14 Day Mark!!!
Hoiii people around the world!
The great time is still alive and the second week was amazing on OTG. Tramping, sandals, identity in Christ, helping each other…and now we know that everybody is such a sporty person because we did Abel Tasman National Park!
Week 2 began with….three days tramping. We went to Abel Tasman and started from Wainui Bay through the inland track to Marahau. In these days we passed the fourteen day mark in our Off The Grid experience. Everyone knows that at this moment we are finished with talking about small talk themes, that’s why we’ve gotten deeper in our discussions. We talked a lot about things in our life we need to remove to get closer to God and about excuses we make and our identity in Christ. It is so nice that we can trust each other and be honest about our thoughts. We also learned a new skill about how we can talk to strangers, and then we met two new friends in each nice hut where we could practice what we have learned.
But back to our tramping trip in Abel Tasman. During that time we walked about seven hours per day and on the first day we went up, up and uphill. In that time we saw the beautiful creation from God in the nature, the sunset and so on. It was so helpful to push each other on the top of the mountains…and each of us had a different ‘mountain’ to climb. Some of us were challenged physically, emotionally or spiritually. A couple of had minor injuries, but we all finished the tramp with a final run. Now it’s done, what a nice feeling!
This week was about me, myself and I… no, of course not! It was actually about others. We talked about how we can serve those around us in big and small ways. We as a group love to spend time with each other, so we’ve had such great times and laughed a lot, but most important we spent time with God.
We have helped each other practically or with a meaningful talk. We learned how amazing it can be to serve those around us. After our tramping trip, one day we helped in the garden at Off The Grid Basecamp by weeding around little plants to help them grow and thrive, and planting some shrubs for wind block. Louisa learned how nice it could be to help in the garden. Everybody did a great job. And then Thursday ended with a nice surprise….a New Zealand real fruit ice cream! We learned not only how we can serve each other, we also learned in a deeper way what Jesus did for us and how costly his Sacrifice was for the whole world.
Prayer Requests
Please pray that every person can grow closer to God
Please pray that we can support each other to grow in our goals and see the needs around us
We are exited about our next trips. Please pray for continued strength and good health for the team.
Personal Note: Louisa
Hoii mini Menschlein zu Hause, Danke für all eure Gebete, sie scheinen zu wirken. Ich darf eine tolle Zeit erleben, jedoch werde ich auch herausgefordert, weshalb ich Noemis kleinen Anstupser vermisse und Elisas wunderschönen Worte und die Schokolade und Tabea meinen Lieblingsmenschen, die mit mir tanzt. Danke Mama, dass du mich zum Flughafen gebracht hast und happy Birthday und merci Michelle für den Ring, der definitiv in Gebrauch ist. Hab euch alle lieb. Ciao bis bald eure Louisa
Personal Note Translation: Louisa
Hi people at home, Thank you for all your prayers, it seems that they work. I have an amazing time, but I also get challenged, that’s my I miss Noemis little pushes and Elisas beautiful words and the chocolate and my best friend Tabea who dances with me. Thank you mom for bringing me to the airport and happy birthday and thank you Michelle for the ring, I need him. I love you all and bye till then. Louisa
Personal Note: Mirjam
Hello everybody, Auch ich möchte ein herzliches Dankeschön für all eure Gebete nach Hause schicken. Es ist richtig gut, dass ich hier im OTG bin, wo ich vieles lerne, auf verschiedene weise herausgefordert werde, die Natur in Wanderschuhe und grossem Rucksack bestaunen kann und eine tolle Gemeinschaft mit viel Austausch mit den anderen sieben und den mega tollen Leitern erleben darf. Mein Schnupfen ist bald vorüber, ansonsten geht es mir gut. Liebe Grüsse Mirjam
Personal Note Translation: Mirjam
Hello everybody, I also like to send a warm thank you for all your prayer back home. It is so good be here in OTG where I learn a lot, and am being challenged in different ways, being amazed by nature with hiking boots and big backpack and experience a great community with the other seven persons and the great leaders with lot of sharing. My cold is almost gone and I’m fine. Best greetings Mirjam
Written by Louisa (Switzerland) & Mirjam (Switzerland) on behalf of the entire OTG Team