2 days before leaving for kingdom weekend, I woke up with a sore throat, but I knew that I had to participate in this faith-building opportunity. So I got heaps of prayer and went out anyways.
We were dropped off on the outskirts of town in Oxford at 2pm on Thursday with a sandwich, $10 each, sleeping bag, and our Bibles. We sat down and prayed and ate our sandwiches. We started walking with our thumbs out and about 30 minutes later a car stopped for us. A man named Phillip picked us up and drove us about 30 minutes to Rangoria. He is a farmer in Oxford and was on his way to buy a saw because some trees blew over on his farm. We prayed for him when he dropped us off and he was blessed. We walked through town and then hitched and were picked up by a man named Max who was a math teacher and his phone kept ringing while he drove so he was very distracted. He dropped us off in Woodend, only 10 minute ride. We hitched again from Woodend and were picked up by Mike who drove us to Amberly, about 20 minutes away. We prayed for Mike and his family before he left. In Amberly we were not sure now what to do so we sat down and prayed, asking God for direction. Ryan felt like he needed to go to a coffee shop called the Spoon Cafe. I heard that I needed to follow Ryan's plan. So we went to the cafe and they were closed, but there was a teenage guy sitting out on a bench. He had just gotten off work there and was waiting for his ride home, so Ryan sat down and started talking with him while Cate and I went off to pray for them. Ryan ended up sharing the whole Gospel with Tim and right when he finished, Tim's dad came to pick him up. Ryan said Tim was very open and seemed to be receiving what he was sharing. Then we hitched again and were picked up by a man named Heiden who drove us to Amberly, about 20 minutes North. By then it was about 7pm so we walked into the town looking for a place to stay. We found a backpacker camp and we asked the owner if he would let us stay for free because we didn't have enough money but he turned us away. So we went back out to the road and tried hitching. By then it was getting dark and few cars were out and no one picked us up. So, we worshipped and walked back to a little playground we had seen in the town. We slept in a covered sand box and felt completely blessed and at peace.
The next morning we woke up at 6am, Ryan shared that the word for the day was "faithfulness" and we went out hitching. We walked for 2 hours trying to get any passing vehicle to pick us up. It started to rain and finally a van pulled over. The man was named Josh and he was headed to Picton (at the top of the island) to take a ferry to the North island. He was 18, from Guam, had just finished his year at university and packed his van with everything he owned and was heading to a dairy farm to work for the summer. Ryan shared the gospel with him as we drove the 3 hours north. 
There was a woman with 3 kids who came to the park to play. Cate felt God leading us to pray for her. So, we asked her and she was excited because she is a believer and thought she heard our Christian music. We prayed over Marion and her kids (Jessica, 6, and Hector, 5). Cate asked her if she knew of a place we could stay and she said no because she lives on a 40 ft boat with her husband and kids, so there was no room for us. Then her daughter protested and asked if we could stay in her storage shed. She agreed and took us to her shed, which had carpet (such a blessing!) and let us on her boat and fed us a warm dinner while we played with the kids. We did her dishes and asked if there was any way we could bless her for her generosity toward us. She said that she needed to go to work the next day but had not been able to go because of the kids. So, she asked if we could babysit them for the morning. We enthusiastically agreed to help. We went to bed in the shed praising God so much that night! The next morning Marion packed us all lunch and the kids led us on a hike to Bob's Bay. At the bay we built a shell castle and played around with the kids for 2 hours.
Then we hiked back to town, sharing Jesus with them as we walked. In town we went to a free festival for the birthday of the Edwin Fox, one of the oldest ships in the world. At the festival we got to eat cake and free sandwiches and treats. The kids had fun and one of their friends, Luke (who we also met the previous evening) had a grandpa, Tim, who owned a historic yacht wanted to take us out on his boat.
When we all got to the boat, it was gorgeous and vintage and its name was Faith! This yacht was originally owned by a lord who made the case for the conscience in the Nazi Nuremberg trials.
While on Faith, Tim told Marion that it was actually against the rules for her to let us sleep in her storage unit, so she told us that we needed to move on. We felt peace about that and agreed that we needed to get to Kaikoura. We made a cardboard sign for hitching, prayed over Marion and the kids again, packed up and left. While walking out of town to the place we wanted to hitch, we held our sign out and before we even reached out spot, someone pulled over to give us a ride. His name was Jim and he was drinking and smoking and mumbling. It was a short quiet ride, I prayed silently in the back seat and got the impression that this man was a prodigal son who had been to church long ago. When we got to Blenheim, we asked if we could pray for him and he mumbled "no, I went to church as a kid, I am beyond being saved" and he drove off. We prayed hard for him. Then we held out our sign for Kaikoura and 15 minutes later a man drove by in a cool car and I watched him go by. Looking back at him, he turned around and drove back to get us. 
His name was Matt and he had just bought his car and was driving it home. His wife was in Oxford helping her sister who owned a shop in town (which we were familiar with). He played fun music for us ("Cows with Guns"). and stopped 2 places to show us his "friends" who were seals on the beach. Matt was a believer and he dropped us in town in Kaikoura. We went into the washrooms and when we came out, some people were setting up sound equipment and instruments. Ryan asked them what kind of music they would be playing and they said "Christian music" and he said "we're Christians too!"So they invited us to worship with them. One woman, Dawn, asked where we were staying and we told her we didn't know and she said "you do now, you're staying with me!" We rejoiced at God's perfect timing and provision! 
During worship, some young adults were drinking across the bridge behind us, so a few of us prayed for them and sang a song called "Break every Chain."At the end of the song, the young drinkers came around and stood in front of us to listen. Ryan, Kate, and I went to talk with them about the Lord and share with them. They were backpackers traveling from all over who had met at the hostel there in Kaikoura. We didn't lead anyone to Christ, but seeds were definitely planted. Dawn took us home after worship/outreach was over and she fed us lamb and cous cous with home grown vegetables. We were so blessed to have such a delicious home made meal and beds to sleep on. She was such a woman of faith sharing so many encouraging stories from what God had done in her life. We washed her dishes but there was no other way to return her abundant blessing on us. The next morning we had warm showers and she took us to church at the Vineyard in Kaikoura where her brother, Eric was the pastor. Eric offered to give us a ride back to Oxford later that day if we would share our story of Kingdom weekend and give a communion message during church. 
We agreed to those incredible terms (Oxford is 3 hours drive South). During the service, Ryan shared the amazing story of God's faithfulness to us all weekend and then I gave a message about communion based off what we had learned the previous week about the Jewish Passover. Then the pastor said that God asked him to lay aside the message he prepared to wait on the Lord instead. So, we all prayed and some people shared scriptures. Then they asked us 3 YWAMers to stand in the front and if anyone had a word or prayer for us to share it. A woman came us and prophesied over each of us and the things she said perfectly aligned and were confirmations. For me she said I am a pillar in the church, strong and powerful because I rely on the Lord. She told me that I would encourage many churches throughout the world and lead people to rely on the Lord as I have throughout my life. This was confirming for me because I have always had a heart for missions, but specifically emphasizing in discipleship rather than evangelism (although I will still be obedient to share the Gospel when I can). We gave all the rest of our $22 to the tithe because none of our hitches or hosts had agreed to take our money and we didn't want to return with it. After church, pastor Eric drove us back to Oxford. |
| De (Mauri), Ryan, me, Cate, and Dawn |
8 teams were sent out on Kingdom Weekend and when we all returned on Sunday evening we shared our stories. Every team had an incredible, unique experience full of God's provisions and divine encounters.
Some specific things God reveled to me through this Kingdom weekend experience are:
~A new perspective on the homeless. I had a sense of what homelessness was like when we had to sleep in the playground the first night and going into towns after that looking around thinking "where could we sleep outside here if we have to?" Also knowing we didn't have enough money to buy proper food or transportation or housing, we had to think very differently and hope on the generosity of others. This was new for me because all the while I was thinking about my many loved ones back home who would gladly have given me anything I needed in those moments. But this time I had to rely on my heavenly Father's provisions alone.
~The importance of thanksgiving. Although we were sleeping outside the first night, we were so thankful and worshipped God. The next night, He upgraded us to a carpeted storage container and we exploded with thanksgiving and praise. On the last night He gave us the luxury of a house couch and bed which we again thanked God for profusely! Same story with food: started with a sandwich, then 24 hour fast, then had peanut butter sandwiches followed by our first warm meal from Marion and ending with a delicious lamb and cous cous all the while thanking God for his provision of food.
~The importance of constant prayer and listening to His direction. I don't need to explain this one. I think you understand from the stories how prayer and worship were a necessity to a lifestyle of ministry.
~My sore throat developed into a cough, but God used it to keep me from speaking too much and encourage Ryan to take the lead.
~God didn't give us a picture of a yacht before we left or a gazebo or names of people we would meet. Someone did pray that we would get to play with kids before we left and Cate had a vision that we would speak at a church, but these were the only two prophetic fulfillment. So, to me He wanted us to trust Him the entire way and listen for His guidance while on the trip. Everything was a special surprise blessing from the Lord. Other teams had many words from God before they left, all of which were fulfilled on their journeys. I am still learning to be silent and hear His voice in intercession, but I know my faith is growing in this area.
Such a cool story, thanks for giving the chance for others to get to read about it! I like how positive you guys were the whole time too... positive, prayerful and worshiping God... a great combination!
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