Letter 1

Hello Everyone,
I have gotten to New Zealand safely. I have spent the past week getting used to my environment and am still seeing many unique and unexpected differences between various cultures and their norms. For example, New Zealanders are very helpful to the point that you don’t even always want to ask for help because they will drop everything to convenience a stranger. I also am living with a guy from Switzerland and he has shown some differences, but nothing that I can put my finger upon. These are only two examples of different culture among many. There are people from Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Hawaii and Scotland. It is extremely exciting and exhilarating learning about all of these different cultures. The energy among all of us is at an extreme high for what seems to be every waking moment; it fits perfect with my personality, but is actually more than I’m even used to. Anyways, every day has been a day that we have lived for the Lord. The joy that his love creates is apparent and I am in high spirits.
On Sunday the 28th I arrived at 8:30 and meant two guys, on the last legs of my flight, who are also training with me for our missions. One was from Alberta, Canada and the other from Birmingham, Alabama. It was fun talking to them about their reasons for coming to Youth With A Mission; I am among many like-minded peers, we are all here for something greater and hope to find ourselves or more of our identity in glorifying God. This common ground between us has created an easy and open environment in which we will learn from one another and will help each other to see our Lord.
After this initial contact with youth from my training school we were picked up by two staff members, Sam and Judsen (Sam is 19 and Judsen is 28) who immediately made us feel very welcome and after driving the forty-five minutes from Christchurch they showed us around Oxford. I think that Oxford is somewhat like Eagle Bend, the small town that my dad grew up in. It has all of the necessary conveniences, but not much more. There is a really cool playground that all of us, 19-30 year olds, like because it is extremely well built and is kind of like an American challenge course. There is a skate park, rope tower, balance wheel (kind-of like the ones for a hamster) a zip line (in a circle) and swings that are set up in a circle, this creates a so called “gauntlet” or in other words a very exhilarating swinging experience as most of us try to knock the other people off. We will be using this park as a mission ground and will hopefully be able to reach out to the local youth. I spent the rest of Sunday getting to know the area, I went for a bike ride and saw beautiful scenery along with sheep, deer and cattle, I played games with the other students in my mission school and felt like I had when I first started college with a million different names to remember. Sunday evening we had a welcome ceremony and spent the night worshiping and talking with each other.
On Monday I woke up to a great breakfast by a chef who I learned cooks all of our meals and is absolutely wonderful. She has won awards in London for her cooking. We then had lectures on the history of YWAM and had orientation. After a long day of information we started to share our individual testimonies. Hearing over 15 people tell about their different interpretation of God, life, family, world-view, love, etc… I felt like I was going to explode with new insights and emotions. I was so encouraged to hear men and women my age tell all about their life experiences and with passion conclude that God is the defining force behind all of it. We all concluded with prayer.
Right away on Tuesday I woke up ate another wonderful breakfast and then went for a hike through the fog and watched the sun rise behind a beautiful skyline of mountains. This time was a part of my personal devotion time that we have chiseled into our everyday schedule, I can already tell that it will be one of my favorite things about this whole training school. Upon my return I went directly to my morning job of cleaning the windows and enjoying a cool conversation with a guy named Jesse from Eugene, Oregon. We then had more orientation lectures followed by 15 more testimonies. We then did a team building scavenger hunt and had a chance to interact with the local Kiwi’s (New Zealanders). We all got to serve in some way and we also learned more about each other. After dinner we have been just hanging out and I started to write this email.
It is now Wednesday night; we spent the day at the Mountain Porters. It was a gorgeous day and at the top of the mountain I could see for miles. I saw the prettiest scenery I have ever seen today!
While we skied we tried to make connections with some of the other skiers in hope that we’d be able to have an opportunity to share our faith. I told one man why I was in New Zealand and he new that YWAM was a Christian organization. Every week during lecture phase (training) we hope to witness in every way possible in all that we do, which, should be no different than in the States, but the opportunity to learn and be in fellowship with other Christian missionaries is going to be life changing.
On Thursday after one of the prettiest sunrises I have ever seen. We all started our first lecture on Knowing God by Jon and Mari Slack. We spent the morning learning about prophecy and how we do all hear our Lord. They explained that it is important to know that God wants to talk to us and does in our own individual ways. I learned a lot about different ways to hear our Lord, such as in our feelings both physical and emotional, our dreams, in visions/pictures, and so on. We learned about discerning the spirits. I felt that God was showing me that it is extremely important to understand the feelings that I have and that I might actually be getting some direction from him in those feelings. It was a great thought and I will be praying about it over the next weeks. After our lectures on Thursday we went into the community in groups of 3 or 4 and did service projects for the people. It was a great time, I liked the opportunity to work outside and be with some other fun guys. We concluded our day with a small group Bible study and me the other guys in my group spent time praying for one another and talking about different things that we are experiencing.
On a side note Jon Slack knew a lot about Dr. Greg Boyd from Bethel University. It was interesting. I knew Dr. Boyd was well known, but I expect a man from New Zealand would randomly bring him into a conversation with me.
On Friday morning we packed lunches in preparation for our trip to Christchurch after that we spent the remainder of the morning in another lecture on prayer and intercession, this one was also by Jon and Mari Slack. Jon taught a scripturally sound message about our God given freedom as humans and how he wants us to give our lives to him, but doesn’t force us. This truth about human freedom was then applied to prayer and in conclusion we found that we are effectively a bridge or are interceding for others when we pray, as Jesus is the ultimate intercessor we can now also intercede for humanity. It brought prayer into a new light and made it seem much more effective and real to me. We also talked about how prayer is not a monologue, but an interactive process in which “we must listen to God and be directed by His Spirit as we pray. Prayer is an interactive process which involves both listening and speaking” (Ephesians 6:18). The rest of our day was spent in Christchurch. We stopped on a mountain overlooking Christchurch it was beautiful, one of the students with me from Scotland said that it looked a lot like his home. Then we went to the mall in Christchurch and bought supplies and walked around the city for a while. It was interesting seeing the different people and shops. There was more sushi and the people generally dressed in a more European style. There were also a lot of similarities to America; people were definitely rushing around in the same way.
It is Friday night and as I reflect upon the past week I realize that I have tried to be open, accepting and trusting in this very different place, I have experienced frustration, confusion, and tension due to the cultural differences. I know that I will have a great learning experience if I choose to observe and ask about the feelings and differences that I notice. It helps to be able to reflect as I write. So thanks all of you for asking for these emails.
I’ll be sending something like this weekly along with some other things that I am reflecting upon while I am here.
In His Hands,
Travis
P.S. Dr. Ludeman Smith would you explain how you used the Emic-Etic interchange, or anything else, so I can take what I can and apply it in my experience. I have your workbook and am using it, but am wondering if you have any pointers after having read this email or just any quick tips that I can remember as I continue here. I think I’m looking for a really quick and catchy way to remember a very helpful process. What would quick thought would you focus on remembering and applying as you partake in a new cultural experience. Quick and easy because I am so filled with other thoughts. Does that make sense?