My first few weeks
- Jüjü Juillard
- Mar 20, 2024
- 3 min read
Two months have passed since I said goodbye to Switzerland. My approximately 40-hour journey began with a train ride from Spiez to Milan and ended after four flights with the landing of a small passenger plane in Whangārei, in the north of New Zealand.
The first two weeks were very relaxed, mainly spent meeting old friends and preparing for the 4.5-month DTS. A few days before the first students arrived, we could finally start cleaning and setting up the building. The property is mainly used for Christian holiday camps and was accordingly clean😊 We often cleaned and scrubbed until late at night, but the result was worth it and now it's a good place to live.
Now we're already in the sixth week, and looking back, we've already had many experiences. The students got along well from the beginning (typical YWAM), and four days later, at our welcome ceremony, the so-called "Mihi Whakatau," we already heard everyone's life story.
On the first weekend, we went to an outdoor water park where we had a lot of fun, and someone already broke their nose. Funny anecdote: On my DTS, a friend of mine also broke his nose in the first few weeks, back then during "Sleeping Bag Soccer". I really hope this won't become a pattern with the upcoming schools😅
In the remaining four weeks, we mainly had classes on topics such as "Character and Nature of God", "Hearing God's Voice", "Father Heart of God" and "Bible Overview". Although I've done a DTS myself, I often still feel like a student because I'm learning so much from these incredible men and women of God.
On weekends, we usually go surfing, which is really incredible. The sea is even more beautiful now in summer, and I'm finally making progress, which helps with the homesickness for snowboarding. It's crazy that you can still call this "mission work"😋 We do work a lot here, and I'm often tired, but I'm as happy as I've been in a long time, and being with the students and watching them grow and learn every day is a huge privilege. Thank you very much to everyone who makes this possible, financially and in prayer!
Last week, we finally found out our locations for the outreach. I will lead a team of our students to Vanuatu together with Naomi and Chad, while Raphi and Lasini will go to Indonesia with the other team. Vanuatu is an island nation located between Fiji and Papua New Guinea and inhabited by ethnic "Melanesians," who are supposedly very open and chilled. Exactly what the whole mission will look like and what we will do will still be revealed, but I'm definitely looking forward i to our time there. If you have some free time, I would appreciate it if you could pray for our teams and the countries.
Okay, enough talk. We're going to enjoy our last week before a second school from Kona joins us, and you can still check out a few photos. See ya!
Haka at "Waitangi Day", the national holiday of New Zealand. In 1840 they signed a treaty here, between the Māoriand the Pākeha (White people, in that case the british).
Ceremony with the "Waka"s, the traditional canoes of the Māori people.
The "Blop" at the waterpark.
Spontaneous worship during homework.
Volleyball and view of the sea from our house.
The student celebrating the birth of "Judah", the newest member of our team. He was born on the 21st of February as the second son of our base leaders.
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