New beginnings, new challenges, new hope

It is difficult for us many times to admit that new beginnings are scary, but let's be honest they are. I felt that way when I first arrived in New Zealand and I feel that way now. We are creating new beginnings at the church in Hamilton and it is scary. I am scared that expectations will not be met, that everything will happen but most of I am afraid of not following God's will in doing these things that we have been planning. The challenges we face are real, we do not have many workers for the harvest, nor do we necessarily have the resources. The one thing we do have is a new, revived sense of hope in The Lord. The Lord of the harvest will provide what we need to bring in the people to His Kingdom. We can see  the hope that this church has in the communities that surround it. We can see the hope from the location and the support are getting from the district and we can feel the hope stirring up our souls to fight the challenges. It will not be easy but as the song "Through. The Fire" says "He never promised that the cross would not get heavy or the hill would not be hard to climb" what God does promise though, is that He will provide exactly the help we need when we need it. We are not without a comforter, provider, lover, friend, or most importantly a Savior. 
        We have been having District Assembly here on the New Zealand district, for all you Nazarenes out there you understand that it is like a big family get together. It has been such an encouragement for us in Hamilton that we are truly doing whatGod wants us to do.                   All of the support we have been receiving from others all over the district. From Whangerai and Dargaville down to Wainuiamata, the praise that God is receiving for the new hope that God is putting in Hamilton is just so astounding. 
I have had an incredible time with a few ladies this weekend being young ladies of God and talking about how we are waiting for a man after God's own heart and how to be Proverbs 31 ladies before we are even in a dating situation. I learn so much from these precious girls about life and love and God. I am so thankful. 
         For those of you back in the States, you probably can guess that I missed being at home with my family for Thanksgiving and I will also be missing Christmas which has to be the hardest thing I have done yet. God is faithful though and provided me with a family for Thanksgiving. And there are still so many things to be thankful for. I am so thankful for the new beginnings I have see with friends (Bianca and Vanessa, Sam, Karen, and Alison), the ministries (fencing, family events, youth camps), new family,  and new changes in me. I am thankful for the new challenges of planning these ministries, fighting the spiritual battles that will surround these events, and keeping the new friendships alive and well. I am mostly so thankful for the renewed hope that God has given me in the ministry in Hamilton and the life I am working to make in Hamilton. 
    God is in all, through all and above all. I need nothing else. 
          When you face new challenges and new beginnings look to God for new hope!! He will never disappoint!!!!!!

Life Lessons

I know it has been a couple of weeks since my last post and man has life been busy. I have finally been able to restart Kid's Club on Sunday evenings and I have gotten into a nice routine with Mainly Music. Things are looking great. I will be looking in to quite a few things revolving around a family event series that will go in January and February and to me it looks as if God's hand is already working things out. Isn't just great how God works in and through us and in and through others to encourage us. So this past week was crazy. I had to do all of the preparations for Kid's Club, write a sermon (oh, yes I preached on Sunday, too!), read a book for class, prep for Mainly Music (including birthdays), and then go on a two/three day field trip. So I was one busy lady. But through it all I learned how much God provides the energy and the means to accomplish His work. 
Our field trip was to the early settlements and mission stations in New Zealand located near the Bay of Islands area (for all of you not in New Zealand if you type that into the Google Maps it will show you where we all were), the knuckle of the finger at the top of the north island as I explained it to my mom. We went to these places because we are learning about New Zealand history but especially because we have been reading the book "The Bible and the Treaty". To understand a little more, the country of New Zealand officially became part of the British colonies/power through the Treaty of Waitangi, a document that was between the British government and the Maori. Now there was and still is a lot of issues surrounding this treaty and its meaning and how it was upheld. Well the book discusses the work of the missionaries before the treaty and then after. The story of the missionaries and the Maori that they shared life with fills the pages of this book and overflows with underlying emotion as you read each word. The reality of their life came to hit me full force as we strolled the streets of those first settlements and looked across the same sights they would have seen each morning. We went to Paihia, where the first printing was, the place where the Bible was translated in segments into Maori and distributed (the full Maori Bible was printed in Australia and Great Britain due to cost). Then we took the ferry across waters that at one time had been teeming with ships, sailors, and wakas (Maori canoes) to Russel that had once been know as the hell hole of the South Pacific. Standing in Russel is the oldest standing church called Christ Church. It is surrounded by a cemetery housing several of the names we read about who had changed the history of New Zealand with their faith. The marks of the struggle to bring the Gospel and to maintain Maori culture with the invasion of European settlement were left in the form of bullet holes in the side of the church building. Left as a reminder of what they have been through and it serves as an encouragement to stay strong through the struggles. We sat in whaling pots used to boil the blubber that whalers took without care from the water of the southern coasts of New Zealand. Back across the bay we went to the historic spot from which the treaty was created and signed. We tread the same grounds that just over 170 years the chiefs of the north and the British representatives trod to create this treaty. The mast that indicates the spot of the signing while flying the New Zealand flag at the top and the flag of the Maori chiefs and the British flag. We saw the recreation of the waka that had arrived during the treaty talks bring forth the chiefs and Maori that we under their protection. We also say the house in which the British representative Busby stayed with his family. Journeying further back in time we drove out to Oihi Bay, the bay in which Samuel Marsden landed that historic Christmas day in which he preached the first sermon in the land of the long white cloud. A solemn land that surrounds that monument to celebrate the arrival of the Gospel in New Zealand. The land was barren of any sign of human life. The view would have been similar to what the missionary families would have seen. A rocky beach leading up a steep inclined hill loomed over by a mighty pa (or Maori settlement). As we walked the beaches and retraced some of the steps those first missionaries took I could almost imagine the emotions that wives of those missionaries felt. The loneliness, the vulnerability, the exposed feelings as well as at times a sense of hopelessness in the face of no conversions. They gave their lives in a fight between two Maori iwi (tribes). They gave all they had even though they had not seen one soul won for Christ. The feeling is so overwhelming that it was hard to speak. Imagining if history had been different and Marsden had never worked towards permission to go to New Zealand... The power of the trip has once again altered my thinking of the missionary plight. I was so naive, but to go back to Oihi Bay where it is not built up as some museum to visit, no gawking, no taking pictures of buildings and remains of the first missionaries' lives; there was nothing more than a whisper in the wind that reached right to the soul to proclaim they had ever been there. Even though their work had not produced fruits for them to see, their witness had caused a scene in the spiritual world. Their legacy has lasted nearly two hundred years next Christmas shouting "Rejoice, I bring you good news of great joy!" Christ has come to save us all from our sins!! Even if you don't believe now God believes in you and loves you so much. These missionaries worked to preserve the language by writing it down, to preserve culture by writing it down, made the Gospel applicable by translating it into a message the people could understand. It makes me ponder...where was I when I first heard the Good News? Where were you? 

A little bit of life

Kia Ora!! Life is good, living is better, especially living for God. I am just so blessed. I have experienced a lot since I last updated this blog. I apologize for all who are following from home. I am planning on updating at least once a week. I have had a few struggles, but I can see that God is at work. I am getting settled into doing Mainly Music and I am trying to get a volunteer position at the local community center. I am also doing some research to find out what it will take to open a Christian preschool at our church here in Hamilton. Keep us in prayer, we might be getting an interim pastor come the first of January and it would be none other than my grandparents!!! I know crazy right?! They would stay through June and then hopefully there would be a pastor coming from Ireland to be full-time. I cannot believe that I have been here for six weeks already! I did begin to feel a bit homesick but there is no real cure except to keep active. Activity is not something I really have to worry about between life, ministry and homework. I am getting excited that our field trip is on the near horizon. God is painting the story of my life one stroke at a time and I am enjoying living each moment in awe of how each stroke is defining me. This weekend was labour weekend and I was truly honored to go Horoera with John and Moana Tautua and their children and Aunty Lisa :). We stayed and played at the Matahi Marae. It was such a wonderful learning experience for me to learn from everyone who belonged to that marae. For Moana and Lisa it was family. For me it became family. I truly love those I met this weekend. I have never felt more at home and as if I belonged. I went as Sarah from America and left as Sarah from Horoera. With so many to help me along the way I was able to learn the basic of the Maori culture. The culture is such a beautiful representation of how God is everywhere working before anyone who knew Him arrived. The proverbs that come out of the Maori culture and the beliefs of the Maoris are just incredible. My favorite proverb I learned this week was nou te rourou naku te rourou ka ora ai te iwi, which means if you bring your basket and I bring my basket we can feed the people. Is that not a statement that should define the lives of the Christian community. We should live a life that works in cooperation with fellow believers, as a family would, to provide for the lost and brokenhearted. I have been busy making friends in which to invest and who can provide the encouragement I need. God has been blessing me beyond measure. At times it is easy to feel lonely across the big ol' pond, but He shows up to prove He is there and that His provision is more than enough. I am loving the life that God has been leading me in and I am just so excited at the prospects of each new day. I love to learn and am learning to love. Life is a beautiful masterpiece in the making one that is not forgotten by those who experience the colors that shine through your words and actions and your being. So be the color creation that God intended you to be!!

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy Faithfulness! Isn't is wonderful to know that God is faithful? Knowing God is faithful is the key to life and contentment. I must be honest right now, I am truly content. God has been revealing His faithfulness through the wonderful people that I am meeting and through simple experiences. This past weekend I was truly blessed to spend the majority of my time with the women of the New Zealand District at Whangeri Heads. The land was beautiful, the women were beautiful, and God's glory reigned. Baking breads, breaking breads and breaking barriers was what this weekend was about. We are made in His Image; that was the theme of this weekend and we expanded upon that through the need to help others know that they are loved and they are made in God's beautiful image. The weekend provided me with an awesome opportunity to meet new people and make many friends. I heard stories of people's lives, families, and their strong faith in God. God sent me encouragement in many forms: through the speaker Saturday morning, which encouraged me to keep my heart tender for God and know that His faithfulness will provide all that I need for life and relationships; encouragement to make it to the top of the mountain, which in retrospect helps me to realize that we often think that the valley is the hard place but really the climb up the mountain is rather difficult; and encouragement that I belong here, I felt that I had truly become part of the family, the whanau, here in New Zealand, I was not alone. Through this encouragement I was able to hear God whispering His dreams into my heart over these past days, dreams of including more in His family and Kingdom. His dreams include the community around the church here in Hamilton. His dreams see many young families worshipping and being mentored by the great saints of this church. I must still be attentive to listen how He wants me to help His dreams come true. God is faithful and as long as I am faithful to His Will, I will be used as a catalyst to begin the growth of the Kingdom. 

• Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
• Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
• Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
• Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

• "Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
•  Morning by morning new mercies I see;
• All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
•  "Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Here at last

Well I have not only made it to New Zealand, but I am now in Hamilton. I am learning a lot more than I think that my brain can contain. I have so many wonderful people that I am so excited to learn from and learn about. I have been blessed to move in with an awesome lady named Val. I have uploaded some pictures that are located on the bottom corner so check them out. I have officially seen a haka, if you want to see one look up the All Black doing a Haka. The All Blacks are the New Zealand Rugby team. I was also completely honored to be greeted with a hongi. The islander Kiwis, Kiwis are New Zealanders, are so vibrant and I love learning and just being with them. I am also very impressed by the pakehas or the Anglo population. All of them work together to maintain the island heritage. I have been busy writing papers my classes. I may be a little stressed by how much coursework I have but I know that God is bigger than my homework. The Briles made it to Whangeri (pronounced Fungeray) and Adam is settled in Auckland. We are just so excited about being here in New Zealand. God knows what we need and provides it at exactly the right time. God is so so so good. Much love! I promise to try and write at least once a week so keep posted!!!

A reason to write

There could be no better reason to write than to glorify God. It has been a long time or at least felt like a long time here in Kansas City. I really feel immersed in the community at Nazarene Theological Seminary. The friendships I have developed will help me and guide me through this next stage of God's story for my life. The church that I have been attending here in the Kansa City area, Antioch Church of the Nazarene, has reminded me of many thing. The people have reminded me what a church family is like with hugs and remembering my name, truly caring. The atmosphere of honest love for God that is relational is one you experience with this group of believers. The trust and friendships and concern/care I experienced just rejuvenated my soul so deeply I felt ready to serve again. The family of the Antioch Church of the Nazarene walk their talk and trust Jesus to do what needs to be done through them. Old connections with friends, new friendships commencing, and mentors have been the story of my life and i did not fully understand the significance until this very moment. This is a big moment for the glory of God, when His people get together, pray, and live to serve Him big things are gonna happen to further His Kingdom both here on earth and I general terms! To God be the glory great things He hath done, so loved He the world that He gave us His son. If you have ever heard the grace guerilla prayer you will understand what is driving me. I will conclude with that prayer so that you too may find that the glory of God goes beyond anything we can do without Him. Make me a grace guerilla!

The Grace Guerilla's Prayer  8/24/12

---

Lord, I want to be a grace guerilla,

No longer a chameleon of karma;

The time has come to stand out from the crowd.

Lord, I want to give forgiveness

a fighting chance of freeing me,

to live I love and live it out loud.

Lord, I want to drink deep

of the foolishness of wisdom

instead of swallowing in the wisdom of fools,

to find a source in the deeper minds of meaning.

Lord, I want to search out the unsearchable

to invoke the invisible;

to choose the truths

the TV hypnotists aren't screening.

No camoflage,

No entourage,

No smoothly fitting in...

Lord, I want a faith that goes further than face value

and a beauty that goes deeper than my skin.

Lord, I want to be untouched by my possessions

instead of being possessed by what I touch,

to test the taste of having nothing to call mine

to hold consumption's craving back

to be content with luck or lack

to live as well on water as on wine.

Lord, I want to spend myself on those I think might need me,

not spend all I think I need on myself.

Lord, I want my heart to be willing to make house calls.

Let those whose rope is at an end

find me a faithful friend

Let me be known as one who rebuilds broken walls.

No camouflage,

No entourage,

No smoothly fitting in...

Lord, I want a faith that goes further than face value

and a beauty at goes deeper than my skin.

Lord, I want to be centered outside the circle

to be chiseled from a different seam

to be seduced by another story

and drawn into a deeper dream,

to be anchored in an undiscovered ocean

to revolve around a different sun

a boom box tuned to an alternate station

Abu,let from a different gun.

No camouflage,

No entourage,

No smoothly fitting in...

Lord, I want a faith that goes further than face value

and a beauty that goes deeper than my skin.

Amen!!

Sent from my i

More beginnings and more excitement

Well I am almost finished with my first week of modules here at NTS. It is exciting! It is exciting but it is hard work and tiring. I know more about what is going on in Hamilton and have met my mentor Neville. I have also met the couple, who are super amazing, who lived there last year. The more I learn and am here the more nervous and excited I get. I am learning a lot and I am growing a lot. I making a lot of new friends. The only thing that I am not doing a lot of is resting. It is good though. I will rest up before I head out. I still am working on raising money so do keep me in prayer please. Also prayer for the people that I will be living in community with. Live is good and Glory be to God!!!!!

Well the change winds are blowing. This weekend I am working at a festival to raise money for the trip. But also, I just found out from Neville, my contact in New Zealand, and I have been moved to Hamilton now. So no more Wainuiomata....sad but God's plans are much bigger than mine. Hamilton is located a bit more than an hour south of Auckland, so I will be closer to everyone. I will still be working with children and at a local school!!! Well until next time....

Another New Beginning

So this summer has been full of many new experiences for me and many wonderful accomplishments, but as I begin my pre-module work I realize that some new experiences are hard work and a little overwhelming. I know that in the long run that this will be completely rewarding but right now it seems daunting. I have officially finished reading my first book for class and it was great and really challenging, but I know that finishing it only means I have two more to work on for the next assignments. Well enough lamenting about homework because, to be honest, the more overwhelmed I feel with homework the more I feel a sense of purpose. 


Right now I am currently working on fundraising. Let me tell you fundraising is awesome in that you get to meet new people and experience new things and you always have a great story from it. I love how generous people can be especially when no one is looking. I had a lady just randomly give me a dollar for my trip and she did not even know my name. I know that looking at the total, 10,000, and then looking at what she gave me, a dollar, it seems insignificant, but really it isn't. Every dollar, every penny even is one closer to the total and one more for God's plan. I love it!!! 


Well, I will be trying to do better about updating now that we are officially beginning this thing!!! 
Oh, one last thing I bought my plane tickets 33hrs and 40 minutes of traveling, which includes lay overs!!! And I got a new backpack for traveling at half price!!!! God is good in the big things and the small things!!!!


Until we meet again


p.s. if you want to visit my donation site just click here: http://web.nazarene.org/goto/WhittenNewZealand

Things are a changin'

Things are a changin and sometimes it just does not connect with my mind. I know that God has a plan for me and I know that He will provide. That is not what I am worried about. What I am worried about is whether I can handle everything that is thrown at me in life. The changes at home, the newness at church, the shifting of friendships, all of these had been stable, for the most part, in my life and either everything is changing or I am. It is not the easiest thing to do in life, grow up that is, but it is something we all must face. I enjoy change, don't get me wrong. I just am more of a drastic change and start fresh, not a gently, patiently changing person. I have been participating in a Bible study based on the book "Made to Crave" at my home church and it has gotten me to think. I crave planning, doing, but not really being. Most of the time God just wants us to be, to be in Him, to be for Him, to be with Him. I am not saying that God does not want us to do, He does, but we must be in Him and He in us for us to truly do and plan for Him. So while I sit here at a garage sale that all proceeds go towards this journey of mine I want to be just in Him, no more planning or doing without Him as the foremost thought.


Lord, help me to be with you, not to just do for You. Lord, help me to crave you about all else and to recognize my part in what you have put into being. I need help with the changes overwhelm me and the patience with the situation is rubbing thin. Lord, you are the one that will make this journey bearable and make it successful. Lord, I ask that you not take away the struggles and the confusion but give me the strength to overcome and the peace to recognize that I do not have all of the answers and that is okay.
With all of my love, my life, and my cravings Lord, I give them all to you.
Amen

More mountains moved and many yet to come....

Well I have officially graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education and Intercultural Studies. I have put almost all of my stuff from college away or at least in boxes until next summer. Two very important things accomplished and yet there is so much mort to do!! I have to do a lot of paper work and I am getting many things in order for while I am out of the country and yet, I still have about $14,000 to raise, which in itself is a huge mountain. Now God is providing and I see that, it is just at times, during these waiting times, it can get a bit difficult to be patient. 


 My church family is a big encouragement with the $2 challenge that we have started. Most everyone in my church took a 2 dollar bill with which, after prayer, they will do something to increase it, then pray over that money to increase it and so on and so forth. Not only are they helping to raise money for my trip but they are learning simple obedience to God and witnessing how when we give God a little He can and will make it great!!!


God is good and I know that, I am just anxious to see how He uses the faithful to do His good works. 


Until next time......

Alright guys, so here is the deal. God is so great, He is more amazing than anything ever!!! I know that those statements do not necessarily make sense, but man, God is so good. 

Here is a little story of God's provision.... I had been struggling to complete all of my applications and fund pages for my program. The big application that was looming over me, however, was the visa application that I was supposed to have completed in March. I attempted to apply online, but for some weird reason there was a glitch in the computer and the application itself prevented me from completing it. I looked everywhere trying to delete it and start anew. I had even taken it to my missions professor who could not figure it out either. After a long day of dwelling, I prayed and went back to the website. and BOOM! there was a delete button. So I quickly, yet thoroughly, completed it again. I even double checked some information before I entered it. At the end there it was, the button I had been longing for, the submit button. I prayed again and pressed it. My application was officially in the hands of New Zealand's immigration services. Then today, knowing that I would see two very important people in my life who would ask about it, I checked my status. ........And can you guess what I found? I found that my visa had already been approved. Three business days!!! That's it, three business days and God made it happen. 

Can anyone refute that God is good? I think not!

So it begins.......

I always said that I would not blog no matter how much my brother told me it was important. But now standing on the edge of another adventure in following God's love and will around the world, I think that it is finally time. 

I am hoping that all of you who read it and know me will hear my voice as I express my emotions and share my stories every step of the way. I am sure you can imagine my hands just going as much as ever as I talk and that you can hear me stumbling over my words because I have gotten so excited that the words are literally pouring out of my mouth. For those of you who do not know me, I hope that the stories of God's grace and provision inspire you to turn control over to Him so completely. 

May my blog bless you and bring glory to God!!!

I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful blogship ;)


P.S. Stay posted for more posts and pictures!!!