Over the last two months, we have seen so many amazing things that can only happen when God says, “Go!”
We travelled over 3000 kilometres, and were able to reach out to five different cities around New Zealand: Christchurch, Nelson, Whanganui, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Everyone was safe, and we had no major breakdowns or anything.
During our time in each city, we connected with local after school groups, youth groups, and churches. We were able to talk to, share with, pray for, and minister to over 500 youth and young adults around New Zealand. While some of these were in a larger group, many were in a one-to-one setting of conversation and ministry. We saw many young people find hope, purpose, and joy as their hearts were encouraged by Jesus. We also saw many give their lives to Jesus for the first time!
Some of our team members went to help out at “Easter Camps”, where literally thousands (no exaggeration) of Kiwi youth responded to the Gospel, gave their lives to Jesus, received prayer, and were set free from things that were weighing them down.
Over our seven weeks, we had a total of about 70 hours of worship and prayer around New Zealand! We connected with local worship and prayer ministries and church groups, facilitated hours of “Prayer Room on the Road” that were open for the local church to attend, as well as having times of worship and prayer over cities. It was so impactful to partner with God’s heart for each place, and to see hearts encountered in His presence.
We also spent time doing evangelism and local outreach in each location. It was always exciting to come together after a day out and share the stories of how God led us to the most random corners to find the “one”, and then how, through our simple words and actions, He impacted those hearts. God loves Kiwis!
One of our main purposes for going on this Outreach was to partner with the Ship Tour that was happening at the same time. Our medical ship, the M/V YWAM Koha, spent a month before the Tour in dry-dock getting ready for when we are able to deploy it to the islands.
After she was all ready to go, we had open ship tour days and events on the ship in each location to raise awareness, financial support, and to share the vision with Kiwis who might want to get on board and volunteer on the ship once she is deployed.
We were able to bring over 2000 people through the ship tours, and it was a blast to see people light up at the idea of being able to practically help out in the islands. We had seasoned mariners, medical professionals, kids fresh out of high school, and everyone in between sign up to volunteer with the ship! Since we function as 100% volunteer-based, this was so encouraging to us.
During our last week of the tour in Wellington, we invited all of the other YWAM bases in New Zealand to join us for a focussed outreach to the city. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, and we really felt that our time there would be significant. Almost our whole base came down for the week, as well as about 30 others from the other bases. In total, we had around 80 people from four out of seven NZ YWAM bases. It was so cool to see 80 people reaching out to the city of Wellington in various ways each day!
There are countless stories that I could tell from the tour, but I really want to highlight this one story from our first week in Christchurch: We spent some time with a local youth pastor there, who had an incredible heart for his neighbourhood, a rougher area of the city. Two days a week he facilitates an after school program for the kids that go to the nearby school, most of whom haven’t set foot in a church before, let alone know Jesus.
Each day, they play basketball and other games, and as a requirement of coming the kids need to participate in a five to ten minute teaching about Jesus, what it means to be Christian, good character, etc. It was so cool for us to just come and hang out and be a part of what he was doing, but he was filled with faith and wanted to take it one step further! We set up prayer stations in the main sanctuary of the church, so while the kids were playing, if they wanted they could come a receive prayer. He set it up as a totally optional thing, not really expecting many kids to want to do it, but wanting to give them the opportunity.
Much to all of our surprise, all of the kids wanted a turn! They lined up at the door and the youth pastor had to actually act as a bouncer to make sure all of the kids got their turn. Multiple kids came back more than one time.
While it was so cool that these kids were so stoked about receiving prayer, what blew me away was what happened at each different exchange. Most of these kids have had fairly rough lives and have been through some things, and many of them looked tired far beyond their years. Each time, they came in looking fairly dejected, not making eye contact, and obviously a bit shy (we are strangers after all!).
As we took time to talk to them, to pray for them, to encourage them, we saw them start to brighten up, sit a bit taller, smile, and be built up with confidence. It was incredible to see what an impact such a short exchange could have!
These kids were getting a piece of their identity straight from their Heavenly Father, and it was incredible to see the transformation that took place right before our eyes.
To me, that was a small picture of the heart of the whole Wave Tour. We felt that God wanted to raise up the next generation of Kiwis into their identity, and He did just that.
Did it look differently than we thought it would? Of course. But I think one thing that I’ve learned over my years in missions is that we can have all of the greatest plans in the world and they could fall flat, but when God says, “Go!”, lives are forever changed and a generation is transformed, one person at a time.
I am more convinced than ever that God is doing something amazing in this little nation that I have the privilege of calling home. As I look to the future, this next season, this next year, the years to come, I am sure of this:
This is only the beginning.
Much love, Kassi
Some Prayer Requests to keep in mind: I am applying for a visa to stay longer in New Zealand, and need to raise about $2000 for it, as well as get it approved to stay in the country. Please pray for everything to come together quickly. I am jumping right into preparing for the School of Worship that is happening in July. Please keep me and the team in your prayers as we prepare, that we would really hear God’s heart, and that the right students would come. This is one of my main ministries, and I’m so excited for it to run this year, and for what God wants to do with this school!