New Zealand - The Fattened Calf

Well it's been a mind-blowing week here at Marine Reach YWAM:

Last Friday we gathered to pray for our upcoming outreach. Several members of various teams were in need of funds, trusting the Lord to provide. We came together for a time of worship and prayed for miraculous provision for the ones still needing money.

God has been putting the story of the Prodigal son on my (Gabe's) heart this week - showing me that neither of the sons understood the Father's heart for them. The younger selfishly took from the Father and, after waste and rejection, crawled back convinced that the Father would reject him as a son asking, "Just treat me like a servant..." But the Father would hear none of that. Not for a moment does He even consider using the suggested the title of of "servant", but instead proclaims "My SON who was dead is now alive, he was lost, but now is found!" And he punctuates that title by pouring out his unrestrained generosity on his broken, unworthy son.

The older brother comes home from working his butt off in the fields to find the celebration in full swing, and he is irritated. He too, cannot fathom that the younger son has been accepted with open arms. He complains to the Father " but I never even asked you for a young goat!" He was such a hard-working, independent son - so low maintenance, never a burden. The problem is that by his words he reveals that he too is trying to be a "servant" to the Father, working hard to earn his approval.

And what does the Father say to this one? The hard worker, the go-getter...

Well he does not say "Good job, you saved me such burdens, and that's what I wanted: I don't want you to ask me for anything not even a young goat!"

NO, in his grace the Father affirms him with the same title "My SON, I am always with you, and ALL that I have is yours!"

Why not? Because the Father is not intimidated when you are high-maintenance, and He is not impressed when you are low-maintenance. His banner over you is love, regardless of performance or lack thereof.

During Friday's worship time it hit me... "Son, all that I have is yours." That means that if the older son had asked for a fattened calf, the Father would have given it without hesitation. In James it says "You do not have because you do not ask." And what is the fattened calf? It's extravagance, it's above and beyond what we need, it is an act of absolutely generous love.

Fast forward to Monday morning. At the (wise) encouragement of my wife, I went forward to share this word with everyone during our worship time. I challenged them to believe in the Father's heart for us as his sons and daughters, and to resist the attitude of the older son (sheepishly requesting the bare minimum) trusting, instead, that His heart for us is generous.

That's when things got a little crazy!

Cheyne, our base leader, led us in a prayer that God would release the "fattened calf" for us, the above-and-beyond.

We proceeded to count up how much money we still needed to send everyone on outreach and it totaled just under 6,000 New Zealand dollars. Since all outreach fees were due by 4pm that day (and we'd have to reschedule tickets for those lacking if the full sum was not paid) he asked us to take an offering. Many of the 50 (dirt-poor) YWAM students and staff came up tossing in a few 5 dollar bills, some tens, some twenties and fifties.

When everyone who could give something had done so, we all prayed over the little basket of money asking God to miraculously multiply the money (which we all assumed to be a pretty small amount). As we continued to worship our accountant counted up the money, and then announced...

"It's eight thousand dollars. It's EIGHT thousand DOLLARS." As the news registered, Cheyne shouted "Well, if you missed it, those of you who owed money... You're GOING ON OUTREACH!" And the room spontaneously erupted in applause.

And then, it got even crazier!

About this time, our friend Vanessa from Germany who sprained her ankle 2 weeks ago (and has hobbling around painfully with her foot in an ACE bandage) stood up and said "Wait, my ankle, it doesn't hurt any more. It doesn't HURT any more!" She then proceeded to jump up and down with tears streaming down her face until she got mob-hugged by 5 or 6 of her nearby girl-friends in excitement.

Also during this time, another girl (who had accidentally dropped her phone in the toilet 2 days ago and completely broken its speakers) received a text message, and to her astonishment, the phone's speakers rang out clearly. Astonished, she exclaimed "Um, that's not possible! Guys, guys, I think God just healed my phone!?!"

As the day went on, story after story kept coming in, with 2 students who called home to friends and family to find that people they had been praying for for years had begun a relationship with Jesus and asked the students to help them learn more about Him!

This is the fattened calf. This is above and beyond what we asked for or imagined, and we feel so humbled and privileged to be loved by such a kind and generous Father!

New Zealand - Outreach Prep Week

Weekly Update:

This week at DTS we are completing Outreach Prep week. What that means is, essentially, we're packing for a 7-week camping trip, during which we might be preaching sermons, performing skits or musical presentations, teaching health education classes, entertaining children, giving testimonies, leading worship, and doing basic medical clinics, along with (of course!) doing lots of relationship building and praying for people.

We're excited!!!

If you've ever gone on a bit of an extended trip, you'll have an idea of what this week looks like – multiply that by 60 people and put them all in one large base, and you might picture about what's happening here!

I (Dani) am working with another girl on our team to FEED our crew of 9 people (plus an extra, honorary team member who will be joining us in Port Vila). We've developed a 7-day meal plan, found/developed recipes for all 21 meals, compiled a master list of all the ingredients we'll need, and calculated the quantities of what we'll need for the 5 weeks we'll be feeding ourselves (on the first 2 islands – once we head back to Port Vila, food is provided). We shopped for spices and more difficult-to-get items here in NZ, and packed them into a box, which will be part of our checked luggage. The rest of the non-perishable shopping we'll do in Port Vila once we arrive (perishables are all kind of up-in-the-air regarding what we'll be able to actually get on the specific islands – we'll be playing it by ear!)

Gabe is in charge of worship music for our team, so he's restrung an old guitar that one of our teammates' family loaned to us, and he's also printed out chord charts for a good selection of worship songs, and transposed them into manageable keys.

On top of our responsibilities for our team, we're also packing, of course. We'll be sleeping in our hammocks, so we both have a hammock, a mosquito net, a sheet, and a fleece blanket. Bedding plus a couple changes of clothes, a couple warmer layers to put on at night, toiletries, insect repellant, and a good supply of granola bars also round out our packs.

Everything that we're leaving here will go into garbage bags, have our names attached to it, and it will be put into storage early tomorrow morning. For the first half of tomorrow, all 60 students and staff will participate in a base-wide deep clean, leaving all the dorms and smaller rooms spic and span, ready for the new batch of students for the October school to arrive in about a week and a half.

So, it's a little busy around here! But currently the weather is cooperating with clouds and sunshine and a nice brisk wind, so everyone's laundry that they're trying to finish before the final pack is drying rapidly!

We'll be sending out our October newsletter before we leave, so keep an eye in your inboxes/spam inboxes for that.

We'll be disconnected from the internet until we arrive back in NZ the first week of December, so although we won't be posting updates, we'd love to continue to have your prayers for us and our team!