So it's Saturday the 23rd of October here. We just spent almost a full week in Tauranga, New Zealand about 2-3 hours south east of Auckland. We stayed on a Marae, where the Maori people lived in the past. The last two weeks have been an amazing journey. Hard to believe I’m a month in already...Here are some highlights and personal thoughts...
Week two was with a great guy and talented worship leader and musician. He staffs at another YWAM base in NZ and his name is Josh Menning. His topic was “Knowing God and His Character.” Josh suggested honoring and worshipping God is a 4 step process beginning with thanksgiving toward God. Then praise, sacrifice (when you really don’t want to) and worship.
“There’s a big difference between knowing about God and knowing God,” he said. Another very important point Josh brought to my attention was the fact that a lot of people tend to put God into a box. Their views of Him are limited to human understanding. We have to remember we are talking about the Great “I AM.” He is beyond our understanding at times and the moment we put Him into a box is the moment we stop growing in our relationship with Him.
Last Friday we focused on the justice issue of Fair Trade. It’s hard to sum up fair trade in a nutshell, but basically there are people that are earning menial amounts of money: unable to provide basic needs of food, water and shelter to their families, because companies like Kraft, Sara Lee, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, etc. dominate the coffee industry and are making millions off of slaves. This is not the only industry...products such as wine, cocoa and sugar (chocolate), palm oil, even cut flowers are being made by people who aren’t anywhere near a basic standard of living.
I suggest you watch a documentary called “Black Gold” for the coffee story. 1 kilo of coffee makes around $2.90USD, while they in return get 8 cents. Just because we are living in a first world country does that entitle us to ruin someone else’s life? Proverbs 31:8-9 tells us we should be speaking up for the voiceless and here is your chance. Next time you go to Starbucks or Walmart, demand change. Not in a harsh way, but question where your product is coming from.
Here’s some websites for more info:
fairtrade.org.uk
putpeoplefirst.org.uk
wfp.org.za
peopletree.co.uk - great clothing site
tradeaid.org.nz
We then went and traveled to the Marae. It was so beautiful and welcoming to get out of the city. On the van ride down me and some of the girls discussed our fathers and the roles they played in our lives and how it affected our views on God. We would later speak at the Maori church about this, which I will get to in a moment.
The Maori people did a traditional welcome to us: the leader speaks and welcomes you, they do a song for us and we return the same. We then go ahead and all greet each other one by one. You shake hands, press your foreheads together and touch noses, while sharing each others breath. Anybody need a Tic Tac (or in NZ, a Mintie would suffice)?
The people there were so welcoming and let us stay in the Marae for days. I felt like I was part of the family. In the morning Sunday service Steph spoke on dying to self and living in Christ. Great message, Steph :) Elise, Lesley & I spoke in the evening on God’s faithfulness and the role of a father. The children did special songs for us, a few I got on video. Roydon did a rap with one the guys and a guitarist. The two hours after we spoke were filled with amazing feedback. The church there is an atmosphere of “everyone has something to share.” One thing we rarely see in the States. We heard from a father’s perspective on his love showing through holding three jobs. A mother spoke as well as a twin, which I truly believe in those personal circumstances that Elise & Lesley were meant to be there at that moment for her. :) Amazing atmosphere, I loved it!
On Saturday we went to Mt. Maunganui. No doubt it is one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen from the top...seeing 360 around the mountain at the ocean and little islands of New Zealand. The pictures don’t do it justice.
This week we spent at the Tauranga House of Prayer with Aaron Welsh in Tauranga, NZ. The best way to describe Aaron was “INTENSE.” The guy spends four hours a day with God in prayer and worship, so I’d like to think he knows God pretty well. He is my favorite speaker so far, very blunt and straight to the point. We only had three days with them but they were quite amazing.
He spoke on how Western Christian culture tends to speak from the standpoint of “What can God do for you?” We need to look at this picture differently because we worship God for His glory. He spoke on Revelations and how we as a majority tend to push away the Rapture and forget that about 85-90% of the prophecies in the books have come true. (The Jews have returned to Israel legally being a bit part of that.)
I think I may go back to Aaron later, but his basic message was that we need to do everything in life out of a place of intimacy with Jesus. He was full of wisdom, I had REVELATIONS as Bree would say haha. I shall probably write more in the future.
Thursday and Friday we were back in Auckland with Denise Richtie. She is a lawyer who has helped pass laws in New Zealand to get charges placed against anyone who has engaged in child sex trafficking overseas and returns to NZ. She was definitely an activist for feminine equality as well.
She brought some startling figures on sex trafficking and her viewpoint is that we can’t stop the supply because we can rescue all of them and they will just be replaced with a new supply. Her point was to stop the DEMAND of the “supply” - aka little girls and boys. It’s a men’s issue and a cultural issue. Lots of deep psychological roots that take generations to change. Outreach toward men that would want to engage in such things is a lot better because without demand there is no supply.
stopdemand.org for more information. I may add more about her later as well.
Hope all is well with everyone, please message me on here or FB or email. I love you and God bless!
Sam Tindall
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