After a recent outreach in Tonga, staff member and foreman Glenn Brown put together something in a similar vein – check out this amazing acoustic/folk song.

Written and sung by Glenn Brown (words below)

Lyrics

released 04 August 2012

Thoughts from Eric Mailau – Mission Adventures leader.

“Our trip to Tonga was an eye opening experience, allowing us insight into Tongan culture and the impact that God has had – and continues to have there . It was great to see the students (from Hamilton Christian School) really getting stuck in, working hard and having their thoughts, ideas and expectations challenged and reshaped. While we all went into it with our own ideas and plans we were aware and even reminded exactly who was in  charge.  It was God who sent us and God who carried us through the whole time there.”

Check out the awesome work that Hamilton Christian School got up to over in Nuku’alofa, Tonga during the July school holidays 2012…

I believe you’re on this planet for a reason. God has a dream and he wants you to embrace it. He’s a creator and his creative process begins with the dreams that he shares with us. And when he does, if we’ll listen, we get to participate with him in the creation process.

We get to incubate his dream…
For more the rest of Seth Barnes blog read here, it’s awesome stuff!

2. Prioritise relationships
He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata! What is the most important thing in the world? It is people! It is people! It is people! That goes for your team mates, as well as the local people…

3. You have no rights
Most of us come from a privileged Western society, so we expect to be treated a certain way. Well, this almost definitely won’t happen when you travel to a developing country. Give up your “rights” before you get offended!

4. Local culture rules…
Forget about what you think you know, and start learning the local culture. The local people will be so blessed by even a small effort to understand their way of life. Say hello in their language… Ask them how to weave… Find out where they grew up…

5. Embrace food
This is the fun one! Food is a great way to learn more about a local culture. It’s also a great way to offend someone by not eating what you are offered. Keep an open mind and try the culinary delights that your mission trip destination has to offer.

6. Bring “you”
What has God given you that makes you awesome? Figure out what it is, and incorporate it into your mission trip. Use it to bless others, and enjoy doing what you are good at.

7. Serving others
Go with the mindset to serve. Wash the dishes, pick up after your room-mates, help out the slow-pokes. Trust me, you will be a lot less annoyed if you go with this attitude!

8. Water, water, water
Wanna know the best way to get sick while overseas? You got it… dodgy water. Check out where your drinking water is coming from. If in doubt, go bottled and forget about getting that mystery ice with your Coke!

9. Travel light
Passport. Favourite pillow (so you can sleep anywhere). Good book. Comfy shoes. Sarong (which doubles as a sheet, a towel, a tablecloth, a skirt…). What more do you really need?

10. Relax!
Have fun, don’t worry if the schedule changes, and expect things to be different from what you are used to.

My time in Cambodia last year was the best experience of my life. There are sooo many different stories I would love to write about that stole my heart, but out of all of the many wonderful experiences there, this one has to be one of the most memorable.

One day we went outside of town to a rock quarry. It was such a beautiful drive, so much green and beautiful scenery. It was sad to see the living conditions of so many families, and kids running around with no shoes and hardly any clothes. Getting closer to the rock quarry we passed a herd of cattle with a kid guiding them. We pulled off to the side and walked up the hill a little ways. Little kids were running around and parents were sitting by piles of rocks breaking them. The area was very beautiful and heartbreaking.

Rock crushing by hand: Vanessa Hadford 2011

The “homes” that these families had were just a roof with a little wooden platform to sleep on. Only a couple places had walls, the others were open to the surrounding environment. There were only a couple of houses, the village was very small. Some of our group started making balloon animals, while others were visiting with the village members and checking out the area. I walked around and visited with some kids and some parents. I tried breaking some rocks like the villagers do- it was hard work! Kids were running around with balloon animals, the boys were pretending the balloons were guns and made me think of how the boys back home would do that too. I started taking a couple pictures, but tried not to take too many just in case the villagers were sensitive to that from strangers. I showed the kids the pictures on my camera after taking them and the kids were so excited they wanted me to take a bunch of pictures! They asked me what my name was so I told them, “Danielle”, and they all started laughing and saying my name. I was confused but laughed too, (a few days later I found out that they were laughing because they thought I was saying, “Daniel” and thought I had a boy’s name, which explained a lot because I had quite a few people laugh about my name!).

I then walked over to a woman that was trying to breastfeed her baby but couldn’t because she didn’t have the nutrients in her body to provide the milk. We were talking to her via translator and she was very nice. We also prayed over a man and told him about Christ, he had never heard about Jesus! So it was very exciting to witness him learning about Christ. That was an amazing experience, I could feel the presence of the Lord there, it was a very powerful moment that I will never forget. The Lord’s presence there was like nothing else I had ever felt.

The Lord is working in hearts of the Khmer people and it is an amazing privilege to witness it. Seeing the people in this small rock quarry that work so hard and have so little, really opens your eyes to what God sees and what is in His heart. These people are so happy and giving, even though they have so little. I am very thankful that God blessed me with the opportunity to have all the wonderful experiences that came from this trip.

Dan Sheed (a great guy from North Shore Vineyard) has also been thinking along the same lines, read here for a continuing theme and a video link of Rob Bell.

It is a tragic waste if all we get out of what life throws at us, is a bitter attitude

A great article written by a missionary living in Turkey.  Photo (Chris D.) There are more fully supported pastors in Christchurch, a city of 350,000, than there are pastors and foreign “workers” among Turkey’s 78 million.
Are Paul’s Methods Ours? Has The Western Church Has Missed The Bus??

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.”” 15:36 read more on Chris’s blog

‘Last fall I got a book called Kids Make It Better by Suzy Becker. It’s a journal that asks kids how they would solve world problems. When I got to the part that explained that not everyone in the world has clean water, I was confused and asked my mom about it. I thought everyone could turn on their faucet and get clean water. I was pretty shocked when I found out that people in other parts of the world are getting sick and dying because there’s no clean water to drink’.
Click here to read more.

Charity Water is a non profit organisation set up to bring clean fresh water to parts of the world where this is a need