playing games with others that were there! After tramping out and (finally) cleaning up, we got to go back to YWAM on Monday morning to participate in their weekly service. It was great to go back and be encouraged some more. 

(playing in Pinnacles Hut)

The TEAm is now on the west coast of the South Island and heading north. This week we are focusing on serving one another. Please pray that we can understand what it means to be a true servant of and for Jesus. Pray that we continue to work together and not against each other and that everyday is another opportunity to serve OTHERS and not ourselves.

TEA 05/09 - Four Seasons in One Week!

Whew! It has been quite the week! The TEAm started off by tramping up to Powell Hut near the top of Mt. Holdsworth - let me tell you - an 800 meter all uphill climb will make for an adventurous day! All of us eventually made it to the top and were greeted by a very full hut! There were at least 15 school girls, their leaders and a few other random travellers. It ended up that there were exactly the right number of mattresses for us all! That night while our group was singing, the school girls suddenly burst into a very loud song and (naturally) overpowered our tiny group. There was a short, awkward moment until we realized that they were actually singing along with us! Hearing the girls sing "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" with all their hearts (and lungs) really touched us all.

All of us had the chance to share our testimony with everyone else. Some of us were even lucky enough to have strangers in the room... : ) At the end of our smelly, four day tramp, Emily told us that she was leaving the TEAm. This made us all very sad, but we understand now that it was the best decision for her to make at this time in her life. Now, we have a different TEAm! This will take some getting used to, but we are still very excited to see where God takes us!

Another adventure of the week was riding the ferry from the North Island down to the South Island! This was especially fun for the motion sickness prone TEAm members ; )

The first full day on the South Island we had the chance to go see some of God's creation at it's best! After crossing the river 22 times, we arrived at Sawcut Gorge! (See below) Fantastic is only one word to describe it! It was a relaxing but adventurous day as we enjoyed both the Artist's masterpieces and each other.

Prayer requests this week: that we would continue to really invest in people and work up the courage to be bold and ask them deep questions. Also, that all of us would intentionally seek for new things to learn each day, instead of going through the motions of familiarity. And please pray for continued TEAm building as we are now a different group and have new things to learn! Pray that we would really understand what it means to consider others during this time. Thank you all for loving and supporting us! : )

TEA 5/09 Week 2

We are officially off and running! The first week of our eight week adventure on the road is coming to a close. It's been a somewhat relaxed week with lots of driving, but also great opportunities to see some fantastic New Zealand sights.

The TEAm finally got to camp in tents for the first time, right next to the river! We also got to visit a big church on Sunday morning and practice our "talking to strangers" skills. The next morning, Emily, Julian and Birgit conquered their fears and bungee jumped! The rest of us stood on the sideline and bravely cheered them on.


One of the big highlights of the week was a day hike we went on. It ended right next to the river in a natural hot spring! The temperature went from boiling hot to freezing cold within only a few feet of water! We got to rest our tired muscles in the warm water and relax for awhile.


We also have had several opportunities to talk to people! As scary as it might be to approach a stranger, the encouragement we get from their response makes up for it all! We are practicing sharing our testimonies with each other so we can perfect them for future use. We are heading into the mountains (bush) for a few days to get some tramping in and to stay in (hopefully, people filled) huts!


Please continue to pray for our TEAm as we seek God's will and as we learn to live with and love each other. Also pray for strength and courage as we step out of our comfort zones to love on God's children.

TEA 5/09 Off the Launching Pad!

The first week of TEA is over! It’s hard to believe how fast time flies, and this is only the beginning! First of all, we’d like to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers as we continue to serve Jesus in New Zealand!

This is our TEAm (in front from left to right): Lauren and Tineka (USA), Emily (England), Ada (Germany) and in the back from left to right: Julian (Switzerland), Sonja and Endre (Germany) and Birgit (Austria).

We have kept very busy this last week training and preparing ourselves for the next two months of adventure. There has been quite a bit of book training which has proved very helpful as we learn how to minister to others just like Jesus. We have also had a few opportunities to practice our people skills and talking to strangers. Our TEAm visited a church on Sunday and joined them for lunch after the service. This was our first real chance to talk to people we didn’t know. Later in the week, we were split into four teams and sent out into the city to practice what we had learned. Each thing we had to do involved talking to people we didn’t know. Each group member came back with great stories and an understanding that it doesn’t really matter how far we get in life, as long as we love others. We are quickly realizing that building and cultivating relationships with people should be a priority in life. By truly investing ourselves in people, we are able to share our happiness and love for Jesus with them. This is our number one goal for the next two months.


We also had the chance to go on a trial tramp early on in the week. It rained most of the time, so now we are all experts and prepared for every kind of weather that might be sent our way! The short time we spent out in the bush was a great bonding experience for the TEAm as we enjoyed God’s creation together.

Tomorrow we are heading out from Papakura for the next eight weeks! We will be traveling all over both the North and South Islands and having all sorts of adventures! Please keep praying for us as we spread Jesus’ love all over!

P.S. This is how you cross rivers in New Zealand...

TEA - What is it really all about?

People reading this blog and seeing the pictures may think that this is one glorious holiday. Some time ago we got wind of this rumor and wrote the following to help put matters right. It might be helpful to remind ourselves of our goals once again:

Please understand that none of the TEA leadership would want anything to do with a holiday adventure programme, even a Christian one. We are not on OM for that. We want to glorify God and see people coming to know Him, and that is our driving force in running TEA. We are very clear in all our promotional material and website that this is a discipleship and evangelism training programme. Our ‘catch-phrase’ is ‘Are you thirsty for God?’, not for an extreme holiday in New Zealand.

We use the outdoors for a number of reasons:
- New Zealand is crawling with foreign tourists who come for the outdoor activities. Many of them, as explained on our TEA video, seem to be at the tail end of a world trip and searching for fulfilment. By the time they get to NZ, they are often facing home again and very open and full of questions about deeper things in life. They are searching, and we want to reach them. By spending time in mountain huts, we are very often sharing our accommodation with such travellers, and since we are in the mountains with no electricity, there is nothing else to do but talk. A perfect opportunity. So we go into the outdoors because it is a field ripe for the harvest. Backpackers are a ministry focus for us. They are the same ages and cultures as TEA participants, yet usually easier to reach with the gospel here than at home.
- We are interested in holistic growth. We have seen time and again that people grow spiritually when challenged physically. We are not doing ‘fun’ activities for the sake of it. In fact, at the end of an 8 hour day of tough hiking, very few on a team would say it was fun. However, these activities gel the team together and cause them to trust each other and God more than in many everyday situations. The times of silence in nature are excellent ways for teams to connect with God and, when we arrive at huts to find no other travellers, we use these times to get deeper into study and discussion.
- Practically, it’s cheaper this way. We buy each team member a pass which allows them to stay in back-country huts as many nights as they like for a set price, equivalent to about a week’s worth of stay at other cheap accommodation. The ten week programme only costs €1500, that is €150 a week. Compare this to other programmes and you’ll see we are not charging a lot. This is only possible because we are very careful with the budget.
- New Zealand is beautiful, and we believe we are glorifying God by enjoying being in His creation. We are not being hedonistic in this – since the tourists we are trying to reach travel to beautiful areas, we go where they are. Of course we’ll enjoy seeing creation at the same time, just as anyone who looks out of a van window marvels at the view.

Some misconceptions about TEA:
- We do not include the cost of ‘holiday activities’ such as bungy jumping, sky-diving or other extreme adventures in our programmes, and we make this clear. If any participants want to do these things, they do it in their free time, with their own money. Adventure for us involves being in the outdoors – hiking, walking or kayaking, (all cheap, all where backpackers go,) as well as being an itinerant team. New Zealand being the size of Colorado, it’s easy for us to get around.
- We have never called ourselves a ‘short term mission’. We are a discipleship and evangelism training programme, and have called ourselves this since day one. When I think of short term missions, I see people coming for set projects with the goal of reaching people for Christ. Our methodology may be different, but the goal is the same. Jesus said to make disciples. We want people to come here and make Christianity and evangelism into more of an everyday lifestyle that they will continue when at home. One thing that led to us starting TEA was seeing how many people would go on a short term mission, and either think they had fulfilled their missions quota for the next while with no more responsibility at home, or return home and lack confidence in further evangelism since they were used to being in team with a specific planned task. We want TEA participants to learn to treat evangelism as an everyday normality, and we train them in this. A bit like the ‘teach a man to fish rather than giving a man a fish’ analogy. So we focus on training and everyday evangelism, with the view always of growing in discipleship and reaching the lost. It is a joy to see this happening on TEAms as well, as members are encouraged and challenged to make the most of every opportunity to share Christ, rather than having a programme mentality.
- Some think that the emphasis is on the adventure. That is unfair. Please look at our website to see this is absolutely the opposite of what we do. We make it very clear, and participants who join us seem to understand this for the most part. If anyone takes time to read through all our material, it will be very clear to them that we are nothing like a holiday tourism programme. The reason we give so much information is because we want people to be clear about our purposes, especially home offices, since they are the ones who approve of applicants at the first stage. If I thought a country was running a programme with an emphasis on adventure, I wouldn’t send people to them either. But this is not what we do. Please look at our website. www.om.org.nz/tea

As far as fund-raising goes, many participants pay for themselves. However, those that do raise support communicate the nature of TEA clearly to their prayer and financial supporters, and we have only had positive feedback in this regard. If a church knows why a young person is coming, they realise that they are not supporting an all-expenses paid holiday of a lifetime. Far from it.