The first of many to come.... Maybe. If you're lucky.

The journey here has been an interesting one, to say the least.  Throughout all my flight transfers and security checks there wasn’t anything in particular that went WRONG.... But I did somehow get “randomly selected” for EVERY SINGLE secondary security check. Hmmmmm. Good thing I had lots of time between my flights! There was also a bit of an issue when boarding the flight from San Francisco to Auckland. The air conditioning on the aircraft wasn’t working, so before we could take off (but aaaafter everyone had boarded) they decided it was a safety issue.... So they got everyone off the plane and we sat in the lounge for an hour. (Sidenote: It was a Boeing 747, with 370 passengers. Offloading and reloading everyone took a while). Eventually we flew, I slept, we landed, I was happy, and shazam, I’m in New Zealand. I was picked up at the airport by a staff member and taken to a YWAM base in Auckland where everyone was meeting before we all hopped in vans and headed north to our base. The base we’re on used to be called YWAM Oakridge, but is now being used for our DTS, YWAM Zion. Instead of explaining the base to you, I’ll just show you some pictures!! Not right now though. I haven’t taken any yet....

We’ve already been exposed to the culture as a group and it is SO cool. To welcome us onto the land, we were led onto the property by one of the girls who lives here, and she sung a Maori welcome song as we walked. Everyone else from the base was standing in a group, but with the men separate.... And you might guess what happened next... HAKA!! Bahahahaha man.. so awesome. The staff men did a ‘welcoming’ haka for us, but it was pretty much just as scary as all of the intimidation ones that are done before rugby games. Afterwards, the staff women did a welcome song for us which we were supposed to respond to with our own song, according to Maori tradition. We sang Happy Birthday back...

Now for the PEOPLE!!! There are 26 students in YWAM Zion 2013. Most of those are Outdoor Pursuits students, including myself. There are only 4 Surfing students, and about 7 Music & Worship students. And what a GREAT GROUUUUUPPP!! There seem to be quite a few students here that are just out of high school, and one newly married couple, and thennnnn the rest of us. Rooms were assigned to us before we arrived, and I’m in a room with two other girls. One is Mandy, who grew up in Hawaii and now lives in Tennessee and she’s 18. The other is Maryam from southern Germany, who is also 18.  Both are beautiful, sweet girls who I’m soooo excited to be sharing a room with. Maryam even brought tea for Mandy and me this morning while we were still in bed. Ohhhh yeeeaaahh. I have hit the roomie jackpot yet again! (Shoutout to the Nanaimo roomies!!! Love you Oceana, Elizabeth and Jordan!! xoxo). 

ANYWAYS. That's all for now. Love you all, email me updates on your life at: 

kirsten.afh@gmail.com

I will be checking my email much more regularly than my facebook, so that would be great! You can also send mail to me at:

Kirsten Hitchcock

YWAM ZION

504 Wairere Rd.

RD 1

Paparoa, Northland

New Zealand

0571

I would LOOOOOOVE to receive pictures to put up next to my bed!!! Send 'em soon so they get here soon!!

So much love, from Kirsten!!!

ocean infection.

"Go outside," I thought, "it will be lovely and sunny and charming." So outside I went, only to find it was lovely and sunny and windy (which is fine, but makes reading a book rather difficult) and LOUD. I could practically hear the yelling, "LOOK! LISTEN! I'm a CITY! I have so many people and am packed FULL of convenience and bustling life!" Screw you, city. Take your convenience somewhere else. I just want to be outside sometimes, in what used to be known as naaatuuuuure. I know I'll be on an island for the summer still... But hey. This girl likes her ocean time.

"You appreciate the tang found in a breath of ocean air, accompanied by the water's relentless heartbeat; wave after wave hitting the shore. Sometimes it pounds mercilessly, other times it comes as an unstoppable swell from the depths of the ocean, only to become a gentle caress as it meets your toes for the first time. No introductions are necessary, only first impressions matter. Maybe they meet on a day when the ocean is her cold, harsh self. Your toes curl away and into the safety of your sole. But then there are warmer, playful days. Good first impressions that fill you with giddy joy, up from your toes until you're so full you squeal so the whole world knows just how well you and the ocean get along. You love her; that magnificent body of water, with all her numerous facets. And every time you leave her side for calmer, more humble, surroundings you miss her temper and sass. You long to be near her, to see her constantly shifting moods. Kirsten, you are an island girl through and through. And that's for life. Your moods are her moods, and you will always need her to be near to you. Don't forget the ocean, wherever you are; whoever you become. She is who you are."

A rare glimpse into the sometimes poetic mind of Kirsten.

Morning reading: Psalms 10-16

There are themes of both encouragement and despair in these passages. We are told about the promises of God, reassuring us that the Lord is just and faithful. But everyone has those moments of tiredness and sorrow, when it seems as though we have been abandoned to deal with our suffering alone. Yet Oswald Chambers writes, "We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character." These secret places are often only revealed in the midst of grief and trials. We have to see our own shortcomings before we can release them and allow Christ to enter in and make our hearts His. God knows how low we sometimes must fall in order to open ourselves to His Spirit and workings.

Take heart, for He is sovereign.