Care packages

I got a package!!!!!!!!!

Today I was trying to take a nap because wow, I need sleep but my roomie comes yelling through the hall and has this huge box for me from Mom. Ahhh, it was so great, American snack food, slippers, a brush!!!! chapstick, pictures and letters and a painting from Izzerbelle. So I called Mom and talked to her for a long time. I was able to share with her the AMAZING-NESS of our Queenstown trip (which I know I have not told you yet because I wanted to add pictures to it) but I forgot my SIM card at the Lighthouse church which is almost 9 hours south of here so I have to wait until they send it back up here, hopefully sometime this week. Queenstown was amazing thou. Honestly...The Holy Spirit is amazing...

Also I was able to share with her what I chose for outreach. (I'll let you all know when the teams have been set in stone). I think she's supportive, I can understand if she and the rest of the fam are nervous, I am too I guess but the Lord is good. I honestly believing I am listening to his voice in chossing this country, this area has been on my heart for a long time. I'm excited...God is good.

I also got a letter from Grandma yesterday and Mom said she's also sending a pack of snacks. You have no idea how much joy and comfort getting mail gives me. As amazing as this place is and as near as I feel to God it is nice to have a connection to home and have a reason to smile and let the good tears run. Thanks guys. I love you.

Outreach

China-Beijing
China- Shag hi
India
Fiji
Turkey
Jordan

Our choices and reasoning are due in tomorrow, teams will be announced Wednesday.

We're going to Queenstown! It's early morning and I just finished packing which I'm sure you're all astounded at. We have the same morning duties and then worship and then it's a mad dash to the vans. Liz, Bitsy and I have a plan we think might half way work to get three spots in Jenn's van. And Alice is back from the hospital and coming with us which is a huge huge answer to prayer!

Everybody get Sykpe!!!! You'll love it, don't you J and Mom? It's half way awkward when I talk and you type back because your microphone is permanently muted.

Ok I need to journal and eat breakfast (toast and Nutella baby!) and pack all my snacks in my backpack before I go to morning duties.

Prayer and Queenstown

We leave for Queenstown tomorrow morning!!! I'm stoked!

Please pray for my heart this week. Our speaker is amazing, and I know that God is offending my mind to reveal my heart and my opinions are nothing compared to the truth that I know of my God. But obviously I've come into this with my opinions and the "truth" that I've been raised with and learned in my church and different places that I've been schooled. I just pray that God would reveal himself to me through His word, that I would keep my mind guarded but open and that my heart would stay pure before Him. And of course that I would keep my attitude in check.

I need to pack and go to the store and buy "sweeties" for the drive.
Love and kisses!

My Facebook Note

I posted this note on facebook today, I'm adding it anywhere else it may be seen.

I have been asked by a few people now how to support me now that I am in New Zealand. First and foremost thank you for asking. The need is very very great. Not just for me but for my team and our staff. My brothers and sisters.

My same struggle before I left is evident now when planning outreach, flights have gone up in price drastically and seem to keep going up everyday. But God is great. Scripture says that if we don't testify the rocks will cry out and we will not allow the rocks to cry out in our place in these countries. We will not allow satan to grip the lost anymore. God has intricately designed each of us for such a time as this and we WILL go.

I cannot track down every Rotarian I ever spoke to, it's not possibly for me to stay in contact with every person I sent a letter to. And so I'm now I boldly ask if you would support us financially. If you feel led to a certain dollar amount give double, God will bless you double even that. Forward this on, print it out, tell people about us. I've been called in this time to be trained and stay in prayer for these finances. No one in YWAM is ever paid because it would take away the responsibility of the church to train up and support missionary's. As the body of Christ we fight in this army together.

There is an intensity and passion about this group that is beyond words. God has begun a good work in us. There are close to 50 young people here being trained up to disciple nations. There are already people here who been called to enter into missions and ministry full time.

My address is
Attn: Amanda Stavnaw
YWAM Oxford
PO Box 47
Oxford, North Canterbury 7443
New Zealand

Also please please check my blog, it will be the most current information I have.

http://tonarnia.blogspot.com/

Love and blessings!
Mandi

It's already morning, I need to go to bed!

Ahh...what it's like to be "back in school." It's 2:00 AM and I just got done with my journal that is due tomorrow at 2:45! I have not even started trying to memorize the passage I have to have memorized for our memory verse test tomorrow. (Also at 2:45) All my YWAM friends will already know this so you can blank out but for the non YWAM friends I'll fill you in. Every Monday we have to turn in journals, they are supposed to have a summery of lectures notes, thoughts and opinions, it's supposed to be at least 1 page and I think mine this week was about 4 pages. Then we have to write a page about our memory verse and how God's spoke to us through the passage we are supposed to memorize (2 Peter 1:3&4 and Psalms 119:147). Then we have to do a charecter study on one of the attributes of God. Last week I did protector this week I did healer (Jehovah Rapha). Those are always short because I never know what to do...this weeks is better. Then lastly we have to have a personal reflection which is quite obvious (mine was was 6 pages long!). Jenn designed us notebooks to use for our journals and she's going to have to make me a new one because we're only 3 weeks in and I only have like 15 pages left! Liz and Bitsy are still up working on theres so we're mostly just messing around now, boy am I going to hate myself in 4 hours when I have to wake up.

Weekend warrior was a lot of work. It was fun but it was tough. I'm glad we only have to do it once. Also yesterday on the hill was pretty bad for our team. Laura my roommate from London broke her wrist, we think Sam the Kiwi has a broken wrist but he won't go in, Lindsy bruised the bone on her knee and has to be on crutches, and Alice broke both bones in her arm. She's been in the hospital since Saturday. She was supposed to have surgery today to put a rod in but they weren't able to do it. Pray for Alice and her surgery and that God would put a hedge of protection around us while we snowboard.

On Thursday we're going to Queenstown which is like 6 hours away (no worries I've talked my friend Luke into driving me into Christchurch to buy the new Harry Potter book before we leave), we're staying at a camp there and visiting this really cool church I guess. Also obviously we're going to Snow Park to ride for a day so that should be flipping amazing!!!! We come home late Sunday night I think.

Rumor says we find out about outreach this week. I think they want to know what our teams are by not this weekend but the next so that's both nerve racking and exciting. We're already talking about how hard it's going to be when we have to all be split up for church serving week (where we split up into our outreach teams and go serve some New Zealand church for a week) and then obviously when we actually go on Outreach. We're all so clinging and cuddly when one person leaves it's like we go nuts. God's got crazy cool plans thou so...you know. One day at a time.

Cleft

So I'm weekend warrior. (Means everyone else is out snowboarding and I'm here waiting to start cooking and cleaning for everyone else!) It's ok though, my roommate Liz stayed home with me so we're hating ourselves for being stupid American's and not being able to start a fire and messing around on the computer. I called home and got to talk to my Mom, Abbi, Pattie and at least hear Izze say no she didn't want to talk to me.

Last night I went to the Cleft. I knew my first night would be shell shocked but I guess I just didn't realize exactly what I was in for. And I guess I didn't realize I might want to edit myself and the real level of danger I was in when I told Mom about it. (Sorry bout that Mom). It was intense is the best word I can think of. I was the second team to walk out and I was on the prayer side and for the most part my words coulden't even make it out of my mouth, thank God for a Maker who can read my heart. Just to see these girls and oh my gosh just the fear in me and being out in this cold and the rain and knowing this is there job, they have to do this. And don't let people tell you that they want to be out there, these woman do not want to be out there. But when you have hungry mouths to feed there is nothing you will not do... I just think there is a reason this city is called "Christchurch," this is His city!

As far as the pictures go:
1.) Our messy room, my bed. Thought Abbi would like to see that.
2.) On Thursday we went this tiny little coffee shop for small group. Leave it to Jenn to find your so stereotypical foreign coffee shops. Maybe one of the most difficult small group meetings I've ever been to in my life but one of the best places. I have to get everything soy because my stomach has still not gotten back to normal but I'm kind of ok with it, you learn to live with it I suppose.
3.) After small groups Jenn took us to this gorge to take pictures and this was the most beautiful water I've ever seen. (As is everything here)
4.) This is me, walking...moving forward.
5.) This is Jenn and me.

Friday Night Evangalism

Tonight is Friday here, in a few hours the Cleft team is leaving. We are 6 girls (plus Jenn) and 2 guys who are going into Christchurch at 5. The two other evangalism teams have already left. See the thing with YWAM is, your typical YWAM is really evangalism based and Oxford is super training and teaching based so we have to add in these nights that we're out there really sharing God's love or we'll get so caught up in our little school bubble. So anyways they sent the Skatepark team out to hang out with the skaters (the legal drinking age here is 18 so like American's they start even earlier then that, like 12 or so..so those guys have there work cut out for them). Then we sent another team into the Square...which is just the center of Christchurch to hang out, play soccer and talk to people. Then you have the Cleft team, and we don't come out until after dark. No seriously, we're going into Christchurch to eat or shop for a couple hours and we don't actually start ministry stuff until most of the shops close. We're ministering to the prostitutes here. Prostitution is legal in New Zealand so it's kind of odd you know trying to miniter to people at "work" but obviously it's a huge area of spiritual warfare for these woman. From what I understand we'll have three mini teams, one will stay at the church in Christchurch and be intercessors and then one team will walk the street talking to girls and the other team will walk the oppisite side of the street praying for the talking team. I have a heart for girls, I always have. Especially girls who've been victims of or witnessed sexual sin but this will be such a strech for me. We know that we're walking into a huge huge area of spiritual warfare and an area with a high risk of physical danger just because of the ministry we're doing. So now I'm in a place of needing to trust the guys on my team...which ya...is not something I'm good at. But satan will not win and this team and the girls of this city belong to the King. Please hold us all up in your prayers. I'm sure I'll update you shell shocked tommorow while I'm at home on weekend warrior.

Quick Update!

Hey Guys-
I've gotten a few requests for a big long update and that's not what this will be but I'll try to fill you in quickly. (I have an hour before small group starts and I stayed up late watching "A Walk To Remember" so I want to squeeze in a nap).

Things are going wonderfully. Wonderfully I mean we're loved by a wonderful God, things aren't always fun but His will is perfect.

I just ate lamb for the first time and I think I might throw up now that it's like sitting in me and I know I have to walk back home and look at live sheep across the street...ugh. Last night for dinner we had "fish pies"...well I had one bite and then we ran to the store up the street and bought stuff for s'mores. Bring on the fasting!

I have started lectures so here's basically what my day looks like
615 the alarm goes off and I push snooze :)
620 I get out of bed.
630 the lights get turned on in our room and quiet time starts. Most of the time I'll sit up in my bed and read with my iPod but sometimes I'll go into our lounge and read in front of the fire.
730 is breakfast. Everyone who lives at the highstreet house eats breakfast there so we're usually talking and laughing by now. Staffs back from there meeting and Jenn, Laura, Ben and Dave eat with us (since they live with us)
800 we have to be at work duties. I come to the main base and help chop veggies for lunch.
845 we have to be at the church up the street for morning stuff, mondays are intercession, tuesdays is Bible study groups, wednesday is intercession(but we go for a half hour longer on wednesdays so we don't have work duties) thursdays is worship and fridays is...I don't know what.
10 Lectures start.
1130 We have tea break.
1150 We go back into lecture
1250 we go back to the house for lunch at one
2-5 Afterlunch Mondays we have community work duties which are the like other chores around the town, Tuesdays we have free afternoons and staff has there BLS classes, Wednesdays we have outreach prep (And Jenn and I have our officall one on one time) Thursdays we have small groups and Fridays we have free afternoon.
6 We eat dinner.
Afterdinnner on Mondays we have worship, Tuesdays nights we have World Awarness and Missions nights, Wednesday we have free, Thursdays are sports night and Friday nights we go into Christchurch to shop and hang out and then do evangalism ministrys until well in my case early saturday morning.
Saturdays we snowboard except me this weekend, I'm weekend warrior which means I have to stay back and help cook and clean so everyone else can snowboard. We all have to do it once.
Sundays we go to church, eat and act like crazy people trying to get journals done. Nights we mostly eat each others snacks and watch movies on someones lap top or hang out.

I decied Tuesday I want to read the whole Bible in a month so now I've added a whole lot more quiet time to my day so most of my free time is spent in the word but I find time to hang out and build relationships too.

God is so so good. I do mean to call and I have a phone card now with a couple hundred minutes, I'll try to get on the phone on Saturday to call back while everyone is out riding and I bought a bunch of post cards that I do mean to send out to y'all. I miss you, but life is crazy busy and I LOVE it. God is good, He is so real and so amazing.

I've got a lot of battling to do in the next few weeks for my freedom in Him, that much is obvious but the Lord is good, His grace is sufficent for me (2 Cor.)

Cheers!

Mt. Hutt

So snowboarding in MN is kind of like only knowing gas station instant coffee and enjoying it because it's coffee how could you not but maybe you think something out there is better and then someone introduces you to Starbucks and it blows your mind. Is this really coffee? That's what snowboarding here is like. 45 minutes into the ride to Mt. Hutt I had my head inbetween my knees crying because I was so scared. It's up in the Mountains, think like past the tree line and we're on the road of death! And I'm getting dressed scared out of my mind.

Fast forward 2 hours and you have my on the mountain...I fly thru the shadows and into the sun and I could not breath. And it all just clicked, the beauty and hugeness of it all made me speechless. It was like God says "Why do you think I brought you here?"

Anyways I have to say, snowboarding in MN might be impossible after living here. One of my leaders slashed his knee open and had to get stiches (they do that right at the lodge in NZ) and our other leader cut his nose open and one of our girls who stayed back at base as weekend warrior ended up in the ER after a trampoline accident. So keep our safty and protection in your prayers if you could.

I just think it's kind of hilarious that my best friend was lifeguarding in 100 and something degree weather and I'm here boarding. In July! It was beyond was I can explain.

YWAM is just, this is...I get speechless like this a lot lately. I miss you all. I'm getting a calling card Monday which is Sunday for y'all so if you get some weird call with like 15 digits answer, it's me.

Staffs Out!

Today has been a wonderful day (staff is gone tonight so if you've been through YWAM you can go ahead and guess at the state of my base tonight).

This mornings I had a very great quiet time. Might help my that as I was getting out of my bed my roommate sent me back up into bed so she could get out the guitar and sing me the wake up song. Haha ok actually it was really good. I was reading that verse that says "Taste and see that the Lord is good," and of course I can't find the refrence now but it just totally hit me how real that is for me now and it reminded me of all the new foods. Some of them look really amazing and taste awful and some of them I have not wanted to eat but I tried it and it was super good. (I'm due for my first bite of lamb on Friday when we go into Christchurch) but it just reminded me how I have to be like that with the Lord and this faith and all these new things I'm forced to trust and put my faith in. "Taste and see," I have to take that first step, I have to step out and allow Him to show me He is indeed good.

I had my first one on one today. (Meeting with my small group leader for those of you who don't speak YWAM) and it was really good. I guess I'm really learning to trust Jenn and allow God to love me through her and trust her guidance and wisdom in this place. Yea, I love her. She is wonderful.

Then this afternoon Laura gave a lecture about the holy of holies and how we are the new temple of the Holy Spirit and she used a chunk of verses from Ephesians that almost made me lose my breath.

"...as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splenor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish."

I'm learning to fall in love with the word...and this man Jesus, and these people. I must say I'm excited to go into Christchurch Friday to get a phone card. I miss hearing your voices.

I live here y'all!

We went into "Oxford" yesterday which basically consists of 2 shops, 2 churches and the YWAM base.

We talked financies yesterday and my lecture phase is paid for!!! Praise Jesus! But I'm still short for outreach so that rides on my ever thining nerves but I know I'm supposed to be here so I know He will provide.

A lot has gone on, we started lectures yesterday and work duties this morning but I just got done emailing family so my my brain (and my body) are exhausted and my fingers are freezing.

If anyone is wondering... :)

I miss letters :)
Slippers and slid on shoes
and American Snack food.

Tim Tam Slam!

This is for you Sarah Dear. Guess what we're doing here?!?! I was one of the only Americans who could do without hands!!!

My luggage got here!!! I've never been so excited to see my luggage! They totally broke the wheel off my pin stripe burton bag but I don't care I was so excited to get in clean clothes and wear deodorant. I'm excited to go to bed with my sleeping bag and blankets.

I had an extremely encouraging letter in my bag that I'd been tearfully waiting for. And I've had some really encouraging conversations. One of my leaders went to onething a few years ago so we were just spilling about how amazing it is. And just a lot of really cool conversations. One thing God keeps telling me is I am beautiful which you don't know how hard that is for me to accept. Especially when I felt so disgusting in dirty clothes. I think thou, it was better for me to be a day without my things. I was totally out of my zone and had really nothing to cling to except my Jesus. Although first I turned to tears before Him, it was a unique experience now that I look back on it. It is really crazy to be part of this romance with Him. I got this letter about how in love with me He is and then we had our first time of worship just us which was amazing and we sang that song "And I'm madly in love with you, and I'm madly in love with you." Just over and over and over again and wow. This like almost scandalous romance, really I almost feel...I don't know is it ok that we love each other like this? Yes, I suppose it is.

So this is YWAM...we had leaders testimony's tonight and introduction-y type stuff. More formalities and things like that tomorrow.

Love and blessings.

Oxford

Well I'm here. The first few hours were extremely hard on me. They lost my luggage in LA so it was really hard to unpack and make myself at home without anything that actually belonged to me. Thankfully my small group leader Jenn borrowed me some junk to get me through the shower and a shoulder when I needed to just break down for a while.

It's getting much better already. We have a couple different buildings and I live in the main house with lets see there's 4 girls in my room, 6 in the next, Jenn and Laura and then a bunch of guys in the other wing. Theres a I think 4 other girls in the main base too. With almost everyone here it's getting easy to find a group to sit and talk with. Most of us house girls have hit it off really well. There's 3 of us Midwest girls, me, Bitsy (Shy-Town) and Jenn.

Jenn went to the airport to pick up the last girl from my small group and she's going to check my luggage, if she can't catch it then they should have it delivered by tomorrow for sure. Which is wonderful, I stink already, I want my Jenny's blanket, and I need some base layer, it's frickin freezing. It's to dang bad if your an American and don't like tea, you'll like it after 12 hours here...you better or you'll freeze.

Everyone should get skype. Everyone says I need it, you talk thru the computer long distance and it's free. Like instance messenger but with voice.

We don't actually start anything until tomorrow afternoon so we're mostly just messing around, getting to know each other. You should hear all the accents.

I still can't believe I'm here.
I still can't believe I'm doing this.
But my God is here, already, even in the fear and the insecurity He finds me. Always.

Much love from my side of the world at the frozen bottom of the mountains.

Happy 4th Everybody!

Seeing as how I cannot sleep and my stomach is in too many knots to eat I'll go ahead and update. We're down to my last day. I'm almost done with all the little packing things so I can just spend the day with my sisters today. For everyone whose wondering, we're doing fine while Mom and Jon are gone. We've managed not to burn the house down, we're getting along wonderfully (I wish we could get along like this when Mom is home and half of us are not moving but...). We've eaten half way decently this week (at least we all make sure Izze does, us three older ones have had some interesting meals to say the least). I don't think any laundry has gotten done and Mom might be appalled at how late we've stayed up and how early they sleep in but I know she'll be happy to come home to a clean house and happy girls. (There will be plenty of diet coke left too)!

For those of you who want it here's my address while I'm gone:

Attn: Amanda Stavnaw
YWAM Oxford
PO Box 47
Oxford, North Canterbury 7443
New Zealand

And obviously you've found your way to my blog. Enjoy it, I'll try to post pictures as often as I can. Here's your first, final and only warning, I have a tendency to be honest on these things...to a fault perhaps (and sometimes I completely sugar coat and code word everything I'm really thinking) I'm kind of guessing most of you will see right through it.

Thank you all for all your love, support, encouragement and prayers for this journey. Please continue to lift me up as I travel to New Zealand. I will miss you all! Update you soon!