Week 11 - Evangelism and Baptism

Week 11
This week our speaker was Jim Hurn on Evangelism. We had a short week this week because of Christmas. Jim did a really good job of shifting our perspectives on evangelism from something scary that we're required to do to something that that we want to do. He shared strategies with us that makes evangelism all about the conversation. He also emphasized that we are each links in a chain - we don't have to convert someone in one conversation. God is in charge of that and He will keep bringing people into their lives. This relieves the pressure that we can often feel and allows us to just walk in faith and allow God to guide our steps. Jim also emphasized that even though evangelism can come naturally there is some preparation involved. We need to have a testimony prepared and we need to be alert for opportunities. This was something that challenged me. Often we feel like God will do all of the work, and He will meet us and do the heart changing, but we have to be ready to be used by Him.
This week was also a life changing week because Jeff and I both got baptized. We were both baptized in the past, but feel like this is a turning point in our lives and want to draw a line in the sand and say that we want to live intentionally for Jesus for the rest of our lives. It was a really powerful experience. Our school leader, Patty baptized us, and our outreach leaders prayed for us supported us. It was such a powerful symbol of dying to self once and for all and rising new with Jesus. We're both really excited to go forward in Jesus and walk with Him.

Week 10 - Worship

Week 10
This week our speaker was Josh Klinkenberg on Worship. He brought worship into a whole new focus for us. He emphasized how God loves when we are creative in worship. He also showed us that all aspects of our lives can be a form of worship. Josh taught us how to sing our own songs and to express our hearts to God in worship. He also talked about approaching God in different settings, when we're in a group, when we're inviting him into our daily activities and when we're having intimate time alone with Him. Josh taught us about how different stages of our lives require more of each type of time and how we can be strengthened in each type. He also encouraged us to look at what we are doing now and make sure that we are in balance and seeking God in all of the ways.
Josh also taught about how worship can unlock doors on outreach. He shared with us times when they've been worshiping and God has revealed to them things about the land and they've been able to intercede and break things off. Worship changes the atmosphere and claims ground for Jesus. This was a really important teaching to have before we go on outreach and a good reminder for future ministries.

Week 9 - Father Heart of God

Week 9
This week our speaker was Jono Turner on the Father Heart of God. He was a really dynamic speaker and made the topic really interesting. He showed us how God really wants to be our Dad, that He isn't distant or disappointed, but loves us and wants to share each day with us. Jono also shared a new idea for communicating with God which made daily conversations with Him more accessible. He helped us to see that God comes to our level to communicate and does everything out of love. Jono also spent some time and helped us to keep working through some of the things that Mary, his wife had talked about the week before. He and Mary were really invested in all of us and spent a lot of time praying with us and encouraging us to keep seeking to know God. We had an amazing ministry time at the end of the week where Jono prayed for each of us individually and spoke truth into our lives. It was so encouraging and affirming for Jeff and I. We feel like God is speaking to us individually and as a couple and bringing us into a new stage of our lives.

Week 8 - Holy Spirit and Hobbiton

Week 8
This week we had Mary Turner speak to us about the Holy Spirit. She asked us at the beginning of the week what questions we wanted answered and then based her lecture off of that. She talked about gifts of the Spirit, like teaching and preaching, being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and how we can invite His presence and allow Him to reveal things to us and work in our lives. She was an excellent speaker and brought clarity to the topic. She also discussed with us things that might be hindering our ability so experience the Holy Spirit and helped us to work through those things as a group and then individually. Overall we feel like we have a better understanding of who the Holy Spirit is and how He works in our lives.

We were also really blessed this weekend by my sister Hannah! She gave us tickets to go to Hobbiton, the movie set where they made the Hobbit movies! It was such a fun day trip; we got lots of pictures with some of the 39 hobbit holes and had a drink at The Green Dragon. It was so fun to recognize some of the scenery from the movies. We really enjoyed having a chance to get away from base and just have a day to relax!

Week 7 - Defending our Faith and The Coromandel Peninsula

Week 7

This week we hiked The Coromandel Peninsula. Our speaker was Doug Sparks. He spoke on Defending our Faith. His main focus was to question why we believe what we believe so that we could examine it all for ourselves, and have something to stand on when unbelievers question us. It was a really eye opening week and we wrestled with some of the questions. 

We started our week off with a day trip to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. It was a relaxing beach day with a small hike beautiful views. The hike this week was through the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula. It was a rugged hike through forests and over mountains. Our week was broken up this time into two days of hiking with a rest day in the middle followed by two more days of hiking. We did a total of 30 miles in that time. At some points we were climbing straight up and down with our 40 pound packs on our backs. We really had to rely on our teams to get through it. The hike tested our limits and helped us to grow as a group.

It was all worth it to see the beautiful mountaintop views at the end!

Cathedral Cove:

Hot Water Beach:

Coromandel Peninsula:

Week 6 - Relationships and Girls' Breakfast

This week our speaker was Marty Emmett. He spoke on relationships. His main focus was our relationship with God, then with ourselves and finally with others. We spent a lot of time looking at how our view of God and our view of others can be skewed based on our perceptions. We dove into the truth that is written about us in the Bible and how we are called to always love. This week was a breakthrough week for a lot of us and helped us to relate to each other better and form deeper relationships.

Marty also suggested that the guys do something to honor the girls.  They decided to do a pancake breakfast with tons of thought put into the decor and the menu.  In the end the girls felt very blessed as many had never been treated in this manner without expecting something from them in return.  Marty also switched the meaning on the guys and said that it was actually about teaching the men to be men of God.  He wanted the guys to realize how being intentional towards the women and just loving on them without expecting something was a huge blessing to the women and it is how they should be treated in our relationships.

Week 5 - Lake Waikaremoana and Jesus and the Cross

This week we did a 30 mile hike around Lake Waikaremoana.  It is one of New Zealand's nine Great Walks.  Our speaker this week was Matthew Jeffares and he spoke on the cross and our authority in Christ.  He lead all of his lectures by listening to Christ and we had excellent prayer times over individuals in the group.

The hike was exciting!  We hiked 5 days, with the weather shifting between sun, rain, and hail.  The first day was mostly climbing uphill as we traversed to a hut that we spent the night in.  The rest of the trip was a majority of downhill as we hiked closer to the shoreline and went around the lake.  We stayed in tents the other 3 nights before we finished on Friday.

This is a picture of Matthew Jeffares our lecturer for the week!

Week 4 - Identity in Christ

We had a speaker named Theresa Archer speak on our identity in Christ. Theresa was a great speaker and shared on how our identity is tied to how we view God. One of her main points is that we get to walk with God even when we're not perfect. She shared so much wisdom and inspired us to go deeper in the Word and to value our time spent with God. She encouraged us to let God be our source of confidence and walk in that confidence with Him.

Week 3 - Hearing God's Voice and Tongariro

Our first week of backpacking didn't go according to our plans, but definitely went according to God's plans! We went about 3 hours from base to a campsite and had plans to backpack in that area, near the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, so we camped one night, had to stay at a hostel the next night because of rain and then headed back to base for the rest of the week. We did get to do the Tongariro Crossing which is a 12 mile hike up through a mountain pass. It was incredibly beautiful and we had great weather for most of the day! We're so thankful that God cleared up the weather for that one day so we could hike and we could really feel his presence on the trail! His majesty in creation was so evident!

We had a great speaker this week, Cheyne Hosking. He has been with YWAM for 15 years and he spoke to us about Hearing God's Voice. He was very flexible with our ever changing plans and spoke in the rain and in the classroom. We learned so much and are so thankful he shared his wisdom and experience with us! He helped us to see that God wants us to hear His voice as that is a huge part of relationship with Him. He also showed us the simplicity of hearing from God and that faith and humility are some of the key ingredients to hearing his voice. We learned so much and had lots of time to practice hearing from God for ourselves and then getting words from the Spirit for our classmates! It was an incredible time of learning and encouraging each other. I can already feel myself growing closer to God and feeling more in tune with the Spirit. 

When we got back to base we had some much needed time to relax and recover. We also did some small hikes around the area and got to see some of the amazing views that Tauranga has to offer. We're so thankful for this week and are looking forward to next week!

Below are some pictures of our hike at Tongariro Crossing.

Week 2 - Intercession and Character of God

This week was amazing! It flew by! I can't believe our first week of lectures is done already. We had an awesome speaker named Taumata. He taught us about intercession and the character of God. He was a really dynamic teacher and taught through worship, skits, and practical lessons. We really learned to come together as a family this week and celebrated all of our cultures.

This week we settled into our routine which is really busy! We have worship or intercession in the mornings followed by classes until noon. Then we have ministry placements after lunch (Jeff works in the kitchen and I work with the gardening team). Twice a week we also have an intense workout with the group in the afternoon and one day a week we get taught more about backpacking. We also have small groups on Thursday nights. We’re keeping busy and learning a lot!

The big news this week is that we found out our outreach location is Nepal! We're so excited for the chance to share the gospel with backpackers there! We learned a lot about hearing God's voice through praying and listening for guidance. We thought we heard from Him, but being new at it we asked for confirmation and He came through for us! Both Jeff and I got the same answer both times we asked so we feel confident that Nepal is where God wants us! In the coming weeks we’ll learn more about the culture in Nepal and effective ways to minister to the people there. We’re praying that God will use us to impact Nepal for Him!

We’re also preparing this week to go out on our first backpacking trip and our first big hike! We’re so excited to get out in this beautiful country and experience God in nature!

Week 1 - Welcome and Orientation

Our first week of DTS was Amazing! We got to meet so many great people! Other Pilgrimage students, Sailing students and GO Pacifiic students. Our staff is awesome! The format for the first week was orientation for the first two days followed by introductions in the form of Life Stories. We all shared with each other our pasts struggles and joys and how we want to grow in this time. It was a really good experience and helped us to start bonding as a group.  We were also welcomed onto the land in a Maori Powhiri ceremony.

We also got to have a little fun with the Maori Warrior as well!

On Friday we had our first Backpacking experience. It was basically a trial run to make sure everyone had the right gear before we go out on a week long trip in 3 weeks.  We all got our gear together on Thursday night, then on Friday we were driven 5 miles from base and hiked back. Then we camped out in the valley overnight. The trial run went really well! We're really excited to get back out there and go for a longer trip!

So far we've been overwhelmed by how welcoming and loving everyone is. The hospitality here is amazing! We're also in awe of this beautiful country. Even just walking back on the road we're surrounded by rolling hills and mountains in the distance. The picture below is of the waterfall that's located on base in the valley where we camped. There are really beautiful trails in the forest around it called prayer walks. The valley is a really powerful place where the presence of the Lord is really tangible. I'm excited to spend more time there.

Jeff and some other Backpackers went swimming at the base of the waterfall in the valley. 

Thanks for your continuing prayer and support! We couldn't do this without you! 

In Christ,

Jeff and Erin

22k mark!

Wow!  We have been really blessed doing the fundraising and have so far raised $22,000 towards our goal!  Thanks again to everyone that donated to us so far, we only have 3 weeks left but Erin and I are confident that the money will come in.

Sunday we will be doing a very brief presentation at Fellowship Reformed Church during both morning services to explain our trip to the congregation and ask for prayer and support during our trip.  We have been very blessed by Fellowship thus far as the church donated $4,000 towards our trip which allowed us to purchase our tickets much earlier than planned which allowed us to save money!  We are excited to talk to people after the services if they have any questions.

College Graduation

I just graduated on August 1st with my degree in Mechanical Engineering.  We've been hiking and such to get in shape for the trip.  We have also purchased our sleeping mats, some clothing, and sleeping bags!

New Backpacks

These are our new Osprey backpacks.  Jeff got a 70 L pack while Erin got a 65 L pack.  We have been purchasing our gear from The Outpost of Holland.  Really great store giving us really great advice!

Genesis 1:1

Here is the YWAM pilgrimage website:
http://mrmdts.org/schools/pilgrimage-dts/

This blog is dedicated to Erin and Jeff Burton's trip to New Zealand to experience God like never before.  We are going to a Pilgrimage Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth With A Mission (YWAM). YWAM's mission is "To Know God and Make Him Known." The Pilgrimage DTS is a school which uses Backpacking as a platform to share the gospel.

People have been asking us "Why now?" We want to make Jesus the highest priority in our lives and our marriage and for us that means taking some time out to find out what that really means. We have prayed about this for several years and it has been in the works since we got married two years ago. At this point in our lives we are able to take some time out between finishing our degrees and starting our careers. We're hoping to learn a lot about ourselves and about Jesus and use what we learn as a strong foundation for the rest of our lives. We also feel that we can take what we learn back to our hometown to help build up our community in Christ.

The reason that we chose New Zealand is because we know several of the staff members there and know that the base in New Zealand works well with couples. This is important to us because we will be there for 5 months. We compared this location with several others as far as price and experience and they are all fairly comparable. We prayed about New Zealand and felt peace with going there. We are both interested in the backpacking experience because we will get to travel some of the beautiful landscape of New Zealand and witness to other backpackers in a casual campfire setting.

We leave for New Zealand on October 10th and return March 1st. Our trip is broken up into two segments. The first three months are training in New Zealand. The last two months we will be doing outreach in Southeast Asia. Our training will be both spiritual and physical. We will learn in a classroom setting for part of the time and out on the trails for three separate weeks. Some of the topics that will be covered include learning about God's character, how to pray, and how to present the Gospel. On outreach we will use what we learned to spread the gospel by partnering with local churches, doing practical work, street evangelism, leading church services, and through prayer ministry.