Week One

NZ is 12 hours ahead of the UK at the moment and so everytime I work out what time it is back home I'm left feelin that y'all are really lazy. For example, if it's 7 in the evening here I'm thinking about all I've done that day and going 'man, those people at home are just starting their day! what have they been doing all this time?!' on the other hand it works out pretty choice (new kiwi word I've learnt) as I have an extra 12 hours to post my blog for the week.

So (I know you shouldn't start a sentence with 'so' but don't hate me cause I'm beautiful) it's been a good week but it's hard to sum up as there's been so many different elements to it. 

You could kinda say that this was an orientation week, a glimpse into what the next three months will be like. And (I know you shouldn't start a sentence with 'and' but again, quit hatin) if it's anything like this week I'm gonna be tired-to-the-max. I'm in bed and asleep by 10.15 most nights (wild times let me tell you) but I'm still tired by lunchtime. I think it's because my brain is actually having to work and the last time it had to work this hard I was trying to figure out the plot line in Pirates of the Carribean III. The other night we didn't turn the light out till (dramatic pause and drumroll please)... 11pm - the tears that were shed when we had to get up the next morning means that there will not be a repeat performance, atleast not on a school night. During orientation we covered the usual stuff like assignments, schedules and what to do in an earthquake (drop to your knees and pray was the general concensus). We also got to know each other alot better - answers to whether you would eat your dead friend if you were stranded on a mountain and eating them meant your survival were particularly revealing (there are a few people I'm not going hiking in remote places with).  

During the week we all had to share our stories - how we became Christians and why were were doing the dts. With my gift for public speaking I'm sure you can imagine the tears that were shed over what I had to say - particularly the tale of how God told me to go to deepest darkest Peru but instead I  wanted to go to the Bahamas and how I was thrown into the sea, swallowed by a giant fish and then spat out onto a beach and as a consequence am the humble person you all know and love.

On the level though - it was incredible to hear everyones stories and how God has brought us together for the next few months.

We also had a couple of lectures this week on 'hearing God's voice' and 'intercession'. Both topics were really challenging and made me question alot of what I had thought about them.

On Thursday we watched our first justice themed film. This week we watched 'Once Were Warriors'. It's about the breakdown of a family through domestic violence. It was a hard film to watch. One thing that really struck me during the film was how much it must grieve God's heart to have to watch this happen to those He loves on a daily basis. I found it hard to watch as it grieved my heart so how much more must it grieve the Father's heart? Feeling helpless to fix anything was a common response but we were reminded that prayer is more powerful than we think.

We've also done alot of fun stuff this week. On Saturday we visited an area of Auckland about 20 minutes away from the centre. We had some great fish and chips and then climbed a mountain. I kid you not, it was an actual mountain! We decided to go the quickest and most direct route which meant that I was practically crawling and holding onto grass to keep me from sliding all the way back down. It was totally worth it though as the view from the top was awesome. And not just the everyday kinda 'awsum' which is greatly overused and abused, but it was actually AWE SOME. I tried taking a few photos (which i'll try and put up soon) but it was impossible to capture the vastness and beauty that we could see. On one side was the city centre with the skyscrapers and the sky tower all nice and shiny in the sun, on the other was an old volcano (think mount doom). Inbetween was more of Auckland, and opposite that were (was?) a few islands off the coast.

So yeah, it's been a good week. I hope you've had a good one too.