Hello everybody, Hoi zäme!

We can’t believe the first week of Off The GRID is already over! We spent this week meeting our teammates, tramping and doing “various activities”.

The first day was full of nerves and expectation for the journey ahead. When we arrived at OTG Basecamp, we handed in our phones and had time to have many conversations to get to know each other. This was a bit awkward at first, because we had only just met, but we learned lots about each other.

Since we handed in a big distraction of our lives we were able to turn our full intention towards each other and figuring out life at Off The GRID. The three Kiwis could play “tour guide” and teach the others some things about the country. Arriving at Basecamp was full of surprises for everyone and some of us tried food that we’d never had before. For example, at Basecamp we have a lot of feijoas and before we could leave for our first tramp we all had to eat at least five of them so Christy was not left with all of them. =)

Walking through the Richmond Ranges on our first tramp, we had to get used to hiking with a big pack, had to deal with a few blisters and fight against the cold weather. The walk up was challenging but we were able to bond together as a team through this. When we arrived at the hut we were really tired and went to bed early after dinner.

On the second day of our tramp, we stayed around the hut, doing our Bible study. We had some deep conversations about our lives, which helped us bond as a team and encouraged us a lot. We enjoyed the views from the lookout while having our quiet time and watched the sunset after this. Jogven taught us a Faroese dance which was fun and kept us warm. Before bed, we admired the stars and challenged each other to see how many push-ups we could do. The walk down was easier so we could enjoy the great views and some of us even had the strength to run down at the end of the tramp.

After the tramp our muscles were sore and we were really excited to see Christy picking us up with the van.

Despite being very tired, on our way back some of us almost cried of laughter because we had some really funny conversations.

Back at Basecamp Ethan showed us some of his guitar skills and we enjoyed a long night with conversations about God’s Word, comparing Bibles and having lots of fun. After only one week we already feel really connected as a team, though we should probably start getting to bed sooner.

On Sunday, we enjoyed a lovely church service and met lots of new people. After church we went to the beach and swam, made sandcastles (and sand couches) and played frisbee. After swimming we were freezing but we were all glad that we were able to swim and enjoy the good weather.

Throughout the week, as a team, we have been considering Gods creation and how he made us all with a purpose. Doing this felt especially meaningful while we were in the mountains, enjoying the beauty of creation. We learned a lot about being disciplined in order to improve our leadership skills and thought about ways we could challenge ourselves in the next few weeks.