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.