New Zealand Family DTS Update, Weeks 1 - 5

Wow, time is really flying by, we are already in our fifth week of school here in New Zealand! I just realized when talking with someone from home that while we've been posting pics and short status updates on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/LefeverFamilyMissionsAdventures), our last blog post was from our layover in San Francisco, so here's a long overdue update on our family as well as a summary of what we've been learning and doing each week so far. I've also included a brief glimpse into what we've got coming up in the next few weeks as well as some prayer requests at end.

Family Update
Our days are pretty well packed from morning to evening between getting the family ready for the day, school and base activities and homework, but we are all having a great time. Amy and I are getting a lot out of the school topics, the speakers are amazing and we are learning a lot from community life as well. It's been particularly relieving to see how the girls are settling in, each of them have bonded with several other kids and are spending a lot of time playing outside when they are not in home school and creche (nursery for Mala). There is definitely something special about living and working in a community of people that are all moving towards the same purpose!  It's the tail end of winter here, so it's been raining quite a bit, here's a pic of Mala in her rain gear, complete with "gum boots".

Week One Summary
This week the school started off with each of the students sharing a 10-minute summary of their "life story". Amy and I missed the first day of sharing due to our delay in San Francisco, but got to hear a few on the second and third days shared our own as well. It is amazing that although we come from very different locations and circumstances, there is a common theme behind each family's purpose for being here and significant examples of "divine intervention" in many of our journeys to New Zealand. We also spent time the first week getting acclimated to our accommodations and our schedule for each day including work duties around the base. We don't have a personal vehicle, so a highlight was the weekly van run to Matamata where we able to stock up on some necessary supplies (fresh roasted coffee beans and more importantly, gluten-free food for Mala).

Week Two Summary
The topic for Week Two was "Biblical Worldview" which an overview of world history and world religions. John Rush was our speaker, he is currently a professor in Lithuania, but was born in the US, did work with YWAM Mercy Ship Ministries in the South Pacific and is the author of "The Man with the Bird on His Head", an amazing story about how he became intertwined in the conversion of group of cargo cult peoples in Vanuatu by unwittingly fulfilling their tribal prophecy!  The teaching was great, it is very interesting to see how various cultures and historical events worked together to create the perfect circumstances for Jesus' arrival and how they continue to work together in preparation for his return!  Having settled in the prior week, this week we were able to start to get to know the other families and start to make some personal connections. This week I started getting involved with the girls home schooling, so that's been fun and challenging as well.

Week Three Summary

Jerry Brownell was our speaker in week three, he is an American but has lived in Singapore for the last 20 years with his wife Virla and he directs the "School of Biblical Studies" on the YWAM base in Singapore. The topic for this week was "Studying the Bible" and we received a crash course in how to use the "inductive method" of studying the bible, using the book of Philippians as an example. I think we'd have needed a lot more time to really pick up the skills, but we picked up some good tools and learned a lot about how the structure of the texts and context of the author and times can shed new light and life on the word! Even better was seeing Jerry and his wife in motion - they are an amazing couple, full of grace and so loving in the way they serve. It was encouraging hearing their stories of living and serving as a family in missions. Another highlight of this week was that we were able to borrow a van for a Sunday afternoon drive as a family. We got to see some beautiful countryside, including the Waikere Falls, which are only 10 minutes down the road. We also made a stop to McDonalds, which I think the girls enjoined even more than the sights!

Week Four Summary
The topic for week four was "Intimacy with God" and our speaker was Josh Cole, a leader in the House of Prayer in Tauranga, New Zealand. Josh is very passionate and uses hands on application to drive learning in the classroom vs. extended lectures, so this week was stretching, but very fulfilling. We learned some good techniques for meditating on the word and also the importance of prayer in the life of the believer. We also had some great ministry times with class involvement in hearing, giving and receiving words. Another highlight of this week was our drive to Tauranga, which is the 7th largest city in NZ. It was a very scenic drive (although Amy spent most of it white knuckled as the roads wee very curvy and I'm not used to driving on the left just yet) and it was nice to be in an urban setting right on the ocean. We arrived after most things in town had closed, so I think we'll be making a trip back here as there are lots of interesting shops and we'd like to visit the House of Prayer.

Week Five Summary
The topic for week five was "The Father Heart of God" and our speaker was Frank Naea, a key leader and prior YWAM president. Frank is a huge man (half Somoan/half Kiwi) with a tremendous sense of humor who carries a significant word on understanding God as our Father and his heart towards his creation. Our class time this week was anything but typical, just to give an example, we spent some time learning the "Haka" ritual the All Blacks use before every rugby match (to see it in action, click the video link below) and had some fun as a class practicing it together! The dance and words look and sound menacing, but there is actually a very rich history behind its creation and the meaning of the words had an interesting application to what we were learning. We spent most of our time on base this week, but have our weekly trip to town on Friday are planning to take a field trip with some other families to visit a local dairy farm on Saturday.

A Peek into the Future
We have 7 more weeks here in New Zealand before we take off for outreach. We'll be covering a new topic each week, including Evangelism and Family in Missions. We'll also be picking our outreach destination and working within our various teams to prepare for our work there. We've been given three potential destinations to select from - North China, Australia and Vanuatu. A team will go to each location and partner with an existing YWAM team in that country to help them with various areas of service.  We'll be there for 8 weeks and then return home to PA in mid-December!

Prayer Requests

• Continued Wellbeing - We had some health issues going on with the girls in the first few weeks, many of the other families and staff members have had some issues as well. As of right now, everyone is doing pretty well, please pray that this continues!
• Outreach Location - We have a few more weeks to make a firm decision on where we will spend our outreach. We are in the process of learning more about each location, they all sound interesting and we are leaning towards one particular place but are still praying about where might be the best fit.
• Future Plans - There are many reasons behind our adventure, but a key one is that we are looking to get a fresh and godly perspective on life and from that foundation, begin the next chapter of our life together as a family. Our desire is to find a way to live in which we can devote our lives to serving God with joy as a family vs. being stressed out to the max while chasing the elusive (and deceptive) American dream.