Back to NZ

Project is over, I myself am already missing the fellowship of Summer Beach Project, and now realise how much wonderful community we had there!

I have learnt and been challenged personally about what life Jesus calls me to live.  I am exited to know that he is with me in whatever I do, and that He is faithful!  Uni Impact did so well this beach project, and key characters like Grant, Richard, Matt and Dan helped us all so much by being personal and real and challenging us beyond our comfort.

The outreach was my favourite part.  Seeing how the lost were keen to hear the message of Christ and to think about it, or read more about it was very encouraging.  It is great to suffer our own comfort to do the work of God, and it is such a great food! (John 4v34)  Me and Gary found it a challenge to go to the skatepark to talk to the youth there, and to be a presence.  As dorky as we felt, it was a great experience for us, and the burden for lost souls has only grown more.  We shared with Jesse, Lawrence, Mark, and Clyde, and if anyone is reading this thing, please pray for these guys that they would read more and hunger to 'taste and see that the Lord is good' - Psalm 34v8


Was back home after Church the other night, thinking how am I going to apply this and really struggling, but saw a man sitting alone.  Talked to him about this and that and then He said he didn't know anyone.. Shared with Him 2 ways to live (Evangelical tract from SBP) and He was delighted to hear the hope that God offers, and was challenged to continue to search and find out more about God through his Word.  God certainly rebuked my thoughts and I am delighted that He taught me that night that there is much application in New Zealand for our learning time over in SBP.

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us.  Your prayers have been effective, as God has been working so much so in our hearts and minds.

Yours in the family of Christ,

Chris


 

Pistol pete

Hey everyone! It is now the third Saturday of project, we are well and truly on the home stretch. Personally, so far it has been quite beneficial for me. I have enjoyed the bible study training and the great commission training, and I have found them to be very helpful for me. They have helped me to discover there is a lot in God's word that you can uncover if you spend a bit more time unpacking it. I have also been excited to do my best to carry out Jesus' mission for my life. As well as being excited, I have also been challenged by the project. I am discovering things about myself and my life that need to be different. By God's grace he may help me. Today we had (for most of us) our first outreach afternoon. This was good for me, although in our small group we did not get to the stage of actually sharing the gospel with any that we talked to, but many groups did. I spent most of the time praying for the conversations, and I am sure that God will plant and grow seeds of his love in them.

Pete

Day off on project

So here we in coolum. Third week, and it's our day off. the only thing planned event for the day is themed room dinners. Our rooms theme is hero/villains. So this afternoon has had me sorting out my forest ninja character which can't decide if it's hero or villain. Mostly everybody else went off to Noosa so the few people left behind had a really good quiet time and lots of space. Anyway the rest of the week we are are having bible study and great commission training. All of what we are learning seems to be valuable. Being here for the month is like being in a safe wee bubble so I pray that when we get back to NZ that we may be able to apply it to our everyday lives.

Rach :)

Thailand team and serving the community

Already into February and week three of SBP or Spag Bol Project (guess what we've been eating). Today almost all of us went out to serve in the community, doing yard work, cleaning and even helping to build a shed. This came rather conveniently after an inspiring talk on the value of hard work this morning...
Gary and Chris stayed behind to share with people at the skate park the awesome news of Christ. Two groups were pretty interested and were keen to know more so we can be praying for them, and that God opens up more opportunities like that.
Today we were joined by three Thai girls and an American missionary who are going to give us a talk tonight about missions in Thailand. Combine that with the biography of inspirational missionaries we're studying and the fact that our dollar might actually be worth something in a developing country and overseas missions are starting to look pretty attractive!
Please continue to pray for us as we strive to become consumed by a passion for Jesus. There's been a bit of sickness going around and I know I'm feeling pretty tired so we do need your support.
Bible study training and Great Commission training are going great but learning 11 verses of Hebrews off by heart this week will be a bit of a challenge!
SBP has been amazing so far and all of us Kiwis are so thankful that we've been given this privilege to come and learn so much.
Thanks again to everyone supporting us.
Your's growing in Christ,
Geoff V.

Hello from Coolum!

I am loving being here in beautiful Queensland! The weather has been great these past few days, not at all too hot or humid (which is apparently unusual for the time of year), with the weather being similar to Auckland's (it's been raining on and off as well). 
 
Summer Beach Project (SBP) officially started on Friday the 21st after being postponed for a few days because of the severe flooding in QLD. I think we are all very thankful to God to have arrived safely at SBP and that we still have SBP this year! The 10 kiwi students that have been here at the Villa Coolum since last saturday were able to spend time seeing some of QLD, like visiting Noosa (which is an awesome place!), as well as getting a head start on reading the books for SBP (Filling up the Afflictions of Christ, In Our Joy - John Piper).
 
What I have found most valuable so far is learning the importance of spending quiet personal time in God's word and really studying His word, instead of simply reading it through without looking deeper at what God is saying! 
 
The theme for this year's SBP is 'Consumed'. My hope and prayer is that we would all be consumed with a desire to know Christ more, to love Him above everything else and to live for God! Please continue to pray for us here that we would continue to grow in Christ. 
'Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!' Romans 11:33
 
Thank you again for your support! 
Hannah

Here are some photos!

-Coolum Beach

 -The main beach at Noosa

 -Another beach at Noosa National Park

 -The SBP banner made by the kiwi girls!

 -The pool at the Villa Coolum

 -The boardwalk that looks over Coolum Beach - on the way towards the Villa Coolum

Project underway

Day 8 for all the kiwis here in column and day 3 of the Sbp project. The Aussie way of life is still seeming a bit foreign to most of us kiwis especially the overpriced Aussie dollar that has most of us facing near a blown budget after purchasing a packet of noodles. Curries seem to be the favoured dish by most of the aussies and this is coming with severe warnings by chris especially that thats only gonna cause more harm than good. Also in terms of snakes or death by animals wev had a few close encounters  with balls going into long grass but wer yet to have a fatality. The language barrier between the aussies and ourselves that at first resembled a human communicating with a dog is being resolved with translation. From a more serious perspective the project has started very well with good fellowship. Please pray for us as we aim to be consumed by christs love and the joy that comes with drawing near and worshiping his goodness and glory. Psalm 30 says YOu have removed my sackcloth and clothed me in joy and this is what we are seeking to be consumed by with regard to counting sacrifices of the flesh as gain if they bring us closer to knowing and savouring christ.

Gary

Across the ditch...

The team embarked in high spirits, although tired, to Aussie to begin their mission.

On arrival, heat was duly expected but none would have assumed the incredible price of a simple meal in australia. As Gary says: "get a mortgage to buy some chips!".

We have enjoyed free time with the projects delay and have been reading much. Had a great time of praise to our heavenly dad, and we hope to have many more. We are blessed to have a pool to cool down after well, after anything! We are reding together through book 5 of John Pipers "the swans are not silent". It is a great challenge to our hearts and our minds to see brother and sisters have gone before us in boldness and ready to join the martyrs for Jesus.

Australians are starting to arrive and the project shall start tomorrow afternoon which we look forward to. Please pray for us that we can kick off the project in fellowship and unity with our brothers and sisters on project, that we will put our knowledge of God's ways to great use on this trip!

Chris