40 Day Programme (08 Jan - 17 Feb 2023)
Week 6:
West Coast Road Trippin
For the last week of Off The Grid, we hit the road! Unfortunately, Shadowfax (OTG team van) is still in the shop, but we were able to rent a van for the exact amount of time we needed – cool to see God move even in the little things. The west coast was beautiful, and we enjoyed having a different means of seeing the country. The time on the trip was spent playing games together, reading, and enjoying the landscape or an occasional nap. Along the way to our destination, we stopped to have some Bible study time overlooking the sea as well as some exquisite geological formations – the Pancake Rocks.
The next day, we went to a glacial river where the members of our team who think they are the bravest and most daring went for an icy dip. We finished the day with a creative dinner on the beach. It was special to be able to relax and spend time with our teammates as we were beginning to think about the transition out of Off The Grid.
We had a few days at Basecamp to settle down and focus on enjoying the last little moments with our team. In this time, we also continued working on our plans to finish Off The Grid well. It is important to us to take what we have learned and implement it in each of our environments. We reflected on significant times throughout our 40 days and how the Lord has spoken to each of us. We all have action steps that we want to take back home. We also had a dinner with the entire Off The Grid leadership team. The leaders blessed us by praying for us and sending us out. It was a meaningful time to recap some of our leadership development concepts with the whole team, and it was a good excuse to have a small fiesta to conclude Off The Grid.
We spent the last morning doing a group debrief, worshipping, and praying for each individual. Our lunch on day 40 signified the official end of the program. Our phones were given back, and we all looked at the foreign objects in our hands with blank stares because we all had cherished the distraction-free time here in New Zealand. As we pack up, one by one people depart to go their separate ways.
Some of us are on our way home and straight back to work, others are traveling around the country for a few weeks, and a couple are staying longer for internships with OM.
Prayer:
- Pray that we would continue with our momentum – focusing on what we have learned and how God has spoken to us
- Pray for safe travels heading home as well as around New Zealand
Thank you for reading along with us and being part of our time here at OTG 01/2023!
Please enjoy our “conglomeration of all these sophisticated and infrequently used English words we have accumulated on the program.”
“Our time in New Zealand has been a plethora of profusely enlightening moments. The anachronistic lifestyle without a phone helped us to notice a copious number of things on our periphery that we otherwise may have missed. We learned about Christ’s atonement needed to free us from our implicated human state. We are not to approach this notion surreptitiously, but with boldness proclaim the stellar news. Jesus loves us heaps! Inconceivable!”
Please leave a comment/short note for our team!
Written by Jan (Switzerland) & Ricky (USA) on behalf of the entire OTG Team
Week 5:
Reaching New Heights
We jumped into this week headfirst! Both figuratively and literally. Some of our team members decided to go against all human instinct and jump out of a perfectly functional airplane. Despite some nerves, it was an incredible adrenaline rush! From 4000 metres we had an amazing 45 second free fall. The four members who decided to jump are the clearly the most fun, daring, and adventurous of the bunch here on OTG ;)
Unfortunately, Nele was feeling a bit unwell this week, so she was unable to join the team on the tramp. She was dearly missed but is feeling much better now that she is reunited with the group!
The tramp for this week brought us to familiar territory in Nelson Lakes National Park. Instead of our typical three days, we ramped it up to a more ambitious four-day tramp. This tramp involved us hiking around a large lake to a beautiful shoreline hut. Our team really appreciated the long soak in the refreshing water following the eight hours of walking from day one. We also were treated, as usual, to a beautiful sunset just behind the mountains across the lake. Day two began with a preposterous climb up a steep mountain just beyond our hut from the previous night. The walk was strenuous and difficult but the views at the top were absolutely worth it! After the three-hour vertical climb and a short break soaking in the views, we set off for another four hours of walking to reach our hut for the night. The team walked along rocky ridge lines and mountain tops before we arrived at our hut, which was probably the best yet. The hut sat in a beautiful alpine basin just below one of the prominent peaks in the park. There were two phenomenal snow melt tarns (lakes) just next to the hut. Some team members even thought they heard some native bird calls, but it turns out it was just some of our crazy boys taking a cheeky dip in the freezing water :p.
After a good night’s rest, we had a solid four hour walk along ridge lines to our last hut for the tramp. Along the way we got to exchange lots of funny stories with each other and even shared the skies with some glider planes who were flying at our altitude. Upon arriving we were amazed to see the view of our hut as it overlooked the main valley and lake in Nelson Lakes. We were welcomed by a lovely kiwi couple who wo got to share our purpose and beliefs with. We are thankful that God can work through us and improve the outlook that older generations have on our age bracket. Throughout the course of our time staying in huts on this leadership program we are thankful that Lord has orchestrated many fruitful interactions with people from all walks of life.
There were many highlights of this trip, but one was a moment on top of one of the ridges we were hiking across. We had stopped for lunch and hunkered down below the rocks to eat our food. We sat overlooking an old ski field as the clouds rolled just over the mountain tops. Despite it being the middle of the summer, it was fairly cold at this altitude. One of our team members (Ricky) told a very unfortunate story that left many of us rolling in laughter. Norm was even brought to tears as he imagined the scenario. If you want to hear the story for yourself, ask Ricky to share.
As a team we have become more independent in leading and more aware of the things that are important to us. During discussions many team members have been able to practice their leadership skills, which has resulted in deep and insightful conversations. Our different backgrounds give us the ability to open each other’s eyes to teaching we may not have had previously. Moreover, we have taken part in many assessments which have given us valuable insight to our approach to life. Our team does a really good job of providing encouragement, and constructive criticism where it is needed. As a result, we have grown much closer to each other.
This Sunday, we were able to go to church for the last time as a group. This body of believers has meant much to us over our time here. They have repeatedly reminded us they have been and will continue to pray for us as we conclude here in the next week. Many members of the church have graciously opened their homes to us and made a wonderful effort to make us feel welcomed. Our team is so thankful for Hope Community Church and all they have done for us!
The team is now back at base camp preparing for our final week of the programme! As some of you are aware, there is a tropical cyclone which has already made landfall on the North Island. Please pray for the communities on the North Island as they have already been dealing with tremendous flooding from the past few weeks. This cyclone is expected to reach our area at the top of the South Island by Tuesday, however we have adjusted our final excursion towards a region of the South Island that is expected to be outside of the cyclone’s path. Despite these plans, we know this is truly out of our control, so please pray for a safe and enjoyable final week.
Some personal messages for back home:
JOAQUIM (Switzerland) - Salut cette équipe! J’espère que tout se passe bien au chalet, ici c’est magnifique et on en apprend tous les jours plus sur comment vivre comme en disciple. Forcément je me retrouve au bout du monde avec 3 suisses allemands (l’incroyable humour de Dieu) mais nous formons une équipe incroyable tous ensemble. Soyez-bénis !
Translation: « Hello to the team! I hope everything is alright back home, here it’s amazing and we learn everyday how to be live as disciples. Of course, I travel to the other side of the world just to find myself with 3 Swiss German (the incredible humour of God) but we form an amazing team altogether. Bless you! »
Nele (Germany) – Heyooo, ich hoffe euch allen geht’s gut und ihr genießt den Winter im Norden J. Ich bin wieder fit und genieße die Zeit hier sehr. Das Team ist super und es ist total schade, dass wir nur noch ein paar Tage zusammen haben. Ich habe viel gelernt und bin sehr dankbar für die Zeit hier. Viele Grüßeeeee!
Translation: „Heyyyy, I hope you’re all well and you’re enjoying the winter up in the north. I am fit again and enjoy the time here a lot. Our team is amazing and it’s sad that we only have a few days left together. I learned a lot and I am very thankful for the time here. See youuu! “
Dan (UK) – Hey guys, I’m having such as blast here in NZ and am learning lots! Thank you for all your prayer and support I am so grateful. I hope Josiah is enjoying the life of a 14 year old ;) Speak to you soon!
Colton (USA)- Craving Chick Fil A. Craving Waffle House. Also, we found out in the first week that the Dawgs won 65-7. Still trying to figure out exactly how that happened…Thank you Mom for all the comments! Ricky and I are being good little American boys. Also, I asked him if he had a special message to type out and he said, “I have nothing to say”, so things are pretty much normal. Love you all!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- For everyone’s safety in NZ regarding the Cyclone
- That God would give us the ability to continue our momentum following the programme
- That we have a wonderful last week and finish well!
Please leave a comment/short note for our team!
Written by Colton (USA) & Dan (UK) on behalf of the entire OTG Team
Week 4:
Diving Deep!
We started this week with another Sunday morning in church. We enjoyed spending time in prayer, worship, listening to the sermon and getting challenged. Every week we meet new people and get to know them while drinking coffee and snacking cookies.
Sunday afternoon we prepared for our next tramp. For dinner we had another delicious journey – this time our Swiss French teammate prepared a meal for us.
Monday morning, we started early for our three-day tramp. The weather got a little bit rainy this week but didn’t cover our good mood. We know: “There is no bad weather, only different types of good weather.”
We spent the nights in two different huts. There first one was very crowded and the second one very small so a few of us decided to stay outside. Sleeping under a tarp was a great experience even though we had to share our sleeping bags with sandflies. We met a lot of people during our tramps and in the huts as well, so we had the opportunity to talk to them about our faith and what we’re doing right now in this discipleship training programme. Some of them were quite interested and we keep praying for them.
Some of us described this week’s track as the hardest one so far. Challenging not only in a physical way; we had a lot of deep talks and reflecting time during the hike. That shaped us as single persons as well as a team.
When we arrived at the second hut, we decided to take a quick bath in the river next to our campsite. Starting the campfire afterwards in the rain was one of our highlights this week. Beside that we had the opportunity to improve our card playing games.
After three days of tramping, we arrived at the large property of an older Christian couple. The next day’s we stayed at their home and enjoyed the simple life completely off the grid, they live. Our barns were in the midst of goats, sheep and deer. In the evening even some sheep came to visit us. We appreciated the hospitality and a copious amount of delicious meals and great homemade cakes made by our hostess.
During those days we were diving deep into our study, debriefing the questions from the tramp, and reflecting. In this Christian leadership training, we learn a lot about ourselves and how we act in certain situations. That helped us to improve our leadership skills and to understand group dynamics better. This week’s study was about the Holy Spirit and how he shapes us while living in us. Reading about the early church made us think about the importance of prayer, worship, sharing bread and living in union for the first Christians and for us today.
Having home church this Sunday was a great opportunity to meet new people and to see how they live as a different kind of church community. Each of our team shared a little testimony of what we learned on OTG so far to encourage one another and the whole home church.
Monday, we returned to basecamp, ready for what God planned for the days ahead.
We thank God for the time together as a team, everything we learned this week, our healthy feet during the tramp, challenges and growing through them and the great nature we saw.
Thank you for all your support in prayer!
Please keep praying for us:
-Our OTG Team van is still in the garage and getting repaired
-Health for all our team members during the next hike
-God challenging us, helping us to progress and reflect everything we learn and experience
-That we can enjoy and value every single moment
Thank you for leaving a comment in the box at the bottom of the page :)
Written by Jeannine (Switzerland) & Nele (Germany) on behalf of the entire Off The GRID Team
Week 3:
“Wave” Goodbye to Our Excuses
Week 3 was a pretty awesome week from the beginning to the end!
Here on OFF THE GRID we start our week on Sunday, so we began our week by to going to Hope Community Church like last week. We had a great time worshipping and spending time in God's presence. We also spent a lot of time after the service chatting to some members of the congregation who have been praying for us and getting to know us. Some of us spent some time in the library and checked out some books to read. We felt so touched to be blessed with a gift from an anonymous member of the church. As a team we are so happy to feel so welcomed into the church family and know that we have lots of support here in NZ.
Sunday evening, we had some free time but we also had to pack for our upcoming kayaking trip on Monday morning.
Monday was an early start for us and we were all super excited to explore another of God's amazing creation. Despite being told that the forecast and conditions were perfect we had to deal with some pretty rough waves out of the sea! This was especially challenging for some of the team who haven’t really kayaked before. The kayaks we were in were super heavy, we needed 6 people to carry them! We eventually arrived at Anchorage Bay in the Abel Tasman National Park, a place that felt like it was out of a movie. The bay itself was full of sailing boats and beautiful yachts, the beach wasn’t particularly busy. We carried our kayaks to the campsite, which was very close to the seafront, we set up camp and got settled into our new home for the next two nights.
That evening we spent some time on the beach where we discussed the reasons why we hesitate as Christians to share God’s grace and hope with those around us.
After a noisy night in the tents due to the squealing of wekas and various other kinds of birds we got back in our kayaks and explored the estuary. The weather was much sunnier and the conditions were much flatter for this journey. We docked our kayaks in a bay and tied them to a tree, from there we walked 10 minutes to a wonderful water pool where there even was a cool natural water slide in the midst of the national park!
We had lunch and did the next part of our study where God's characteristics was made even clearer to us.
That afternoon we practiced deep water rescue drills in Anchorage Bay, intentionally capsizing the kayaks, pulling spray decks, getting back into our boats and losing shoes. Outdoor leadership training in action!
Tuesday evening was particularly special and magical for us as we explored some caves covered with glow worms and gazed upon the beautiful night sky filled with stars. We even prayed for some shootings stars and within seconds God provided the brightest and most overwhelming shooting star! We chatted amongst the team about how beautiful the stars are and how small we are as people. The idea that God created the stars and called them good and created people and called us very good was stuck in our minds as we were awestruck by the beautiful display.
Wednesday was time to return back to base camp so after our study and a motivating testimony from one of our leaders we loaded all of our gear back into the boats and set sail back to the kayak centre. While doing rescue drills in the sea the day before, one of our teammates lost his shoe, which sunk to the bottom of the ocean. We prayed that it would float and get washed up on the beach, and the next morning there it was! This was a really cool answer to our prayers & a simple testimony of God’s faithfulness. The sea was calm and there was a bit rain, we even got to see some seals with their pups which was an amazing experience.
Thursday was a nice rest day for the team. However, we were still busy as we learnt more about the unreached and least reached parts of the world. We got a big map of the 10–40 Window, which is the area of the world that the least amount of people will hear the name Jesus Christ. Each of us on the team prayed for countries that were on our hearts and that God would work in these countries.
Friday we did a nice day walk along a costal hill walk, the views were amazing and showed yet another perspective of God's creation. That evening, we enjoyed a great cultural meal prepared for us by our USA participants. We then watched an inspiring movie about a faithful missionary, and it made us all wonder what God has got in store for us.
Saturday morning was time for a typical English breakfast made by a Brit. We spent some time in study as a group. Some of the team went skydiving later on in the day but didn’t get to leave the ground due to strong winds, so hopefully we may get some time and good weather in the weeks to come! Saturday also marked our halfway point of OTG, so we had a nice evening at one of the leader’s house where we played rugby and some cricket. We had great time!
Where we saw God this week:
-God answered lots of our prayers pretty quickly even though they may have seemed not that important.
-God gave us good perseverance and endurance when things were getting tough.
We really appreciate all the support everyone is giving.
Please continue to pray for us especially for:
-Healthy feet, as a few team members are struggling with various minor injuries, so please pray for healing and protection.
-Good weather, the forecast looks pretty wet for our next tramp so please pray for good weather. We have been so blessed to have hot sunny weather for the 3 weeks we have been here so thank God for that also.
-Please pray for God to continue to speak to our hearts and help us to dive really deep into our studies and conversations that we have.
Please leave a comment/short note for our team in the comments section!
Written by Jonas (Switzerland) & Dan (UK) on behalf of the entire OTG Team
Week-02
A Week Above The Clouds
The Team had an amazing second week of the programme!
This past weekend the team had the opportunity to attend Norm & Christy's local church in the Nelson area. The team really enjoyed the chance to meet with members of the community and receive encouragement from them. It was particularly uplifting to hear that many members of the church already knew our names because they have been praying for us in the time leading up to OTG. We even found out some of our names are difficult for kiwis to pronounce, but we felt the love nonetheless! We look forward to continuing to attend church with this community in the coming weeks.
On Monday, the team embarked on a three-day tramp in a national park located in the Tasman region. The landscape of this park includes towering peaks, rolling prairies and lush forest areas. The challenge we set out to complete was summiting three mountain peaks in three days. This involved several longer days on the trails and mountains, but the extra time was absolutely worth it! The team rose to the challenge and were able to complete our goal together. Our Swiss friends even had the chance to show off their prowess on the mountains (Swiss friend here: everyone else did an amazing job as well!).
Another perk of tramping during the summer is meeting lots of interesting people along the way. This week we were able to meet a family who had several kids that entertained the team with their awesome magic tricks! We also got to meet someone from a local organization that focuses on habitat preservation in New Zealand. While this was a secular organization, we connected much of what they were saying with stewarding God's creation in a responsible way. We hope to meet many more people like this on our upcoming trips!
As a team, this tramp was much more than just conquering a physical task together, it was about coming together as a collective unit and learning how to unite. We had to learn how to trust each other and lean on one another when someone needed lifting up. Moreover, our team exercised effective conflict resolution when faced with the existential question of "to climb or not to climb". We know this thought process can be applied to more than just literal mountains we will face in our lives. Overall, we will certainly look back on this particular tramp as an experience that has brought us much closer and stronger together.
One highlight for the team involved all of us sitting in the grass during sunset at the base of one of the mountains we had just climbed. The sky was painted with different shades of pink and orange and the wind quietly whistled through the grass. Our legs were tired, and our feet were aching, but the peaceful valley offered up a night where we could only worship what our God had created. We all shared a bag of cookies and sat in silence together as we watched the sun disappear over the distant mountain tops. It was a very simple moment, but one that felt like a reward for all of our hard work.
The team has now arrived back at base camp and had the chance to get some much-needed rest and dive deeper into the Word (with some yard work mixed in). Through our spiritual studies we have been able to revisit some of our foundational beliefs. It may seem simple to say, but diving deeper into the truth that Jesus was the ultimate completion of the law has given us a renewed sense of thankfulness to God. Additionally, our team has been participating in numerous discipleship training and leadership development exercises. These have been both fun and very challenging, but ultimately have allowed us to see more of the ways God has gifted us. We look forward to continuing to learn more about ourselves.
Bible study
Dinner with OM NZ Board Chair & his lovely wife
As we conclude this week we want to leave you, our loved ones, who may be reading this from every corner of the globe with a simple phrase. This is something that has both challenged our team but also offered a great deal of encouragement to us. We hope it brings you all encouragement and allows you to focus more on how great our God is.
"Don’t let what is wrong with you, or difficult in your life, stop you from worshipping what is right with God"
Please leave a comment/short note for our team!
We love you all!
Prayer Requests:
The health of each member of our team
Our team van has broken down :( please pray it gets fixed in a timely manner
That God would ordain conversations with the people we meet along our trips
Written by Colton (USA) & Jo (Switzerland) on behalf of the entire OTG Team
Week-01
Nature As Our Classroom!
What are we doing?
We finished our three day tramp in a nearby national park, and it was beautiful. We stayed in a wilderness hut along the river and met some other hikers there. It was special to talk with them and hear their stories. Then, we shared with them why we are in New Zealand - to grow in relationship with God and better understand His plan for our lives.
We loved exploring creation. Some of the braver members of our team took the plunge into a waterfall along the hike.
We are back at cozy basecamp now and thankful to be away from the copious amount of sandflies. We are using the days here to rest, continue in our study of the Bible, and do group activities to grow together. We love what we have seen, and we can not wait to get back out there and explore more.
What are we learning?
The outdoors have been our classroom. We took a pause on our hike and had a lesson on the jetty. Another time, we had a question to ponder throughout our hike. In just this short time, we have been noticing new things in scripture and the story it tells. This fresh perspective has changed the way we look at the world and our role in it. We are God's image bearers, and we have the opportunity to show the world His attributes.
Taking a Break
Additionally, some of us have been learning what it looks like to accept help and share a burden. Others have recognised the importance of consistently orienting ourselves towards God.
Some have even been learning some funny idioms in other languages. Their proper and, more frequently, improper uses have been quite amusing.
Team Building
Shelter Set-Up
How is the team?
The team has been having a great time together, and we bonded together quickly trying to tackle a puzzle. Our puzzle skills are lacking, but we all enjoy spending time together. Over the last several days, we have shared who we are and what our stories are. Also, we have spent time praying for each other. These times have been powerful, and we have learned to trust each other. We are beginning to recognise our different roles, giftings, and personalities. It is special to think about how God made us uniquely and how God brought each of us here to Off The Grid.
Prayer
You are welcomed to join us in praying for the following:
- Pray for those we have met and those we will meet - that hearing about Jesus would spark interest in their hearts.
- Pray we will allow the Lord to work in us during our time on Off The GRID.
- Pray for the the team's health and safety in the midst of tramps as well as recovery afterwards.
Written by Ricky (USA) & Jan (Switzerland) on behalf of the entire Off The GRID Team
Welcome Off The GRID Team!!!
01/2023
Please join us in welcoming the first Off The GRID team of this new ministry season!
Left back: Jo (Switzerland), Ricky (USA), Nele (Germany), Jeannine (Switzerland), Dan (UK), Norm (OTG Leader), Jonas (Switzerland)
Left front: Penny Sue (OTG Leader), Jan (Switzerland), Colton (USA)
Yesterday was the start of their programme, and today the team & leaders have set out for their first 3-day tramping trip.
Please pray for the team as they embark on this 40-day adventure with the Lord & one another.
Watch this space for additional posts in the days ahead!
Thanks & God bless,
The Off The GRID Leadership Team