Week 2 and 3 of Outreach

Week 2- We worked at a church called Elim Christian Centre and we ran a thing called a Holiday Programme which is pretty much a small VBS. The kids were amazing and we gave them the chance to hear God and God did some cool stuff in that time.

Week 3-Is what we are in right now. We worked at a music festival in Hamilton and we were on the programming team, so we evaluated bands and helped them backstage. So I met Switchfoot, Family Force 5, Underoath and heaps more bands. This week we are working at a youth centre in a small town. The youth group is like 95 kids. I am so excited. But thats life in New Zealand.

It's been hard to update you guys. Ask my Dad. But I am trying to do my best. Love you guys.

I'm New Zealand!!

So, we are here! We took the train to Sydney at 3 in the morning and then flew to Auckland, NZ in the North Island on Saturday morning. We stayed in Auckland overnight at the YWAM base there and then drove to Tauranga in the morning. Our amazing Toyota van died in a small town so we missed our first bit of the confrence we were supposed to be volunteering at. But we got there safe and sound. We are here in Tauranga for sure until Friday. We might stay here longer. We don't have any specific plans for this upcoming week yet. But while we are here in Tauranga we helped with the YWAM Jubilee confrence serving the founders and VIP's of YWAM. The Jubilee celebration led into a confrence called Call2All. Which is of missionaries. Within the Call2All we are stage security. This week we are camping at a bible college with some super cool people. People from all the Pacific Islands and a group of people called The World Race. They are sick as. I can't say much more because I'm at a backpackers place and time is extremely limited but I wanted to say I miss you guys and am praying for everyone. New Zealand is a beautiful and amazing place and I hope all of you can come down here sometime! You won't regret it!!

quite possibly my last blog in australia

So as you know, I am going to New Zealand. We are leaving on Friday evening or Saturday morning. While we are there we will be doing a lot of cool things. I got a few more details on it. We possibly will be doing prison ministry & high school ministry. We are working at a confrence called "Call To All" and a music festival called Parachute Festival. If you know bands such as; Switchfoot, Family Force 5, Underoath, Parachute Band, you will be stoked but slightly jealous to hear this. Our team is working in the programming section. Which means, we are working with the bands and hanging out and making them meals. How fricken awesome!

But lets back track a little bit. New Years Eve we went to fireworks in Stockton, which is across from Newcastle. They were on the shore of the ocean. It was pretty intense and cool. Then we went to a costume party hosted by a couple from our base.

We had 2 weeks of lectures. We had Calling and Vision and Missions. Calling and Vision was a really good week and I learnt quite a bit. Missions week was intense. We learned alot about poverty and unreached groups and being a missionary no matter what situation you are put in. One thing the speaker said that really stood out was "You are either the missionary that goes out into the world, or the millionaire who sends the missionary." Ponder that.

This weekend the January Summer Plus DTS arrived along with the new Sports DTS and the School of Evangelism. So our house gained about 40 people. Our school moved into new rooms and crammed into tiny rooms. There isn't enough room for the boys on our school so they moved to a church down the street. So we are busting at the seams.

But thats life in Newcastle, nothing too exciting. Talk to you guys soon!

Christmas Down Under!!

Christmas in Australia was nothing like Christmas at home. Christmas Eve we had a BBQ outside and ate together then we sang some normal Christmas carols and some Aussie ones too. Christmas Day we woke up and all went to the same church. When church was over we came back to our house and opened gifts from home, stockings and our secret santa gifts. I got a video camera from the Yeos, a Rider t-shirt that is more like a dress, 2 teddy bears, heaps of candy, Tim Hortons Hot Chocolate and an ornament that says dream on it. After gifts, we had a small lunch and then had some fun in the sun. We made a slip and slide in the backyard and played out there all afternoon. Then it started to rain. For Christmas Dinner we had honey glazed ham, turkey, chicken, twice baked potatoes and steamed broccoli and cauliflower. It was amazing. For dessert we had apple crumble, pudding and a few different types of cakes. After dinner and dessert, we had a talent show. It was super funny. On Boxing Day we were supposed to go to a beach, but it was too cold and rainy so instead we watched movies, played ping pong and card games. Overall, it didn’t feel like Christmas at all and still doesn’t feel like it was Christmas. But it was lots of fun and a nice break of rountine.

Only 3 more weeks left in Australia for me, then off to New Zealand!

Forgive me...

Hey Guys!

Sorry it’s been so long since I last wrote on here. Things have been pretty busy and the internet has not been a priority. So here’s an update!

So relationships week.. It was a super good week. I learned the difference between putting up walls and placing boundaries, which I believe is super good to know. If you have walls and not boundaries how are you supposed to learn or grow or open up at all, right? Another thing I learned was I will never know what is best for me. Only God does therefore I need to rely on him to show me what is best. I learned not to take friendships for granted. I need to take time to invest in the friendships I know are put in my life because of God.

The week after relationships was evangelism. I didn’t quite enjoy this week. We learned how to evangelize nicely. I didn’t really learn anything new. But during this week, we commissioned the July DTS (commission is graduation). It was lots of fun. We set up, cleaned up, enjoyed the program and got to dress up. Good deal.

This week was lordship. Lordship means making God Lord of your life. So this week we laid down our rights to certain things and we gave things to God to use for His good and not our own pleasure. It was really good and our school really bonded again. We were vulnerable with each other, we cried and we laughed. It was a great week. And we had the best speaker in the whole world, Natalie, our co-leader of our school J.

Next week is Christmas! And we don’t have lectures. We are doing something else for Tuesday and Wednesday which is still to be determined. Then Thursday, Friday and Saturday is our Christmas celebration! Details to follow.

A few weeks ago at Youth Street, I taught dance! We learned some jazz, contemporary, line dancing and break dancing. We have heaps of talent on our dance team staff. It was super fun.

Merry Christmas fellow blog readers! Enjoy the time with family and soak up every moment. Oh yeah, and enjoy the freezing cold weather suckers!

PS Special thanks to my mom and my dad and my sister and my brother and the Yeo’s for the awesome homemade food and the candy. I am so excited to open the gifts! Legit’s from home!!! I love getting mail (hint, hint)...

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Schoolies has come and gone and it was stinkin awesome! We took a bus to the Gold Coast which was supposed to be a 10 hour bus ride but turned into a 15 hour bus ride and on the way home we flew to Sydney and took a train to Newcastle. But, because the media loves hearing about Schoolies and changing the stories around, I cannot blog about it. If you would like to hear stories or have questions about it please email me . maxleibel@hotmail.com

Besides Schoolies, I am back at Newcastle and am here till we go on outreach which is in mid January. Can you believe Christmas is in like a month? I can’t. Imagine this. 43 degrees outside, waking up to a stuffy and stinky room, having to wear as little clothes as possible while being modest daily. Story of my life. I love it though. Although the heat is intense, it makes for good tanning weather. I am going to have the best tan lines.

Next week, lectures are on relationships. I am super excited to see what is going to happen next week. I only have 3 or 4 weeks of outreach left. Then Christmas, then outreach prep, then outreach! Time is flying!

PS Steph-my roommates call you scarf girl. Do you understand?

I have a few favours to ask;
-Shanice; can you write down good songs to keep me update?-Paulina; can you do the same especially country?
-Beccy; can you do the same with our awesome music?
-Steph; can you, Beth and I have a birthday party together when I get home? And can you find out details on what is going on with jatlb?
-Jenni; let me know if andy’s new stuff is good

I think that is all I need right now. Because the internet is crappy, it is so hard for me to keep up on music. Oh well.

I just want to thank everyone who has supported me in any form to get here. It is seriously amazing and I wish everyone could experience this. To everyone who has supported me either financially, or just by encouragement or by prayer, thank you heaps. I couldn’t be doing this without you guys. Love you!

A short tid bit of update.

So, tomorrow we are Greyhounding it to the Gold Coast for Schoolies. I described it in a earlier blog. I am super excited but super nervous at the same time. I am praying I don't get puked on because that is sick, sick in the bad way, Dad. Speaking of my Dad, November 18th is my Mom and Dad's 20th anniversary!! And Havana's birthday. WOO! Happy Anniversary Mama and Fasha.

Last week we learned about the Holy Spirit. It was an intense week. You know how milk makes me feel sick and make my stomach talk? Well, I got healed of it! I eat it erday now boi.

ummm, yeah. I'll be gone till next Saturday, so I will blog more later. Talk to you guys soon!