Dear family and friends.
I wake up everyday, so grateful to be here and aware of how blessed I am. Time is flying by here, yet I feel like these people have been my family for so long. The past few weeks I have learned so much and faith has really been stretched. In the first week of lectures, we focused on hearing God's voice. This was a challenging and difficult week, but so interesting. I learned so much about how to listen to God and feel so much closer to my heavenly Father. We had a lot of time of application and it was amazing to see God speak and work among us. I am learning to give God room to speak, and to allow Him to speak to me the way He wants. The next week's topic was relationships and the key bricks to having God honouring relationships. This week, we are learning about the character and nature of God. It's only been two days and my mind had been blown (in a good way)! It's given me a lot to think about and process.
Every day here looks slightly different. Every Monday morning, we have Whanau (family) time, where all staff, students, founders, and guests meet for coffee, tea and treats. We talk about what God's doing in our lives, have guest speakers share a bit about their ministries, reflect on God’s goodness and faithfulness or other things. Other mornings we either have intercession or worship. After lectures in morning, we either meet with our stream groups (mine is medical compassion), have free time, or have ministry placements where we serve every week. I'm in kitchen, so I do the dishes and help prepare dinner every Monday and Wednesday on Tuesdays. Thursday evenings I meet with my stream to apply what we’ve learned. Last week we learned how to take vital signs and got our own stethoscopes and blood pressure measuring kits, today we learned about eyes and various tests we can do. I love learning about this and am so excited to apply these skills to the outreach portion of my DTS but practicing on my fellow students will do for now. When I'm not doing those things, I'm either chatting with friends, singing, playing sports and games, exploring our valley or doing town trips. Some highlights have been going to the beach, trying out different churches in Tauranga, going Eel hunting or swimming in the valley.
Last weekend we went to the beautiful cathedral cove (featured in the second Narnia movie, yes, I freaked out a bit). I am loving learning the cultures of everyone here as we are such a diverse group. I am also trying to adapt some kiwi culture and have fallen in love with Tim Tams and have done many Tim Tam Slams (Just picture a mess of chocolatey goodness).
Last week we found out our outreach teams. I really love my group and am so excited to serve in Vanuatu. Prayers for this nation and our outreach team would be much appreciated as we prepare for this trip.
I am once again so grateful for everyone who has supported me and who continue to pray for me.
Blessings,
Kiara
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