Separated But Together In Spirit!
Góðan dagin til føroysku lesararnar! (Good day to everybody!)
Niðanfyri kunnu tit fylgja við hvat vit hava verið í gongd við í seinstuni, eisini ber til at geva eina viðmerking:) (Down below you can follow what we have been doing lately. Please keep writing us comments!)
With another week complete, we are discovering more about one another as we continue our Off The GRID Experience. Each day we learn more about discipleship and being a Christian leader in today’s world while exploring God’s beautiful creation. Our New Zealand adventure continues and we look forward to the days ahead.
Life on an international team is quite the adventure in itself! Language barriers, encouraging one another, serving one another, rest & recovery when needed, keeping everyone safe, lighthearted conversations, birthdays, practicing our sandfly management skills and having lively conversations on how dinner should be prepared.
Saturday, we were dropped off with two of our OTG Leaders, Auntie Andrea and Uncle Daryl. They had lots of practical advice for us to reflect on. We also experienced Kiwi church for the first time this week too! We attended Hope Community Church, then after church was free time with lots of team bonding. We all value our quality time, that is for sure! We have gotten to know each other so well that someone we met this week was surprised to hear that we have only know each other two weeks, because we all seemed like best buds!
On Wednesday the team set off on our second tramp in Abel Tasman National Park! For this tramp, the team was separated because two of our teammates were not feeling well and stayed behind at OTG Basecamp with a leader to recuperate.
For the team, the first day of the tramp was the hardest because it was uphill for 6 hours, which really tried our patience and perseverance. Every ounce of sweat was worth the view and time with our teammates. Tramping really has a way of forcing us to appreciate God’s creation, and all the things we take for granted in the day-to-day life… like soap.
As we walked we thought about being focused on Christ, and how the Ten Commandments shape us. How those commandments give us guidelines for how our relationship with Him and others should look like, and how following these produces blessings. We can see the character of God through the commandments, and it reveals that He wants goodness and beauty for us. Not only by following the commandments, but also by the fruit that is produced when we follow how God wants humanity to live. We must remove the barriers we have placed between us and God, and we have to be willing to sacrifice our identity for God, and pick it back up for the service of the Lord.
We met a man who was walking the same path as us who was very willing to share his story. We saw a heart that was searching and we tried our best to love our neighbour. We are keeping him in our prayers with hope. We got up early both mornings of the tramp to see the most beautiful sunrises.
Norm likes to challenge the team to reach their potential, which he certainly did on the last day of the hike. He challenged us by hiking a 5 and a half hour hike in 4 and a half hours. And guess what… we did it! In 4 hours and 15 minutes. Extra credit to Susie, Pia, Elisabeth and Thomas for running the last 2.7 kilometres. Everyone was pleased with meeting their goal. We learned that if we want to go fast, we should go alone, but if we want to go far, we should go together.
For the two team members that were a bit under the weather, the past week was full of rest at OTG Basecamp. It was a challenge watching the team set off on the trail for the second tramping trip, but we were also happy to be in their corner, praying and cheering them on as they faced their own challenges. We stopped at an overlook at the Abel Tasman Memorial after dropping off the team, and we saw FIVE stingrays! We spent some time resting at the beach, resting at basecamp, and resting in our bunks. As hard as it was to be separated from the team, we know that in reflection, this time of rest will have taught us as much or more than tramping would have. What is the Lord trying to tell us in these moments?
This past week, we had an adventure that we are sure no other Off The GRID team has experienced! With gear that related to our event, some of our team headed out. It was a fast paced, strategic effort. The picture below shows our result at the end of our ‘adventure’.
Can you guess what’s in the bag???
Please leave your answer in the comment section below, and next week we will post the picture that reveals what the bag holds.
What’s In The Bag???
Prayer Requests:
We would appreciate prayers as we set off for our next adventure. For mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual strength.
Prayers for team health! We would love to keep the team together for the rest of the short time that we have.
We ask for continued prayer in open hearts to listen, learn, and reflect on how the Lord wants to shape us.
Thank you for praying for our team! We miss you…. but not too much ;)
Written by Elisabeth (Faroe Islands) & Megan (United States) on behalf of the entire OTG Team!