A very busy week with an even bigger announcement!

Ok, I must get better at this blogging thing. Its been too long since I updated you all on our crazy DTS life.
This week was week 5 of Lecture Phase, and we watched a video series on relationships by Dean Sherman. This would be the third time I have watched them, (11 hours!) and I must say that I learn something new every time I see them. It seems like three times would be a lot, but he is quite funny so that makes it ok.
The students were getting increasingly curious about outreach this week...they love to harass the staff about it, even when they know that we cant tell them anything. So on Wednesday we announced to them that there would be two teams. But instead of telling them where each team would be going and letting them choose, we gave them two random words and asked them to pray about which team they would be on. The words represented the two teams, but they didn't actually mean anything. The students had 2 days to pray about it, and on Friday morning they had to give us their choice. We then separated the votes and announced the teams. There are 15 students, and it ended up being 10 on one team, and 5 on another.
The team with 10 will be led by Lauren and Dahvede, and they will go to the Solomon Islands! And the team with 5 will be led by myself and Hayley, and we are going to Samoa!!!
We are so so excited about how it worked out, the teams are perfect! We will be in the islands for 4 weeks, before returning to New Zealand for a publicity tour of the South Island.
I was always sad when I thought about the possibility of leaving New Zealand without seeing the South Island, but now I am sooo excited because not only do I get to go, but we get to drive all the way from the tip of the North Island to the farthest point of the South Island and see many towns on the way, including Wellington and Christchurch!
The people in the deep South are some of the biggest supporters of Marine Reach, and many people don't know, but there is a ministry of Marine Reach called Farm Link there, that supports the ship ministry by raising cows and sheep and selling them for us! We are going to get to speak at tons of churches along the way, and be able to serve the people in the South who support us in a very practical way. We may even get to help out in some of the rearing and farming in the Southland. It is an awesome opportunity to see all of what Marine Reach does, and also to raise new support and awareness for the ministry and DTS.
We are excited to be able to share what we did in the islands with the people who supported us along the way!
That's all for now, but I will post more information as soon as we have the details finalized!!

Pictures of Our Home

The Stern
Four girls live in this room!! (this room is far to messy to pass room inspection!!!)
The entrance to the second deck of the ship
An outside view, gives a good perspective of how big the ship is.

When the Ship Comes In

This post officially comes to you from the Pacific Link! We are back on board our "home" for the next 8 weeks, and couldn't be more excited.
The ship sailed out of Auckland on Friday night with all of our students on board, and arrived safely in Tauranga after a 16 hour sail. The weather was great for them and the students were so excited to finally be on board! We were greeted at Salisbury wharf in Tauranga with a traditional Maori greeting and had about an hour ceremony for the ships crew to be able to share stories about the five month outreach to Fiji and Samoa. It was so exciting to see all of our crew friends again and hear thier awesome stories!
Today the directors of the ship, Mike and Jeannie Mears, are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, so we are all going to the party tonight where they will renew their vows and have a big celebration. They have been directing all of the ships activities and outreaches for the last 5 months so they are excited to have their family here to help them celebrate their return and anniversary. It has been a crazy busy weekend.
This coming week will be our first week of lectures on the ship. We are starting week 5 of lectures already! Its crazy, only 7 weeks of lecture after this and then we will be off on outreach. Keep praying for us as we work on outreach locations!

Seasons

Today I was thinking about the last year of my life. It has been 13 months since I first came to New Zealand, and although I have been home, it still feels like ages ago that I was living in Colorado. It is crazy how much things can change in a year, my sister has graduated from university, married and moved. That alone is a lot of change for one year! But she isnt the only one who has been busy, many of my family members have moved, some have had children...it seems like there is always something to celebrate. Sometimes it is hard to be so far removed from it all. But then I remember that this is just another season of life. An amazing friend of mine and I always joke that we live our life to a soundtrack. There seems to be a new mix of music to fit every transition in our lives. I have decided that life is better lived with a soundtrack, even if the transitions are a little rough, the music is just as beautiful in the next season as it was in the last. This is what has been on my mind lately, its a good reminder...

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build up,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace."

Find whatever season you are in in life, and embrace it, learn from it, get everything you can out of it, because seasons change quickly and often without notice.

Oh Community Living...

I love living in community. There are so many wonderful things about it! You always have a friend nearby, you always have big meals with lots of fun and good conversations, and you always have someone to talk to while showering! haha Its great.

The downside to community living: when someone gets sick.

When someone gets sick- we ALL get sick.

When I say all, I mean most. I am usually the lucky one. And I have a fabulous mom who taught me the secret of echinacea. This time, I wasnt so lucky. It always happens: Week three of DTS, everyone flys into New Zealand from the Northern Hemisphere, and they are shocked by how cold it is....and then everyone gets a cold. And I got it bad this time! I am completely voiceless, despite much echinacea, vitamin C, and tea. Luckily, I generally only suffer for 24 hrs! I am on the mend. Better luck next time around!!!!

On a more exciting note- one of the girls in my small group decided to get baptized today! It was a wonderful moment, all of us on the beach (dont let the pictures fool you, it was FREEZING!!!) with Caroline in a friends wetsuit, and our speaker for the week Femi. We only had to wade out about 8 feet from the beach to find a place deep enough to give her the plunge!

We had a blast, and I couldnt be more excited for her!

A new way to keep in touch...

Hello everyone! After much debate, I have decided to start a blog to help keep people updated on what we are up down here in New Zealand! Hopefully it will keep you more informed than my 'not often enough' newsletters and emails do....and I will be able to include the fun day to day things that never make it into my emails.
We are getting ready to start Week 3 of this DTS. Can you believe it!? Time goes so fast. The students are finally starting to loosen up and be themselves. (its always a bit awkward the first couple of weeks) Its still freezing cold here in Auckland. I could see my breath this morning in the dining room during breakfast. NOT my favorite! The ship will be back here in Auckland in 12 days! (hopefully!!) They still need about 35,000 dollars to fuel up in Fiji before they can sail back. With the price of fuel going up so fast they have struggled to find a place where they can fuel up affordably.
Other than that, not much new news! I will try to keep this blog updated with pictures and stories. I hope you all are doing well. I would love to hear from everyone so when you get a chance, send some email my way.
Much love,
Em