Wells vs. Fences

We are six weeks into the 2013 Backpacker DTS. Here are some highlights from the journey so far! 

Prophetic Worship

We have been exploring different ways of worshiping God and giving him GLORY. Earlier in the school we had a time of worship that was birthed from testimony. What do I mean? Well, a student or staff would come up and share a brief testimony of God's goodness, character or something He did. Then the worship team (which is three people singing and playing guitar and piano) would listen to the Spirit and turn the student's words into praise back to the Lord. It was the coolest thing I've ever experienced because it was personal, relevant and glorifying PRAISE. We are loved by a truly good and gracious God! 

Playing around the tide pools

Walking around the tide pools and meeting backpackers from Malaysia 

We love because he first loved us 

One of our speakers was teaching on 'hearing God's voice". He brought us back to 1 John 4:19 which simply says "We love because he first loved us." He explained that often we are striving to love God and understand what it means to love him. But it's hard to grasp how to love this mysterious God. This verse says though that we are able to love Him only because we are first loved by Him. The speaker said our appropriate response is to let Him love us and we need to receive His love. Then we will RESPOND (not strive) to His love naturally. Here is an example: We love our parents not because they birthed us. But because they first loved us, we are able to respond and love them in return. So allow yourself to receive and really believe that THE FATHER LOVES YOU. And from your acceptance of His love, your responsive love for Him will grow. 

Me and the students on a weekend trip

Enjoying the mountains of New Zealand 

Wells vs. Fences

The pastor at the local Anglican church had an interesting sermon the other week. He talked about a friend of his who went to Australian to visit a relative on a ranch. While there, the rancher was showing her the land and animals in the outback. And she marveled that he didn't have any fences to keep the animals in. She asked him why they didn't have any fences. His response? "We don't build fences here, we did wells." What this means is that they don't need a fence to keep the animals near by. They build good deep wells and the animals won't stray too far. 

Then the pastor connected this to the body of Christ. Often as Christians, we are known for what we don't allow, don't believe in and are known for the boundaries we put up. But instead of worrying about keeping people in, what if Christians were DEEP WELLS, where people would experience Jesus. Then they would be drawn to believers, the church and ultimately, JESUS! Let's spend time in God's presence and be a deep well for other's to drink in. 

We found some baby seals by the waterfall 

This is almost my whole staff team! What a great bunch :)