Saints

Courage Strength worthy strong tower 

passion Light Confidence Weak

Faithful radical LOVE generation

Refuge willing radiant Saint holy

When you see these words they are inspiring, are they not? What do you find your identity in? Is it what you do, where you live, how you dress, how you talk, your social status? OR is it the Lord? Your answer should be the last one, when we find our Identity in the Lord he gives us all these words and more. We get to be apart of such an amazing revival of our world today. We are called as "Christians" to something more. We are saints, no longer sinners, not saying we don't sin but we are made holy in him through his blood. I have a big heart for the church today in the way they portray God in their messages and daily life. It took me a while to realize that we are the church, it's not a building. We can do church anywhere because we carry him in us. I want to challenge you to raise the bar in your own life, to step it up. A definition of Church is the whole body of christians. When we are together we are doing church, when one member hurts we all suffer. Think about it, your neighbor is apart of the body, so when they are hurting we should also be hurting. When your family member is in pain you also feel some of their pain. I always think of a bunch of people together in the shape of a body and when one person is hurt, it affects the people around them. This is why I love discipleship, which is doing things you don't want to do, and saying things you don't want to hear. When someone or something rubs you the wrong way and you are uncomfortable, you are growing. It's a good thing to be uncomfortable. We need to have courage to tell our brothers and sisters the hard things in a loving way. I'm not saying if someone is bothering you to go tell them, because that can come from a selfish heart just because it's bothering you. You need to pray about it first to see if it's something in yourself that you need to get right, then see if you need to confront the person about the issue. This is tricky because as humans we have a tenancy to run to other people and complain instead of taking it straight to the Lord. We are all connected so when you talk about someone behind their backs, you are just tearing them down not lifting them up. Live at peace with everyone is what we are called to do, among other things but this is one of the hardest to uphold. I'm learning slowly but surly, I was faced with this challenge 9 months ago and I'm still learning day by day to live at peace with everyone and not hold grudges. It's hard because when people actually do wrong you and hurt you, it's easy to stay angry at them, but most of the time they don't even know they hurt you. So take it to them instead of everyone else.  

You are a saint...

Life

"It's not the destination, it's the journey"

Life is funny, really it's because God has such a sense of humor! This past week we had a speaker from New Zealand, his name is Frank Naea. He talked about the character and nature of God. He was awesome! I've been around a while so we know each other, he picks on me for being short, because trust me if you saw this guy you would understand, he is a gentle giant, an islander, and really epic. Anyways it was a really awesome week with interacting learning, which is one of the ways I learn best. In the maori culture one thing that they have you do when they meet is that everyone gets a chance to speak and say what they want that way when you leave, it's not like you didn't say your peace. He implements that into his teaching style. He is also really cheeky (sarcastic) which makes him really funny. One thing I realized this week was that when people tell you we are all on different walks of life, I always agree because we are. Well one thing that hit me this week was that when you think of life as a highway and people ride alongside you for a time then they get off then on again, what I would always think of was that it was about me, so they are riding alongside me. Really when you look at it, at least  the way we did this week was that we are riding alongside other people. I guess in a more selfless way is how we looked at it. It helped me get some perspective on a few situations that I had been having trouble seeing in. "Different people are on our journeys as well that we are on theirs." 
It has taken me a little over a week to write this, I don't know why every time I sit at the computer to write this I get distracted or I have writers block. Anyways, I want to share a bit about outreach. Here is my co-leader Josh and I:

Let me start off my saying that I'm super stoked to be going on outreach especially to Queenstown/India. We have a team of 6 students, let me just say we are a very bold team. Not really afraid of anything and always willing to help. Queenstown we are predominately doing snowboarders ministry while plugging into the local vineyard church. When I went down to visit back in May the pastor of the On The Rock Vineyard church kept asking when I'll be back and that she knew she would see me again. I'm super stoked to see them again and work with them again! India will be mainly slum ministry, working with people that don't know God or that are new Christians. If you don't know where India is here is a map of India we will be working in Jaipur the whole time with the YWAM base there. I am excited for India, I miss south east asia although it's hot, humid, cold showers, squatty potties, diarrhea, uncomfortable situations. It's all part of it. I can't wait to work in the slums when I went to Thailand we did slum ministry for a day and I was wanting to do more, people that have nothing that give everything for their kids, visitors and each other. 

If any of this strikes your heart and you would like to sew into the ministries just email me at courtodd@tds.net and I can let you know from there how to support or donate. Right now I am asking for your prayer support. Prayer points:

• Unity for our team
• Finishing the lecture phase strong
• Strength from day to day for me to juggle all the tasks I have to get done
• Queenstown to have open hearts
• India for protection, Jaipur has 2.3 million people and the slum we are going to is one of the poorest in India, as well as one of the biggest for Human Trafficking.

Bless you all at home and all over the world praying!

Outreach

D     T     S

DTS what does it really stand for: Die To Self... We learned about the cross this week with a speaker from the House of Prayer in Tauranga. It was an amazing week with a lot to go through and a lot of prayer that went in to it. God really showed me how it's ok to be weak, in my weaknesses he makes me strong. Because it's on his strength. Dying to myself is just one way to show that, each and everyday. I am cooking a lot and full time school staff so I guess the best way to describe it is that I'm in two places at once but I don't know how, which is the cool part because that's totally God. I cooked Grad meal last night for the crossroads school, they enjoyed it which is good. 

I guess I can officially say that I am going on outreach!!!! I have known for 3 weeks but since the students didn't know we weren't allowed to say. Anyways I am co-leading a team to Queenstown/India for 2 months.I'm super stoked! We have 6 students on our team. My co-leader is Josh from Canada. So outreach is really putting what we learn into practice, the second half of the motto "Making Him Known". I am excited for the fact that Queenstown has such a unique culture, we will mainly be reaching the snowboarding culture but I love the tourism part of the town, we will be linking in with the church there, which is awesome. India we will be there for 5 weeks doing mainly slum ministry. I love slum ministry, just pouring out on people who give their all for their family. I am thankful to be doing outreach, I must just say that God is really good and has a real good sense of humor! Anyways it is late and I should be getting some sleep...

Bless you all!

life goes on...

How?
That is my question to you.... to myself.... and to God.....

Right now I feel I have bit off more than I can chew. I know I haven't but you know those days or weeks when you think back and you're like, wait what did I actually do.... That is how I feel. We just had another EARTHQUAKE tonight which is a bummer, it was 10km out of Oxford which is where I live it was a 4.4. Sucky is what it is. We went in all day yesterday to Christchurch to shovel silt again! I love helping but I am exhausted. My daily schedule is C-R-A-Z-Y... I have to physically write my weekly schedule in order to keep my life sane. I know it may sound worse than it is because honestly I love it! Thinking about it though and this past week we had teaching on evangelism from Joel Parker, he started the Nations Foundation. He was inspiring and made you think of your dreams and visions that God has given you. Then he asked about the fears you had and what would stop you, and thinking that it's not possible is what the enemy wants you to think. Which is true I guess I never though of it like that. When people ask me what my passion is I used to say cooking, which it still is but I guess you could say that this is one dream that I was blessed with. Now I have another passion just for people of everyday walks of life. Young, old, indian, kiwi, aussie, anything really. I love hearing peoples stories.
Praise the Lord this week is over. You know it's just been one of those weeks that you look back and say "wait what did I do?" Today is my 22nd birthday, I don't feel 22 but then again I do. I'm glad it's Saturday... Ok so correct me if I'm wrong but when you're 16 you get your license and people think ok, we can give them some more responsibility, then you turn 18 and gain more independence by going off to college or moving out, then 21 and you're finally an adult well then 22 hits and you should by the world standards be graduated from college and have some sort of idea about where you're going in life. Right? Well let me tell you my friends this is what I used to think. It's not true at all. For me I couldn't wait to be 22 because that's when people take you seriously because you're over the hump of being 21. Now that I am 22 granted it's the first day, but I don't have that view anymore. Age doesn't matter you can be wise when you're 6 or 13 and you can be lost when you're older. Who knows how life will turn out.
I was talking to my mom the other day and I think I have just gotten used to calling New Zealand home that it no longer feels like a vacation. It's life. We took the students to Christchurch yesterday and we were walking around the mall and I felt like this is real, it's not some holiday, it's real life. Because (let me explain this) when I'm home in the states, you walk around the store with a purpose because you're looking for something. Well when I would walk around the stores here it was really to kill time not because I was going to buy something. Yesterday I had that feeling though like, oh, I could get this, this and this and I know which stores have it or where to get it. Ok that was a poor description and I apologize I'll be real, I feel like a local and it is different. When I moved to little ol Argyle from Grand Marais I felt like an outsider because I was a local in Grand Marais and still to this day I am. When first in Argyle though it felt like if you don't know where to go or what to do then you're a foreigner. I know that's not how it is and smaller towns have something about them because you know everyone and everyone knows you and your mother. I guess coming from MN and the mindset was from a tourist town of there are new people always traveling through that you just don't care what everyone's up to but then in a smaller town you can't help yourself. Anyways here in NZ it is the mindset of MN where no one really cares because they have so many travelers through the year that you can't keep track of who's coming and going. It's fun being a local but you're a foreng. That's all I really have to say about that.
There's a kid here from Buffalo, MN and it's so great to hear the accent again and he made me realize the way he talks is how my brother talks. It is fun to talk about home with someone who knows what you're talking about. After a while you don't talk about home because you have to explain what you're talking about. It can make you homesick after a while. So yes that was nice to talk about home with someone who knows...
That's about all I got, I am going to spend my 22nd birthday in NZ by hopefully going to the beach or wherever my friends lead.
Peace...

Old? Excuse me?!

Ok so I took a van full of 4 staff and 3 students into Christchurch to attend church today and on the way in, we were listening to the radio, naturally.... Well the songs they were playing they were calling "Classic". They were songs that were popular when I was in elementary and middle school when most of the students are 3-4 years younger than me they called the songs old.... Making me feel old and I mean you know I'm only coming up on my 22nd birthday but still! If that's old then whoever is older than me must feel ancient! I know that I grew up in the end of a generation and at the start of another, being born in 1989 you don't really know which generation to latch onto. Although my mom was pretty good about helping us (my bro and I) be well rounded in music and movies, like I grew up on Grease, Anne of Green Gables, Little house on the prairie, the Goonies! Most kids these days don't know what these are, so when I quote things from them they don't get them. In some ways it's sad because what is this world coming to when you haven't seen the Goonies! Honestly all the rubbish that's on the radio and television shocks me. I was reminiscing with my brother today about where we say we are from. We moved around a lot or more so traveled a lot when we were younger. He says he's from Chicago but moved from Wisconsin, he's living in North Dakota right now. I say I'm from Minnesota mostly but went to High school in Wisconsin. I told him he can't say he's from Chicago because he was only there for 2 years of his life. His response was this "I still remember it!" That's no excuse. Anyways that was my day today, the message in church was amazing though, there was a guest speaker from Hawaii he spoke on having No worries. Which is a famous kiwi saying. We have no reason to worry God's got it all under control! :)

Shovel pics

Working away...

The whole group...

Andrea, Mina and Katherine, 3 amazing women...

Shovel Shovel Shovel...

With all the earthquakes that happened a week ago it caused liquefaction on all the roads, backyards, and in some peoples houses. So yesterday we all went in and shoveled out a backyard that was owned by a couple that had been there for 60 years. We also shoveled out their garage which had a lot of stuff in it. So if you can imagine this, it's like when you throw mud everywhere and it literally gets everywhere, even in places you can't see. When we walked into the garage it looked like icing everywhere and it was so disgusting because it was still wet, normally it's like a sand but this stuff reminded me of when cows have the scours and you have to walk through it. Shoveling was fun, it was so great to be able to help out. Hopefully all the earthquakes will cease, we haven't had one in a little over a week. Praise the Lord.
So 14 students are here 6 staff. I loved working with them yesterday, you can definitely see the different aspects of people and how they work. We are a small family and I love it! I love all my girls, I mean there are only 5 of them. They are all super awesome and totally real, I love how raw they are opening themselves up to be.
Today marks 1 week until my birthday. Honestly I don't know where this last year went. I don't know if I'm ready to turn 22. Although I don't know what it looks like to be ready no matter what age. 21 has been a good year, I was in 3 countries mostly in New Zealand which feels like home. I have been through almost a year of earthquakes which is something I haven't been able to say before nor do I want to say it again! It's winter! I can't really think of any other things for this year. I think I will like 22, you're just over the adult mark but still able to get away with acting like a kid. Anyways it has been a great 21 years and I'm looking forward to many more!