What are you going to be learning in New Zealand? I have to say, up until two days ago, I wasn’t sure myself. I knew of course that YWAM would be teaching Bible centered Christian theology. But, I didn’t know how to describe the content of that teaching. And then one of our speakers said it so simply. I am learning to hear the voice of God and to step out in what he is leading me to do. So far, this has meant learning to know God. First we learned about the father heart of God. This week, we are studying the nature and character of God.
We are, of course, also preparing for outreach. We are blessed to have a young man from Cambodia join us to teach us Cambodian culture and language, Khmer. We only have time to learn a few phrases, but even this much will do so much for connecting with the people there and showing them we care for them. We leave for Bali, Indonesia on the 14th of December. We will spend two weeks there (over Christmas), learning more agriculture and water conservation techniques, before heading off to Cambodia. We will be in Cambodia for a little more than two months. Then, about two weeks into March, we will leave Cambodia and do about a week of debrief on one of the Pacific islands. We don’t know much about this part of the trip yet.
We had a very special privilege last week in that Rob and Jenny took us out to some land they own on the west coast. They and their family go out there regularly to camp and get away from the business of life. We set up a huge tent that all 7 of us girls could sleep in. We had bonfires on the beach and learned “bush craft.” Which is outdoor survival skills. Basically, we practiced third world living for a week.
We also went Whitebait fishing. Whitebait is a small white fish found in the mouths of rivers here in New Zealand. They are considered a delicacy. We were told they can be sold for as much as $75/pound. The taste wasn’t very fishy and really quite good for a fish. But, the consistency was hard to get over. You see, you eat the fish whole.
