Row Your Boat!
Hoi Zeme! (Hello Y’all!),
This week was again full of action and adventure. We read the Bible daily and focused on God personally in between the Bible studies. Until now we traced the string of God’s hope through the Old Testament and this week, as we got to the middle of the OTG programme, we discovered how the promises in the Old Testament are fulfilled through Jesus.
On Monday morning we left early to go on a three day kayak trip. It was the fist time kayaking in the ocean for all of us. It was interesting to see how some of our team enjoyed the calm ocean while others preferred to paddle through waves. On the first day the wind blew stronger than expected which gave us a hard time, since we were still trying to figure out how to paddle efficiently. Four hours later we arrived safely at the designated beach and set up our tents. During this process our friends the wekas (a sneaky bird as explained last week) were just waiting for us to drop something or leave gear unattended so that they could steal it and disappear in the bush. The population of this greedy bird was waay bigger on that beach compared to the place we stayed in last week, so we really had to be cautious.
This kayaking trip included several miracles of nature. After sunset we walked into a cave next to the beach looking up and seeing countless glowworms shining like a galaxy of stars upon us. We got to explore a stunning, deep turquoise river on our kayaks with a view on amazing plants. A natural water slide tested our bravery; the water was cold and going down did not leave us scratchless. But it was definitely worth it and we all survived and were ready for the next challenge.
When we got back from the kayak trip Brooke luckily went to sleep early and the rest of us could do some preparations for her special day. We designed customised wrapping paper for her presents and crafted a special Birthday card. We celebrated her very first summer Birthday with lots of cheese (she loooooves cheese) and a delicious triple chocolate cake. What a wonderful day!
After using our upper body for kayaking, it was time to keep our legs moving. The leaders gave us the opportunity to grow as a team and develop some leadership skills by providing us with a team decision about the upcoming day hike. This caused some disagreements we had to overcome. It was challenging, but we mastered it and we all grew in the process. The hike was really long; we walked further than the total of last week. But we only had to carry a daypack and because the hike was along the coast the elevation gain was less. There was one passage were we had to walk through knee deep ocean, which was quite tricky since the slides stuck to the muddy ground so much, that one of Priscillas flip flops decided to disappear in the wet mud forever after she fell into the water. Gladly, her hiking boots stayed above water during the event.
The hike took all our physical energy. We took turns to encourage each other and turned our complaints about hurting blisters, squished pinkie toes and tired legs into worshiping God, even with songs. During the walk we learned to recognise the emotions of our team mates that come with facing challenges and to react to them accordingly. Finding a good and personalised mixture between humour, distractions and pushing each other verbally for everyone was key. The feeling of success to reach the goal as a team after a long day of hiking was overwhelming.
This week we also learnt which countries of the world barely have any access to Bible, churches or christians. It was eye opening to see how many people around the world are unreached by God’s Gospel and we took time to pray for them. We learned that praying for those countries is not just helping the work of missionaries there, but it is actually the most important part the work. We also had the chance to share something we had learned during OTG so far in a local church. Each of us had different perspectives on what stood out the most to them. But we all came back to valuing God’s presence in our lives and wanting to seek it more.
Prayer requests:
That every pain from the last tramp would go away quickly.
Mental strength and mental capacity during the next week.
That we can dig deeper in the word of God and that it continues to speak to us in a supernatural way.
Personal Note:
Liäbi Familie und Fründe
Mir gnüssed d Ziit doh i volle Züüg. S Team isch hammerässig! Mir hends lustig mitenand und sporned üs zum Positive ah. Gliichziitig lerned mer jede Tag Neus us de Bible. Wa üs bsunders gefallt, isch d Balace zwüschet geistliche und körperliche Useforderige i üsem Alltag doh. Über di gnaue Date zu üsne krasse Wanderige werdet mir eu gern und au chli stolz brichte, wenn mer wieder Hei chömed. Wenn mer uf Wanderige sind gehört mer de Andrin all zeh Minute sege, dass er die oder jeni Pflanze möchti mit Hei neh zum im Garte ha. Zu de Sulamith ihrem Glück loht üses Reisebudget das nöd zue. Mer freued üs übrigens mega über d Kommentär i dem Blog, wills üsi einzig Möglichkeit isch zum es Lebenszeiche vo eu überchoo. Sus stört üs s offline sii aber gar nöd, will amel immer so viel Anders lauft. Mer hend eu aber gliich liäb und freuet üs zum eu wieder z’geh. En liebe Gruess a alli Dihei. Sulamith und Andrin
Translation:
Dear Family and Friends, We enjoy the time here very much. The team is bomb! We have so much fun and we encourage each other positively. We also learn new things about the Bible daily. What we like the most about the program is the balance between the spiritual and physical challenges in our daily life here. We will gladly and also a bit proudly tell you about the details of the hikes when we get back home.When we are on hikes Andrin discovers about every ten minutes a new plant that he would love to take home. Luckily our vacation budget does not allow us to bring them with us. We are happy about every comment we receive on this blog because it is our only option to hear from you. Apart from that we don’t really miss our phones because there are so many things going on here. But we still love you and are looking forward to seeing you again. Lots of greetings to everyone at home. Sulamith and Andrin
Written by Sulamith & Andrin (Switzerland) on behalf of the entire OTG Team